Right attitude pays off by creating new opportunities

The family are widely admired, humble and do great things in the community - the quintessential quiet achievers.

There are a couple of farming families I have known for many years that fit this bill.

Both of these family businesses have grown in the past 20 years or so.

There are lots of reasons for this.

The most obvious one is they are good operators, but another part of their success has been building relationships within the community.

Opportunities have come along to expand their holdings over time.

Most of these so-called 'lucky breaks' have been no accident, nor have they been because of careful positioning to get in the box seat.

They have come about by being kind and generous without expectation of anything in return.

Being good neighbours through thick and thin - not just when they sense an opportunity to grow their business - is one of the keys to these two business' successes.

This is not rocket science but is a reflection on the value of being a decent person.

Another characteristic of these two farming businesses is they have enterprises that, at first glance, don't seem to be compatible with the core farming business, but make complete sense once you understand the rationale behind the decision.

I couldn't initially see the nexus and it outwardly seemed an unnecessary distraction from core business but, once I asked more questions, the penny dropped.

The people who run both of these businesses are inherently intelligent and I wasn't surprised they went this way - once I understood the business model.

The lesson here for me was to go into conversations without preconceptions and to listen intently.

One aspect of their respective off-farm enterprises was, they weren't competing in an already established market.

The opportunity was niche in some way.

This to me seemed to the be secret sauce. Both families had found their opportunity where there was limited competition.

Like the chance to grow the on-farm operations, the opportunity to get involved in an enterprise off-farm was as a result of wanting to help other people with their existing business and a willingness to think outside the square and take a punt.

There are variations on what I would call the traditional family farm, but both of these farming operations fit the bill.

They are both multi-generational and have two generations working together closely, with the third generation on the way.

Both families exude passion for what they do and are constantly on the journey of continuous improvement.

They are also sponges when it comes to gathering new intel, but are equally generous with passing on their knowledge to others.

There are many farming families that fit this description and it makes me feel the industry is in safe hands.

Conversations with both these families leave me invigorated. Their enthusiasm is infectious.