Module 1 Know your customer and market 4 hAnalyse
Every sound business in automated farming equipment begins with one clear customer and one clear problem. In São Paulo and the wider state, demand is real but crowded, so a small, well-described customer group wins before a broad one.
- In automated farming equipment: Farm owners buy when a machine saves labour in a short season; measure hectares and hours.
- Write the customer in one sentence: a farm owner or cooperative. Add the place, the moment of need and what they use today.
- List five rivals or substitutes within reach. For each, record price, strength, weakness and how people reach it.
- Interview at least eight real customers with open questions. Record exact words, not your summary.
- Count the market in units: how many units sold or hired could one area buy in a month? Use two public sources and your own count, then take the lower figure.
- Choose one first segment and say why the others wait.
Worked example. Weak: 'Everyone needs a machine or kit that does a field task.' Strong: 'Our first customer is a farm owner or cooperative within 8 km of the centre, who today pays R$ 41.800 per unit sold or hired and complains about delay. We target 2 units sold or hired a month by month three.'
Second worked scenario. Scenario: ten customers are interviewed for automated farming equipment. Seven say price, two say speed, one says trust. Question: which first message do you write, and which interview record backs it? Model answer: lead with the unit sold or hired price and speed promise, keep trust proof as the second line, and cite the seven price answers by date.
Activity. Write the one-sentence customer, a five-row rival table and eight interview records. Share them with a peer for a challenge round.
Standard to meet. Define a specific customer, build a rival table with prices, and trace every claim to an interview or a source.
Module 2 Rules, registration and data duties in Brazil 4 hUnderstand
Brazil asks every trader to be visible and accountable. Know which register, tax regime and sector rules apply before the first sale, and check each against the current official text.
- In automated farming equipment: Machines need safety guards and operator training; import and certification rules apply.
- Choose a legal form: micro-entrepreneur (MEI) only if your activity appears on the official MEI list, or a company registered with a CNPJ. Regulated activities need their sector authorisation first. Check the current limits and lists on the official portal.
- Learn the tax regime that fits your size and write down which taxes you will collect and pay, and when.
- Find the sector rules for automated farming equipment: licences, inspections, professional registers. List each with the office that issues it and the renewal date.
- Personal data of customers falls under Brazil's data protection law (LGPD). Collect only what you need, say why, keep it safe, and name who answers questions.
- Consumer law gives buyers clear rights on information, returns and complaints. Put your terms in plain Portuguese.
Worked example. Checklist for a new automated farming equipment trader: 1) legal form (CNPJ, or MEI only if your activity is on the official list); 2) city operating licence; 3) sector licence or register; 4) tax set-up; 5) privacy notice; 6) written terms. Each has an owner and a date.
Second worked scenario. Scenario: a neighbour says registration can wait until the first R$ 190.000 of sales. Question: what do you do? Model answer: do not delay; write the compliance table first, confirm the register, tax and sector licence with the official office, and start only where the table shows no open blocker.
Activity. Build your own six-line compliance table for your first location. Mark what is done, what is pending and who confirms it.
Standard to meet. Cite an official source for every line, assume nothing, and date every pending item. Local law always wins over this course.
Module 3 Design the offer 4 hCreate
An offer states what the customer gets, how well, by when and at what price. For a machine or kit that does a field task, the offer must make the quality visible and the next step easy.
- In automated farming equipment: Offer sale or hire, with a seasonal service plan and spare-parts kit.
- Describe the core offer in three lines: what is delivered (a machine or kit that does a field task), the standard it meets, and the time it takes.
- Add one proof for each promise: a sample, a test result, a guarantee or a customer record.
- Price from cost upward and from customer value downward, then pick a price inside both.
- Write a simple one-page terms sheet: what is included, what is extra, how to cancel.
- Create two options at most, so choice stays easy.
Worked example. Offer: 'A machine or kit that does a field task, delivered within agreed time, checked against a written standard, price R$ 38.000 per unit sold or hired. Proof: a dated record the customer can check and sign. Changes or cancellation by written agreement before work begins.'
Second worked scenario. Scenario: a customer asks for a discount from R$ 38.000 to R$ 34.200 per unit sold or hired. Question: decide with numbers. Model answer: contribution falls from R$ 12.000 to R$ 8.200 per unit sold or hired; offer an extra of value (for example faster service) before cutting price, and accept only if the lower contribution still clears break-even.
Longer notes. Define the offer as one unit sold or hired: the machine, its controller, the sensors and the training of the operator. Walk the field before you quote and write the area, slope, crop and water source. State what the machine does and what it does not, and give the target, such as hectares per hour, as a measured figure, never as a promise of harvest. Compute the cost from the equipment, delivery, setup and a small spare-parts kit. Keep the workshop and salaries as fixed cost. Before the first sale, ask the competent authority which safety rules apply to a machine that carries sprayers or flies over a crop.
