Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I am unemployed,under educated (went to 10th grade) I want to start a small homebased biz of my own. I was thinking maybe a  worm farm...who knows. I have $1000.00 to do something with to generate an income. A 2 car garage that can be used to work in. My wife is skilled in embroidery from her current job,which is closing next Aug. and moving. I can not afford an embroidery machine. Any ideas on what I can do with this $1000.00 to get me started?

Here`s a very interesting topic we had awhile back:
"If all you had were $200, what type of business would you start?"

What`s even more interesting about this, is that only a couple of weeks ago we got one of those packets of coupons in the mail for direct advertising. Because of our interest in SuN, we`ve been looking at the coupons more, lately. One of them was for a "doggie poop cleaning" business! LOL! They must`ve been members of the community!

At any rate, the worm farm business is an excellent opportunity, as long as you keep an eye on your market---the people to whom you`ll sell, and who want to buy your worms. As a fisherman, I use worms a lot, but only in the summer. We`re in the Chicago area, and don`t do ice fishing.

Where are you located? If you`re in a warmer climate, you`ll be able to sell the worms for a longer period. How will you store them, how will you ship them, and what responsibilities will you take on as opposed to the buyer?

Another aspect to consider is that there`s nothing wrong with a seasonal business. Dairy Queen is a good example, where owners might have a location near a school. They do great business from around May until October, then close down over the winter. Like farmers, they make a lot of money for part of the year, and go do something else for another part. So they "annualize" their income.

You would do something similar (teachers also do this). You`d sell your product all spring and summer, then take the total and divide by 12. That would be your monthly income. You`d then make your yearly budget based on your "annualized" monthly budget.

Entry cost would be almost nothing, and the worms would self-propagate. But you`d have to have a good idea of how many worms would you need in order to meet what kind of demand. That again comes down to who will be your market?

Costs would be the styrofoam containers that hold a dozen typical nightcrawlers. You could branch out to red worms, meal worms, and grubs, depending on your climate. You might need to invest in a heated garage, but not necessarily.

Projected inventory would be another thing to contemplate. How many worms can live within the amount of soil you have? If you sell 10 dozen worms a week to 1 gas station who wants a bait shop, that`s 120 worms. Every week. Can your farm support a harvest of that many worms and keep you in business for 6 months?

This would lead to a calculation. Look up how many worms can be supported by X number of CUBIC feet of earth/dirt. Figure out how many bait shops you`d need, how many containers they`d buy per week, and that`ll tell you how much dirt you`re going to have to put together. Because it`s cubic feet, that`ll also tell you how much room you`ll need for that dirt.

Finally, you`ll need a reliable way to conduct a "census" of your farm. How many worms actually are living within the total amount of soil you`re using. You could probably do a statistical survey, taking a sample population from various cubic feet around the farm and have a fairly accurate number. But you`d want to check that number every so often.

You may also be able to start a cleaning service.  Not sure how strong your local market may be, but I think $1000 is more then enough to buy supplies.  You can print fliers using your home computer and drop them off with local business. You may also be able to advertise in a local newspaper, and of course there`s always word of mouth marketing! Regardless of what you start, success has to be earned.

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"Vinni, Viddi, Vicci"

That was funny, because I wasn`t even thinking of fishing worms ... I was thinking of little red worms for vermicomposting. How very green of you, to sell composting worms! And you could `grow` them by feeding them all of your trash ...

Hah..! A whole `nuther idea for worms. :-D I didn`t even know they were used in composting! That being said, I know you can use ground up carp for dog food, meal, and fertilizer, so you could use the worms to catch carp, grind them up, then sell them as fertilizer to people who then buy your worms for a composting heap!

Do you currently operate your own medical practice?  If not, why not looking to open an office in whichever field of medicine you specialize?  Again, depending on your expertise in the medical field, you could look into starting a website that provides information to individuals.  Whatever path you choose, do your homework on the industry, the market, and your competitors.

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