Business Structures

One thing that needs to be taken into consideration eventually is what kind of business type one sets up.  Should it be sole proprietorship, a corporation, a partnership or even a limited liability company?
It really depends on what you need from that type of business entity.
A sole proprietorship often doesn't need much separate business or tax filing which is easier and better for a small company but doesn't offer a lot in the way of protections.
 An LLC offers more protections but requires more filing and proof of structure, and income and taxes.
The Modern Farmer  offers a lot of good information and insight regarding starting up a CSA and also a business entity.  Much of what they suggest really comes down to how much liability do you want to take on.  With a CSA, there is the risk of not having crops, something being done that a customer doesn't agree with or even a slight risk of something like food poisoning.  This could lead to a person being personally sued and their assets being affected rather than the company being sued, like in an LLC.
They also suggest having a fleshed out contract to sign with potential members.  Let them know that there might be a lean month or season, just depending on weather and bugs. 
The Modern Farmer also takes into account if you have a participant come to the garden for a you-pick type event, that there is enough insurance on the farm, in the event that a guest is injured.
This article references some other links that have good, thought out agreements.
They mention people getting sick from food several times, enough that it makes me wonder if the authors had someone get sick.  In a small CSA farm,the odds of someone getting sick should be very minimal.  These are not like sweeping fields of lettuce with people going to the bathroom in the fields, spreading germs.  These are smaller farms, managed by fewer people with more of a personal investment into the goings on of the farm and what it produces.

Paying someone else to do your marketing for you

I was thinking about how marketing might not be every business-minded persons strong point and what would go into hiring someone else to do the marketing for you.
I read a good article on The Hired Guns on 7 things the Chief Digital Product Office at Merriam Webster looks for.
1- initiative.  Being a good worker bee and doing what you are told is a fantastic role to fit into.  But, rising above and standing out is when you can anticipate something and get to working on it without being told.
2 - creativity. This means being OK with looking beyond "we've always done it this way" or "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
3 - numeracy. This refers to using analytics to identify and utilize trends. There are enough programs and apps and platforms out there now that can take your information and help you analyze it so that you don't have to be a math person, you just have to know where to go to get and use the right information.
4 - legal grounding.  This one was interesting to me because the author mentions knowing the difference in a sweepstakes and a contest. I looked it up and got this answer from Marden Kane:
          Two of the most common promotions are Sweepstakes (games of chance) and Contests (games of skill). The major difference between sweepstakes and contests is that contest winners are selected by judges using a set of criteria whereas sweepstakes winners are randomly selected.
While you don't have to have a legal degree, having some working knowledge of some common laws or legality in your chosen business is always a good idea. It'll help you if an issue comes up because you'll already have an idea of where you can start, when coming up with answers.
5 - testing chops.  I think this goes along with number 3.  How do you know what is working if you don't check and see?  Number proof or it doesn't count.
6 - social media savvy. Being aware of what platforms are used and why.  Having number proof as to what the demographics are and how that audience is reached, helps.
7 - curiosity. For me, this goes with number 2.   Don't be satisfied with how things are.  Be hungry for more and want to dig in and learn more.  

The last one is just be a decent person. I think that should be applicable everywhere.