Sometimes the smallest things in business produce the biggest results. 

Quick history lesson:

Back in 2013, Farm Owners Academy co-founder Greg owned a vet business that was turning over $750K per year, $150K of which was profit.
 

Not bad, right?
 

But to make that money, he had to do EVERYTHING in the business himself.
 

He was working insane hours, 7 days a week — which didn’t leave much time or energy for the things he loved, including his three kids and consulting to farmers.
 

Sound familiar?
 

Greg wanted something different for his business and his life. So he joined a mastermind with a successful business coach to elevate his results.
 

And three years later…
 

After applying what he learned…
 

Greg grew his business to $3million turnover and $400K profit per year.
 

Now, that kind of financial transformation is pretty amazing. But what’s even more amazing?
 

He achieved those results without being involved in the day-to-day business. He did the hiring and firing, but basically, the business ran without him.
 

(That’s when Greg co-founded Farm Owners Academy with his business coach! Once he saw how powerful these business principles were, he couldn’t wait to share them with the farming community he devoted years to consulting.)
 

Here’s the important part:
 

Greg’s financial transformation — plus many of the transformations from our most successful clients — ultimately comes down to just one thing.
 

Yep…just one!
 

This thing is the biggest reason Farm Owner Academy Alumni members (the ones who complete the Platinum Mastermind Program ) get 4.6% higher Return on Assets Managed than the average farmer and have way more fun while they do it. (Given a $3 Million asset value, that’s an average of $108,000 more every single year, compared to the ABARES averages).
 

Want to know what that thing is so you can use it to grow your farming business?
 

Keep reading.  We’ll share the secret strategy, along with 3 tips to help you apply it and start seeing results for yourself.
 

The ONE thing the most successful farm owners all have in common is…

They realise to get the things that successful farmer owners HAVE, first you need to BE (or think) the way successful farm owners think and then DO the things that successful farmer owners DO. This is the Be – Do – Have model.
 

At the top is what you want to HAVE — these are your results. (In Greg’s case, it was a $3 million turnover business that ran without him day-to-day.)
 

Beneath that are things you have to DO to achieve those results. These are your actions and habits. (Greg had to hire a coach, train new staff, redesign the business to run without him, etc.)
 

Beneath that is who you have to BE in order to carry out those actions. (Greg had to become a strategic, forward-thinking, and confident business owner in order to take the steps to grow his business. He couldn’t do it as a vet who was needed to do all the work himself and was afraid to let go of control).
 

And underneath all three of those levels is something very, very important:
 

The right MINDSET.
 

Your mindset is a set of beliefs that shape how you think, feel, and behave.
 

And without the right mindset, you’ll never become the person who takes the actions that lead to the results you want.
 

The problem is most people have it the wrong way around…
 

They think that if they HAVE what the successful farm owner has, then they will DO what the successful farm owner does…and then they can BE the person the successful farm owner is.
 

So they go spend money on things that don’t really matter, they take little action, and their thinking remains the same tomorrow as it is today….AND….nothing changes.
 

After coaching hundreds of farm owners, 95% of our clients say the biggest shift they made that led to their success was a shift in their mindset…95%!
 

And the sad part is, most people think working on their mindset is a load of fluff.
 

Have you ever thought that mindset stuff was a bit fluffy? We did when we first started out.
 

But the truth is, the right mindset lies underneath everything else. Ask any successful business owner and we guarantee they’ll have done some mindset work in the past.
 

The good news is that working on your mindset costs absolutely nothing. So it’s okay if you’re skeptical. It doesn’t have to cost you anything to try this out and see if it works.
 

Here are 3 simple but significant mindset shifts (and how to shift them) to become the world-class farmer you need to be to create the business and life of your dreams.
 

Mindset shift #1: Teenager to toddler mentality

I bet you’ve either raised a teenager or spent time around a teenager. So tell me…
 

Can you teach a teenager anything new?
 

No.
 

Do teenagers think they already know everything?
 

Yep.
 

Teens have a closed mindset that blocks them from learning new things. Unfortunately, many farmers also think like this.
 

They think they already know everything about everything and there’s nothing new they can possibly learn. And this blocks the opportunity to discover new habits, tactics, and strategies to create a high-performing business.
 

To grow as a business owner, the first thing we need to drop is our ego.
 

Because you may know a whole lot about being a technical operator on the farm. But you probably don’t know everything about… 

• increasing profits
• improving margins
• creating a business model that delivers predictable results
• developing systems and processes that give you more time

…and all the other elements of running a highly profitable farm business.

To be an open-minded business owner, you need to lose the “I already know that” teenage mindset and adopt a curious “what can I learn here?” toddler mindset.
 

