SMALL BUSINESS FROM SCRATCH
Welcome to the new M5 Entrepreneurs
We've built Five Marys Ranch and more than 20 businesses from scratch with no outside funding and no big team, and M5 Entrepreneurs is where we share how we did it.
A lot has changed in how small businesses get found, tell their story and make a sale, so we've rebuilt everything here to match, and we're excited to show you what's new. We're starting with the M5 Business Audit, a personal review of your website and Instagram, and our new step-by-step guides open this week.
BUSINESS AUDITS OPEN NOW ยท STEP-BY-STEP GUIDES COMING THIS WEEK
1
Get a Business Audit
We review your website and your Instagram and send you a written plan for what to fix first. Audits are open now.
2
Take the scorecard
Check what's true for your business today and see which path needs you first.
3
Follow a step-by-step guide
Each guide is a short visual booklet on one topic for $37, and they open this week.
THE M5 BUSINESS AUDIT
A personal review of your website and your Instagram
We look at your website and your Instagram the way a new customer would, and then we send you 8 to 10 pages on what's working, what's getting in the way and what to fix first. Every audit includes:
- A website checklist of eleven things a new customer looks for
- Numbered recommendations for your website
- An Instagram review with a suggested bio
- A page on getting found in search and AI, with the questions your customers are asking
- An action plan with five things to do right away and three longer term projects
- A personal note from Mary with her first impressions and tips
STEP-BY-STEP GUIDES ยท COMING THIS WEEK
The first ten guides
The guides open this week. Each one is $37 and comes with an audio companion.
RANCH TO RETAIL
How to Market DTC Beef
Plan the content that sells your beef direct to customers.
SHARE MY STORY
3 Quick Fixes to Grow Your Instagram
Fix your bio, get more story views and start a reel series.
SHARE MY STORY
How to Plan Content Where Every Post Has a Job
Plan your posts so each one has a job and you always know what to post.
BUILD MY BRAND
How to Build a Brand People Want to Belong To
Tell your story so people remember it and want to be part of it.
OWN & GROW MY AUDIENCE
How to Start and Grow Your Email List
Start your list, add a sign-up form and send your first emails.
START MY BUSINESS
How to Price Your Product and Find a Profit
Know your costs, set your price and find your profit.
AI SUPER STAFF
How to Get Started with AI and Use It Wisely for Everyday Tasks
Set up Claude or ChatGPT and hand it your first everyday jobs.
SELL MORE
How to Keep Customers Coming Back
Seven steps that turn a first order into a repeat customer.
SELL MORE
Let's Fix Your Website and Socials
Check your website and your Instagram the way a stranger sees them.
AI SUPER STAFF
Your Daily Dashboard or Personal Newspaper Every Morning
Get your calendar, sales, inbox and to-do list on one page every morning.
THE M5 SCORECARD
Find the guide your business needs next
There are nine paths with three checks each. Check every statement that is true for your business today, and the path with the fewest checks is where to start.
START MY BUSINESSBUILD MY BRANDSHARE MY STORYOWN & GROW MY AUDIENCESELL MOREADD INCOME STREAMSRUN IT WELLRANCH TO RETAILBUILD MY AI SUPER STAFF
PATH 4 ยท 1 OF 3
OWN & GROW MY AUDIENCE
"I have followers but no list of my own."
โ I have an email or text list and a sign-up form.
โ I send something to that list at least once a month.
โ New subscribers get a welcome series without me sending it.
YOUR NEXT GUIDEHow to Start and Grow Your Email List
What comes with every guide
A step-by-step booklet
A short visual guide on one topic, with examples and pages to fill in.
A clear action page
Every guide ends with numbered steps and boxes to check off.
An audio companion
I recorded a podcast-style episode for each guide with the stories behind it.
Your own pace
There is no schedule to keep. Finish one and pick up the next.
AI SUPER STAFF
Get help getting it all done
Start with two guides. One sets up Claude or ChatGPT and hands it your everyday tasks, and the other puts your calendar, your sales and your to-do list on one page every morning.
FOR FARMERS AND RANCHERS
Ranch to Retail
Most of our members raise meat and sell it direct, and that's what we've done at Five Marys Ranch for over ten years. Start with How to Market DTC Beef, and when you're ready for more, the Ranch to Retail workshop walks you through our whole operation.
WHO YOU'RE LEARNING FROM
Mary & Brian Heffernan
Over the last 20 years we've started and scaled more than 20 businesses from the ground up, from brick-and-mortar restaurants to a ranch that sells meat directly to customers across the country. We built them together with no outside investors and a lot of hard work, and we're still in it every day raising cattle, shipping boxes and launching new products.
You don't need to act like a big brand to build a big brand.
4,500+
people have joined M5 Entrepreneurs
M5 ALUMNI
Hear from M5 alumni
These entrepreneurs came through some of our first M5 workshops and courses, and they have gone on to build incredible brands of their own.
"The way Mary presents all the material made everything seem more attainable. We wouldn't be where we are today without this course."
Hannah Neeleman
Ballerina Farm, Utah
"This course is the perfect way to jump-start your business. It includes every topic, tool, resource and has the support I needed!"
Eddie & Niki Hammerich
High Sierra Sheep Co., California
"I would not be in the place I am with my business without Mary's help."
Dana Carey
Circle Bar Beef, California
"After seeing some of your numbers, our eyes were opened to some of the possibilities. Your willingness to help people change their world is a gift!"
