What criteria should you use to assess the risk of new Agribusiness ventures?

I believe in Long-Term Viability: A market with significant potential indicates long-term viability for your agribusiness. It shows that there is room for growth and sustainability, providing a foundation for the continued success of your venture.

Ensuring the commodity you're selling is what the customer needs. Customers will only buy if they see value in the products. An Agripreneurs should ensure the market responds positively to his/her product, this is achieved by understanding the market he/she is involved in, the position and how competitive the products are in the market. If the market potential is low then the business will struggle or eventually fail.

The adoption of the product should deliver a clear tangible benefit that the farmer cares about and can easily recognize. The size of the benefit should be clear to the market segment pursued. There is a clear difference between the family farmer that has been tending the same land for generations, the larger professionally run and financed operation, and the new breed of homesteaders who are trying to live outside the systems created in the modern world. It's important that you know your segment and design all aspects of your business to serve them in the best way possible.

It is important to conduct a technical feasibility study to ensure you're at per with the emerging trends in the market. It helps in improving your production in terms of innovation incorporated, the operational capability and efficiency of your production unit. Aspects such ad value addition along the value chain to ensure you have differentiated products that attracts huge sales.

A lot of people waste money studying a problem when it's better to pilot a solution. At least something is accomplished in the pilot and value. Is created that can then be leveraged to create more value.

Agri businesses are backbone of agri based industry, the smooth supply of raw material with improved yield every year is need of hour in country like Pakiatan where population is growing by 2.5%. The constant supplies to avoid scarcity is necessary to feed and serve 250 million people. We have 40 million Afghans in our neighbourhood which is an opportunity area as well. Industry, agribusiness and agri penure should all be thinking ahead and complement each other for development. So the potential to growth is enormous. Constant struggle is needed, hope things will improve with corporate farming coming every where in our country.

Scarcity mindset creates scarcity reality. Think from the perspective of how can I accomplish this goal. It is possible to find the resources when you create win win relationships.

An Agripreneur should alway have the fiancials in order in order to gauge the worth of the business. It starts with the simple accounting technics, book keeping to easily track sales on a day to day, weekly or monthly basis. Other useful documents generated from daily book keeping include cash flow statement, income statement and balance sheet. These documents are useful in understanding if the business is making profit or losses.

Every business consists of a network of networks. The key is to understand the market as a system within an environment. Identify key drivers of change that you can leverage to create a better outcome.

For Agri-business the typical crop cycles can vary from a few months to several years - each crop will have it's own distinct risks associated with that cycle. However, some risks are omni present: Water availability; Water quality; Quantity of key inputs to be held on site; Host Nation vigilance and capacity in identification and prevention of counterfeit inputs; Logistics of imports of inputs; Logistics of exports of outputs; Implementation of tariff and non-tariff barriers either in direct action or getting 'caught in the crossfire'; Adequate local human capital and associated challenges acquiring expatriate staff; Host Nation capability in dealing with disease outbreaks without destroying all activity; These are just some of the risks.