PROFIT TIPS

The current year of ProfitTips are displayed here, along with some of our all-time most popular articles. You must be a member of RFP online to see our entire collection of ProfitTips articles, join today.

Think Outside the Office

office daze

In the Ranching for Profit School we challenge you to separate your life from your business. Too many ranchers identify as their work and never develop a sense of who they are outside of the ranch. Not only does the business suffer as a result, so does the rancher’s family.  There are many ways to […]

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Feedback Loops to Aid Decision Making

loops

If you were to come upon a car wreck, which turns out to be your neighbor with terminal cancer, would you worry about their next chemo appointment? Probably not, your first concern would more likely be CPR or stopping the bleeding. This is about the extent to which we generally discussed the feedback loop at […]

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Learners With Top 10 Qualities

ranching for profit students

We have just finished a spectacular collection of Ranching for Profit Schools. Since this past December we have conducted 7 RFP schools that each had an average attendance of 50 amazing participants. Hands down the quality of the participants makes for a good school. We are so fortunate to work with outstanding participants that I […]

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Mission Before Profit

mountain road

Successful businesses have mission and vision statements. This allows planning and decision making easier for managers and owners. These statements are posted on websites, above the front door, and in the break room to keep reminding us why we are there, and why the customers are there too. The mission is the purpose of the […]

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Leasing Like a Boss

ranch view

This morning I found a great post on the Executive Link private Facebook group. A current EL member was looking for input on information that he should share with the landowners of various properties that he leases. There were several great suggestions ranging from wildlife population status to water infiltration rates. After weighing in myself, […]

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How to Communicate with Your Team

RFP School 2021

I think it is safe to say that most ranchers love ranching because they are surrounded by animals more often than people. However, it is critical that ranchers aka business owners know how to communicate with their human team effectively. Before we start, let’s remember two important elements: one is to treat your ranch/farm like […]

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Economic Planning

toy soliders

Dwight Eisenhower said, “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”   Eisenhower might as well have been talking about ranching. Speaking of planning … How is your economic plan coming along for next year? Things are changing rapidly. Costs and returns have taken some dramatic shifts in the past few years. The […]

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Top 10 Tax Preparer Conversations

tax preparer

I just finished my first round of Executive Link meetings. In addition to being a facilitator I also presented the continuing education session where we dug deep into economics, finance, and income taxes. Although it can be a dry and boring topic, we had great discussions during and after the presentation. A common request from EL members was […]

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A Perspective on Gross Margin from Aaron

sheep

Aaron Helmick is a pain in the rear. Even worse he is a dairy farmer from West Virginia pain in the rear. 😆 Somehow Aaron managed to marry Tara and that vastly improved his chances in life. Aaron and Tara are alumni of Ranching for Profit and Executive Link. They are amazing and thoughtful people […]

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Financial Record-Keeping, A Rancher’s Favorite Chore

paperwork

Mentioning that records are a waste of time can usually start an argument, or at least get someone questioning all the hours they have spent keeping detailed records over the years. Honestly though, most records are a waste of time unless they follow Dave’s rules. It is easy to pick on the little red calving […]

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