View this page "Business Plan"

[Greg Pettengill]

Ruth,

I think that is an excellent start! All that I've done so far is to
adjust the layout without changing the content.

Instead of the conventional majority rules form of democracy, I think
that Dynamic Governance would work much better. Please refer to
http://www.sociocracy.info/about.html for information.

Best Regards
Greg

Click on http://groups.google.com/group/oviedofarm/web/business-plan -
or copy & paste it into your browser's address bar if that doesn't
work.

[Angel Eyes]

First, let me be clear that I think a community farm in Oviedo is very
exciting. It sounds like you already have a broad, ambitious vision. I
think that is awesome =-) Have you thought about making an appointment
with a SCORE counselor at the Disney EC? They can be very helpful.

As for other suggestions, I am just going to second what Greg has said
with regard to consensus governing rather than majoritarian democracy
or bureaucracy. Have you considered making the farm Vegan? It seems
like you are close with only the chickens in mind, but some of the
people who would be the most conscious about issues like locally
produced food would be Vegan for similar reasons.

I hope I may point out some potential pitfalls, but first let me say
that I am no specialist in agri-business - I am speaking strictly as a
layperson. One of your plans advantages (quality) I think is very
solid. As for variety, unless your market is defined in a more narrow
way, your competition is supermarkets and commercial food producers. I
can't imagine a way in which you could compete against them for
variety. On the costs issue, you mention potential cost savings due to
reduced packaging and transportation costs. I don't know what
percentage of agri-businesses costs are packaging and transportation,
but considering how often I hear the average meal travels 1500 miles
to get to the consumer, I'd be surprised if it's much. I'd guess that
agri-businesses main costs are land and labor since most commercial
growing is done far from major metropolitan areas and the labor they
use is typically highly exploited. If you are in an Orlando suburb and
not going to treat people like slaves, I'd be very surprised if
transportation and/or packaging savings were able to make up for this.
Add to this the mass scale on which agri-business produces and their
tendency toward mono-culture.

Please understand, I am not trying to be discouraging, I am trying to
point out what your actual strengths are so you can focus on the
business you *have* rather than the business we all might *wish* you
had. But again, I'd recommend SCORE who might have someone with a
background in organic agriculture/horticulture specifically. The
gentleman at the UCF arboretum seems pretty amazing, btw.

Marcilla =-)

On Nov 23, 2:27 pm, Greg Pettengill <cote...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Ruth,
>
> I think that is an excellent start!   All that I've done so far is to
> adjust the layout without changing the content.
>
> Instead of the conventional majority rules form of democracy, I think

> that Dynamic Governance would work much better.   Please refer tohttp://www.sociocracy.info/about.htmlfor information.

[Ruth Begelman]

Marcilla,

 

Thank you for taking the time to share your opinions with me and for offering helpful advice.

 

The business plan I have posted now is a 1st/rough draft that I will be revising and fine tuning. I will seriously consider your points. I want to be certain that what we plan to offer we "can". I do want the farm to be organic, but I also want to offer a permanent home for the famous Oviedo chickens, and what better place than on the farm. Therefore it will not be vegan. Do you think vegans would be offended or not want to purchase organic produce from a farm that raises chickens for their eggs?

 

Ruth

---

From: Angel Eyes <marcill...@yahoo.com>
To: OviedoFarm <ovied...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tue, November 24, 2009 11:26:06 AM
Subject: {OviedoFarm} Re: View this page "Business Plan"

First, let me be clear that I think a community farm in Oviedo is very
exciting. It sounds like you already have a broad, ambitious vision. I
think that is awesome =-) Have you thought about making an appointment
with a SCORE counselor at the Disney EC? They can be very helpful.

As for other suggestions, I am just going to second what Greg has said
with regard to consensus governing rather than majoritarian democracy
or bureaucracy. Have you considered making the farm Vegan? It seems
like you are close with only the chickens in mind, but some of the
people who would be the most conscious about issues like locally
produced food would be Vegan for similar reasons.

