Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Micole Hasan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Micole thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How do you think about cost-management? Growing a business is always exciting, but often businesses run into issues when costs grow faster than revenue – have you experienced such an episode? Any advice for other operators around how to keep costs in line?

Every successful business come to a point of scaling up. This is a pivotal stage in running a business because extending your overhead beyond your profit margin can cause you to become less profitable. We just expanded our farm to a new location with a much higher overhead. This caused us to look at our entire operation and create a new business and operating plan. We examined out operating cost first and our income coming in. Right now we have 3 different components to our farm business. First the certified organic vegetable and fruit component, then we have our indoor certified organic mushroom operation, and finally we have a small local restaurant. Our income did indeed increase but so did our overhead. This expansion caused us to count every penny and look for ways to lean out our expenses to increase profits.

Micole, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Bread and Butter Farms started as a desire to be in control of what we put into our bodies and as a source of calm in our chaotic life. As usual when you plant a garden you end up with more than you can use. We discovered West Broad Farmers Market and started attending each Saturday. This market was in a undeserved minority community in Athens which is a soft spot for us as individuals and as a business. From there it became evident that we could build a thriving business doing what we love and help our community. What sets us apart is our love for educating our customers on why it’s important to fill your body with chemical free, local, organically grown produce and the benefits. We also operate on a zero waste model as much as possible. What we don’t sell or what is considered “ugly” to customers we turn it into a product, such as pickled vegetables, dehydrated soup starters, etc. The restaurant helps tremendously with the zero waste model as well. We are most proud of the variety we are able to offer out customers. We are able to offer vegetables, fruits, beef bacon, fresh baked bread, eggs, and herbs. Our customers are able to cut out many of the items that would normally buy at the store at a good price all in a one stop shop model.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

More outlets does not always equal more money. During our 2nd growing season we started out doing as many as 7 farmers markets. This was exhausting! As we completed our season we reviewed our profits and decided that having 1-2 busy/profitable outlets saved time and produced more money. We began to look at quality vs quantity. We are constantly looking for ways to lean out our effort off the farm and continue to maximize profit.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Farming requires constant ability to pivot! You have to stay on your toes and have backup plans to your backup plan. We like this space because you don’t get comfortable or set in a rigid space. It gives us the ability to be creative and think outside the box. Farmers are dependent on the weather and a frost can wipe out thousands of dollars and set you back weeks. We have lost crops right before the season kicked off. To still have an income we have multiple products that we can sell and still be profitable as a business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.breadandbutterfarms.com
• Instagram: bread.and.butter.farm.to.table
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/breadandbutterfarms/

Image Credits
Warren Cameron