E-Commerce and Business Resources for Farmers
The pandemic presents our farming community with many challenges. As we depend more on digital technologies and curbside pickups to navigate social distancing measures, we wanted to be sure that we were providing our community members with the resources that they need to successfully digitize their farming businesses.
With the support of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), we have curated this selection of useful tools, resources pages, and best practices to help you integrate online sales and ecommerce into your farm’s business plan, allowing you to continue reaching your customers, despite the challenges of the lockdown.
At the bottom of each of these five Resources Pages, you’ll find a link to our peer-to-peer discussion board. Hosted on the Discourse platform, the goal of this OFN discussion board is to provide community members with the opportunity to ask questions, start conversations, and contribute to a growing list of knowledge-sharing resources. We looking forward to meeting you there!
Business Tools for Farmers
To run a successful farm business, a person has to wear many hats. Beyond running the farm, one also has to think about sales, business planning, accounting and much more!
Here is a list of a few great sites that offer a wide range of business tools and resources specific to the needs of the farming community. The resources range from webinars and online courses to self-evaluation tools that you can implement to help you ‘tune up’ your business practices.
How to Run a Popup Store on Open Food Network
Find out how to easily create a temporary store on OFN. Sell food, flowers and other local farm products for a weekend, a holiday season or another short duration.
Get support for your farm: COVID-19 resources for farmers in Canada
As COVID-19 lockdowns and social distancing measures have threatened to shutter face-to-face markets and in-person sales channels, many farmers have been pushed to navigate the unfamiliar world of online sales.
On this page, we have compiled resources concerning the COVID-related supports that Canadian governments, funding agencies, and advocacy groups have rolled out to help farmers adjust their business models in order to adapt to these unpredictable times.
Digital Marketing for Small Farms
In this short guide, we will help you draft a simple marketing strategy in under an hour, then walk you through first steps and best practices for email and social media marketing. We’ve even provided templates and content ideas to get you started!
7 Funding Resources for Farmers in Ontario
Whether you’re planning to grow your business, hire or train new employees, or even conduct essential research, the Province of Ontario has grants to support you in the realization of your goals.
Whatever stage your business is at, you should always consider exploring which grants you’re eligible for. If you’re able to secure funding through a grant (which is usually funds that don’t need to be repaid) you can help your farming business make the leap to the next level, without the pressure of repayment schedules.
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