I hope I may point out some potential pitfalls, but first let me say
that I am no specialist in agri-business - I am speaking strictly as a
layperson. One of your plans advantages (quality) I think is very
solid. As for variety, unless your market is defined in a more narrow
way, your competition is supermarkets and commercial food producers. I
can't imagine a way in which you could compete against them for
variety. On the costs issue, you mention potential cost savings due to
reduced packaging and transportation costs. I don't know what
percentage of agri-businesses costs are packaging and transportation,
but considering how often I hear the average meal travels 1500 miles
to get to the consumer, I'd be surprised if it's much. I'd guess that
agri-businesses main costs are land and labor since most commercial
growing is done far from major metropolitan areas and the labor they

use is typically highly exploited.. If you are in an Orlando suburb and

[Marcilla Smith]

LOL, I think I had one thing in mind and then it didn't make it to the computer screen. I was thinking in terms of volunteers. If Vegans didn't shop where animal products were sold. . . well, we'd be a pretty hungry lot, lol. Some Vegans prolly wouldn't even mind working next to them or even gathering the eggs (just not eating them). For myself, its also a question of disease prevention. My partner *really* felt pressured to get the flu shot at work, but we worry it could likely do as much harm as good.

Also, the Oviedo library offers a 2 part class on starting your business and writing a biz plan. I've attended before and it was informative and friendly =-)

Marcilla

---

From: Ruth Begelman <ra...@att.net>
To: ovied...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tue, November 24, 2009 4:54:15 PM

[Oviedo Farm]

I've made a few small revisions; Under Competitive Edge: removing
claims of cost savings to the customer, as this has not yet been
determined. Under Products: added Agricultural Therapy as this is a
wonderful way to include the elderly in our community.

Click on http://groups.google.com/group/oviedofarm/web/business-plan?hl=en
- or copy & paste it into your browser's address bar if that doesn't
work.

[Ruth Begelman]

Okay, that makes more sense. :-) I plan to follow your lead to seek advice from someone at SCORE. Thanks! 

Ruth "Raz"

---

From: Marcilla Smith <marcill...@yahoo.com>
To: ovied...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tue, November 24, 2009 5:46:37 PM

use is typically highly exploited... If you are in an Orlando suburb and

not going to treat people like slaves, I'd be very surprised if
transportation and/or packaging savings were able to make up for this.
Add to this the mass scale on which agri-business produces and their
tendency toward mono-culture.

Please understand, I am not trying to be discouraging, I am trying to
point out what your actual strengths are so you can focus on the
business you *have* rather than the business we all might *wish* you
had. But again, I'd recommend SCORE who might have someone with a
background in organic agriculture/horticulture specifically. The
gentleman at the UCF arboretum seems pretty amazing, btw.

Marcilla =-)

[Ruth Begelman]

Greg,

 

Okay so I read the article on sociocracy and found it to be very interesting. Do you know of any business that is currently using this form or governance?

 

By the way thank you for referring Marcilla to me.

 

Ruth

 

---

From: Greg Pettengill <cot...@gmail.com>
To: OviedoFarm <ovied...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Mon, November 23, 2009 2:27:35 PM
Subject: {OviedoFarm} View this page "Business Plan"

[Greg]

Ruth,

There are many examples, starting with Endenburg Elektrotechniek Inc..   Governance Alive is probably the best place for you to start delving into the subject.

Best Regards
Greg Pettengill

Cote' Art & Engineering, Inc.
website: coteart.com
(321)420-9037 Land Line
(321)269-7587 Cell

"I serve neither gods nor fool's causes!" Kane growled.   "And don't delude yourself into terming invincible principles that are meaningless except to the relative viewpoint of the beholder!"

[Ruth Begelman]

Greg,

 

I hope you had or are having a nice holiday.

 

Just wondering if you were you able to get the information about the documentary you saw and told me about? I would like to put together a resource list of supportive information before the EDC meeting. Is there anything; books, new articles etc. that you can recommend I include on this list?

 

Thanks,

Ruth

---

From: Greg <cot...@gmail.com>
To: ovied...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Wed, November 25, 2009 10:41:15 AM
Subject: {OviedoFarm} Re: View this page "Business Plan"

--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "OviedoFarm" group.
To post to this group, send email to ovied...@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to oviedofarm+...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/oviedofarm?hl=en
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---

[Greg]

On Fri, Nov 27, 2009 at 4:59 PM, Ruth Begelman <ra...@att.net> wrote:

Greg,

 

I hope you had or are having a nice holiday.

 

Just wondering if you were you able to get the information about the documentary you saw and told me about?

Ruth,

The name of that documentary is "Food Fight".   Lance Turner was responsible for bringing it to the Enzian for Ourlando.   But it having been released so recently, I think may make it too big of a production for us to attempt as an initial happening.   The older documentary "Food Inc." available on DVD may be better suited for that.
 

I would like to put together a resource list of supportive information before the EDC meeting. Is there anything; books, new articles etc. that you can recommend I include on this list?

 

Thanks,

Ruth

I don't know where to start!   Perhaps at this point our time would be better spent working on the "Business Plan"?

Best Regards
Greg

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "OviedoFarm" group.

To post to this group, send email to ovied...@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to oviedofarm+...@googlegroups.com.

For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/oviedofarm?hl=en.

[Oviedo Farm]

edit-1

[Angel Eyes]

A consensus model does not serve the perceived interests of a typical
corporation since the desires of labor and management/ownership are
seen as being at odds. I say this to explain why you do not see an
abundance of sociocracy in the Fortune 500.

If you are looking for local groups which use - not sociocracy - but a
form of simple consensus, there is Food not Bombs (we say we are "10
and 0" against the city of Orlando and its criminalizing of
homelessness), some bike repair collectives (SpokesCouncil is near
UCF), and Hope Unites Church I believe uses simple consensus.

Ironically, Sociocracy is perhaps the answer to a problem borne of
agricultural technology since simple consensus breaks down once a
population becomes too large and large populations were borne of our
transition from hunter-gathering to agriculture.

Marcilla =-)

On Nov 25, 10:41 am, Greg <cote...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Ruth,
>

> There are many examples, starting with *Endenburg Elektrotechniek
> Inc*..   Governance
> Alive <http://www.governancealive.com/> is probably the best place for you

> to start delving into the subject.
>
> Best Regards
> Greg Pettengill
>
> Cote' Art & Engineering, Inc.
> website: coteart.com
> (321)420-9037 Land Line
> (321)269-7587 Cell
>
> "I serve neither gods nor fool's causes!" Kane growled.   "And don't delude
> yourself into terming invincible principles that are meaningless except to
> the relative viewpoint of the beholder!"
>
> On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 7:48 AM, Ruth Begelman <ra...@att.net> wrote:
> > Greg,
>
> > Okay so I read the article on sociocracy and found it to be very
> > interesting. Do you know of any business that is currently using this form
> > or governance?
>
> > By the way thank you for referring Marcilla to me.
>
> > Ruth
>

> >  ------------------------------
> > *From:* Greg Pettengill <cote...@gmail.com>
>
> > *To:* OviedoFarm <ovied...@googlegroups.com>
> > *Sent:* Mon, November 23, 2009 2:27:35 PM
> > *Subject:* {OviedoFarm} View this page "Business Plan"

>
> > Ruth,
>
> > I think that is an excellent start!  All that I've done so far is to
> > adjust the layout without changing the content.
>
> > Instead of the conventional majority rules form of democracy, I think
> > that Dynamic Governance would work much better.  Please refer to

> >http://www.sociocracy.info/about.htmlfor information.