alpacas: 01/30/06

Re: [AlpacaTalk] Question about money

Hi Suzanne,

You've already gotten some excellent replies, but I'll pipe in about the
family thing. I think alpacas are a great business for folks with small kids.
Mine are a bit older than yours, with my oldest being 9 and the youngest being
4, but I can honesly say they are the one critter I've owned where I don't
panic everytime the kids go outside. The only problem I had was when they left
the pasture gate open and my whole herd of 7 (at the time) went ambling out into
my front yard (the whole property is fenced). The only thing that would keep
me working if my alpaca business was to boom is the need for health insurance
for my kids.

Anyway, I have seen many alpaca farms who advertise being "full time
farmers" and not all of them had a million dollar budget to begin with.

I have heard that you need at least 10 producing females to do it full time.
Getting your name out there takes time. Another bit of info I have heard is
to plan on no income from the alpacas for at least the first 2 years, so to
budget about 10% for emergencies, stud fees, upgrades to facilities etc.

Good luck to you!

Heidi Christensen
WingNut Farm
5412 252nd St Ct E
Graham, WA
(253) 846-2168 or cell (253) 592-0200
www.WingNut-Alpacas.com
www.Alpacanation.com/WingNutFarm.asp

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Re: [AlpacaTalk] Question about money

In a message dated 1/30/2006 8:13:07 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
myalpacapride@yahoo.com writes:

IMHO alpaca farming is a way of life, much like a doctor or nurse where
you're always on call. You can't clock out at the end of the day.

Marianne,

That's EXCELLENT! BUT if it's my husband's 'job' how long till he can
actually quit the full time job and have the farm as his full time job? I already
have one. I'm a mom to 2 very little ones, and due in 1 month with #3.
Sooooooo....is it his 40 to 50 hours job plus then the rest of the waking hours
with the business? OR, the big question of the day...does it ever become HIS
full time job?

Is raising alpacas NOT for families with small children?

We're not looking for the easy way out. I hope I never left anyone with
that impression. In many many ways, it would be much harder to farm, as we are
very well aware. What he's looking for is really a full time job that he can
do and involve his children, work in his own time (NOT talking about animal
care, but more about marketing stuff) and run his own life. Yes, I want
involvement myself, mainly because I am a die hard animal person. BUT I don't
have the stamina for any type of business. I'll go out and play with the
animals and enjoy the therapy they provide. I'll do my kind of research which
would be genetics mainly. I will talk with people and take phone calls as time
permits.

The problem is that we don't come into this independently wealthy,
sooooooooooo there's a paradigm shift. And what our current stage of research has
brought us to seems to be the 'when and how' of that shift. AND is it really
possible.

Thanks,
Suzanne

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Re: [AlpacaTalk] Question about money

Suzanne,
I personally think none of us can answer that question in any one way because of all the variables. As far as the "out of pool time" that depends on what your business plan is. Are you planning on establishing a fiber business or are you planning on running a breeding farm? And yes, there's the ones that do both. Are you interested in working your own fiber..carding, spinning, weaving, felting, knitting..or to plan on shipping it off to be processed? Do you plan on attending shows? Any time you deal with living things (plant or animals) there is no such thing as "off time" . Just like being a mom, it's 24/7 for ever. :) Some farms earn additional money in transporting animals,( buy a good trailer set up and transport animals for other farms to shows or when they purchase new animals). Others perfect their shearing skills and hire out to other farms to do their shearing. Many farms use the paca beans on thier own land, but some do sell it too. If you're looking for "down time"
farming may not be the best choice. IMHO alpaca farming is a way of life, much like a doctor or nurse where you're always on call. You can't clock out at the end of the day. Good luck with your search for the perfect fit for the lifestyle you're looking for.
marianne
sonny haven alpacas llc
sumter sc
myalpacapride@yahoo.com

KellnSuz@aol.com wrote:
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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Tim & Marianne Barry
Sonny Haven Alpacas LLC
Sumter, SC
myalpacapride@yahoo.com

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Re: [AlpacaTalk] Question about money

Marketing, Advertising, Keeping health records, Going to shows (or maybe not). I find that is a lot of my time. I still work full time and drive an hour to work. If you plan on selling you have to get your name out there. Our buisness plan includes not having to sell for 3 years. But each year we plan on increasing our marketing.
Also ask these questions on Alpacasite.