The enduring model of skill formation is the apprenticeship system.
It has served humanity for thousands of years and it is the means by which people most effectively develop the skills to do all manner of things including making bread, brain surgery….and aquaponics.
The apprenticeship system comprises three essential elements:
- apprentices – whose job is to learn the craft.
- craftspeople – whose job is to practise the craft.
- master craftspeople – whose role is to teach the craft and maintain standards.
The apprenticeship model holds that the only people who should teach others are those who have achieved mastery in the discipline and it begs the question:
Is is possible for someone who has never done something to successfully instruct others on it?
I ask this question because (as inappropriate as it seems) there are people out there who are selling products and providing advice to others on matters that they have not fully mastered themselves.
Discussion forums are often useful places to learn but one failing that they exhibit is the capacity to produce “instant experts”…..people, who within a very short time of joining a discipline, begin to dispense advice on matters around which they have no actual experience.
I’ve even seen this extend into books and magazine articles.
While I’m concerned at the prospect of people buying products or services premised on unqualified advice, those most at risk are people who are looking to invest in a commercial aquaponics system.
If you’re contemplating a commercial development, you should be asking the following questions of anyone who seeks to supply you with goods or services:
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What experience do you have in the commercial production of fish and/or plants?
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Can you show me where you have developed similar systems for other clients?
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Can you provide the contact details for satisfied clients who have purchased similar systems?
Only once you have done your homework and have satisfactory answers to the above questions……and you’ve had the chance to speak to satisfied former clients……should you even begin to entertain investment discussions.
Before you invest a cent, you should also have a very clear idea of what you are buying (in terms of production systems and support).
If your prospective supplier knows what they are doing, they won’t hesitate to produce detailed drawings and documents for the proposed production unit.
Seeking the advice of appropriately experienced fisheries department and industry professionals, just to confirm that you are getting what you are paying for, is also essential.
Once you’ve got all of that in hand, get your lawyer to draw up a contract that contains appropriate performance benchmarks. The inclusion of penalty clauses for non-performance will also help to sort the wheat from the chaff.
It goes without saying that, if your prospective supplier baulks at such a contract, you should retreat from the proposal at a fast gallop.
The message that you should take fom this post is…..do your homework, ignore what you hear, believe little of what you see…….and caveat emptor!
-o0o-
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
You make some great points here, I have seen this in forums before and am somewhat guilty of it myself. Forums are great, however they shouldn’t be the end all in your research.
While I agree that people should do their homework any worthy supplier can show previous successes, contracts I can not see as a valid option.
I think you will find every supplier will not enter any such contract. It is presumptuous to suggest they would. There are suppliers that will require a large percentage of the turnover to secure their professional support. Many people do not want to pay for those expertise so will not enter into a contract.
Suppliers generally support their designs however unless the operator employs professionals in aquaculture/plant culture or has the required skill themselves, there is absolutely no guarantee of success. Those skills can only increase the chances of success, not guarantee it.
If Joe Blogs wants to build an aquafarm, there is nothing stopping him but it is him that is ultimately responsible for the success or failure not the supplier. Imagine if one of the employees or himself do not notice a dead fish stuck in the outlet of a tank and it in turn reduces the flow rate and starts to kill the rest of the fish, even though the first cause for the death was a parasite. I can not see any supplier, saying “oh bad luck, please let me remunerate you for your losses”.
I have seen aquaculture farms go broke from the simple introduction of a deadly fungus in their hatchery. There are far too many anomalies for a contract to stand up.
There simply are no guarantees in this type of environment.