Why strategy still matters - even when the weather doesn’t care
In horticulture, the phrase “best laid plans” often feels like a cruel joke. A bumper harvest can be ruined by unexpected rain, an oversupplied market, or external factors like tariff shifts. Events far beyond the farm gate can disrupt even the most carefully crafted business models. It's no surprise that many growers view "strategy" as a corporate buzzword rather than a useful, practical tool.
However, after 15 years of working with businesses — many family-run, seasonal, and weather-dependent — I can confidently assert: strategy matters. In volatile environments like horticulture, strategy is not a luxury; it’s a lifeline.
Planning builds capability, not just a plan
Let’s clear up a misconception: strategic planning is not about predicting the future. It’s about preparing for it.
While no business plan can outwit a hailstorm, a flood, or a drought, the act of planning builds a kind of mental muscle – what’s called strategic thinking capability.
When businesses take the time to map their goals, scan their risks, and consider different scenarios, they’re not just writing a business document. They’re rehearsing their team for disruption. The process builds decision-making confidence, creates alignment across the team, and makes the business more adaptable when things inevitably go sideways.
In other words, the value of strategy lies less in the plan itself and more in the process of thinking, talking, and aligning as a team.
Chaos needs a method
One of the most consistent observations I’ve made across a wide variety of businesses is that those with a structured approach to strategy handle chaos better.
They don’t panic when a crop fails or when a key supplier disappears. Instead, they fall back on their process: What do we know? What are our options? What’s the long-term vision? What do we need to decide, and by when? What do we do now? This methodical approach doesn’t make hard decisions easier, but it does make them clearer.
And that clarity? It’s contagious. Teams in strategically ‘fit’ businesses report less stress, more focus, and greater resilience. When people know where the business is heading, and how decisions are made, they waste less time second-guessing or reacting emotionally to change.
Action steps
You don’t need a 40-page strategy document or an off-site with expensive consultants to start. Strategy can begin with three simple questions:
Where are we now?
Where do we want to be?
How do we close that gap? (What might stop us from getting there, and what can we do about it?)
Combine these questions with our One Page Strategic Plan template for a straightforward approach to developing your strategy. This template will guide you through the essential elements of strategic planning, helping you to clarify your goals, assess your current situation, and outline actionable steps to bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be.
Even doing this annually with your team, or gathering your family around the kitchen table with a whiteboard, can kick-start a powerful shift in mindset. Over time, these conversations compound. They create focus. They encourage innovation. And they build a team that can weather more than just storms.
The payoff isn’t predictability - it’s preparedness
In horticulture, uncertainty is a fact of life. But uncertainty doesn’t have to mean chaos. Businesses that commit to thinking strategically — not just once, but as an ongoing habit— find themselves better equipped to adapt, pivot and thrive.
Strategy won’t stop the rain. But it can help you know what to do when it doesn’t stop.
If you would like to take the first leap to bridge the gap between where you are and where you want to be, QFVG Partner Who Cares, Focus HR is running their next Group Strategy Intake on 10 and 11 July.
Remember that QFVG members receive a 5% discount on these services.
QFVG has been supporting horticultural growers with information and advice on workplace relations, human resource management and workplace health and safety for over 20 years. Today, we partner with consultants, and QFVG Partner Who Cares, Focus HR to deliver tailored and expert advice to our members.
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