I'm looking for thoughts on an side business I'm considering. I'd like opinions and advice.
I've got a nice 2400 sf metal building on the property with ten 12' x 12' stalls and heat in it. When I bought the property I thought I'd make some money renting to horse owners but after dealing with horse owners who don't care for their animals I gave up and now the barn just sits mostly empty. I work in another building on the property so I'm usually onsite but kind of getting to the age where dealing with heavy timbers is getting old and I've been trying to figure a way to make some income using that empty building.
Quail for eggs require less than 1 sf per bird and the cages can easily be stacked allowing for 270+ quail per 12' x 12' stall which realistically can produce over 165 eggs per stall/day. Feed, power, egg cartons with labels, cages , ect. work out to about 14 cents per egg. All of these numbers allow for some waste and inefficiencies so costs could be a bit lower. With 270 birds (165 eggs/day) labor to maintain birds, wash, and package the quail eggs works out to about 2 hrs a day with efficiency increasing if I later expand. Due to a sloped wire floor the eggs automatically roll to the collection bin and cage cleaning is minimal. At 18 cents profit/egg (.32 cent sell price) that's only about $15/hr for my labor at first but perhaps things can grow and efficiency increases. I've seen quail eggs for eating prices ranging from .25 (direct from a farm, 100 egg minimum) to .96 plus shipping (Amazon.com) a packaged egg so .32 sounds like a price that may work when sold by the dozen. This is work I can easily fit into my daily schedule. Unfortunately it's also a 7 day a week job although there are plenty on teenagers close by who could cover a day per week for me. With the size of the building expansion to over 3200 birds is very possible and I've got a 400 sf room with water that can be dedicated to egg cleaning and packaging.
Within 20 miles are at least 3 stores that may be willing to carry these eggs and they would probably sell them at about $6 a dozen. With time perhaps I could grow the business. When the birds get 2 1/2 years old (quail live about 4 years) and laying slows I can sell them to businesses the put quail out to hunt making a small final profit off each bird. I'd start with 50 birds and see if things grow.
So I'm asking if this seems like a realistic small business prospect and do my costs sound correct? If it did grow costs would drop and with time selling opportunities may grow if I expanded towards the huge city 70 miles away.
I've got a nice 2400 sf metal building on the property with ten 12' x 12' stalls and heat in it. When I bought the property I thought I'd make some money renting to horse owners but after dealing with horse owners who don't care for their animals I gave up and now the barn just sits mostly empty. I work in another building on the property so I'm usually onsite but kind of getting to the age where dealing with heavy timbers is getting old and I've been trying to figure a way to make some income using that empty building.
Quail for eggs require less than 1 sf per bird and the cages can easily be stacked allowing for 270+ quail per 12' x 12' stall which realistically can produce over 165 eggs per stall/day. Feed, power, egg cartons with labels, cages , ect. work out to about 14 cents per egg. All of these numbers allow for some waste and inefficiencies so costs could be a bit lower. With 270 birds (165 eggs/day) labor to maintain birds, wash, and package the quail eggs works out to about 2 hrs a day with efficiency increasing if I later expand. Due to a sloped wire floor the eggs automatically roll to the collection bin and cage cleaning is minimal. At 18 cents profit/egg (.32 cent sell price) that's only about $15/hr for my labor at first but perhaps things can grow and efficiency increases. I've seen quail eggs for eating prices ranging from .25 (direct from a farm, 100 egg minimum) to .96 plus shipping (Amazon.com) a packaged egg so .32 sounds like a price that may work when sold by the dozen. This is work I can easily fit into my daily schedule. Unfortunately it's also a 7 day a week job although there are plenty on teenagers close by who could cover a day per week for me. With the size of the building expansion to over 3200 birds is very possible and I've got a 400 sf room with water that can be dedicated to egg cleaning and packaging.
Within 20 miles are at least 3 stores that may be willing to carry these eggs and they would probably sell them at about $6 a dozen. With time perhaps I could grow the business. When the birds get 2 1/2 years old (quail live about 4 years) and laying slows I can sell them to businesses the put quail out to hunt making a small final profit off each bird. I'd start with 50 birds and see if things grow.
So I'm asking if this seems like a realistic small business prospect and do my costs sound correct? If it did grow costs would drop and with time selling opportunities may grow if I expanded towards the huge city 70 miles away.