How to open a hazelnut farm?
Want to start a hazelnut farm but don't know where to begin? Then you've come to the right place!
Our comprehensive guide covers everything related to opening a hazelnut farm - from choosing the right concept to setting out your marketing plan and financing your business.
You'll also learn how to assess the profitability of your business idea and decide whether or not it can be viable from a financial perspective.
Ready to kickstart your entrepreneurial journey? Let's begin!
Getting the hang of how a hazelnut farm works
Before you can start a hazelnut farm, you need to have a solid understanding of how the business works and what are its main revenue streams.
This will give you a glimpse into the profitability potential of your venture, whilst allowing you to decide whether or not it is a good fit for your situation (current skillset, savings and capital available to start the business, and family responsibilities).
It may be that creating a hazelnut farm is an excellent idea, but just not the right one for you.
Before starting their own company, successful entrepreneurs typically:
- Consult with and take advice from experienced hazelnut farm owners
- Acquire hands-on experience by working in an operational hazelnut farm
- Take relevant training courses
Let's explore each option in a bit more detail.
Consulting with and taking advice from experienced hazelnut farm owners
Having "seen it all", established business owners can offer valuable insights and hands-on advice drawn from their own experiences.
This is because, through both successes and failures, they've gained a more informed and practical understanding of what it takes to build and sustain a successful hazelnut farm over the long term.
Acquiring hands-on experience by working in an operational hazelnut farm
If you want to open a hazelnut farm, having industry-specific experience is imperative because it equips you with the knowledge, network, and acumen necessary to navigate challenges and make informed decisions critical to the success of your future business.
You'll also be able to judge whether or not this business idea is suitable for you or if there might be conflicts of interest with your personal life (for example, long working hours could be incompatible with raising young children).
This work experience will also help you to make contacts in the industry and familiarise yourself with customers and their expectations, which will prove invaluable when you set up your hazelnut farm.
Take relevant training courses
Taking a training course is another way of familiarising yourself with the business model of your future activity before you decide to make the jump.
You may choose to complete a training course to obtain a certificate or degree, or just take online courses to acquire practical skills.
Before going any further in setting up your venture
Before you go any further with your plans to open a hazelnut farm, make sure you have a clear vision of what it will take in terms of:
- What skills are needed to run the business successfully (do you have some or all of these skills?)
- What a standard working week looks like (does it suit your personal commitments?)
- What sales potential and long-term growth prospects the hazelnut farm has (compare this with your level of ambition)
- What options you'll have once you decide to retire (or move on and inevitably sell the company)
This analysis of the business model and the constraints of the business should help you to check that your idea of launching a hazelnut farm fits your entrepreneurial profile.
If there is a match, it will then be time to look at assembling the founding team of your business.
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Assembling your hazelnut farm's founding team
The next step to opening your hazelnut farm is to think about the ideal founding team, or to decide to go in alone.
Starting and growing a successful business doesn't have to be a solo journey and setting up a hazelnut farm with several co-founders is generally easier. The business benefits from a management team with a wider skillset, decisions are made together, and the financial risk is shared among the partners, making the journey more collaborative and less daunting.
But, running a business with several partners brings its own challenges. Disagreements between co-founders are quite common, and these can pose risks to the business. That's why it's crucial to consider all aspects before starting your own business.
We won't go into too much detail here, as this is a complex topic that deserves its own guide, but we do recommend that you ask yourself the following questions:
- What is the ideal number of co-founders for this venture?
- Are you on the same wavelength as your potential partners in terms of vision and ambition?
- How will you deal with potential failure?
Let's look at each of these questions in more detail.
What is the ideal number of co-founders for this venture?
To answer this question you will need to consider the following:
- What skills do you need to run the business? Are you lacking any?
- How much startup capital do you need? How much do you have?
- How are key decisions going to be made? - It is usually advisable to have an odd number of partners (or a majority shareholder) to help break the tie.
Put simply, your co-founders contribute skills, capital, or both. Increasing the number of partners becomes advantageous when there is a deficiency in either of these resources.
Are you on the same wavelength as your potential partners in terms of vision and ambition?
Your business partners should share the same short and long-term vision, be it business expansion or social responsibility, to avoid future frustrations and simplify decision-making. Different views are natural, but alignment is ideal.
In any case, you should think of having an exit mechanism in place in case one of the partners wants to move on.
How will you deal with potential failure?
We wish you nothing but success when starting up and growing your hazelnut farm, but it's always wise to have a backup in case things don't go as planned.
How you deal with a potential failure can vary significantly based on the relationship you have with your business partner (close friend, spouse, ex-colleague, etc.) and the personal circumstances of each of you.
For instance, starting a business with your spouse might seem appealing, but if it doesn't succeed, you risk losing 100% of the household income at once, which could be stressful.
