Software Products for Small- Scale Farms. Chris Bodnar

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1 Software Products for Small- Scale Farms Chris Bodnar

2 Types of Software CSA Management Farm Planning / Record Keeping Farmigo Small Farm Central CSAware Seed to Harvest AgSquared COG-Pro

3 Considerations Cost Support Mobility Bandwidth Intuitiveness of software

4 CSA Management Software Overwhelmed with CSA management? Looking for ways to increase CSA sales? Would you like to offer more customized options (payment plans, box contents)?

5 CSA Software Basics Manage subscriber sign-ups online; Online payments; Print harvest lists, packing lists, delivery lists and labels; Manage member communication; Cloud-based (I.e. software is webbased, not on your computer)

6 Why CSA Software? Easier sign-up and account management for members (and you); Easier payment collection; Plan to scale up in the future; Increase sales: offer extra farm store items, case lots and share options; Overall better member experience

7 Three Packages Explored Farmigo Small Farm Central CSAware

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9 Automated s

10 Automated s Result

11 Member Management

12 Online Payments and Payment Management

13 Web Store

14 User Interface Member Accounts

15 Mobile Platform

16 Cost: 2% of sales, $150 minimum $200 deposit required (applied against future charges) Only pay for months you do deliveries Best value if your CSA box values gross at least $7,500/month

17 Allows for PayPal and/or authorize.net integration; Excellent support, ongoing communication, tips; Ongoing development means new features and improvements based on user feedback; New mobile app makes system portable

18 Requires payment gateway account ($40/month plus % of sales fees); Costs 2% of sales, $100 monthly minimum; Only pay for the months you do deliveries.

19 Offers web design service in addition to CSA managements software (additional cost); Packages for smaller CSAs (e.g. $30/month for 50 members of less); No charge for extra items purchased through online store; Monthly payment whether you do deliveries or not

20 How to choose? PayPal vs. Payment Gateway PayPal: No monthly fee; 2.9% of each transaction plus $0.30 Authorize.net: $40-50/month plus 2.2 to 3% per transaction Rule of thumb: PayPal is best option unless you process at least $4,000 to $5,000/month Consider when you require payments and volume: Jan. through March or all season?

21 How to Choose? Small Farm Central You need web design; You are a small CSA; Cost is determining factor.

22 How to Choose? Farmigo Mobile app; Intuitive software; Advanced share options and account management for customers; Excellent coaching and support; Company focused on the success of its customers.

23 Record-keeping Software Two ways to approach: Record keeping; or Planning and Record keeping Integrate planning and record-keeping into one program; Produce clean and clear records for Verification Officers and future planning.

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25 Seed to Harvest Free iphone and ipod Touch app; $10 version to produce pdf reports; Developed by a 17-year-old raised on an organic farm; Records always available - stored on your phone, back-up by

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30 Seed to Harvest Are you the only record-keeper? Do you want a mobile, low-cost recordkeeping option? Are you prudent about backing up your records?

31 AgSquared $60 annual fee, free trial available; Ongoing webinars and training; Cloud-based; Mobile app still in development; Integrates planning and record keeping; Question: do you have Internet connectivity to use cloud-based software?

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38 COG Pro $79/year subscription, $150 for two years; Livestock and GAP modules available for additional $50-80; Cloud-based, but not Flash (works on mobile devices without an additional app); Comprehensive and intuitive, faster to use (I.e. less bandwidth).

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42 Other products to explore Options for accepting credit cards via smart phone apps (farmers markets, farmgate); Google Apps for integrated business e- mail, web site hosting, calendars, documents, etc. Cloud-based book-keeping, allowing mobile invoice creation.

43 Questions? Contact me: