Family Roots Farm owner, Britney Hervey Farris, worked hard to achieve success in the agriculture business by engaging with a local West Liberty mentor and WVU Extension services.
The four elements below helped her on her business journey.
Achieve Success in the Agriculture Business
Finding an Untapped Market in West Virginia
Did you know that West Virginia has more maple trees than Vermont? Neither did we, until we talked with Farris.
Henry Hervey settled on the land that Family Roots Farm sits on in the 1770’s. This farm has been passed down through seven generations of the Hervey family. Rather than get part-time jobs, Farris and her husband, Chris, established Family Roots Farm in 2012. They started off with selling sweet corn at a roadside stand and eventually growing seven acres of seasonal produce to sell at local markets and restaurants.
The Hervey Family’s Maple Syrup debuted in 2013.
With just 40 maple taps to begin with, Farris has expanded to more than 1,000 since 2012.
Taking Advantage of the Resources Offered to You
One of the most important things you can do is to educate yourself and use the resources around you when starting a business. Find a mentor, find resources in your state and start networking.
“Get educated, find a mentor and let them guide you,” said Farris.
Farris reached out to Dale Sampson, owner of a feed shop in West Liberty. Sampson taught Farris how to grow sweet corn and later on–pointed her business to WVU Extension. Then, WVU Extension pointed Family Roots Farm to the State Department of Agriculture.
Remember, Your Business is NOT Just a Hobby
Farris and her husband didn’t start treating their business like a business until 2015.
“Our worst moment was treating our small business as a hobby. We never looked at it as a business back in 2012,” said Farris, “We had to backpedal and do some things over again.”
“If we had just started with a business plan and had things in place, it would have helped us in the long run,” continued Farris.
Don’t Dwell on the Hurdles, Be Proud of Your Accomplishments, Learn from Your Mistakes and Continue
Farris took considerable steps to build her business after treating her business as a hobby.
From taking classes through WVU Extension, participating in the Women in Agriculture project and finding a mentor to guide her–Farris has some great accomplishments.
In 2015, the Family Roots Farm won the International Maple Sugar Award. And in 2017, Farris was honored as one of four West Virginia women who stood out in the agriculture field at the West Virginia State Fair.
“From traditional livestock operations, to floriculture, agribusiness, agritourism and specialty crop operations, women are strongly leading in many emerging agricultural fields. This is a chance to honor their hard work, entrepreneurial spirit and innovation,” said Commissioner of Agriculture, Kent Leonhardt.
Since 2015, Farris and the Family Roots Farm have been working toward exporting their products to China. Through networking, the possibility is becoming a reality.
Farris and her family have taken an untapped market and turned it into a successful venture through mentorship and resources in West Virginia.
The takeaway is this: through careful planning and a helpful hand–your West Virginia business can succeed.
Farris was a guest on Positively West Virginia, a Morgantown-based podcast that is dedicated to telling positive, inspirational stories about West Virginia businesses.
To listen to the full podcast, click here.
Achieve Success in the Agriculture Business Overview:
- Find an untapped market in West Virginia [Britney’s case, her family’s farm and turning it into a maple syrup business]
- Get educated. [Britney discusses that she has a B.S. in Science, and used WV resources to get educated]
- Find a mentor. [Another resource Britney mentions is finding a mentor, but also networking through that mentor]
- Even if your business is a hobby, don’t treat it as such. [Britney talks about how from the start, they treated their small business like a hobby.]
- Be proud of your accomplishments, and learn how to use them to your advantage. [Discusses her West Virginia Women in Agriculture award at the West Virginia State Fair