Structure Your Agri-Tourism Business For Success

Whatever your type of agri-tourism business, the enterprise will depend on keeping your customer experience the best it can be, and it is important to direct your visitors on where to go and what to do when they are on your property. Apple picking with cider and donuts on hand, berry picking in the heat of summer, or sales of your organic produce from a farmstand, all require some sincere organization in order to be successful.

While you may have a main barn or building on the property for hosting regular events or visitors, the addition of carefully placed outbuildings and outdoor structures can greatly enhance the customer’s comfort and thus experience during their visit. Rural communities can benefit greatly from the agri-tourism trend and taking your farm from an average experience to one that ticks all the boxes and offers more than expected, puts you squarely in front of your competition.

The use of a pavilion can provide shelter from the occasional shower of rain and from the hot rays of the summer son. Outdoor structures provide a point of ‘collection’ for visitors. A wine tasting event or running a 5K fundraiser through your apple orchards for charity, all have to be staged or begin somewhere. The gathering point might be at the pavilion or pergola, or the structure can be used as a sales point at the end of a tour. Quick and easy to set up, budget friendly outdoor living structures can be customized to include an interior area that can be set up as a temporary kitchen or office space.

Hopefully you have already developed your agri-tourism business to incorporate events for schoolchildren. A fun day out picking pumpkins finished off with a glass or organic apple juice and sandwiches filled with farm made jam and peanut butter served from the pavilion, keeps those muddy boots out of your shop or store.

As folks come to experience the joy of the great outdoors, clad in flip-flops and shorts in summer and layered up for arctic weather in the Fall, the provision of seating and shelter can make a tiring day out much less stressful for the nursing Mom or aging grandparent.

If you are staging a farmstand by the roadside to attract passing customers, the rustic appeal of a traditional board and batten shed, pavilion, concession style ice-cream stand or other structure will provide an attractive stopping option for weary adventurers.

The beauty of a modular structure, is that it can be provisioned to be moveable for off-season storage. Large metal corner hooks can be chained and pulled with a tractor to a more suitable location for winter, so that the area can be snowplowed when necessary without hindrance. Ask about this option if your business is seasonal.

To make the perfect selection for your business it is smart to shop where the choice in colors/materials/design and styles are at a maximum. The best option is to work directly with a manufacturer. This will also facilitate options for financing, and discounts if you plan to purchase more than one structure.

Continuity in branding of your business is important, and various structures can be matched either in color, design or materials used to convey the elements that matter to you in your marketing approach.

We asked Jonathan Zook of Stoltzfus Structures, who are a leading manufacturer of outdoor buildings, for advice on how best to navigate setting up outdoor sheds and structures for use in agri-tourism:

“Obviously when you work directly with a manufacturer you have the most options from which to choose just what you want. Everything we do is of quality build by our team of Amish craftsman and we’ve been doing this for over 40 years now and know what we are about. When you put up a top quality structure you know you’ll enjoy longevity of the building and our team can advise you on what materials to incorporate to keep the structures as low maintenance as possible. This is especially important for businesses, whose sites will see a commercial level of traffic,” explained Zook.

Stoltzfus Structures extensive list of happy customers is testament to how easy the company makes the purchasing experience. Quick and efficient delivery and set up of their range of factory made buildings, alleviates the need for a messy, noisy building site impeding the use of your existing business.

Enjoy browsing the vast collection of structures on offer and don’t be shy to pick up the phone (610) 593 7700 and ask questions.