Introduction
Cultivated mushrooms are a product for our time _endash_ particularly in Europe. Each new year brings with it new environmental crises for the subcontinent. In addition to this, the growing impact of meat skepticism have made mushrooms the number-one alternative for a more sustainable food culture. This trend is making it increasingly attractive for entrepreneurs to enter this growing market. However, many of them find it extremely challenging to surmount the technical and business challenges involved in profitable cultivation at scale. This lack of know-how is leading to business failures that are entirely preventable. What success in the mushroom business requires most of all is expert knowledge and a well-thought-out plan. With some guidance, the mushroom sector can prove highly rewarding for farmers who want to diversify their portfolios as well as for investors in precision agriculture and emerging technologies. By embracing a culture of continual innovation, even established growers can greatly improve their outlook and profitability. Ultimately, what every successful mushroom farm needs is an integrated approach to meeting the technical and business challenges involved in large-scale cultivation. This article will provide an overview of what it really takes to join the mushroom business and succeed in the long run.

To start this series, allow me to outline four fundamental parts of successful mushroom farming that will allow the reader to find their way in the world of mushroom business and what it means to create a business in this industry. These four parts correlate to the most important preparations for starting a business in general: in other words, a business plan. So, my four divisions are:
 
1.    Having an idea
2.    You have to have a plan
3.    What skills do I have? What skills do I need?
4.    What is necessary to start with a company in the mushroom sector?
 
First, I would like to briefly touch on point number 1, which even though it seems like the easiest part, is often surprisingly underdeveloped in new business ventures.
 
1.    Having an idea
Mushrooms as we heard in the introduction are a product of our time. People think more and more about what they eat. In addition to this, the influence of the climate change on the consumer opinions can guide people to buying more mushrooms. Food culture in Western nations more generally is rapidly changing to become more cosmopolitan. Because of globalization, in any decent-sized city, food is much more diverse than it was even fifty years ago. For example, for many people in Middle Europe today, East Asian cuisine counts as a traditional meal that they have grown up eating since childhood. Frequent exposure to ethnic cooking in restaurants has also led to a more diverse style of home-cooking.
More and more people are trying to implement some of these online trends in their daily lives. Such consumers would also like to cook dinner at home whenever they can. Mushrooms _endash_ especially the so-called “exotic” varieties _endash_ are becoming hugely popular. So why not start a business in this kind of market climate? This is also the reason _endash_ excluding the dominant Agaricus industry where the situation is very different_endash_ why so many eager young entrepreneurs become motivated to think about joining the exotic mushroom sector. On the other hand, existing companies and investors are also beginning to think about jumping into the mushroom sector to diversify their portfolio with an interesting modern product. One that seems guaranteed to provide short-to-mid-term economic growth with stable-to-high market prices for the raw product. So why not take the leap? So goes the thinking of many eager start-ups.   
 
2.    You have to have a plan
At this point, any business plan should stop and rethink about the situation and try to offer up a negative counter-opinion. Because, yes, it is right that mushrooms are an interesting product and especially in Europe we are far from reaching the full market potential, but two important questions present themselves when we reconsider the situation with a critical eye. One, is it right to talk about a European market in the sense of common needs and consumer behavior? Two, is it really so easy to join this sector?
What is needed is a concrete plan, the dreaded “business plan.” And this business plan must be based on analysis and hard facts, not anecdotal evidence or gut feelings. What I have observed is that many people who want to join this sector are lacking in this area and as a result are too dependent on the sense that what they are doing is “trending” and therefore, somehow, guaranteed for success. I wish to emphasize that the main part of a business plan is not just having an idea. Having an idea is the base, but if you have done nothing else, all you have is an empty lot with a concrete slab in the middle, not a building. An idea without a plan is nothing but a daydream.
To dive further into the subject of business planning, I have nine sub-points to make specifically for those looking to start a business in the mushroom sector. These sub-points pertain more concretely to what this plan has to contain and at which stage which decisions have to be made.

 For the first installment in this series, I will start on the first element, Choose your product, which should not be confused with having an idea (unless selling ideas is your product). When you decide that you want to grow mushrooms, first you need to understand that there are a lot of cultivatable varieties and they are not interchangeable. In Europe the decision often comes down to: Should I grow Agaricus bisporus or some trendy “exotic” mushrooms? In this question lies a mistake. Because we make it into a choice between a single species, Agaricus bisporus, and an umbrella term like “exotic mushrooms” this means that most growers who choose the latter try to produce a broad variety of mushroom species.

But that direction is often a dead-end that leads to immense amounts of wasted effort and energy. To avoid aimlessly trying to just produce as many varieties as possible, a prospective business should ask itself what is the goal. Do they want to produce for a regional or national market and at what scale? What are the current needs of its target market? This is what should inform their cultivation plans; they should grow varieties based on need and openings. It is important to decide where the business’s efforts are most promising and most effective, for example, shiitake, eryngii, oyster, or some other species, based on the target market. One additional point that needs to be considered at this stage is whether there is a need to grow organic or does the consumer not care about the form of production.

Like this, even the first step, choosing a product, requires a great deal of thought and careful planning. For exotic mushroom varieties, this is compounded by a dearth of good market data and enormous inconsistencies between national markets in the EU and even within member countries’ regional markets. As such, anyone who wants to try to expand or diversify into the exotic mushroom sector, should spend particular care in this aspect. It may seem basic, but this is an aspect that can lead to enormous wasted resources. Planning isn’t free, but it is still cheaper than not having a plan.

I look forward to continuing this discussion in the next issue, which will pick up where I have left off here and discuss the all-important question: “Is there a market.”

^{Johannes Auer was born in Tyrol, Austria, and is project manager and grower at FZ Development Gmbh, Frutura Austria and has worked as a consultant for several other companies. Johannes has worked since in the mushroom business full time since 2019 and has a background in horticulture with an interest in microorganisms in soil. He has worked in and studied the mushroom sector in Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Italy, Israel and the Netherlands.
He is currently working on developing the exotic mushroom sector and is involved in several research and development projects for exotic mushroom farming.
You can contact him at johannes@jauer.at}