We recently connected with Jim Niemi and have shared our conversation below.

Jim, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

We are ChiGoBee Farm. We moved to Pownal in 2013 with the goal of producing as much of our own food as possible. Our families farmed when we were kids but starting up all these years later required some work. We researched, we read, we watched homesteading videos, we went to farms and took classes. We started vegetable and flower gardens. We raised chickens, ducks, pigs, dairy goats and started an apiary. It was when we got dairy goats that we found our focus. We breed and raise Alpine and Saanen dairy goats. These incredibly intelligent and loving animals changed us forever. They became family and coworkers in a sense.
We quickly realized that the community around us was also looking for better options and so we acted. We built a commercial kitchen and became a licensed dairy. We left the security of our career jobs and embarked on a life that was not about money but about being happy, healthy, and community focused. The first product we were making with goats milk was soap, in the raw, without all the added junk. The move into cheese making was a bit more challenging and required more classes and so much research. We now produce a variety of chevre, feta, and soft ripened cheeses. We are now also known for our goats milk fudge, goats milk caramels and our sourdough whey breads. Our baked goods quickly became sought after and so we doubled the size of our commercial kitchen with one side dedicated to cheese making and on the other side of the door baked goods and bread making.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Our town of Pownal has a Local Food Sovereignty & Self-Governance Ordinance. It allows residents to produce, process, sell, purchase and consume local foods to promote self-reliance and to preserve family farms. The ordinance allowed us to sell the things we were making without state licensing. We set up a table under a tent and put some of the things out we had been making and growing. It was an honor system setup and to our amazement we sold everything we put out that week and everything was paid for! It was an extremely exciting and eye-opening week.
Pownals ordinance allowed us to sell within town lines only. In order to sell outside of town we needed to become a licensed dairy and needed to build a commercial kitchen. We quickly realized that governmental control and regulations on a small farm was going to be a challenge and very expensive. Regulation after regulation we pushed through and satisfied. The day before we were to get our actual final inspection and dairy license, we got a call from someone in the State of Maine stating that someone had called and reported we were selling chevre without a dairy license. We surprisingly had to explain that Pownal was a sovereign town and that we were only selling within town lines and the representative agreed they had no authority and that ended it. The following day we were a licensed dairy and the kitchen was good to go!
We were so excited but still irritated that someone had made that call. One thing I will say, do not piss off my wife. Jodi put our irritation into action and entered our chevre into the Maine Cheese awards. And guess what? Our chevre placed first in the state! It was an extremely exciting day, and it gave us the courage to expand and keep going. If it were not for our towns sovereign rules we never would have tested the waters or got the courage to go all in. Imagine what incredible creations will never see the light of day because of over regulation.

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

Persistence. We first started selling products in a honor system farm stand at the end of the driveway. Customers can order/pay online and pick up their order in the farmstand or pay cash/venmo onsite. We were rather surprised by the number of people that were stopping and so we steadily increased what we offered. A neighboring farm that we had taken classes at suggested we do a craft fair being held at another local farm. By this time we had all the licensing in place and could sell outside of our town of Pownal. We signed up and could not believe how successful the day was. We talked to so many people that had been to our farm stand and loved what we were doing. It was great to put faces to all the farm stand sales and it seemed everyone was excited to meet us. We felt like local celebrities or something. It felt great that all the work was having such an impact. We talked to hundreds of people that day telling stories about the goats and our farm life. That first day was a huge success beyond the sales. The next thing we knew we were being asked by fair organizers and farmers markets to take part. We signed up for so many events that year that it got to a point we had to start saying no to requests. Our set up at events is kinda fun. We like to bring samples and we have pictures of the goats and stuffed animal goats. Kids love to come over and hug a goat and look at the pictures and we tell goat stories and engage people. It has been, and still is, what we love. Telling our story and talking about our animals and listening to others and their stories. Folks we met at that very first craft fair still buy from us today, four years later. The most effective strategy for growing your clientele is to treat everyone as equals and to be nice. Make someone smile. Make someone laugh. Make someone feel important to you in that moment. We do posts online often to say how incredibly thankful we are, for everyone supporting us.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

lessons have you learned along the way about manufacturing a product?
So what have we learned? A small farm will never make it unless you are willing to work hard. This past year we spent 118 days at farmers markets and 18 at festivals and fairs. You work 7 days a week when you have a farm. Most days this past year we worked 15 hour days. We have learned that you will never know everything no matter how much you read and research. Everything you think you know flies out the window when your arm is up to the elbow in a doe and you are trying to untangle a kid goat in the womb.
You must be consistent in all that you do. Customers expect consistency in your product and you. You must listen to your customers and always respond when you have been contacted. You must do what you say. When its the night before a market and you remember you promised something for the market you get to work no matter what time it is. How people see you, how you are discussed online, and how you interact with people is the difference between success and failure. We have learned that success is measured by raising healthy animals, healthy selves, and paying the bills. This lifestyle is not easy but what it does for you inside cannot be overstated. Every day is rewarding. Every day has a moment that makes us smile. When we are at the markets, fairs, and festivals we are surrounded by vendors that are our friends. Our customers that come week after week are friends. We have laughs, we have great discussions and at the end of the day we are completely satisfied.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://chigobefarm.square.site
• Instagram: ChiGoBee Farm
• Facebook: ChiGoBee Farm