Similarly, going into a partnership with a friend can put pressure on the friendship in the event of failure or when you need to make difficult decisions.
There is no wrong answer, but it is essential to carefully evaluate your options before starting up to ensure you're well-prepared for any potential outcomes.
Undertaking market research for a hazelnut farm
The next step in starting a hazelnut farm is to undertake market research. Now, let's delve into what this entails.
The objectives of market research
The goal here is straightforward: evaluate the demand for your business and determine if there's an opportunity to be seized.
One of the key points of your market analysis will be to ensure that the market is not saturated by competing offers.
The market research to open your hazelnut farm will also help you to define a concept and market positioning likely to appeal to your target clientele.
Finally, your analysis will provide you with the data you need to assess the revenue potential of your future business.
Let's take a look at how to carry out your market research.
Evaluating key trends in the sector
Market research for a hazelnut farm usually begins with an analysis of the sector in order to develop a solid understanding of the sector, its key players, and recent trends.
Assessing the demand
After the sector analysis comes the analysis of the demand. Demand for a hazelnut farm refers to customers likely to consume the products and services offered by your company or its competitors.
Looking at the demand will enable you to gain insights into the desires and needs expressed by your future customers and their observed purchasing habits.
To be relevant, your demand analysis must be targeted to the geographic area(s) served by your company.
Your demand analysis should highlight the following points:
- Who buys the type of products and services you sell?
- How many potential customers are there in the geographical area(s) targeted by your company?
- What are their needs and expectations?
- What are their purchasing habits?
- How much do they spend on average?
- What are the main customer segments and their characteristics?
- How to communicate and promote the company's offer to reach each segment?
Analyzing demand helps pinpoint customer segments your hazelnut farm could target and determines the products or services that will meet their expectations.
Assessing the supply
Once you have a clear vision of who your potential customers are and what they want, the next step is to look at your competitors.
Amongst other things, you’ll need to ask yourself:
- What brands are competing directly/indirectly against your hazelnut farm?
- How many competitors are there in the market?
- Where are they located in relation to your company's location?
- What will be the balance of power between you: are your competitors independent or franchises?
- What types of services and products do they offer? At what price?
- Are they targeting the same customers as you?
- How do they promote themselves?
- Which concepts seem to appeal most to customers?
- Which competitors seem to be doing best?
The aim of your competitive analysis will be to identify who is likely to overshadow you, and to find a way to differentiate yourself (more on this see below).
Regulations
Market research is also an opportunity to look at the regulations and conditions required to do business.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Do you need a special degree to open a hazelnut farm?
- Are there necessary licences or permits?
- What are the main laws applicable to your future business?
At this stage, your analysis of the regulations should be carried out at a high level, to familiarize yourself with any rules and procedures, and above all to ensure that you meet the necessary conditions for carrying out the activity before going any further.
You will have the opportunity to come back to the regulation afterwards with your lawyer when your project is at a more advanced stage.
Take stock of the lessons learned from your market analysis
Market research should give you a definitive idea of your business idea's chances of commercial success.
Ideally, the conclusion is that there is a market opportunity because one or more customer segments are currently underserved by the competition.
On the other hand, the conclusion may be that the market is already taken. In this case, don't panic: the first piece of good news is that you're not going to spend several years working hard on a project that has no chance of succeeding. The second is that there's no shortage of ideas out there: at The Business Plan Shop, we've identified over 1,300 business start-up ideas, so you're bound to find something that will work.
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Defining the right concept and positioning for your hazelnut farm
The next step to start a hazelnut farm is to choose the company's market positioning.
Market positioning refers to the place your product and service offering occupies in customers' minds and how it differs from how competitors are perceived. Being perceived as a high-end solution, for example.
To do this, you need to take the following considerations into account:
- How can you make your business stand out from your competitors?
- Can you consider joining a franchise as a way to lower the risks involved?
- Is it better to start a new hazelnut farm or acquire one that is already up and running?
- How to make sure your concept meets customer needs?
Let's look at each of these in a little more detail.
How can you make your business stand out from your competitors?
When you decide to start your own hazelnut farm, you're facing an upward challenge because your competitors are already ahead. They have a good reputation, loyal customers, and a strong team, while you're just getting started.
Opening a hazelnut farm offering exactly the same thing as your competitors is risky and potentially doomed to failure: why would customers take the risk of choosing a newcomer rather than a company with a proven track record?
This is why it is advisable to avoid direct confrontation by adopting a differentiated market positioning wherever possible: in other words, by offering something different or complementary to what is available on the market.
To find a market positioning that has every chance of success, you need to ask yourself the following questions:
- Can you negate direct competition by serving a customer profile that is currently poorly addressed by your competitors?
