Let’sDiversify: Small Business Ideas for Vacant Land

The Farm BusinessInnovation show is all about inspiring you with small business ideas for yourland! Get a taste of the potential of your holding, right here...

In 2018 alone, 54percent of farmers introduced a significant change to their land, andone-third of landowners said they were considering doing the same over the nextyear! This demonstrates that diversifying your land is no longer unique - it’sthe next step to improving your livelihood, and boosting profits.

At the Farm Business Innovation Show, discover the array of opportunities your land offers. For a small taste of what you can expect to see, read on, and get your FREE tickets to meet the people who can bring these ideas to fruition.

On our blog site, we’ve already discussed numerous diversification ideas to think about. That said, there is still so much out there that you may have never thought of - check out this small business ideas list to get inspired...

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Crafts and Skills

We’ll begin bydiscussing some of the more creative small business ideas. A lot oftheseideas, above all, require passion and skill. Otherwise, your farmshould already have a lot of the base equipment required, as well as the rawmaterials, like wood, milk, and crops, needed to take the ventures on, makingit a great option.

Ironmongery,carpentry, and furniture restoration are some of the great ways you can utiliseyour equipment, and use up the wood your land offers. At the Farm InnovationShow, we’ll be welcoming a number of furniture restoration and carpentrycompanies, who could inspire you to take up a new skill, including:

• Quan Garden Art
• Unique Tables
• Core Lighting
• A P Leisure
• Blueprint Carpentry & Construction Ltd
• Green Mile Trees

Some other creativeexamples of ways to utilise what your farm offers, whilst boosting revenuestoo, includes:

• Cake making
• Making soaps or candles
• Floristry or wreath creation
• Weaving
• Wedding stationery
• Ice-cream making (Antonelli Bros Ltd. and RSS Hereford Ltd. are some of our exhibitors who already to this!)

Attending the FarmBusiness Innovation Show will allow you to meet companies who have branchedout in this way themselves. They could also be the connections you need to takeon some other new ventures, that we’ll go into now...

Health and Activities

Your land offers alarge expanse of space, that could be utilised for all sorts of activities. Forexample, team building has always been a popular activity, for bothschools, families, and groups of friends.

At the exhibition, anumber of companies, including Blue Sky Experiences, will be showcasing theirfantastic team-building ideas, for you to get inspired. They could be the onesto help you take to step to opening up your very own team buildingexperience on your land!

Fresh Air Fitnesswill also be exhibiting, showing us how outdoor fitness classes andequipment can be utilised to draw in visitors, and boost profits. Thinkexercise, physio, massages, and so much more, to bring more customers throughyour doors.

Finally, the showwill be welcoming Caddy Cars, who provide fun vehicles for getting fromplace to place across your land, as well as a number of children’sentertainment companies. These include Play Zest, Air Bouncers Ltd, TimberPlay, who could all help you in designing your very own children’s playareas on your land.

Renewables andEnvironmental

Some smallbusiness ideas for small towns could include renewable energy. Yourland offers up a lot of vacant space and, although renewable energy sourcesmay be a large expense at first, they’ll make up the money in no time! This isbecause the energy generated from these sources can be sold to the nationalgrid, as well as providing energy on your own land.

Some fantasticrenewable energy ideas to diversify into, which our show can help you bringto life, include the following (we’ve also listed the relevant exhibitorsalongside these ideas):

• Biomass
• Anaerobic digesters
• Wind turbines - FuturEnergy Ltd
• Solar energy - Intuitive Renewables, Public Power Solutions, Anesco
• Ground source heat pumps/geothermal energy - Hydratech, Kilfrost
• Energy/battery storage e.g. barns / containers - Energy Solutions, Immersa
• Hydropower
• Irrigation - AutoPot Global Ltd

Alternative Livestockand Crops

When you think of farmland,you think of wheat, barley, oats, milk, cheese, and eggs. These have alwaysbeen the traditional farming methods, but your land offers so much morepotential than these basic commodities.

Think bigger, at the FarmBusiness Innovation Show, whilst also not moving too far away fromtraditional farming methods! Some fantastic ideas for alternative livestock andcrops include:

• Hemp growing
• Wine and beer
• Christmas tree growing
• Alternative feed for animals
• Seeds for scents and oils, like lavender and rapeseed
• Cut or growing flowers for drying, e.g. confetti
• Colourful vegetables like black garlic and purple carrots
• Goat, venison, wild boar, game produce, like meat, eggs, and milk
• Edible flowers and herbs for cooking
• Edible insects
• Bee keeping
• Vertical farming
• Container Farms - Kroptek, Premium Crops
• Beautiful crop fields, filled with plants like lavender and sunflowers, for visitors to take photos and model against
• Growing seasonal fruit, and opening up your land for fruit picking

On-Farm Events andAttractions

Some of the mostsuccessful small business ideas, which many of our Farm Innovation Showvisitors have diversified into, are on-site events and attractions. These are agreat way to use your land, as many of these ideas don’t require your plot allyear round. Insead, you can open up your land to guests once a week, once amonth, or even once a year, and reap the benefits!

Some of the top 10small business ideas within this category include:

1. Festivals
2. Wedding venues - Mar-Key Group
3. Conference venue
4. Children’s activities, like petting zoos
5. Café, tearoom, restaurant, or bar
6. Art gallery
7. Craft centre
8. Antiques / furniture - Dawson's Auctioneers
9. Doggy day care, or a plant nursery - Bruce’s Doggy Day Care
10. Outdoor cinema

Small Business Ideas

As you can see, the FarmBusiness Innovation Show, on 6th & 7th November at the NEC,Birmingham, will be welcoming hundreds of useful exhibitors to help youout. Whether it be a fantastic product to use on your land, or an amazingservice to take inspiration from, the opportunities we offer for networking aretruly unmissable.

If you’re looking to diversify your land, getting your FREE tickets to the show will give you the chance to meet the people who can take your business idea from start to finish. Don’t miss out, and get your tickets today. We’ll see you there!