Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in agriculture but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Molly Woodruff, managing partner of Farmmee, located in Carlisle, IA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Farmmee is an app that is available on all mobile devices (apple and google). We are in business to connect farmers to farmers to provide help. Why support Farmmee…we are farmers, love ag, and self-financing this business. When we launched Farmmee, it was a way for farmers looking for help could just go to their mobile device and put in a request for help. It was also a way for Farmers that could help other farmers find clients quickly that needed their services. The great part is we allow the match to occur within the app through our matching algorithm, and then they can barter, sharecrop, make payment. However, the two of the parties decided we didn’t want to interfere with the process, so instead, when the job is approved by both parties, Farmmee just takes $9.99 from the provider.

Tell us about yourself

I married into a legacy farming operation and loved every minute of it (mainly). But for me, I work with two other amazing women, and we own our own software consulting business called AppLifts. They have both been involved in farming in various ways as well, so when we discussed building an app and learning some new technology, it was easy to say, let's find a way to help farmers/producers.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

The satisfaction of feeling like we can make a difference for the people we are helping. It is such an accomplishment to talk with seasoned people in the ag industry and tell them what we are doing and have them really go, "that is genius and can be so useful for farmers.."

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Staying focused as a business owner when people have seen that you can develop something. They have many ideas that can expand what you are doing but being true to what makes the app unique and true to connecting farmers to farmers.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Market Research – talk to the end-users of your product before you start while developing and once you’ve launched. Remember the audience you are serving and learn from them.
  2. Find people to fill in gaps you and your team don’t have. Early on, we knew that marketing/PR was not our forte, so we hired a very qualified team to work with to be successful where we didn’t have the skills.
  3. Data – remember to look at the data and what it is telling you
    where do we focus, how do we support our subscribers.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Farming is a lifestyle and not just a job, so maximize your profits and resources by utilizing Farmmee to connect with other farmers to whom you can provide services or get the help you need when you need it!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.farmmee.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Farmmeeapp/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farmmeeapp/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/farmmeeapp
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/farmmee/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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