- Can your business provide something different or complementary to what is already available on the market?
- Why will customers choose your hazelnut farm over the competition?
- How will your competitors react to your entry into their market?
- Is the market sufficiently large and fragmented (i.e. not dominated by a few large chains) to allow you to set up an independent business, or is it better to consider another avenue (see below)?
Can you consider joining a franchise as a way to lower the risks involved?
A good way of getting a market positioning that is guaranteed to seduce customers is to join a group with a proven concept.
Admittedly, joining a franchise is not necessarily as exciting as opening a hazelnut farm with a clean slate and everything to invent and total freedom to do so, but it is a proven way of reducing the risk of entering the market.
By joining a franchise, you will benefit from a concept that is successful with customers, the brand recognition of a large network, and operational support with regard to supplier relations, processes and operating standards, etc.
In return, you will have to pay an entry fee and an annual royalty (generally indexed to your company's sales).
Joining a franchise is a trade off where you need additional capital and get less freedom in exchange for a lot less risk. It's not for everyone, and it's not possible everywhere (franchise opportunities vary from region to region), but it is nevertheless an option you should explore.
Is it better to start a new hazelnut farm or acquire one that is already up and running?
Another way to benefit from a proven concept and reduce the risk of your project is to take over a hazelnut farm.
Buying a hazelnut farm allows you to get a team, a customer base, and above all to preserve the balance on the market by avoiding creating a new player. For these reasons, taking over a business is a lot less risky than creating one from scratch.
Taking over a business also gives you greater freedom than franchising, because you have the freedom to change the positioning and operations of the business as you see fit.
However, as you can imagine, the cost of taking over a business is higher than that of opening a hazelnut farm because you will have to finance the purchase.
How to make sure your concept meets customer needs?
Once you have decided on your concept and the market positioning of your future hazelnut farm, you will need to check that it meets the needs, expectations and desires of your future customers.
To do this, you need to present it to some of your target customers to gather their impressions.
Finding the ideal place for your hazelnut farm
The next step in our guide on starting a hazelnut farm involves making a key choice about where you want your business to be located.
Picking the ideal location for your business is like selecting the perfect canvas for a painting. Without it, your business might not showcase its true colors.
We recommend that you take the following factors into account when making your decision:
- Climate and soil quality - Hazelnuts require specific climate and soil conditions to thrive, so choosing a location with the right climate and soil quality is crucial for a hazelnut farm.
- Foot traffic - While a hazelnut farm may not necessarily rely on foot traffic for sales, having a visible location with a good amount of foot traffic can help with marketing and promoting the farm's products.
- Proximity to target customers - It is important for a hazelnut farm to be located near potential customers, such as grocery stores or farmers' markets, to reduce transportation costs and ensure fresh products.
- Premises layout - The layout of the premises should be suitable for growing and harvesting hazelnuts, with enough space for trees and equipment.
This list is not comprehensive and will have to be adjusted based on the details of your project.
The parameters to be taken into account will also depend on whether you opt to rent premises or buy them. If you are a tenant, you will need to consider the conditions attached to the lease: duration, rent increase, renewal conditions, etc.
Lease agreements differ widely from country to country, so it's essential to review the terms that apply to your situation. Before putting pen to paper, consider having your lawyer look carefully at the lease.
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How do I choose my hazelnut farm's legal form?
The next step to start a hazelnut farm is to choose the legal form of your business.
The legal form of a business simply means the legal structure it operates under. This structure outlines how the business is set up and defines its legal obligations and responsibilities.
Why is your hazelnut farm's legal form important?
Choosing the right legal form for your hazelnut farm is important because this will affect:
- Taxation: your tax obligations depend on the legal structure you choose, and this principle applies to both personal income tax and business taxes.
- Risk exposure: some legal structures have a legal personality (also known as corporate personality) and limited liability, which separates them from the owners running the business. This means that the business would be liable rather than the owners if things were to go wrong (lawsuit, debt in case of bankruptcy, etc.).
- Decision-making and governance: how you make key decisions varies based on the legal form of your business. In some cases you might need to have a board of directors and organise general assemblies to enable shareholders to influence major decisions with their voting rights.
- Financing: securing funding from investors requires you to have a company and they will expect limited liability and corporate personality to protect them legally.
- Paperwork and legal formalities: the legal structure you select determines whether certain obligations are necessary, such as producing annual accounts, or getting your books audited.
Popular business legal forms
The specific names of legal structures vary from country to country, but they usually fall within the two main categories below:
- Individual businesses
- Companies
Individual businesses
Individual businesses, like sole traders or sole proprietorships, are made for self-employed entrepreneurs and freelancers rather than businesses which employ staff.
They benefit from straightforward administrative requirements, minimal paperwork to start, simpler tax calculations, and streamlined accounting procedures.
