Launch

Thinking about starting or expanding an agricultural or food-related business but not sure where to start? Book an entrepreneurial coaching session with The University of Maryland’s Entrepreneurial Coaching Team for farm and food entrepreneurs.

Are you a specialty food entrepreneur? If so, check out the Food Processing in Maryland module. This invaluable module provides information about how to sell and process food in Maryland. This module will include rules for specific foods and important regulatory information. Our interactive map of Maryland's regulatory environment provides you with location-specific contacts.

County Offices provide local zoning, health, and business development resources and restrictions. On this page, you will find links to a variety of county-based agencies, offices, and organizations. Use these pages to 1.) Have access to current resources, 2). Determine which county agencies regulate your type of enterprise. 3). Develop a contact list of local business development contacts.

The Trending Enterprises in Maryland Module contains resources for trending enterprises in Maryland.

The world will "beat a path to your door"... only if they know who you are, what you've got, and where to reach you. That's a large part of the "deliverables" in your marketing plan. But don't confuse a plan with the actual marketing activities. You need both to succeed.

What is the difference between your marketing strategy and your marketing plan? Your marketing strategy is shaped by your overall business goals. It includes a definition of your business, a description of your products or services, a profile of your target users or clients, and defines your company’s role in relation to the competition. It’s essentially a document that helps you determine the effectiveness of your specific marketing plans. In other words, your marketing strategy defines your company and products; your sales and marketing plans are the specific actions you take to achieve the goals of your marketing strategy. When designing your marketing strategies list and explain what strategies, or specific actions, you will use to meet your objectives for each element of marketing.

This is an outline of a typical marketing plan. Your marketing plan may contain all or just some of these components depending on your company type, stage of growth, and goals.

You’ve done your market research. You’ve learned about the history and life-cycle of products like yours and the trends and key drivers that determine where your products or services “fit in the industry” Now it’s time to distill your research findings into a concentrated effort to generate a product that reflects your business goals and objectives while providing solutions (price, packaging, convenience) for the customer.

I never met anyone who got into farming because they enjoyed trying to predict consumer buying preferences or because they got great personal satisfaction from tracking the grain futures market. Most business entrepreneurs aren’t thrilled about spending time researching their competitors’ advantages. Farmers want to farm. Entrepreneurs want to develop businesses around new products or services. Neither prefers to spend a substantial portion of their time or financial resources developing their marketing program, much less implementing it themselves. Not that they’re not capable of doing so - they often don’t find the work enjoyable and they’re just not sure how to go about it. Yet, until a farm or enterprise makes its first profitable sale, it’s a business in name only.

The process of identifying your potential customer Decision Marketing Units (DMUs), determining your market segments, and then developing a targeted strategy is called market research. This research involves gathering additional information about customers, competition, and overall market potential.