If they couldn't do it on their own, they asked for help. This is how we went about answering those two very important questions. If you decide to get involved in value added, they are the same fundamental questions you must ask yourself and eventually answer to many other people. Starting these businesses is not an academic exercise, although information is very important. You can plan and analyze till the cows come home, but success or failure is embodied in these two simple questions.
Business people know that instinctively.
In the case of USWP, these two question were answered by conducting a first class and rather expensive sales effort. We enlisted the best we could find of legal counsel to help take care of all legal matters, consultants to do the business planning, financial experts to prepare the financial projections and a very farmer specific and talented group of public relations people. They helped to get the word out over four states, and provided computer generated presentation material, proper sound and other visuals. We also had an important educational edge in our region, and this was an important advantage to our efforts. Many of these cooperatives have been started.