Applications for our Fall Courses are NOW OPEN! Be sure to check out our new Learning Pathways and new Workshops

Learning Pathways

Welcome to our Learning Pathways

Join a group of like-minded entrepreneurs as you work towards a milestone in your own business. This program is designed to incorporate the wealth of knowledge from our Subject Matter Experts as well as provide a connection for networking with businesses that are going through the same growth stage as yourself.

Click the topic below to jump to the section of your choice. 

Financial Literacy

Financial Fundamentals

Learn to leverage your financial reporting to make better business decisions.

One of the best tools business owners can use is their own financial reporting!

During this 5-week working group series, you will learn the fundamentals of these powerful reports and how to use them to make data-driven decisions. You will learn what the information tells you about your business, what changes to make to get more accurate data and key ratios to analyze your business’s health.  

BBA Advisors are reviewing all applications. Once you apply, you will receive an email confirming the status of your application.

Commit to 5 weeks of learning to leverage your financial reporting to make better business decisions.

One of the best tools business owners can use is their own financial reporting. Join us for this multi-week workshop series to learn the fundamentals of these influential reports and how to use them to make data-driven decisions. Learn what the information tells you about your business, what changes to make to get more accurate data, and key ratios to analyze your company’s financial health.  

  • 5-Week Program (approx. 3 hours per week) – Full schedule will be sent out once approval of entry is confirmed.
  • Occupancy: Limited to 10 participants
  • Delivery: Virtual working group series.  Participants will watch a recorded webinar prior to each weekly working group session.
  • Program Instructors:
    • Denise MacDonald
    • Steve Fisher
  •  

Qualification Requirements:

  1. Minimum company annual revenue  $100,000
  2. Open to service or product-based companies. The best fit is product-based companies with multiple products or service-based companies with multiple services.  Your company should have at least one employee involved in delivering services or making products.
  3. Able to produce or get financial reports from your accounting system like QuickBooks or Wave (Profit & Loss/Income statement and Balance Sheet)
  4. Bookkeeping up to date (within last quarter) 
  5. Working knowledge of excel
  6. Time – 3-hour commitment per week (class and homework time)
  7. Business has full-time equivalent staff

Space is limited, and specific business requirements are required. Once you a apply, a BBA Program Representative will contact you.

 

Topic 1: The importance of regularly reviewing monthly financial statements to analyze your business

  • A comparison: where most companies are with their financials and where they need to be 
  • What can your monthly financial statements tell you 
  • What does good financial 'hygiene' or discipline mean 
  • What is the right timing for reviewing prepared financial statements 
  • Intro to monthly financial statements (focus on reporting with the cost of goods sold (COGS)) 

 

 

Topic 2: Intro to Profit & Loss (P&L), Balance Sheet (BS), and Chart of Accounts (COA)

  • Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet – introduction and overview of both 
  • Key elements of a Profit and Loss (P&L)  
  • Introduction to two companies - good vs poor P&L with margin analysis view 
  • What is a Chart of Accounts (intro including GL codes) 

 

 

Topic 3: In-depth P&L  

  • A Revenue breakdown – how to better understand your revenues  
  • COGS - Matching Revenue (indirect/direct expenses) 
  • Expenses - why they are different 
  • How to leverage your P&L to make better business decisions 

 

 

Topic 4: Margins and ratios  

  • Gross Margin / Net Income  
  • Gross margins and margin targets 
  • How to calculate and set financial targets 
  • Analysis on a single P&L month 

 

 

Topic 5: TTM (Trailing 12 Months) and Analyzing Trends  

  • Month-over-month comparison (TTM on P&L) 
  • Analyzing the trends – good habits become rituals 
  • How to reduce volatility in your reporting  (prepaid expenses, deposits, amortization, normalizing) 

 

Agriculture

2023 On-Farm Recruiting and Readiness Series Sneak Peek

Join us for a 4-session workshop series to learn about employer skills that will help you recruit the right employees for your farm business and retain trained staff season to season.

Learn to:

  • craft your farm and job descriptions to attract the right talent
  • plan your organization’s design and policies and procedures for a successful season
  • prepare for upcoming recruiting opportunities for seasonal agriculture workers
  • learn about subsidies and other support services available to your farm

New sessions start in November 2023. Click below to pre-register. 