Felicia Morrison
Lazy Arrow Adventures, California
Ballerina Farm
Hannah & Daniel Neeleman
Kamas, Utah
Hannah and Daniel started Ballerina Farm in 2017 and sell beef and pork boxes, sourdough kits and pantry goods online. In 2025 they opened a farm stand in Kamas and a store in Midway, alongside a new dairy and creamery.
"I feel prepared and ready to take Ballerina Farm to the next level as a successful business!"
Rocking Bar H Ranch
Brook Hickle
Auburn, Washington and Hall, Montana
Brook and her husband Keith are first-generation ranchers who started their registered Red Angus herd in 2005. They opened their Ranch Goods online store in 2019 and added a second ranch in Montana in 2021.
"I have relied on Mary's courses so many times as we've grown. I know I can always find a helpful, direct and clear path for my next steps when I'm feeling stuck."
Callison Ranch Beef
Nikki Callison
Stonewall, Oklahoma
Nikki and her husband Roger began selling their beef direct to customers in 2018. They opened Callison Ranch Market in 2021, started the Rancher's Beef Club and ship across the country every week.
"I was so thankful to find Mary when I did. Not only did I learn so much about my business I also gained a lifelong friend. If I ever need help I know I can ask Mary!"
Salt River Ranch
Amy Rhodes
Star Valley, Wyoming
Amy's family left city and corporate life to ranch in Star Valley and began shipping their beef nationwide about a year later. They now run the Club SRR subscription and have added tallow products and seasonings to their store.
"Mary helped make our next steps and path to growth clear and easy to follow. We have grown so much since we started and I am so glad I took this course!"
Browsey Acres
Travis Browne & Ronda Rousey
Southern Oregon
Travis and Ronda started Browsey Acres in 2017 on 2.4 acres in California and have grown it to just under 4,000 acres in Southern Oregon. They raise American Wagyu beef and pasture-raised poultry and sell boxes, bulk shares and subscriptions online.
Creambrook Farm
Kristen Beichler
Middlebrook, Virginia
Kristen and her husband Ben bought their farm in 2017 as first-generation farmers with a handful of cows and 20 herd share members. They now deliver milk from their Jersey herd to pick-up sites across Virginia and moved into a larger creamery in 2025.
"I was one of Mary's very first students as a new entrepreneur and am so thankful I connected with her when I did! We have grown our business (and our family!) in multitudes since then."
Sunset View Creamery
Jess Hoffman
Odessa, New York
Jess is the head cheesemaker at her family's dairy farm in the Finger Lakes, which the Hoffmans have owned since 1905. The creamery sells its cheese, curds and gelato in an on-farm store and online, and welcomes visitors for cow cuddling and farm tours.
Turner Farm
Ashley Turner
Halls Harbour, Nova Scotia
Ashley and her husband Daniel began farming in 2018 and raise Wagyu and Angus beef on the Bay of Fundy. Her sourdough classes started with six people in her farmhouse kitchen and now reach bakers around the world, and she co-authored the cookbook For the Love of Sourdough.
Riding Free Tack and Wighton Family Farm
Amber Wighton
Arroyo Grande, California
Amber co-founded Riding Free Tack with her daughter Abby, who had the idea at age nine for lightweight saddles that kids can lift themselves. Her family also ships oranges and avocados from their own trees through Wighton Family Farm.
High Sierra Sheep Co.
Niki & Eddie Hammerich
Northern California
Niki and Eddie raise grass-fed lamb in the Sierra Nevada and sell it by the cut. They added a second business that puts their sheep to work on prescribed grazing for vegetation management and fire safety.
"After this class I can say I now have what I need to go all in!"
Mesa Beef
Elisabeth Erickson-Noe
La Junta, Colorado
Elisabeth and her husband Kirk are both fourth-generation ranchers who started selling their beef direct to customers in 2019. Mesa Beef ships beef shares across the continental U.S., and she also runs Dreamer Horses, a retirement boarding pasture on the ranch.
Lazy Arrow Adventures at Camatta Ranch
Felicia Morrison
Santa Margarita, California
Felicia and her husband Mark have welcomed guests to their working cattle ranch for more than 30 years with farm stays, ranch tours and events. In 2024 the family completed a conservation easement that protects about 27,000 acres of the ranch.
"We were blown away at the magnitude of the Ranch to Retail course. It way exceeded our expectations!"
Circle Bar Beef
Dana Carey
Fort Bidwell, California
Dana's family had run a commercial cow-calf ranch for generations when they decided in 2019 to finish their own calves and sell the beef direct. Circle Bar Beef now ships nationwide and offers a Ranch Club subscription along with lamb from the family's flock.
Felton Angus Beef
Susie Felton
Springdale, Montana
Susie built Felton Angus Beef into a direct-to-customer business that shipped Black Angus beef from her Montana ranch straight to customers' doors, reaching 48 states by 2020.
"Mary is the reason I was able to ship beef from our Montana ranch when I started. She saved my bacon!"
Farm Stoehr Goat Dairy
Kelsey Stoehr
Scurry, Texas
Kelsey came to the You Can Do It course because starting her goat dairy the right way the first time was important to her.
"I can't thank Mary enough for providing the right tools for Farm Stoehr Goat Dairy to thrive."
AX Bar Ranch
Wendy Axtell
Tumtum, Washington
Wendy came to the first workshop to turn her fourth-generation family ranch into a direct-to-customer beef business. Over the weekend she refined the brand name, created a new logo and started a new product website.
WHEN YOU WANT MORE THAN A GUIDE
Courses, workshops and the M5 Circle
Go deeper with our full courses, come to an in-person workshop at the ranch or join other small business owners in the M5 Circle.