Homestead living means a long commute if you are living rural and your job is urban. Some homesteaders are able to work from home via the internet. That’s a great setup if you can make it work with your employer. For the majority of homesteaders, though, pursuing their dream of self-sufficient living means breaking away from a paycheque and the stability of a full-time job. Entrepreneurial skills are needed to make a rural living work. You still need money. You still need to pay the mortgage and the taxes.
When you are thinking about what your homestead business will look like, think in terms of projects, rather than a single business idea. A project might be successful or it might bomb, but all is not lost if you have a homestead to provide your food and shelter.
At Joybilee Farm we have a chicken project, a sheep project, an angora goat project, a linen project, a fibre art project, a soap project, a healing balm project, and a blog project or two.
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The chicken project has been successful in providing for our own farm-fresh, free-range eggs. But it has failed to be a profitable business mostly due to the fact that our customers are unstable — retired folk who travel a lot. One week this spring I gave away 12 dozen extra-large, free-range eggs to the local food-share because all my customers were out-of-town. The very next week 3 of those customers returned asking for eggs and I didn’t have any to sell. The chickens decided to go on an egg-laying vacation for 3 weeks. We pursued this project and gave it a fair trial for 6 years and will be closing it down this fall. Our profit in every year was only about 10% over expenses, which wasn’t enough to compensate for the extra labour involved. While we will continue to keep a small flock of Silver Phoenix chickens for our own eggs, we will no longer be growing eggs for sale. Projects should be evaluated annually and those that aren’t profitable should be dropped so that you can increase your time investment in areas that are profitable.
The sheep project is profitable. Our dual-purpose flock of Romney x Rambouillet sheep has a high ratio of twinning and extra nice, coloured fleece that is in demand. We have a waiting list for freezer lambs every season. And the sheep pay for themselves, provided that the cost of grain and winter hay remains stable. We are increasing our flock to provide for our growing customer base.
By diversifying our income with several projects, Joybilee Farm is able to weather economic swings and that allows us to remain on the farm. Although many blogs will suggest that you pour all you’ve got into pursuing your dreams, it makes sense to diversify your income when you’re homesteading.
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Diversification allows you to minimize your risk. It gives you several avenues for-profit and it keeps life engaging. Here’s a checklist to help you decide if a project is worth pursuing as a part of your homestead business diversification plan.
What do you love to do? Is it writing, weaving, felting, woodturning, gardening? Is there a skill set that you are passionate about that will give you the foundation for a viable project?
Joybilee Farm is a fibre farm. Everything that we do from the natural dye garden and linen field to the sheep and goats and even this blog revolve around our passion to bring local fibre to people — in finished garments, in providing raw materials and even in tutorials on the blog. We are also passionate about environmental stewardship and natural living. From our animal care to clothing and cleaning products we major in sustainable, compassionate living. The goat’s milk soap and natural herbal balms came out of my need to provide high-quality, safe, natural soaps and cosmetics to my own family while being true to sustainable, eco-friendly values.
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Can you picture a particular customer, when you think about who you are marketing to? Is this a man or a woman? How old is he or she? Where do they live? What are their needs, problems and wants? Know this person well. Go to places online or in-person where this person hangs out. Don’t expect your own peer group to support your project if they aren’t in the group that this customer is. And the most important question: Does this person have the money to buy what you are selling. If the answer is “No”, go back to the first question and try again.
If you answered question 2 thoroughly, you will be able to pick 2 or 3 needs that this ideal customer has that you can meet using your own skill-set.
If your project doesn’t meet a need, go back and rework it. In order to have a successful business project, you need to meet a need that your ideal customer has.
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It takes 3 to 5 years for a business start-up to profit. It takes longer to actually make a significant amount of money. You need to have staying power. And for that you need passion. When you combine your skillset and your passion in a product that meets someone’s needs and that someone will pay you to get it — that’s the sweet spot. Look for it.
How is your homestead business or product different from the competition? What makes it remarkable — causes people to talk about it? This is your unique proposition — that thing that makes your product stand out from the crowd.
Once you’ve defined your ideal customer, their needs and a product or project you can create that will meet a need, and you’ve defined the distinctive selling proposition around that product, you are ready to think about marketing. Where will you sell your product?
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Pricing is tricky. When we were starting out, we sold our soap at a wholesale price. We made about 30 cents per bar over the cost of materials. Then we realized that we were giving our labour away for free. Then our costs started to climb, as vegetable oils tripled in cost in a few short months, and there was no fudge room. We were selling out of every batch of soap and losing money. We wondered if we would sell any soap at all if we increased our prices. But our choice was clear — we had to stop losing money — either stop making soap or increase the price. We increased the price and found that people loved our soap and were willing to pay more to get it. If you make a quality product, price is a small consideration.
How much money do you need to make if you sell this product? How many will you need to create to make it worthwhile? Can you do it?
Once all these questions are answered, you are ready to write the homestead business plan for this project. It’s not difficult. You’ve done the hard work already by answering these questions.
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Once you’ve answered all the questions in this checklist in a constructive way you are ready to lay the foundation. Get a Word Press website that lets you make changes and additions on your own. What will it look like?
When you subscribe and join our VIP Community, I'd like to send you the free resource, Using Ginger for Cold and Flu Relief. with tips for using common kitchen ingredients to feel better faster.Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means I will earn a commission at no additional cost to you, if you click through and make a purchase. Regardless, I only link to products we use on our homestead or believe in.
Learn how my 6 tips to create a successful homestead business. This is Part 2 of our series, you can catch part 1 of How to Make Money Homesteading here
Small Town And Rural
But creating a true and profitable business is more than just selling an item to someone who wants it, or at least, there's more involved, though that is the core of any business or transaction.
Disclaimer: this is not to be taken as professional business advice. I'm not a professional business or financial adviser and this shouldn't be taken as such, this is merely the steps I took on our homestead.
I quit my day job and started working from home full time last August (you can catch that here) and I've learned a ton in the almost seven years since I first starting my website, writing my first book (check out the first book, The Made-from-Scratch Life and my second book Hand Made), founding the Pioneering Today Academy (you can get on the wait list for the next time we open the doors by clicking here) and earning a living from our homestead.
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Listen below to, 6 Tips to Creating a Homestead Business Part 2#152of thePioneering Today Podcast, where we teach families how to grow, preserve and cook their own food using old-fashioned skill sets and wisdom to create a natural self-sufficient home, with, or without, the homestead.
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