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Control is also important when dealing with money. If it is only family who handles cash, you could use something as simple as aprons with several pockets for bills and change. If hired staff handle the cash you need a tracking system. One option is to use a basic cash register. Cash registers are available at many offce supply stores and discount box stores for as little as $200.

An opening and closing inventory on the wristbands will tell you what your attendance is. Your cash register can likely be programmed so children, adults and seniors all have a different key. As such, you can run a “Z tape” (a summary of all transaction put through the cash register) at the end of the day and compare that to the wristband count. A hand stamp is cheaper than wristbands but it doesn’t give you a way to track attendance and cash receipts.

In entertainment farming, labour will be your single greatest cost. It is important that you prepare a budget and be realistic on what your labour needs will be. Depending on how busy you are, you may need:

• a greeter who can also direct traffc • someone to collect admissions and give out the maps of the maze • a person in charge of food if you sell it

• a play area supervisor • a foater to cover off in an emergency or when someone needs change, to go to lunch, use the washroom, etc.

will be open. Be realistic as to what portion of this time can be covered by family labour.

Remember, if family members are busy before the maze was built, who is going to pick up the jobs they have to drop to work in the corn maze? Perhaps family members can cover a portion of the time needed to operate the maze but the rest will have to be hired.

Keep in mind that staff and family have to be scheduled so people know where they are supposed to be and when. There is also the potential issue of customer problems. So you will need a foater who can fll in if a child is lost, keys are locked in a car, or someone gets sick, etc.

Some farms recommend you have someone who can walk the maze or view the maze from a high vantage point (e.g. a tower) to ensure that damage is not being done, or watch for visitors who need help. Others don’t have anyone walking the maze.

products leaving the retail area are paid for. Theft can rob you of much of the proft you planned to make.

Delegate your advertising and promotion. You may know a retired person who was in this feld of employment and would like to help you out. There are independent public relations people who aren’t that expensive but can get the media to promote your maze. They can also design your fyer. If you hire this job out you need to include it in the budget calculator at the end of this write-up. You will see under Labour, a subsection on Advertising & Promotion. On that line, estimate the hours of employment you expect the retired PR person will work, or the dollar value of the contract you sign with the PR business you hire to help.

Your general farm policy does not include liability coverage for on-farm retailing and entertainment. The insurance company assumes that on-farm traffc is primarily the farm supply company delivering fertilizer