We recently connected with Brooke Bruce and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Brooke thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later

We started the farm in 2017. I was a new stay-at-home mom at the time and we had just bought land with the simple goal of starting a hobby farm. Looking back, I definitely wish we would have started The Bruce Farm sooner. Every year has been full of lessons, growth, connections and refining what works and what doesn’t. If we had taken the leap earlier, we would be even further along… with more experience under our belt, a stronger customer base and even more confidence in what we’re building. What began as just a hobby has turned into more than just a hobby farm.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

The Bruce Farm started in 2017 as a hobby farm that grew into two businesses. Brooke is passionate about dogs while Kaleb is passionate about farm animals, mostly cows. At first, we enjoyed raising our own meat and learning how to regenerate the land at the same time. We quickly realized we had a quality product that we wanted to share with our community. We started by offering products to our family and once word got out we knew we had to scale the business.

The Bruce Farm specializes in breeding Goldendoodle puppies and raising high quality beef delivered locally to your door. We raise our grass fed, grass finished beef on our farms in Kingsville, MO and Chilhowee, MO (southeast of Kansas City). We are committed to regenerating the land, giving our animals the best life possible, and sharing our high quality meats by conveniently delivering them to your door. We take pride in operating our farm and business with our animals and our customers as our top priority.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

We sell directly on our own website www.thebrucefarm.com. For us, owning our site means we fully control our brand, customer experience, pricing and communication. We’re able to build direct relationships with our customers, collect emails and create a more personal connection that aligns with what The Bruce Farm represents.

The biggest pros are brand control, no marketplace fees taking a large percentage of each sale and the ability to build long-term customer loyalty. We’re not competing side-by-side with hundreds of similar listings and we’re not at risk of sudden platform rule changes impacting our business overnight.

The cons are that all the marketing responsibility falls on us. Marketplaces like Amazon or Etsy already have built-in traffic, whereas we have to generate our own through social media, word of mouth and repeat customers. It can take longer to grow, but in our view, the long-term brand ownership and independence are worth it.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing our clientele has honestly been building trust and relationships. Online and in person. As a small farm, people aren’t just buying a product, they’re buying into who we are and how we operate.

Consistent social media presence has been huge for us. Sharing behind-the-scenes farm life, updates on litters, egg production, beef processing dates and even the hard lessons builds transparency. That transparency creates trust and trust creates repeat customers and referrals. Word of mouth has probably been our strongest driver. Happy customers telling friends and family about The Bruce Farm.

Clear communication has also played a big role. Prompt replies, straightforward pricing, honest timelines and setting expectations upfront (especially with puppies and meat products) helps people feel confident working with us.

At the end of the day, we focus on relationships, not transactions. Focusing on serving people well has grown our clientele more than any single marketing tactic ever could,

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thebrucefarm.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebrucefarm
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebrucefarm