Now We're Getting Somewhere!

Oh boy - there's a lot to discuss this week. I'm having a hard time keeping up with everything as it stands right now. Let's get into it!

From the field:

I was fully prepared for my trip to Eastern Iowa to be one that contained a certain number of "no" answers, and was at peace with it.

But I heard zero outright "nos". In fact, I had 2 farmers who weren't even on my list end up committing to acres. The story went like this:

I was heading to my first farm, and I turned on to a gravel road to get there. Significant melting was taking place at the time, and in one particular location, the roads were treacherous to say the least. So I pulled into the driveway of the nearby farm to regroup, switch to 4 wheel drive on the truck, and carry on. But I realized I was at the farm of someone on my list, so I just parked the truck and had a nice conversation with the guy. A couple hours later, he texts me and says I should give another farmer a call because he has interest in what I'm putting together. OK, got it. So I call him up, and he commits to two large fields. Great! But that's not all - this farmer says a buddy of his down the road would like to learn more, and I should call him too! So I did, and he committed to two large fields of his own.

I did have one visit that didn't go so well, but it makes for a good story. I drove 20 miles out of the way for this guy in particular, because I remembered him from high school sports back in the day. I pulled up to his farm, didn't see him outside, and decided that I wasn't going to just knock on his front door because who does that in today's world? Well, I got about a mile down the road before deciding I just need to go do it. What's the worst that can happen? I didn't dwell on that question for very long, because I could've convinced myself of some bad things happening. Anyway, I turn around and drive up to the house, knock on the door, and then wait. And wait. And wait a little more. So I started writing a note on a business card to wedge into his front door when I hear a kid yell "DAD - THERE'S SOMEONE AT THE DOOR, AND I DON'T KNOW WHO IT IS!" Or something to that effect. So I'm the creepy guy now, no getting around it. But anyway, the dad comes out (the farmer I was hoping to talk to) and doesn't seem overly excited to see me. I give my little schpeel, and he points me down the road to his dad, because his dad manages the crops. He tells me where I can find him, I leave and go look for this farm he described, and couldn't find it. So that wasn't a great use of time, but hey, had to be done otherwise I'd have always wondered about it. And if I can track down the dad's name and address, I can pay him a visit in the future.

When all was said and done, I had over 1/3 of my target acres committed and came away with a few cell phone numbers of farmers (waaay better than landlines). I'm feeling MUCH better about where things stand now - definitely worth the trip out East!

From the office:

A very recent development that I'm waiting for a response on is a short-term engagement for a local company. I had a recruiter call me the other day asking if I'd be open to a short-term engagement that'd last up through June. That's about perfect as far as I'm concerned. I sent my resume on Monday, and e-signed some documents today. Next step will be to actually talk to the client and see if it's a fit!

So that fixes a potential financial problem, but it could create some different problems around time. If I'm working 40-50 hours a week, will I be able to get everything done with the ag business that I need to?

Upwork continues to be fruitful, although I may have to dial back that avenue if I'll be working full time these next 4 months. Just wrapped up a project about an hour ago that was a fun challenge. Basically creating a set of financial statements out of a list of transactions from bank statements, with no real guidance as how to classify these transactions.

What I'm reading:

In a Pit With a Lion On a Snowy Day. I've read this book in the past, but it feels more applicable now that I'm actually getting uncomfortable with a lot of these business-building activities. The main premise of the book surrounds the not-often-focused-on story in the Bible regarding Benaiah, who ended up being King David's head of security. One of his claims to fame was chasing a lion into a snowy pit and killing it.

I don't know that I'm ever looking to get to that level of bravery, but I was living pretty well within my comfort zone for the last number of years. So maybe I'm taking my level of bravery from a 0 to a 2 at this point. Baby steps, but baby steps in the right direction.

Thanks for hanging in - until next week!