Getting Ready to Hire for this Season  

Level up your hiring plan for the 2023 production season. In this webinar, you will learn the basics of getting your farm ready to find the people who will make your season great. Learn about: 

  • Writing appealing job descriptions for agriculture 
  • How to pitch your farm as an attractive place to work 
  • Safety and compliance for agriculture businesses 
  • Employment regulations for on and off the farm 
  • Wage planning and budgets 

Getting Ready to Hire for this Season - Working Group Office Hours 

Each Tuesday morning, we will host live video working groups and breakout sessions where you can bring items and work in progress and ask questions to receive assistance. Break-out rooms will be available.

Finding the Right Candidates for your Farm 

Recruiting suitable candidates is critical to success on the farm. This session will outline where and how you can find the superstars who you want on your team this year. Find out about: 

  • Where to advertise so candidates can find you  
  • Different types of wage support programs and recruiting support 
  • Various employment models that are available to you, such as Co-op students and retraining programs 
  • Interview techniques and tips to match skills and culture to your team 
  • Onboarding and retention best practices  

Finding the Right Candidates for your Farm - Working Group Office Hours

Each Tuesday morning, we will host live video working groups and breakout sessions where you can bring items and work in progress and ask questions to receive assistance. Break-out rooms will be available.

2023 Distribution Bootcamp

Calling all food producers looking to get into the wholesale business or those planning a visit to a trade show this year! The Distribution Bootcamp is a three-part series where you will work with our Advisors to prepare your product and pitch for wholesale buyers and distributors alongside other producers in your region.

Fill out the form below to apply. Space is limited, and certain restrictions are required. You will receive an email confirming the status of your application.

Topic 1: Being a Good Supplier

Date: September 26, 2023

  • Life Cycle/Where are you?​
  • What makes a good supplier?​
  • Product readiness​
  • Relationships and Rapport​
  • Delivery/etiquettes​
  • Re-order and maintenance ​
  • Next Steps

 

Topic 2: What to Prepare for Your Pitch Meeting

Date: October 3, 2023

  • Review Good Supplier work​
  • Preparing Pitch​
  • Sell Sheet vs Order Sheet​
  • Promotional schedule​
  • Sales Expert ​
  • Product Expert​
  • Order Management​
  • Risk management​
  • Leveraging rapport​
  • Reinforce Commitment to Selling

Date: October 3, 2023

  • Create a "Go Kit", marketing, signage
  • Write an elevator pitch and practice

 

Date: October 10 , 2023

  • Present and give feedback to each group that has presented; tell them what worked well and what didn’t.

Topic 3: Prepare for Food Expos and Trade Shows

Date: October 17, 2023

  • Finalize elevator pitch and make any changes to go kit/marketing from feedback from peers/working group.
  • Practice, get comfortable with your material
  • Prepare samples/demos
  • Critique plan

Date: October 24, 2023

  • ​​Finalize your “Go Kit” to be ready for trade shows and expos
  • Create a post-trade show checklist to follow up with potential leads

2023 Pricing Masterclass Series

This masterclass series targets primary agricultural producers who want to improve pricing models for 2023. This series is a deep dive into how to find production costs for effective product pricing, use margins and break-even analysis to plan production yields to match sales goals and improve efficiency to reduce expenses and increase revenue. 

Coming Soon. Check back for registration details.

 

Topic 1: Cost of Production Basics 

  • Operating Costs (Variable) 
  • Overhead Costs (Fixed) 
  • Contribution Margin 
  • Profit 
  • Benchmarking 
  • Rough Unit Cost – how to calculate 
  • Enterprise Budgets – how to calculate 
  • How to set your product prices 
  • Crop planning based on COP 

 

 

Topic 2: Break-even analysis – examples of various break-even formulas 

  • How to Calculate  
  • TIP Report  
  • Break-Even Price – calculate the lowest sales price for wholesale 
  • What to do if your COP is too high and you have unprofitable products: 
  • Eliminate unprofitable crops (products) or search for efficiencies 
  • Reduce variable costs 
  • Maximize fixed costs 
  • Increase production of profitable crops (products) 

 

 

Topic 3: How to Choose Sales Channels and Distribution to Grow Your Farm Profits 

  • Crop planning yields to match sales goals 
  • Who are you selling to? 
  • Can you afford to sell wholesale? How to plan for volume pricing 

 

 

Topic 4: Maximizing Farm Efficiencies 

  • Standardize bed or row sizes to make production and planning more streamlined 
  • Labour efficiency review; invest in labour-saving equipment  
  • Plan for efficiency in infrastructure 
  • Cash flow planning for the year(s) ahead 

 

People Management

General Business

Sales and Marketing

Succession Planning

Food Processors