Who would have spotted the synergy between farming and photography? Not everyone perhaps, but Jim Ellis (22) is a not only a dynamic and ambitious young farmer, he is also a young entrepreneur whose innovative ideas are already starting to pay off.
From an early age Jim realised how important it is to keep on learning new skills and developing business skills that he will utilise daily, not only at home on his family farm near Pwllheli, but within his own new photography business too. His commitment to learning was recognised when at the recent Winter Fair in Llanelwedd, he won Lantra’s prestigious Land-based Learner of the Year award for the Farming Connect category.
Jim, who studied photography at Coleg Menai, had set up a successful film and photography business in Swansea thanks to a sponsorship grant he was awarded having won a place at the Entrepreneurship Academy of Wales in Swansea. But in 2013 he returned to his family’s beef and sheep farm near Pwllheli and decided to set up a new film and photography enterprise nearby.
“Once I realised my father was considering scaling back at Llwyndyrus Farm, which had been in the family for three generations, it was time to head home.
Jim is now heavily involved with plans to identify and develop new income streams at not only the family farm, but within his own rapidly growing new film and photographic company too, which he has set up locally.
Jim and his father Evan, began with the purchase of more land which they decided to re-seed having attended a local Farming Connect knowledge transfer event which demonstrated the importance of improving grassland quality.
Farming Connect was also able to help with the business planning aspect, and through the Advisory Service, the family enlisted the support of Geraint Jones of Kite Consulting. Geraint has provided business advice over many years, assisting the business with their long term objectives.
The business has clear goals to increase the number of cattle finished by the year 2019.
“We intend to build new and improved animal housing and generally set about making the whole business more efficient and sustainable,” said Jim.
Earlier this year, Jim completed a Personal Development Plan (PDP), Farming Connect’s new online tool which helps farmers identify their skills and focus on long-term personal and business objectives.
“Completing my PDP helped me to identify my current skill set and set out my goals for the future. It soon became obvious which training courses would be most beneficial and relevant both short and longer term,” said Jim.
Jim decided to apply for both a marketing and a business planning course, which were delivered through approved Farming Connect training consultancy, Simply the Best.
“The two subsidised courses enabled me to step back and look at the structure of both the farm and the photographic business, and covered a range of marketing and promotional tools as well as business planning aspects,” said Jim.
So what’s next for this young businessman?
Developing the farm is still the main business focus, but Jim sees no disadvantage in pursuing other diversified business activities that can complement the farm.
He and his business partner intend to invest in new drone technology as well as high-level or mast photography and in 3D visualisation which can support planning applications.
“We hope this new technology should work very well in rural areas where field mapping can be an effective tool for not only farms but caravan sites, golf clubs and any businesses with significant areas of land.”
Alongside this, Jim is planning a new website to promote the photography business, which also undertakes wedding and portrait photography and he also intends to update the marketing side of their holiday lettings enterprise, Farm Spa Holidays.
This ambitious and hard-working young man is aiming high and clearly not going to let the grass grow beneath his feet!