Extra worked example. A unit is sold or hired out for a value of R$ 38.000. The equipment costs R$ 24.000 and delivery, setup and training R$ 2.000 (an illustrative split, not market data), so the cost is R$ 26.000 and the margin is R$ 12.000, or 31,6%. With 3 units a month, revenue is R$ 114.000 and contribution R$ 36.000. After R$ 20.000 of fixed cost, the result is R$ 16.000. Two units already cover the workshop and salaries (break-even 1,7), and the third lifts the month to R$ 16.000.
Activity. Write the offer card, the proof list and the terms sheet. Test them with three customers and note every point where they hesitated.
Standard to meet. Check that promise, proof and price are consistent, fit the terms on one page, and record three customer reactions.
Module 4 Run the work step by step 5 hApply
Good operations make results repeatable. For automated farming equipment, write each step so a new person could follow it on their first day, and measure each step.
- In automated farming equipment: Run a pre-season service and a daily check: fluids, guards, sensors, software.
- Map the process from first contact to paid and closed. Typical stages: enquiry, quote, preparation, delivery of the unit sold or hired, check, payment, follow-up.
- Name the key resource at each stage: spare parts and trained operators. Note what happens if it is missing.
- Write a one-page standard procedure per stage: who, what, tool, time, record.
- Choose three measures: speed, quality (errors per 100) and customer rating. Review them every week.
- Fix the cause of a defect, not the symptom. Ask 'why' five times and record the answer.
Worked example. Stage record: 'Prepare. Owner: lead. Time: 30 min. Tool: checklist. Record: signed sheet. Defect found on 1 of 2 units sold or hired last week; cause: missing check on spare parts and trained operators; fix: add check at start, review next Friday.'
Second worked scenario. Scenario: of 3 units sold or hired last month, 1 had a defect traced to spare parts and trained operators. Question: what is the defect rate and what is your first action? Model answer: about 33 defects per 100; stop the cause (add a check at the start), correct affected customers, log the cause, and re-measure next week.
Activity. Draw the process map and write procedures for the two riskiest stages. Run each once and time it.
Standard to meet. Write procedures a stranger can follow, record weekly numbers for each measure, and trace one defect to a root cause.
Module 5 Safety, quality and risk 4 hEvaluate
The most serious risk in this field is a breakdown in the busy season. A calm, written risk routine protects people first and the business second.
- In automated farming equipment: Rotating parts, hydraulics and autonomous movement are the key hazards; use exclusion zones and stop buttons.
- List ten things that could go wrong. Score each for how likely (1 to 5) and how serious (1 to 5). Multiply and sort.
- For the top five, choose a control: remove the hazard, replace it, guard it, train people, or use protective gear, in that order of preference.
- Write who does what in an emergency, and rehearse it once a quarter.
- Keep an incident and near-miss log. Near-misses are free lessons.
- Check that insurance and legal duties match the risk you actually carry.
Worked example. Risk row: 'Hazard: a breakdown in the busy season. Likelihood 3, severity 5, score 15. Control: written check before each unit sold or hired, trained staff, log sheet. Owner: site lead. Review monthly.'
Second worked scenario. Scenario: a near-miss occurs: a breakdown in the busy season nearly happened but no one was hurt. Question: what do you do in the next 24 hours? Model answer: make safe, record the event, ask the five whys, add or tighten one control, brief the team, and set a review date; near-misses count as lessons, not blame.
Activity. Build a ten-row risk register and a one-page emergency plan. Run a ten-minute drill with a peer and note two improvements.
Standard to meet. Rank controls by preference for the top risks, run the drill, and start the log. Where a regulation applies, follow the official rule.
Module 6 People, skills and service 4 hApply
People deliver the promise. Define roles, train to a standard and give feedback in the open.
- In automated farming equipment: Train operators in short field sessions with a practical test.
- Write a role card for each person: purpose, five tasks, the standard for each, and who to ask for help.
- Train by showing, doing with support, then doing alone with a check. Record sign-off per task.
- Set service rules for answering customers: reply times, tone, how to apologise and fix.
- Hold a ten-minute team check each day: yesterday's problem, today's plan, one risk.
- Build a growth path: what a new person can do in week 1, month 3 and month 12.
Worked example. Training record: 'Task: process a complaint. Shown 2 May; done with support 4 May; done alone 8 May, checked: apology, fix, follow-up call. Signed by lead.'
Second worked scenario. Scenario: a new hire completes training but a customer complaint shows a skipped step. Question: whose gap is it? Model answer: first the system: check the role card, the training sign-off and the checklist; then coach the person and fix the document so the step cannot be skipped.
