Hey there, it’s Debbie here 👋

Wowza, Tuesday came quick!

Now, you might think we've gone email-crazy, but bear with us – we're overflowing with excitement and just can’t wait to share all of our awesome updates with you!

NB!! Mark Your Calendars: 25/04/2023 - The First Q.U.I.P.S. Release 🥳🥳

Read time: 2 minutes 57 seconds

On to today's email.

Normally, these newsletters are from "us," but today, I'm hijacking this space to introduce my partner – the one who's been working hand-in-hand with me, masterfully co-creating magic behind the scenes…

Please Welcome Michael Declercq 🤝

I’ve been fairly open about the fact that TropicalBytes has been fueled by my passion alone. I have not invested my time, effort or money into anything more than delivering remarkable content, for 6 years. While I do believe this has built a resource that offers incredible value to many subtropical farmers’ livelihoods, it just wasn’t financially sustainable. Finding myself in a place where generating more income, without more investment, became a necessity, I was seriously considering having to put TropicalBytes “out to pasture”.

During this time, Michael, who had become an avid TropicalBytes reader, had been engaging with me and presenting various innovative ideas about how I could make TropicalBytes commercially viable. Having an extraordinary passion for exponential growth opportunities, it was hard for him to watch me achieve so little with so much 🤣. His ideas and proposals were phenomenal but way past my capacity.

There was only one solution and that was to break my cardinal rule about not getting into business partnerships. I threw caution to the wind almost as easily as Michael threw his own reservations aside. He has committed to investing his time, skill, money, knowledge and passion into OUR platform.

For the past 10 months we’ve been working together to elevate TropicalBytes and secure it for the future. This newsletter is the first of many new initiatives we will be delivering. Stick with us to keep reaping the harvest of this great platform as we nurture it into the vision we’ve built for it.

A Little More About Michael:

Michael was a commercial pilot, flying for an airline based in the UAE. When Covid struck, he spent lockdown on his family farm in Hilton, KZN. During these crazy months, he and his mom came up with the courageous plan to become mac farmers. All too soon, lockdown was over and Michael fulfilled his obligations by returning back to the skies… but the bug had bitten… two bugs actually… farming and business. His business itch was being scratched by the potential he saw in TropicalBytes and he was unable to deny that his passion no longer lay in aviation. He (almost literally) hit eject on his life in the sky and came back home; to test, stretch and grow his business acumen by both taking over the reins of the fledgeling macadamia farm and committing to TropicalBytes. This is just the beginning for Michael (in fact, he’s already extending his exploration into many other possibilities). This man is going places and TropicalBytes is SO grateful to have captured his imagination.

So, What’s next for TropicalBytes?

Michael and I have been weaving our magic behind the scenes, meticulously revamping the TropicalBytes website (hold your horses, it's still a work in progress 😉) with a complete overhaul in both design and feel. Our primary focus has been on elevating our content and fine-tuning the platform’s format to better cater to our community's needs, making sure it's relevant, digestible, and engaging. We're on a quest to set a gold standard of resource sharing and spreading knowledge with every single member of our community. We firmly believe that in 2023, everyone's mantra in this space should be to share their own pearls of wisdom, ask questions, engage with one another, and learn from the triumphs and tribulations of our fellow community members, uniting as we navigate these challenging times.

TropicalBytes' enduring mission statement – "Equipping Farmers for Excellence and Success by Sharing Knowledge and Expertise" – has inspired us to push our vision even further as we constantly ask ourselves how can we give MORE. With our latest initiatives, we aspire to “enrich agricultural productivity and sustainability by harnessing the collective power of shared knowledge.”

The journey through subtropical crops continues as we now include avocado JAFFs (Just Another Fantastic Farmer) into the fold. This not only helps us understand different industries within subtropical farming but also broadens our horizons, expands our learnings, and uncovers the bigger picture, empowering us all to make better-informed decisions.

In addition to our monthly articles, we are going to be pouring our heart and soul into creating synthesised, actionable topic guides and resources for everyone! And the best part about it, everything will be completely FREE.

So, stay tuned as we unveil and deliver TRUE value to our awesome TropicalBytes community. We encourage you all to share our work, spread the word, and rally everyone to join in sharing, supporting each other, and investing time in learning about these fantastic crops and the way of life we call farming.

Get ready to be inspired!

Thats all for today!

Don't forget to join us in the comments section below 👇 – it's kinda like a family Braai but better! There, you'll find no screaming kids, awkward photos, or tipsy uncles telling bizarre stories. Instead, you'll discover a lively, engaging community ready to share knowledge, experiences, and maybe even a few laughs. So, fire up the virtual grill and let's get the conversations cookin'! 🔥 

The Comment Corner 💬

Join us in the comments section! Share your thoughts, offer your suggestions and enlighten us with your own pearls of wisdom!

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