However, the downside is that there's typically no legal distinction between the business and the person responsible for day-to-day operations. This means the owner's personal assets are at risk if the business faces problems or goes bankrupt.
There is also no share capital in such a structure, meaning that individual businesses cannot raise equity from investors which seriously limits funding options.
Companies
Companies are versatile structures suited to projects of all sizes in terms of number of founders, employees and capital.
They are a bit more complex to operate than individual businesses with more formalities, stringent accounting requirements, more complex tax implications, etc.
In return, they offer stronger protections to their shareholders. They usually benefit from having their own legal identity and limited liabilities, meaning co-founders and investors can only ever lose the amount of money they have put into the company.
For instance, if things were to go south (the company files for bankruptcy or there is a legal issue), the company would take the hit, safeguarding the personal assets of the founders and investors.
How should I choose my hazelnut farm's legal structure?
Deciding on a legal form is easy once you've estimated your sales, decided whether or not you need employees and figured out the number of co-founders joining you.
It's essential to remember that a solid business idea will succeed no matter which legal structure you pick. Tax laws change regularly, so you can't rely on specific tax advantages tied to a particular structure when starting a business.
A proven approach is to look at what legal structures your top competitors are using, and go with the most common option as a working assumption. Once your idea is mature enough, and you're getting closer to officially registering your business, you can get advice from a lawyer and an accountant to confirm your choice.
Can I switch my hazelnut farm's legal structure if I get it wrong?
Yes, changing your legal structure later is possible, though it may involve selling the old entity to a new entity in some cases, which adds further expenses. If you want to save on such costs, it makes sense to pick the correct legal form for your business the first time around.
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How much money do you need to start a hazelnut farm?
To answer this key question, we first need to look at the resources you'll need to launch your hazelnut farm and keep it running on a daily basis. Let's take a look at what that entails.
Since each venture is distinct, providing an average budget for starting a hazelnut farm is impossible.
We strongly advise careful consideration when reading estimates on the web. It’s best to ask yourself the following questions:
- Is my project similar (location, concept, planned size, etc.)?
- Can I trust where this information is coming from?
- Is the data fresh or stale?
Your thinking behind the investments and human resources required to launch and operate the business will then enable you to cost each item and include them in your financial forecast (which we'll look at later in this guide).
Once complete, the forecast will give you a precise idea of the initial investment required and profitability potential for your business idea.
Startup costs and investments to start a hazelnut farm
Let's start with the investments. To set up a hazelnut farm, initial working capital and investments can include the following items:
- Land and Property: This includes the purchase of land for your hazelnut farm, as well as any buildings or structures that will be used for storage, processing, or other purposes related to your farm.
- Equipment and Machinery: This can include tractors, harvesters, irrigation systems, and other specialized equipment needed for planting, maintaining, and harvesting hazelnuts. It can also include processing equipment such as sorting machines and hulling machines.
- Infrastructure: This includes any necessary infrastructure for your hazelnut farm, such as roads, fencing, and irrigation systems. These are important for efficient operations and ensuring the safety and security of your farm.
- Storage Facilities: As hazelnuts are a perishable crop, it is important to have proper storage facilities to maintain their quality. This can include refrigerated storage units or climate-controlled warehouses.
- Research and Development: Investing in research and development for your hazelnut farm can lead to advancements in farming techniques, pest control, and disease prevention, ultimately improving the productivity and profitability of your farm.
Of course, you will need to adapt this list to your company's specific needs.
Staffing requirements to operate a hazelnut farm
You'll also need to think about the staff required to run the business on a day-to-day basis.
The human resources required will vary according to the size of your company.
Once again, this list is only indicative and will need to be adjusted according to the specifics of your hazelnut farm.
Operating expenses of a hazelnut farm
The final point to consider when analyzing the resources required is the question of operating costs.
Operating expenses for a hazelnut farm may include:
- Staff costs: This includes salaries, benefits, and training for your employees who will be involved in the day-to-day operations of your hazelnut farm. This may also include seasonal labor costs during harvest time.
- Accountancy fees: You may need to hire an accountant to help you with bookkeeping, tax preparation, and financial analysis for your hazelnut farm. Their services can be essential in keeping your financial records organized and accurate.
- Insurance costs: Protecting your hazelnut farm from potential risks and liabilities is important. You may need to purchase insurance for your property, equipment, and crops.
- Software licenses: Depending on the size of your hazelnut farm, you may need to invest in software to help you manage your finances, inventory, and sales. This may include specialized farm management software or general accounting software.
- Banking fees: You will likely have to open a business bank account for your hazelnut farm and there may be fees associated with maintaining the account, processing transactions, and using certain features like wire transfers.
