HMI’s Online Learning Series Getting Started Holistic Financial Planning course began in May of 2016 with 18 participants from The United States, Canada, Columbia, Iceland and Australia. This course focused on key financial principles that helped participants learn how to work on their business, not just in their business. This simple approach to financial planning assisted participants to understand the big picture view as well as make critical production decisions based on a clear sense of cost of production for different enterprises. Participants were able to develop a financial plan and identify ways to implement and monitor that plan. The participants were very excited to learn the key economic analysis tools for improved financial decisions for both annual budgets and for long-term investment.
Featured Participants:
“I took the Holistic Financial Management class in the summer of 2016. My mom also took the course and we worked on it together, with input from both families. The course literally changed the whole direction of both of our farms. We learned how to make more effective decisions and how to project income, expenses, and profit for each farm operation. We loved how we weren’t just considering the numbers, but also the long-term holistic goal – that felt much more comfortable for us. I work for our local Conservation District, and we’ve been considering bringing Holistic Management trainings to our area. I can now wholeheartedly encourage other producers here to participate, in light of the learning I’ve appreciated so much. Thank you so much for offering such valuable information!”
“I think the HMI approach is one of the most responsible I have ever encountered. The financial class helped me to view my finances in a much more systematic and all-inclusive way. I plan to continue on. My daughter and I are both very excited.”
“It’s important to me to be able to plan financially because financial planning is the heart of our family business success. I hope to set an example for future generations on the ranch to following using HMI Financial Planning.”
Here’s what the participants had to say:
“I learned so much! The underlying concepts are really wonderful and have changed the way I approach finances generally.”
“Very good – I can see myself taking it again online. I liked the webinars, assigned readings between classes and the power point presentations. They really helped cement each new idea (repetition, repetition, repetition!).”
“Excellent content. The video instructions were great. The live sessions were very helpful.”
“Really great and useful. As I’ve heard in some great plant courses, “6 weeks of class, 60 years of homework”
“The info is outstanding.”
Most Useful things I learned:
“Everything. After 30 years in service provider business, these new ways of looking at accounting, planning/budgeting, and controlling are awesome. I agree with a classmate who will drop using Quicken for these PAPER strategies – even if they will not replace accounting practices, but they may be a wonderful way of controlling and tracking every aspect of the operations within our properties and our enterprises.”
“I learned how important it is to plan your profit. This is something we have really fallen down on over the years. I’m excited to try it with these new ideas.”
“The spreadsheet and worksheets really help organize and quantify, the prioritization that includes personal values is awesome! Just what was missing!”
“Definitely the identifying of adverse factors, as well as the basic recipe of planning for profit by monitoring expenses.”
“To write down the steps I am going to take to correct shortfalls.”
Getting Started Holistic Financial Planning Course Survey Results
Knowledge/Behavior and Confidence Increase % Increase
Determining the weak link in your farm’s/ranch’s enterprises 100%
Identifying log jam and adverse factors 100%
How to Increase your farm’s/ranch’s net worth after the course 100%
Determining viable profitable enterprises for your farm/ranch after the course 100%
Your skills in developing a whole farm/ranch financial plan after the course 100%
Assessing the cash flow of your plan after the course 100%
Prioritizing and cutting farm/ranch expenses to guide reinvestment in
your farm/ranch 92%
Determining your farm’s/ranch’s net worth 92%
Determining your farm’s/ranch’s projected revenue 92%
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