Over the past decade, Rane Roatta has grown from selling fruit from his bicycle to owning a 7-acre farm that ships delicious tropical fruit all over North America. He’s sharing his journey to becoming a farmer in this interview. Skip the waitlist and invest in blue-chip art for the very first time by signing up for Masterworks: https://masterworks.art/upflip Purchase shares in great masterpieces from artists like Pablo Picasso, Banksy, Andy Warhol, and more. 🎨 Before he started farming, Rane was a professional saxophonist. He built his fruit business completely from scratch, starting off with just his bike and $200 worth of inventory from local farmer’s markets. It didn’t take long before his friends further north started asking him to ship tropical fruits to them. That was when he realized the full potential of his tropical fruit business, setting up a website to connect with customers from across the United States and Canada. Rane is passionate about sustainability and the food he grows, and that passion is what’s led to his success. Being a new entrepreneur did mean he had to figure some things out as he went along. In this interview, we’ll hear the biggest lessons he learned during the early growth years of the business. He’ll also share the key skills and traits someone needs for farm life, and what systems and tools he’s implemented since starting to continue his business growth. Miami Fruit really started to expand after Rane purchased his own farm. We’ll take a look around the property in this interview and find out the types of crops he grows, which fruits are the most profitable, and how a new farmer can best acquire the knowledge they need to succeed. If you’re interested in starting a farm, make sure you check out our past interviews with farm owners: How to Start a Chicken Farm (And Make Millions) ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4qhDGG1C3k Starting a $188K/Year Pig Farm (From Scratch) ► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eetbgeLDy6M Resources https://miamifruit.org/ - Find out more about Miami Fruit on their website https://www.upflip.com/blog/how-to-start-a-farm - More insights on how to start a farm https://www.upflip.com/podcast - Hear more insights from business owners on our podcast https://www.upflip.com/ - Buy or sell a business on UpFlip https://www.usda.gov/ - The U.S. Department of Agriculture https://ads.google.com/home/ - Google Ads, a great way to build brand awareness and attract new customers to an eCommerce business Timestamps: 00:00 - START 00:40 - Intro and meeting Rane 01:47 - Starting the farm 02:20 - Overhead of the farm 03:05 - Financing the farm 03:57 - How to get started 04:48 - Exceptional customer service 05:54 - Shipping 06:50 - Building reputation and brand 07:38 - Competitive advantage 09:38 - Tour of the farm and fruits 10:28 - Challenges of starting a fruit farm 11:45 - Employees and hiring 12:26 - Sponsorship ad - Masterworks 13:40 - Most popular products 14:26 - Packing a box 15:34 - Seasonality of fruit farming 16:38 - Rectifying customer complaints 18:07 - Fan blitz 19:35 - Managing time and workflow 20:44 - Finding new growers and suppliers 21:38 - Building the team 22:31 - Biggest headache for him right now 23:43 - Impact of social media 25:06 - What they do differently from other fruit sellers 26:04 - Packaging 27:01 - Percent of fruit from growers vs. farm 27:34 - Advertising budget and best platforms 29:04 - Exploring some of the fruits 30:06 - Composting and recycling 31:13 - What to look for in suppliers 32:11 - Final advice See important Masterworks disclosures: http://masterworks.io/cd “net returns” refers to the annualized internal rate of return net of all fees and costs, calculated from the offering closing date to the sale date. IRR may not be indicative of Masterworks paintings not yet sold and past performance is not indicative of future results. See important Reg A disclosures: Masterworks.com/cd Masterworks’ offerings are filed with the SEC, view all past and current offerings here: https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?company=masterworks&match=&filenum=&State=&Country=&SIC=&myowner=exclude&action=getcompany #farm #farming #farmer