Toddlers look at the world like everything is new. They’re constantly learning, watching others around them, and trying out different things to find what works best.
 

How to shift this mindset:
 

The next time you want to say, “I already know that” or “that won’t work for me,” say this instead:
 

“That’s interesting.”
 

You may not agree with everything you hear. But get out of the habit of discounting new or different information right away.
 

When you say “that’s interesting,” you can take a moment to consider how it might work for you…rather than simply assuming it won’t.
 

Top farm owners and successful business people always stay open to learning new things. If you can, too, you’ll take the first step in developing a winning mindset.
 

Mindset shift #2: “Failure” to “Feedback”

In sport, you’ve got the winning team and losing team, right?
 

And if you feel like you’re never winning (ex: if you’re always struggling to generate profits on the farm) it probably feels like you’re always on the losing side, like you’re failing.
 

But the way we see it, there is no losing. You’re either on the winning team or the LEARNING team.
 

Failure doesn’t actually exist. There’s just feedback.
 

If you try something and it doesn’t work out the way you expect, guess what? You just learned what doesn’t work…and that’s really helpful feedback! It gets you one step closer to what does work for your farm.
 

Look, succeeding in business involves trying new things and taking risks. And that inevitably means mistakes.
 

No business owner has a straight journey from win to win to win. There are always missteps along the way.
 

To be a profitable farm owner, you have to accept that mistakes will happen. But they’re not the end of the world, they’re just a step on your bigger journey.
 

How to shift this mindset:

The next time you make a mistake, remind yourself that it’s NOT a failure. It’s just a lesson.
 

As long as you remain open-minded (mindset shift #1) and keep participating…
 

If you look for feedback where you’re going wrong…
 

And if you apply that feedback to adjust your strategy and keep moving forward…
 

…It’s impossible to fail, in our experience. You’ll always find a way to win eventually.
 

Just think, “Okay, so now I know what doesn’t work. That’s great feedback.” And move on!
 

Mindset shift #3: Blame to ownership

After a bad season, most farmers will say things like…
 

“The bloody bank raked me over the coals.”
 

“My employee did a crap job and cost me a fortune.”
 

“The drought ruined my entire year.”
 

It’s really tempting to blame something or somebody else for your results, right? But that won’t help you grow a profitable farming business.
 

Because if it’s always somebody else’s fault, you’ll always be a victim without any control.
 

A stronger mindset is to take responsibility for the results on your farm. All of them.
 

And instead of blaming others, look for ways YOU can improve the situation:
 

“I could have done better negotiating my rates with the bank. I’ll learn more about negotiation and have another conversation with them.”
 

“I didn’t train my employee well enough. I’ll create some systems and processes to make it easier for them to do the job right in the future.”
 

“I chose to farm in this area and I know droughts happen. I need a better plan so I can still make profits even if the weather’s crap.”
 

RELATED POST: It’s How You React to the Drought that Matters Most
 

Can you feel the difference between blaming and taking ownership?
 

Blaming feels weak, right? Whereas taking ownership feels strong and powerful.
 

How to shift this mindset:

You need to start playing “above the line”…

Top farm owners take ownership, accountability, and responsibility for every outcome in their farm business. They act as if everything is within their control.
 

So they’re always asking, “how can I improve this? What are the SOLUTIONS I can create?”
 

It’s a creative, problem-solving mindset. And when you use it, you’ll continually find ways to improve your results.
 

Whereas struggling farmers often blame someone or something else, make excuses, and deny any role in the problem. That makes them powerless to fix the situation and they keep repeating the same patterns and getting the same results.
 

If you want to step up and be a profitable farm owner, you need to start playing above the line, in all situations. And it starts with a mindset of taking ownership.
 

In our experience, improving your mindset is the #1 most important thing you can do to improve results on your farm.
 

The right mindset fuels the right beliefs and the right actions to get the results you want.
 

And you can start right here, right now, by making these three powerful mindset shifts: 

1. Adopt an open-minded toddler mentality
2. Don’t fear mistakes and see failure as feedback
3. Take ownership of everything on your farm

Your mindset won’t change overnight. But little by little, you’ll notice that you start to think differently. And when you do, it will have an incredible effect on your actions and results.
 

What’s coming next…

We’ll be sending lots of free education your way over the next few weeks.
 

Have a toddler mentality with this stuff! Keep an open mind and see how it can work for you, rather than automatically saying, “I already know it all.”
 

The information we’ll be sharing has proven to work for our farmers (remember, they’re making a 4.6% higher ROAM every year) so you’re bound to pick up some powerful tips for your farm business.
 

We’ll send these lessons straight to your inbox, so click here to sign up for free Farm Owners Academy email updates.