The Rural Voice, 1985-11, Page 14SHIFTING GEARS
Staying in the community
— with a new enterprise
The Ryans family purchased
a store, changed it into a
restaurant, and are keeping a
close eye on their record-
keeping.
by Phyllis Coulter
12 THE RURAL VOICE
For the Ryans, a family of ten,
the emotions and conse-
quences of leaving the farm
were multiplied ten -fold. "Everyone
has their own little hurts," says Mary
Ryan. But, she adds, "The more
shoulders there are to carry a burden,
the lighter the burden gets."
Ron Ryan started farming_ more
than 25 years ago near St. Coliumban.
He and Mary established a mixed
farm with dairy, beef, and hogs.
About five years ago, the Ryans
began to realize that their farm
couldn't support their family of eight
children, the eldest now 18 years old.
Four years ago in September, they
purchased a variety store — it had
been empty for two years and sold for
a low price. They worked for five
months getting the store ready for
business and opened its doors in
February of 1982.
The income from the store, which
offers lunches and also sells propane,
was meant to keep the farm family
going. They did the chores every mor-
ning at home, maintained the farm,
and put in long hours at the store.
Running both operations was mental-
ly and physically too much. "We felt
we weren't doing a good job at either
one. After a while we had to make a
choice," Mary says.
The books showed that the store
was carrying its way, but the livestock
continued to lose money. The stress
over money, Ron notes, "turns you
sour on farming."
About one year ago they sold the
farm. "We spent 18 years of our life
there," Mary says, "It was almost
like starting over again." The Ryans
moved into the back of their store.
"It's not really home. It's more like
living quarters."
Making the decision to leave the
farm was a struggle for the Ryans,
but they recovered and started a new
life with vigour. "It's like somebody
died. You get angry. You mourn.
You accept the fact it's painful, but
then you have to go ahead. We're
beginning to adjust," Mary says.
The Ryans see some things dif-
ferently now than they did on the
farm. To them farming was a way of
life first. Now that they own a
business, they "see with clarity" that
a farm has to be treated as a business
too. If they were still farming, the
biggest thing they would change is
their accounting and record-keeping.
They kept farm records for income
tax purposes only. "If someone had
offered us a good accounting system
for $1,000 then, we would have turn-
ed it down because we would have
thought it cost too much," Mary
relates.
"We never really had a budget
before we got this business. We have
a budget now. I didn't know what a
cash flow statement was while we
were on the farm," Ron admits.
"If we had as good an accounting
system on the farm as we have here,
we might not be here," Mary adds.
Ron keeps that in mind every even-
ing when he spends an hour keeping
up the books. That hour usually
follows two hours of clean-up after
working in the store for 13 hours, six
days a week. Work ends at 2 p.m. on
Sunday when family time starts.
The oldest children have part-time
jobs elsewhere. All members of the
family pitch in at the store as well.
The Ryans also keep 200 hens, which
provide fresh eggs for the lunch