Marla: I agree. The benefits of a data-oriented approach to farm/garden management grow significantly over time as more data is collected. In the beginning the data will be too sparse to see clear trends or come to firm conclusions about, for example, profitability of a crop within a season or profitability of attendance at a market. However, over time I think the ability to draw objective conclusions will become clearer. In other words, trends will start to show up. I only have anecdotal evidence at this point, but I believe many small farmers and market gardeners manage the financial aspects of their farm or garden in an ad-hoc manner. I think one reason for this is a lack of approachable financial management tools targeted specifically at the small farmer/gardener (that's why I thought this thread was interesting). The tools I've tried out so far strike me as too general (Quicken) or too complex (custom Excel spreadsheets). So I think a lot of farmers and gardeners use paper which makes it harder (and more time consuming) to see trends and make data-driven decisions. Businesses in other industries create relatively detailed annual budgets (the planning cycle) and then do their best to stick with them during the year by tracking revenues and expenses. They then iterate over time in an attempt to maximize the likelihood that they will generate a profit each year. I'd love to see these same principles intuitively applied to small farms and market gardens because decisions based on data are (generally speaking) more likely to result in long-term (financial) success. I'm asking the questions above in an attempt to define a good set of features for online (web-based and/or mobile-device-based) tools that do a good job of hiding unnecessary complexity from the small farmer/gardener while still providing sophisticated views into budgets, revenues, expenses, and trends. If you think I'm nuts, let me know! Brett

If you are a small business and not using a bar code scanner, then I recommend quickbooks pro. It has some hair pulling glitches, but lots of flexibility. It does everything but whistle Dixie, can track inventory and keeps track of job costs and employee compensation. The more you use it, the more you can tweek it and make it give you the information you want. It's the third accounting program I hit on and after I got used to it, like it the best. It practically does my sales taxes for me and leaves a very easily followed paper trail. Ages your receivables and automatically tacks on interest and prints out professional quality invoices and bills.

Here's a link to the Small Business Association. There's lots of good info for start-ups. Start-up funds, if needed, are virtually impossible to obtain on this type of business through regular channels. States often have special program money available, if you meet their criteria. SBA also has a micro-loan program that may be appropriate. Even if you don't require financing be sure to do all of your due diligence just like you were going to apply for a $1M loan! That means a professional business plan, etc. Again, help is available on the SBA site. Established small businesses are going down in large numbers this year. It takes a sizeable amount of financial backing to ride through a couple year recession. Most small business failures are due to lack of financial planning. To have a chance you should prepare by stashing two years of operating expenses. On average, a small business does not show a profit for five years. Food related businesses are especially failure prone. Target markets are fickle & tastes/fads change with the wind often leaving the small business owner unable to react quickly enough. Many owners hang on by their toenails for too long & end up in severe personal debt because it's so hard to accept the failure. Unfortunately, as a banker, I've shut down countless small businesses & taken everything they own in the process including homes & a lifetime of savings. It's ugly. Really ugly. Be sure this is what you want & go into the venture prepared. An internet business will not have the startup costs of a brick/mortar store but it's going to cost something...I really suggest phoning SBA & chatting with a loan officer. They'll be a wealth of information & help you with that business plan. If you'd like, you may email me thru GW & I'll give you a suggestion for somebody to phone at a non-profit for information & assistance with start-up. I have nothing to do with the organization other than knowing they'll give you good solid advice & assistance. Once upon a time, in another life, my DH was an Emeritus Board member & then served as their CEO. They are the largest non-profit community loan fund in the country & a phone call to these folks could well save you a lot of heartache down the line. I LOVE candy! Whatcha going to make??? Best of luck! /tricia Here is a link that might be useful: SBA

Djsaw, No one has talked about 'lifestyle and money'... Jkom put it in a very technical way. I am putting a bit of a human story behind it.... but saying the same thing. The fact that you are not working right now and living off the dividends is a big red flag for your future. You have kids and your living expenses will only grow not lessen. Unless there is enough money to meet all your future needs, ie college, mortgage, new car, travel etc, you need either a job that pays well enough or an investment strategy that will give you enough to live on without eroding the principle. There may or may not be enough money for that as is. (I have no idea from your post.) This is where you need to talk to someone that can really figure out what you want for yourself and your kids with the money that is there. Most people with a young family need about $5mil to $10mil nest egg to have an upper middle class lifestyle without needing to work for life AND risking the principle. "Not risking the principle" is a very important concept because you do not have the earning power to bring it back up if you lost it. (If your wage was a $1/2 mil to $1mil a year then no big deal but you are not there...) People like Donald Trump and Ted Turner can pull themselves out of near bankruptcy but most of us cannot recoup the lost principle. I have seen multigenrationally wealthy families have this happen to them due to risky investments. If I had your money, I would want to have certain things that money can buy; a house in a good school district, enrichment for my kids, good after school care for my kids if I was working, nice vacations etc. Notice I did not list designer handbags or fancy cars. One of the joys of having money is that you can have some opportunities that enable you to enjoy life more fully and perhaps get your kids a small head start with good education and opportunities that may help them in life. We are all driven by Darwinian instinct to put our kids ahead of someone else's kids. This does not mean materially owning more things. However, there are things money can buy you to achieve that. As an example, I have piano lessons for myself and music lessons for my kids that cost about 6 to 8K per year. I get a great deal of joy out of my music. I budget about 10K to 20K for travel every year because I want to see the world and I want my kids to see the world. These items add up to a significant amount of money and I could not do these things if my salary was 50K a year, a median salary for a family of 4 in the USA. For example, if there is $1 to 2 mil in you portfolio and you have 50K to 75K before taxes to live on, then that is not a 'great income' to have a nice life style. However, if you supplmented that by having $50k salary, then you may be able to do things that you thought not possible with either the income alone or just the earnings from the inheritance alone. This is why you talk to the financial advisor/planner to help you achieve your lifestyle goals, whatever they maybe.... You are extremely lucky. I wish you the best.