- Seed and plant materials: Hazelnut trees require seedlings or saplings to be planted, which can be a significant expense depending on the size of your farm. You may also need to purchase additional plants or seeds if any of your trees do not survive.
- Fertilizers and pesticides: Maintaining healthy hazelnut trees is crucial for a successful harvest. This may require purchasing fertilizers and pesticides to keep pests and diseases at bay.
- Irrigation and water costs: Hazelnut trees require regular watering, especially during the growing season. This may mean investing in irrigation systems or paying for water usage.
- Equipment and machinery: Depending on the size of your hazelnut farm, you may need to purchase or lease equipment such as tractors, harvesters, and pruning tools. These can be significant expenses, but necessary for efficient operations.
- Transportation costs: You may need to transport your hazelnuts to buyers or to a processing facility. This could involve hiring a transportation company or investing in your own vehicle.
- Marketing and advertising: In order to sell your hazelnuts, you may need to invest in marketing and advertising efforts to attract buyers. This could include creating a website, attending trade shows, or placing ads in relevant publications.
- Utilities: Running a hazelnut farm requires electricity for powering equipment and water pumps, as well as heating and cooling systems for storage facilities. These utility costs can add up over time.
- Storage and packaging materials: Once harvested, your hazelnuts will need to be stored and packaged for sale. This may require purchasing containers, bins, or bags to keep them fresh and protect them during transport.
- Rent or mortgage payments: If you do not own the land where your hazelnut farm is located, you may need to pay rent or a mortgage to use the land for your operations.
- Taxes and permits: As a business owner, you will be responsible for paying taxes on your hazelnut farm income and obtaining any necessary permits for operating your farm.
Here also, this list will need to be tailored to the specifics of your hazelnut farm but should be a good starting point for your budget.
Building a sales & marketing plan for your hazelnut farm
The next step to starting a hazelnut farm is to think about strategies that will help you attract and retain clients.
Consider the following questions:
- How will you attract as many customers as possible?
- How will you build customer loyalty?
- Who will be responsible for advertising and promotion? What budget can be allocated to these activities?
- How many sales and how much revenue can that generate?
Once again, the resources required will depend on your ambitions and the size of your company. But you could potentially action the initiatives below.
Your hazelnut farm's financial outlook may be affected by variations in consumer demand linked to the nature of your business, like changes in activity during peak holiday seasons, and the dynamics within your competitive environment.
Can your business idea be profitable?
Just enter your data and let The Business Plan Shop crunch the numbers. We will tell if your business idea can generate profits and cash flows, and how much you need to get started.
Creating your hazelnut farm's financial forecast
The next step to start your hazelnut farm: putting your financial projections together.
What is the financial forecast for a hazelnut farm?
A forecast is a quantified decision-making document that shows the initial investment required to open a hazelnut farm and the company's potential profitability and cash flow generation over the next 3 to 5 years.
As you think about your hazelnut farm idea, the main role of financial projections will be to help you decide whether it makes sense to create the company.
Building a financial forecast helps determine the amount of initial financing required to start your hazelnut farm.
In fact, creating financial projections is the only way to assess the amount of initial financing you'll need to open your hazelnut farm, and to make sure your project makes economic and financial sense.
Keep in mind that very few business ideas are financially viable. At The Business Plan Shop, we've seen nearly a million business start-up ideas, and we estimate that less than one in four is economically viable.
Your forecast will therefore require your full attention and constant revision, as your project matures. It's also a good idea to simulate different scenarios to anticipate several possibilities (what happens if your sales take longer than expected to ramp up, for example), so you're ready for all eventualities.
When seeking financing, your forecast will be incorporated into your business plan, which is the document you will use to present your business idea to financial partners. We'll come back to the business plan in more detail later in this guide.
Creating and updating your hazelnut farm's forecast is an ongoing process. Indeed, having up-to-date financial projections is the only way to maintain visibility over your company's future cash flow and cash position.
Forecasting is, therefore, the financial management tool that will be with you throughout the life of your company. Once you've started trading, you'll need to regularly compare the difference between your actual accounts and your forecasts, and then adjust them to maintain visibility over your future cash flows.
What does a financial forecast look like?
Once ready, your hazelnut farm forecast will be presented using the financial tables below.
The forecasted profit & loss statement
The profit & loss forecast gives you a clear picture of your business’ expected growth over the first three to five years, and whether it’s likely to be profitable or not.
The projected balance sheet
Your hazelnut farm's forecasted balance sheet enables you to assess your financial structure and working capital requirements.
The projected cash flow statement
A projected cash flow statement to start a hazelnut farm is used to show how much cash the business is expected to generate or consume over the first three years.
Which solution should you use to make a financial projection for your hazelnut farm?
Using an online financial forecasting tool, such as the one we offer at The Business Plan Shop, is the simplest and safest solution for forecasting your hazelnut farm.
