There are no problems for people from other types of businesses to become engaged in growing berries. However, there is a need to have a clear understanding of business development and understand what is needed for this. This opinion was expressed by Oleg Bosyi, Development Director of FruTek LLC (Ukraine), during the online webinar “Major Mistakes in Berry Growing”, which took place on August 12. The event was organized by the Yak Bdzhola cooperative.
“Over the past 10 years, I remember more than a dozen of our clients who came to the berry business from other areas. Among them are IT specialists, bankers, marketers, sellers of industrial goods, and this does not mean at all that they cannot be successful in berry growing. The main thing is that a person likes to do this. The only point is that often people are engaged in some kind of business and looking at the price of blueberries in the amount of 200 UAH / kg, they think that it is worth making money in the berry business because of its supposedly super-profitability. This is a very dangerous approach. Very often people do not pay attention to the significant variety of details,” said the development director of FruTek LLC.
Oleg Bosyi also emphasized that it is important not to rely on information received from Facebook, which, on the one hand, is available, and on the other hand, it is rather difficult to choose reliable information from it.
“In addition, there are a lot of scammers who just want to make money on you. Therefore, there is a need to have a partner or an employee, preferably with an agronomic education and understanding of the berry business. Then you can do it successfully,” Oleg Bosyi expressed confidence.
He also noted that there are many people in Ukraine who started doing the berry business and even invested heavily in production and eventually abandoned it. That is why there is a need to engage in strategic planning, have a clear understanding of business development, and what is needed for this.
“An important point is the focus of the business in a specific direction because it is not possible to earn all the money at once. It is important to find a niche. It is unlikely that it will be possible to grow seedlings, from which it will be possible to bake pies for sale, building such a vertically integrated business. You need to be the best in your direction,” said Oleg Bosyi.
He also emphasized that patience is needed in the berry business.
“This is not cryptocurrency trading, where in a half an hour you can either win or lose something. If you invest in berry growing, you should understand that most berry crops are perennials, and accordingly, having plantations of blackberries, raspberries, or blueberries, you will have to wait two to three years until the crops enter the fruiting phase. Accordingly, for this period you will need, firstly, patience, and secondly, financial resources to survive it,” said Oleg Bosyi.
During an online webinar, co-owner of the Dolina-Agro nursery (Ukraine) Oleg Bazyuk expressed the opinion that in order to succeed in the berry business, “the owner must understand why he or she needs this business, what he or she will grow and where, subsequently, he or she will be able to sell it”.
“I am frightened by beginners who come into this business with great zeal in euphoria. Talking with such people, I try to explain to them the nuances of doing business from a more down-to-earth position,” Oleg Bazyuk noted.
He also noted that the owner of the berry business should understand it and there should be no trifles for him.
“Relying on the fact that a hired agronomist or executive director of an enterprise will solve all problems is a road to nowhere, and even if it works, then in no more than 10% of cases. An entrepreneur should be in production as often as possible, feel, relatively speaking, the pulse of the business. Without all this, the enterprise will not be able to effectively function on the market,” assured the co-owner of the Dolina-Agro company.
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