It's been a long time since we last blogged, so to fill you in....
The business partnership fell through around Christmas time as the investor found somewhere else to invest his money which would get him a faster return, such is the way of business I guess but I can't say we weren't disappointed. Since then we have struggled on and came to a decision, and that was that no-one can help so we had to come up with a solution for ourselves and work damn hard at making it work...it is now sink or swim time!
And so we decided to use our knowledge and hobbies to create our own cottage industry business. It is very early days but we are slowly getting somewhere. We chose to incorporate a number of elements into the business to maximise our strengths.
Element 1: Chickens...
We sold all of our large chickens so that we can concentrate on breeding our bantams. Currently we have 3 breeding pairs, Citron Sablepoots, Belgian D'Anvers and Pekins. We don't have the money for an incubator yet so the Pekin is brooding our eggs and rearing the chicks. She is a great Mum and currently we have 6 Sablepoot chicks and 1 D'Anver which are a week old...ahhh. It's small beginnings but we hope to increase our stock and get an incubator as soon as possible.
Element 2: Plants...
We utilised what little resources we had to start a (very) small nursery. This was basically using 3 small plastic greenhouses, various windowsills and one tiny cold frame to produce seedlings (now plants) which we are selling from our gazebo/stall every other weekend. We have had 2 sale days so far and what with pre-orders and work colleagues orders we are doing relatively well in a business sense and things can only get better as we advertise more and word of mouth gets around. It helps that we are selling different plants than our 'competitors' around here, obviously we can't compete with big nurseries but are trying hard to be be unique amongst local stalls in our area. By next year we hope to have upgraded our equipment and to have grown a larger selection of mainly perennial plants which will prove popular.
Element 3: Woodwork...
Matt has skill in making animal housing, chicken coops, bird boxes, plant/storage containers for the garden etc. We will use monies made to buy materials to get this element off the ground. Items to be sold on our stall or online.
All 3 elements are in their infancy but we are fully confident that we can make this work given time. Every business has to start somewhere and ours has at least got off the ground, now it's just a question of growth...in every sense :)
In the meantime Lisa has taken a job as a support care worker in a residential home. Sometimes the hours are long but it is always rewarding and keeps our heads above water.