There are several advantages to using specialised software:
- You can easily create your financial forecast by letting the software take care of the financial calculations for you without errors
- You have access to complete financial forecast templates
- You get a complete financial forecast ready to be sent to your bank or investors
- The software helps you identify and correct any inconsistencies in your figures
- You can create scenarios to stress-test your forecast's main assumptions to stress-test the robustness of your business model
- After you start trading, you can easily track your actual financial performance against your financial forecast, and recalibrate your forecast to maintain visibility on your future cash flows
- You have a friendly support team on standby to assist you when you are stuck
If you are interested in this type of solution, you can try our forecasting software for free by signing up here.
Choosing a name and registering your hazelnut farm
The next phase in launching your hazelnut farm involves selecting a name for your company.
This stage is trickier than it seems. Finding the name itself is quite fun; the difficulty lies in finding one that is available and being the first to reserve it.
You cannot take a name that is similar to a name already used by a competitor or protected by a registered trademark without inevitably risking legal action.
So you need to find a name that is available, and be able to register it before someone else can.
In addition, you will probably want to use the same name for:
- Your company’s legal name - Example LTD
- Your business trading name - Example
- The trademark - Example ®
- Your company’s domain name - Example.com
The problem is that the procedures for registering these different names are carried out in different places, each with their own deadlines:
- Registering a domain name takes only a few minutes
- Registering a new trademark takes at least 12 weeks (if your application is accepted)
- The time taken to register a new business depends on the country, but it's generally fast
You will therefore be faced with the choice of: either registering everything at once and hoping that your name will be accepted everywhere, or proceeding step by step in order to minimise costs, but taking the risk that someone else will register one of the names you wanted in the meantime.
Our advice is to discuss strategy with your legal counsel (see further down in this guide) and prioritise your domain names and registered trademarks. You'll always have the option of using a trade name that's different from your company's legal name, and that's not a big deal.
To check that the name you want is not already in use, you should consult:
- Your country's business register
- The relevant trademark registers depending on which countries you want to register your trade mark in
- A domain name reservation company such as GoDaddy
- An Internet search engine
In this area too, your legal counsel will be able to help with the research and formalities.
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Imagine the visual identity of your hazelnut farm
The next step in opening a hazelnut farm is to look at your company's visual identity.
Your company's “visual identity” plays a crucial role in shaping your brand image. It helps you to be recognizable and to stand out from your competitors.
Although you can define your visual identity yourself, it is generally advisable to call on the services of a designer or marketing agency to achieve a professional result.
At a minimum, you will need to define the following elements:
- Logo
- Brand guidelines
- Business cards
- Website theme
Logo
Your hazelnut farm's logo allows others to quickly identify your company. It will be used on all your communication media (website, social networks, business cards, etc.) and official documents (invoices, contracts, etc.).
In addition to its design, it's important that your logo is available in a variety of colors, so that it can be seen on all media (white, dark background, etc.).
Brand guidelines
Having brand guidelines enables you to maintain consistency in formatting across all your communications media and official documents.
Brand guidelines define the font (family and size), design and colours used by your brand.
In terms of fonts, for example, you may use Roboto in size 20 for your titles and Lato in size 14 for your texts.
The colours used to represent your brand should generally be limited to five:
- The main colour,
- A secondary colour (the accent),
- A dark background colour (blue or black),
- A grey background colour (to vary from white),
- Possibly another secondary colour.
Business cards
Designing business cards for your hazelnut farm is a must, as they will allow you to communicate your contact details to your customers, suppliers, partners, potential recruits, etc.
In principle, they will include your logo and the brand guidelines that we mentioned above.
Website theme
Similarly, the theme of your hazelnut farm website will incorporate your logo and the brand guidelines discussed earlier.
This will also define the look and feel of the brand guidelines on your website:
- Buttons
- Menus
- Forms
- Banners
- etc.
Website theme
In the same way, the theme of your hazelnut farm website will be based on your logo and the brand guidelines we mentioned above.
This involves defining the look and feel of your site's main graphic elements:
- Buttons,
- Menus,
- Forms,
- Banners,
- Etc.
The legal and regulatory steps involved in opening a hazelnut farm business
The next step in opening a hazelnut farm is to take the necessary legal and regulatory steps.
We recommend that you be accompanied by a law firm for all of the steps outlined below.
Registering a trademark and protecting the intellectual property of your hazelnut farm
The first step is to protect your company's intellectual property.
As mentioned earlier in this guide, you have the option to register a trademark. Your lawyer can assist you with a thorough search to ensure your chosen trademark is unique and doesn't conflict with existing ones and help select the classes (economic activities) and jurisdictions in which to register your trademark.
Your lawyer will also be able to advise you on other steps you could take to protect your company's other intellectual property assets.
