I'm curious how many out there are making money off their land and/or by running a business from home. My hubbie and I have been brainstorming some possibilities ie. rustic furniture, some crops, etc. Unfortunately, we're not that creative [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img] so I'm out picking brains.
So what do you do? (and thanks!!!)
Its not a lot of money, but we grow ~ 1/2 acre of raspberries and almost an acre of vegetables and sweet corn. The raspberries are sold at 2 farmers markets and the vegetables are sold at the roadside and the two markets. My wife teaches and helps with berry picking and selling in the summer and I take care of the growing and other chores.
Not sure how much land you have -- but I am attempting to start a Tree Farm (hardwood/shade trees).
:: D A V E
:: g a t o r b o y
My wife and i build and sell crafts and small furniture. The way we sell is...Quarterly we have a big sale from our property. We dont do craft shows at festivals though. Also my wife is a Home Interiors Consultant. -) Thats Home Interiors brand in home party stuff. Ever heard of it or seen their merchandise? She does real well with that. Women love it. Their quality is great and profit margin is very nice for the Displayer. The insentives are great for the hostess also. She normally is out 1-2 nights a week with it for 3-4 hours is all. She probably puts 20 hours a week in it with most of the time right at home. On the average she will make $300 per week with it. Sometimes lots more. Plus my wife has a in home day care of 2 children. She has watched 2-3 children for 22 years now. Thats normally a steady income of $150 per week. The kids are of age where she can shop or do as she pleases and bring the kids along. We claim all of her income and reap the tax right offs NY state allows for these types of business. I hold a full time job as a tool and die maker for a large company near by. This is needed for health care insurance. If my company ever takes that away from our benifits....IM GONE. Sometimes i wish they would so i could utilize all my time for my home business. Next year in the spring we will be starting our small nursery business. We will incorperate our crafts with this. You can see my greenhouse pictures here on CBN that im am working on now. We will mostly sell Annual bedding plants and some perennials and trees. I am really looking forward to this. They say the key is location location....etc. And we have that wraped up. Another thing i do on a real small scale is some small tractor jobs. (tilling,bush hogging,posthole digging and some front end loader work. I would do much more of that if i didnt hold a full time job. With all that said we still have lots of quality time home together and with the kids school activites and such. We also find time to camp 4-5 times thru the summer in our pop-up camper. Some our best quality time we as a familey enjoy is home projects and home business adventures. My wife and i have been very happy married for 20 years with this type of lifesyle. allthough material items are not the only thing in life we have all we want. My wife and i just picked her brand new 2004 4x4 Ford Explorer Sport That she proudly paid dang near cash for without dipping into saveings or retirement funds. Shes had it 1 month now and still only got 300 miles on it [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] My truck is a 1999 F150 4x4. I bought it with 28,000 miles i have it 2 years and it has 45,000 on it now. The wife had a 1993 grand caravan for 8 years with only putting 108,000 on it. Are we home alot or what? [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Gotta love home business..at least we do. I think thats all we do for home business...let me think i may be back [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Good luck to you and finding you nitch
Larry
My wife is an artist and can earn extra money making dolls, stuffed fabric ducks, geese and etc. If she sees it, she can make it. For several years she had her products in several gift shops in New York and Vermont.
A few years ago she almost stopped because the demand was so high that she could not keep up. The different outlets were not happy about the limited supply so she just cut most of them off. Toward the end she was working twelve hour days and still getting demanding phone calls.
Now she just makes a few hundred a year. These are sold to repeat customers that sometimes send the fabric they want used. Right now she is making teddy bears from an old mink coat. These will be Christmas gifts from a North Carolina Grandmother to her grandchildren. Grandma bought one of her dolls in Vermont years ago and has been a steady customer ever since.
The lesson she learned was that quantity at a wholesale price does not make more money. Most of her customers want something special. They know what they want and are willing to pay to get just what they have in mind.
Her Santa's sell out every year by Thanksgiving at $75 to $500 a piece. That is less than what they were in the gift shops but much more than she was receiving wholesale. All in all she spends much less time for more money and is not just turning out the same pieces over and over. Working with a customer to design and produce a unique piece is much more satisfying. Right now she is not taking orders until the spring. She has enough orders for the next six months. There will be no more twelve hour days.
I am the shipping, receiving, correspondence, supply and bookkeeping departments since I retired.
Thanks for the input guys!
Currently, we're highly considering making rustic furniture but had some concerns on how to market/sale. Thanks to Larry's post here, we've come up with some ideas. I'm definitely looking into some form of crops--mainly something that won't be time consuming. I've already started some agroforestry ie. ginseng (so maybe some profit in 8 years [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] ). Tractor jobs is also an option as we have the brush hog and loader.
Currently, I'm homeschooling our youngest (kindergarten) though I'm working full time. I desire to continue her schooling at home but find it will be impossible working outside the home. So whatever we do, it needs to be able to meet the bills plus a bit extra as my family loves going to western Wyoming and Montana during the summers.
So if anyone else has ideas, keep 'em coming!!! (and thanks)
Tractorgirl:
Before you leap investigate thouroughly.
Many people make their living producing crafts and marketing them at Craft Shows. Check out some of these Shows/sales and observe.
The sales usually are held in pre xmas, early spring and some at mid summer. They last from a weekend to several weeks. You have to apply and pay a fee to get in. Your product may be juried.
Living/travelling expenses can be quite high. Some people travell in motor homes or campers depending on season and climate. A trailer may be required to haul your product. You would also have to set up your own disply area.
On these shows a 30 % for expenses is consider a sort of break point. Less is better but if more one must make decisions based on volume.
Selling from craft stores on commission usually is around 40/50% commission.
Wholesaling almost always has the least profit.
Joining a Craft association with their own store where everyone takes turns working can be a really good deal.
Food items may require goverment inspection and require preparation in a certified kitchen.
For tactor work liabilty issuses may require insurance.
In almost all cases quality items are required.
Egon
Rhonda,
Here's a link Schuler Country Furniture to a store in our area. They build rustic furniture out of old barn boards and old lumber.
They are very successful, but it took them a LONG time to get there. In fact, they went belly-up for awhile. Then they re-organized and hired a consultant to come in and evaluate the business and make recommendations on what they should be doing. That information is what they based their new operation on, and it's been very successful.
My point is, do yourself a favor and do A LOT OF HOMEWORK before you jump into anything. Contact the Small Business Association, usually through your state government. In Wisconsin, we have advisory programs designed just for people who want to start their own businesses. these usually involve retired business people who have been through the process, and help point out pit falls to avoid.
I'm speaking from experience, because my wife owns her own business (home design and interior design), and we also operate an art gallery out of our home. It took me almost 6 years to convince her to utilize some of these business related services that are available free of charge. Once she finally did it, and after applying so of the things she learned, she started seeing a marked increase in her profit margin.
So go out and find what services would be available to you, and take advantage of them. You won't regret it! [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Golfgar4,
Thanks for the link and the info. We're definitely being careful about what we get into.
Rhonda
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