[AlpacaTalk] Question about money

Ok, I don't know if any of you will be able to give me an objective point of
view and I know my questions are pretty unfair. BUT, I'll try to keep them
as generic as possible and hope people will feel comfortable to share with me
and to email me privately or to call me on the phone. My email is
_kellnsuz@aol.com_ (mailto:kellnsuz@aol.com) and I'd love to hear from anyone
regarding my concerns.

Hubby has been doing serious research for months and months about starting
an alpaca business. I have been doing some research, but not as much because
it's his 'thing' really and right now I can't get too involved or I will
obsess over it. I could spend my entire days doing research mainly on genetics,
lineage, fiber qualities etc etc. I just don't think we're there yet, so I
haven't.

Now, we are selling our current home and making way to get to Denver where
we hope to settle, get some land and raise alpacas. I keep hearing something,
though, that I cannot ignore.

It seems like most of the alpaca people raise them and receive great tax
benefits as well as possibly some supplemental income. Then, there are a couple
farms that are multi billion-millionaires, famous and everyone wants their
'name.' (that's extreme, I know, but I have to use it). So, what about the
middle? What about the guy who wants to replace his $100,000 annual income
and raise alpacas full time? Does this guy exist? How does this guy get
there? What does he have to do?

We can do all the math we want to do and on paper it looks real good, but in
reality, what's it like? We're ready to jump in both feet forward and do
what it takes. BUT the question remains, what's really involved?

When we moved to Phoenix from Maryland, I immediately got my 2 toddlers in
special swimming class. I loved the technique, I loved the work and success
the woman was doing and having. I was very excited because we live in an area
where it is an absolute necessity and people are banging down doors to get
good swimming lessons. So, I looked further into this opportunity for myself.
We went on for over a year considering this possibility. I could make 50k
in 5 months of the year working 5 hours in my pool M-F. That is GREAT! I
could do less hours while my kids are little and work up to more hours as
needed. I almost did it. THEN, the nagging questions in the back of my mind HAD
to get answered....how much time OUT OF THE POOL is this woman spending?
Well, it seems that for every hour in the pool, she's spending probably 1/2 hour
out of the pool with paperwork, marketing and phone calls. So, if I do 5
hours a day, I'm then spending between 7 and 8 hours really. That is STILL
GREAT money. BUT with my 2 little kids, I just couldn't justify it. So, I
decided not to do it.

That's why I'm asking all of you for some help here. We will have a
significant chunk of money to invest and could possibly buy/finance between 10 and
20 pregnant females in the next 6 months. That could also include 1 or 2 nice
Snowmass females. Money isn't really the issue right now. BUT, having a
good, realistic view of what we're getting into is.

We understand the care part...so, what I'm asking about is 'out of pool'
time... :)

Thank you all so much,
Suzanne Craig
480-899-2388
_kellnsuz@aol.com_ (mailto:kellnsuz@aol.com)

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