Drafting the contractual documents for your hazelnut farm
Your hazelnut farm will rely on a set of contracts and legal documents for day-to-day operations.
Once again, we strongly recommend that you have these documents drawn up by a lawyer.
Your exact needs will depend on the country in which you are launching your hazelnut farm and the size of the company you are planning.
However, you may wish to consider the following documents at a minimum:
- Employment contracts
- General terms and conditions of sale
- General terms and conditions of use for your website
- Privacy Policy for your website
- Cookie Policy for your website
- Invoices
- Etc.
Applying for licences and permits and registering for various taxes
The licenses and permits needed for your business will depend on the country where you are establishing it. Your lawyer can guide you on the regulations relevant to your activity.
Similarly, your chartered accountant will be able to help you register for taxes and take the necessary steps to comply with the tax authorities.
Need a convincing business plan?
The Business Plan Shop makes it easy to create a financial forecast and write a business plan to help convince investors that your business idea can be profitable.
Writing a business plan for your hazelnut farm
Once you've completed all the above steps, you can start writing the business plan for your hazelnut farm.
What is a hazelnut farm's business plan?
The business plan is a document containing:
- The financial forecast (discussed earlier in this guide), highlighting the project's financing requirements and profitability potential,
- A written presentation, which presents your project in detail and provides the necessary context for the reader to assess the relevance and coherence of your forecast.
The business plan is particularly important: it will help you validate your business idea and ensure its coherence and financial viability.
But it's also the document you'll send to your bank and potential investors to present your plan to open a hazelnut farm and make them want to support you.
So it's best to draw up a professional, reliable and error-free business plan.
How to write a business plan for my hazelnut farm?
If you're not used to writing business plans, or if you want to save time, a good solution is to use an online business plan software for startups like the one we offer at The Business Plan Shop.
Using The Business Plan Shop to create a business plan for a hazelnut farm has several advantages:
- You can easily create your financial forecast by letting the software take care of the financial calculations for you without errors
- You are guided through the writing process by detailed instructions and examples for each part of the plan
- You can access a library of dozens of complete startup business plan samples and templates for inspiration
- You get a professional business plan, formatted and ready to be sent to your bank or investors
- You can create scenarios to stress test your forecast's main assumptions
- You can easily track your actual financial performance against your financial forecast by importing accounting data
- You can easily update your forecast as time goes by to maintain visibility on future cash flows
- You have a friendly support team on standby to assist you when you are stuck
Interested? If so, you can try The Business Plan Shop for free by signing up here.
Need a convincing business plan?
The Business Plan Shop makes it easy to create a financial forecast and write a business plan to help convince investors that your business idea can be profitable.
Financing the launch of your hazelnut farm
Once your business plan has been written, you’ll need to think about how you might secure the funding required to open your hazelnut farm.
The amount of initial financing required will of course depend on the size of your hazelnut farm and the country in which you wish to set up.
Financing your startup will probably require you to obtain a combination of equity and debt, which are the primary financial resources available to businesses.
Equity funding
Equity refers to the amount of money invested in your hazelnut farm by founders and investors and is key to starting a business.
Equity provides your company with stable, long-term (often permanent) capital. It also demonstrates the commitment of the company's owners to the project, since these sums can be lost in the event of bankruptcy.
Because the equity invested by the founders may be lost if the project doesn't succeed, it signals to investors and other financial institutions the founders' strong belief in the business's chances of success and might improve the likelihood of obtaining further funding as a result.
In terms of return on investment, equity investors receive dividends paid by the company (provided it is profitable) or realise capital gains by reselling their shares (provided they find a buyer interested in the company).
Equity investors are, therefore, in a very risky position. They stand to lose their initial investment in the case of bankruptcy and will only obtain a return on investment if the business manages to be profitable or sold. On the other hand, they could generate a very high return if the venture is a financial success.
Given their position, equity investors are usually looking to invest in business ventures with sufficient growth and profitability potential to offset their risk.
From the point of view of the company and its creditors, equity reduces risk, since equity providers finance the company and are only remunerated in the event of success.
From a technical standpoint, equity consists of:
- Share capital and premiums: which represent the amount invested by the shareholders. This capital is considered permanent as it is non-refundable. In return for their investment, shareholders receive shares that entitle them to information, decision-making power (voting in general assembly), and the potential to receive a portion of any dividends distributed by the company.
- Director loans: these are examples of non-permanent capital advanced to the company by the shareholders. This is a more flexible way of injecting some liquidity into your company than doing so as you can repay director loans at any time.
- Reserves: these represent the share of profits set aside to strengthen the company's equity. Allocating a percentage of your profits to the reserves can be mandatory in certain cases (legal or statutory requirement depending on the legal form of your company). Once allocated in reserves, these profits can no longer be distributed as dividends.
