Who's the boss, you or the company?

There comes a moment when you realize: this company is never 'finished'. There is no end point. No status 'completed'. You build, you renovate, you improve, you buy, you trade. Year in, year out. And when you think: now it's right, now it's as it should be... something changes. In the market, the regulations, the environment or privately. Or just on the land or in the stable.

That is part of entrepreneurship, especially in the agricultural sector. You never stand still, because the world doesn't either. So you grow. Sometimes literally - from 50 to 150 hectares, or from 60 to 185 cows - but especially in thinking. In entrepreneurship, the art of making choices, persevering and adjusting.

The company continues
When you start young, you might still think that the company is an extension of yourself. That you decide, you set the course. That is true, but to a certain extent. As the years go by, you notice that the company gets its own dynamic. Its own raison d'être. It is not just your workplace, it is your life's work. And at the same time, you are only a temporary part of it. You take care, you carry, you decide, but the company continues, even if you ever stop.

As you grow older, your view of the whole changes. You no longer act solely from your own interests, but in the service of the greater whole. You think further ahead. You plant trees whose fruits you no longer pick yourself. You arrange things well, because you know that others have to move on. It is no longer about you, it is about what remains.

The indispensable hero
There is also peace in that. Because if everything revolved around you, the burden would be too great. But you are important and not the indispensable hero. You are a passer-by with a mission. If you do that well – with vision, courage and love building something that is bigger than yourself – then you leave something behind that retains value and that your successors can continue with. Not for the ego, but for the future.

And yes, of course you want to do it as well as possible. The timing is sharp, the seasons merciless; too wet or too dry. But that keeps you awake. That makes farming life so intense and beautiful. Not because you have to do it perfectly, but because you have to give the best at your moment. So that the company can continue with or without you. In my opinion, the company is the boss and you can give it direction yourself.

Peter Pals

Peter Pals is an entrepreneur at Farmers Funding & Advies and grew up on a farm. From his farming heart, he has decided to build up a business for business, financial and tax advice for agricultural entrepreneurs.

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