Make a List; Check It Twice

Use this checklist when developing a business plan to keep you and your dairy on course. Mark the items that you have in place. For ones that you don’t, complete them. Once all your documentation is created and collected, you’ll have a valuable business-planning tool to use with your family, lender and others involved in operating and changing your dairy business.

Business Overview
To begin, know what you want your dairy business to be and how you plan to move it in that direction. Do you have:

A business mission statement?
A business vision statement?
Written business objectives?
Descriptions of business plans?

Business Background
A comprehensive picture of your business’ history helps chart a course for its future. Do you have:

Owner resumes?
Three years minimum of past financial performance?
A written history of your dairy business to this point.

Business Expansion plan
If you’re planning an expansion, do you have these documents:

Blueprints?
Bids?
Contracts?
Business size at completion of changes?
List of capital needs?
A timeline for completing the project?

Financial Documentation
These should highlight your current financial position and your expectations for financial performance during and at the end of an expansion or change. Have you prepared:

Current balance sheet?
Year-to-date cash flow?
Year-to-date income statement?
Monthly cash flow projections for 12 months, beginning with the start of the project?
Annual projections for the next three calendar years?
Capital requirement projections for five years?
Timeline of borrowing needs during project?
Future borrowing capacity?

Family Matters
Business changes, especially major ones, have a higher success rate if family members support the efforts. Do you know:

Your family’s long-term goals?
What roles will the owner(s), family members and employees play in the change or expansion?
Do you have an estate plan?

Labor Needs
Any business change, particularly expansion, affects family and non-family labor.
Do you have:

An organizational chart, complete with details on who will do what and when?
Job descriptions?
An outline of new labor needs?
An assessment of your management ability?

Production Management
Determine how extra work will get done based on your assessment of labor needs. Do you know your:

Source of animals?
Biosecurity program?
Replacement needs for years two and three of the change?
Procedures and people to ensure management areas are covered.

Field crop Assessment
Expansion places demands on your land resources and equipment. Determine:

Equipment requirements.
Current land resources and locations.
Current feed production capacity.

Nutrient Management
Expansion produces changes in nutrient volume and handling. Develop:

A nutrient management plan.
A farmstead containment system.
An assessment of manure storage.
A nutrient management record system.