The numbers per enterprise.
WHAT TO BUILD FOR EACH ENTERPRISE
A budget for the cycle.
WHAT IT SHOULD CONTAIN
Area or number of animals Expected yield Expected price Every input, with quantity and cost Labour, including your own Overheads apportioned
WHAT GROSS MARGIN MEANS HERE
Revenue less the variable costs directly attributable.
WHY IT IS THE KEY MEASURE
It lets you compare enterprises on the same basis.
WHAT VARIABLE COSTS ARE
Those that change with the scale of the enterprise: seed, feed, fertiliser, chemicals, casual labour.
WHAT FIXED COSTS ARE
Those that continue regardless: land, permanent labour, depreciation.
WHAT TO COMPARE
Gross margin per unit of the scarcest resource.
WHAT THE SCARCEST RESOURCE USUALLY IS
Land, or cash, or labour.
WHY THAT FRAMING
It tells you which enterprise to expand.
WHAT TO CALCULATE
Break-even yield and break-even price.
WHY BOTH
They tell you how much can go wrong before you lose money.
WHAT TO DO WITH THOSE FIGURES
Compare them against what you actually achieve.
WHAT TO RECORD DURING THE CYCLE
Every input used Every cost Labour days Output
WHY DURING
Reconstruction afterwards is inaccurate.
WHAT TO REVIEW AT THE END
Actual against budget, and why they differed.
