Owning a business is not something I ever saw myself doing. Being a co-owner has made this a much more agreeable experience for me. We have been blessed with a team full of giftings which greatly impact our ability to do business. Let's review:
Laura: The Administrator.My lovely wife is gifted with a knack for money sense and a great ability to organize things. Her skill set from being a Realtor has also assisted. She can understand the intricacies of the legal and land issues. She is also a salesperson and has a sharp mind for marketing and finding what sells and how to sell it.
Liz: The Artist. This, as you will see, seems to be a gifting among the women in her family as her sister and mother both are very artistic minded. Liz brings it in a very literal way. Her eye for design and images has blessed us with our logo, the amazing signage in our garage, as well as many photos which decorate the walls of our house, and the pages of our website.
Marc: The Self-Starter. Marc can learn to do anything and do it well. I experienced this through our games nights as he regularly trounced everyone with a cunning and understanding of how things work. He is not afraid to tackle something he knows little about. Armed with Google and a thirst for knowledge, he has single-handedly introduced more new ideas to the business than the rest of us put together.
Josh: The Hard Worker. Josh brings a single-minded drive to his work on the farm. Back in the business side of things, his engineering background and logical mindset has kept us on track many a time. He brings a critical view of things and also makes sure we wrap everything up nice and neat. He keeps us tidy and honest. His engineering background also brings us a skill set which we need to build and maintain many of the systems and equipment we use daily.
Katie: The Builder. Just like her sister, Katie has an eye for design. She has crafted many things on the farm, from our storefront shelves and counter, to the little boxes you will soon be buying your jam in. She has provided a lot of insight into the design of several things. She also is a great people manager as she is our boss of the blueberries. She has managed all of the staff for this over the past two seasons.
Cliff: The Businessman. Cliff may not be as involved in the work on the farm, but he is always looking for an edge. Through his travels, he is always asking questions at farm markets, providing us with some great ideas. He also has a good business sense and is quick to rein in our lofty ideas if they aren't profitable. We want to have fun and to cool stuff, but at the end of the day it is a business. Cliff is great at making connections and spreading the word. If we had no marketing but Cliff, we would do alright.
Susan: The Visionary. Susan, like Cliff, is also not as involved in the work. She brings an amazing insight to our work though. Her revelations are inspiring and she is often one of the strongest voices in guiding us back on track with God, who blessed us with this opportunity. With Cliff, she travels and meets people. The two of them are our market researchers.
Me: The Coordinator. For a while I struggled with how my skills in computers would add to this farm. I started by just doing farm work and helping where I could. Within the first year, I saw where my giftings were leading me. Into the realm of coordinating. I push communication above all things here. I inundate everyone with my emails and updates. I track work and keep projects moving along when they are being forgotten. I have also found that niche for my computer skills in the realm of managing domains and email address (and getting internet to work for such a large number of computers in one house). I also have an eye for innovation and like to try new things and improve what we already have. I am limited in this only by time and money.
As you can see, we have a broad field of skills for such a small group. We have our strengths and they compliment the weaknesses we all have quite well. There is very little we cannot accomplish when we are on track.
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