- Investment grants: these represent any non-refundable amounts received by the company to help it invest in long-term assets.
- Other equity: which includes the equity items which don't fit in the other categories. Mostly convertible or derivative instruments. For a small business, it is likely that you won't have any other equity items.
The main sources of equity are as follows:
- Personal contribution from the founders' savings.
- Private investors: business angels, friends and family.
- Crowdfunding campaigns to find investors or collect donations (usually in exchange for a gift).
- Government initiatives such as loans on favourable terms to help partners build up their start-up capital.
Debt funding
Another option for partially funding your hazelnut farm is to borrow.
By definition, debt works in the opposite way to equity:
- Debt needs to be repaid, whereas equity is permanent.
- Lenders get a contractually guaranteed return, whereas equity investors only generate a return if the company is a success.
When a company borrows money, it agrees to pay interest and repay the borrowed principal according to a pre-established schedule. Therefore, lenders make money regardless of whether the company is profitable and their main risk is if the company goes bankrupt.
To limit their risk, lenders are usually conservative and cautious in their approach. They only finance projects where they are confident that they will be repaid in full.
Companies borrow in two ways:
- Against their assets: this is the most common way of borrowing. The bank finances a percentage of the price of an asset (a vehicle or a building, for example) and takes the asset as collateral. If the company cannot repay, the bank seizes the asset and sells it to limit its losses.
- Against their future cash flows: the bank evaluates the company's financial forecast to estimate its borrowing capacity and assesses the conditions (amount, interest rate, term, etc.) on which it is prepared to lend, taking into account the credit risk posed by the company.
It's difficult to borrow against future cash flow when setting up a hazelnut farm, because the business doesn't yet have historical data to reassure lenders about the credibility of the forecasted cash flows.
Borrowing against assets is, therefore, often the only option available to entrepreneurs. What's more, the assets that can be financed with this option must be easy to resell, in the unfortunate event that the bank is forced to seize them, which may limit your options even further.
In terms of possible sources of borrowing, the main sources here are banks and credit institutions. Bear in mind, however, that each institution is different, both in terms of the risk it is prepared to accept and in terms of how the risk of your project will be perceived and what items it will agree to finance.
In some countries, it is also possible to borrow from private investors (directly or via crowdlending platforms) or other companies, but not everywhere.
Things to remember about financing a hazelnut farm
There are various ways you can raise the initial financing you need to open your hazelnut farm. A minimum amount of equity will be needed to give the project credibility, and bank financing can be sought to complete the package.
Open your hazelnut farm and compare your progress against your forecast
You've reached the end of the road and are ready to launch your hazelnut farm.
Congratulations and welcome to the fantastic world of entrepreneurship! Celebrate the work you've done so far, and get back to work quickly, because this is where the real work begins.
Your first priority will be to do everything you can to make your business sustainable (and thus avoid being one of the 50% of start-ups that fail within five years of launching).
Your business plan will be your best ally to ensure that you're on track to achieve your objectives, or to help rectify the situation if necessary.
The key to financial management is to regularly compare your actual accounting data with your hazelnut farm forecasts, in order to be able to :
- Quantify the gaps between what you planned and what you achieved
- Adjust your financial forecasts as the year progresses to maintain visibility over your future cash flow
No one can predict the future with certainty, but by closely monitoring the variances between actuals and forecasts, regularly adjusting your forecasts and simulating several scenarios, you can prepare your hazelnut farm for the worst while hoping for the best.
It's the only way to keep an eye on your cash flow and actively manage the development of your hazelnut farm, ultimately reducing the risk to your company.
There's nothing worse than waiting for your company's annual accounts to close, which can be many months after the end of your financial year (up to nine months in the UK for example), only to realize that you've fallen far short of your forecasts for the past year, and that your hazelnut farm urgently needs a cash injection to keep going.
That's why it's strongly recommended to use a financial planning and analysis solution that integrates forecasting, scenario analysis, and actuals vs. forecast tracking, like we do at The Business Plan Shop with our financial dashboards.
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Key takeaways
- This guide outlines the 15 key steps to open a hazelnut farm.
- The financial forecast is the tool that will enable you to validate the financial viability of your business idea.
- The business plan is the document that will enable you to approach your financial and commercial partners to convince them of the strengths of your project and secure the financing you need to launch your business.
- The real work begins once you've launched your business, and the only way to maintain visibility of your company's future cash flow is to keep your forecast up to date.
- Using a financial planning and analysis platform that combines forecasting, business planning and actual vs. forecast tracking and monitoring, such as The Business Plan Shop, makes the process easier and reduces the risks involved in starting a business.
We hope this guide has helped you understand how to start a hazelnut farm. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
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