Longer notes. Plan technicians around the planting and harvest calendar. Write the steps of a setup: positioning, calibration, safety stops, test pass and operator training. Test new technicians on reading the controller, replacing a sensor and locking out the machine. Keep a service log for every unit with hours worked, faults and parts used. Plan spare technicians for the weeks when all farms need help at once. Confirm the training a technician needs to work on powered farm machinery before he drives out. Hold a short briefing before each visit and review the log afterwards.
Extra worked example. Each unit needs 4 technician-days for setup, training and a first service, a worked-example figure, not market data. 3 units need 12 technician-days. In a planting month with 8 units, the work becomes 32 technician-days. One technician has 22 days, so the company needs 1,45 technicians in that month, that is two. The second technician is needed only in planting months, when 32 days of work against 22 available leave 10 days for a seasonal hire to cover.
Activity. Write two role cards and a training plan for one new hire. Role-play a hard customer conversation twice and review.
Standard to meet. Write role cards with measurable standards, show the sign-off steps in training, and write the service rules in plain words.
Module 7 Money: cost, price and break-even 5 hAnalyse
A business lives or dies on a few numbers. Know your contribution per unit, your fixed costs and the volume you need.
- In automated farming equipment: Compare cost per hectare with hand labour; show payback in seasons.
- Contribution per unit sold or hired = price minus variable cost. Fixed costs are paid whether you sell or not.
- Break-even units = fixed cost divided by contribution. Plan to pass it by a safe margin.
- Make a 12-month cash plan. Cash timing matters as much as profit: customers may pay late, suppliers may want money first.
- Keep money for business and money for the owner apart.
- Test the plan: what if sales fall by a quarter, or cost rises by a tenth?
Worked example. Worked example, all figures in reais: price R$ 38.000, variable cost R$ 26.000, contribution R$ 12.000 per unit sold or hired. Fixed cost R$ 20.000 a month. Break-even = R$ 20.000 / R$ 12.000 = 1,67, so 2 units sold or hired a month. At 3 units sold or hired a month, profit = R$ 12.000 x 3 - R$ 20.000 = R$ 16.000. These are teaching figures that belong to this example only; later examples and the case study use their own figures. Use your own.
Second worked scenario. Scenario: sales fall to 2 units sold or hired a month. Question: what is the monthly result? Model answer: R$ 12.000 x 2 - R$ 20.000 = R$ 4.000; compare with break-even of 2 units sold or hired and decide whether to cut fixed cost or raise volume first. Teaching figures only.
Activity. Build your own table: price, variable cost, contribution, fixed cost, break-even and a downside case at 75% of sales. Show it to a peer or mentor.
Standard to meet. Calculate correctly, give every figure a source or mark it as an assumption, and show a downside case.
Module 8 Grow, measure and renew 4 hEvaluate
Growth should follow proof. Measure, learn, then add; and keep returning to the customer.
- In automated farming equipment: Grow through cooperative sharing and local service points.
- Pick one growth lever at a time: new customers, a higher repeat rate, a better price, or a new offer.
- Set one measurable target for 90 days, such as 'raise repeat customers from 20% to 30%'.
- Ask each customer how they found you, and record it. Spend more where the record shows results.
- Review monthly: numbers, defects, complaints, cash. Write three decisions each time.
- Plan the renewal of licences, equipment and skills a year ahead.
Worked example. 90-day plan: 'Lever: repeat customers. Action: follow-up call after every unit sold or hired. Target: repeat rate from 20% to 30%. Check: weekly count. Review date: day 45 and day 90.'
Second worked scenario. Scenario: you can add 2 units sold or hired a month by one of two levers: a follow-up call to past customers or a price rise of R$ 3.800 to R$ 41.800. Question: how do you choose? Model answer: test the cheaper reversible lever first (the call), measure for 30 days, and only then try the price change, so you can tell which one worked.
Longer notes. Grow through field days and through the farmers who already use your machines. Record the visitors, their area and crop, and the result of each follow-up call. Run a demonstration on a real plot and measure hectares per hour with the farmer present. Offer a seasonal hire first to hesitant farmers and record how many buy. Visit each customer after harvest to read the log. Avoid promising yields, and read the advertising and machinery rules in force before each field day. Keep every result in one table and review it after each season.
Extra worked example. A field day brings 30 growers and 10% sign, giving 3 units. A second day with 40 growers and the same 10% gives 4 units, one more (the grower counts and the 10% are worked-example figures, not market data). That unit leaves R$ 12.000, so contribution rises from R$ 36.000 to R$ 48.000 and the result from R$ 16.000 to R$ 28.000. With break-even at 2 units, the second field day lifts the cushion above break-even from one unit to two.
Activity. Write a 90-day plan with one target, three actions and a review date. Present it in five minutes and take questions.
Standard to meet. Set a measurable, dated target, break the actions down small enough to start this week, and put the review date in the calendar.
