Growing Profitable Homesteads
Homesteading roots began with people trying to turn their life around by making a profit.
Signed into law in May 1862, the Homestead Act opened up settlement in the western United States, allowing any American, including freed slaves, to put in a claim for up to 160 free acres of federal land.
Modern Homesteading is similar. Google pallet homestead projects and you will know, it’s often people with little, that dream big.
But dreaming and reality are 2 different things. Is it possible to run a profitable homestead? Let’s see if our guest can help.
GUEST INFO : Accountant Mike
Mike currently works as a Senior Accountant at DiLeo & Charles. He has spent about a decade working providing accounting, tax, and consulting services to small business clients and high net worth families. He uses his extensive knowledge of tax and financial statements to help small business owners set and achieve business goals, both financial and otherwise. He currently specializes in strategic planning, income tax reduction, and cash flow management for small businesses. When he isn’t working Mike enjoys following Formula 1 and playing peek-a-boo with his infant daughter.
What is a profit?
Profit : a financial gain, especially the difference between the amount earned and the amount spent in buying, operating, or producing something.
2 – advantage; benefit.
TO BE PROFITABLE SOMETHING MUST PRODUCE MORE THAN IT CONSUMES
A profitable garden produces more than it consumes.
A profitable chicken produces more than it consumes.
A profitable Homestead produces more than it consumes.
To find out if we are running a profitable homestead we need to identify what is produced, what is consumed, and see if there is a gain in the difference.
The 7 Costs Every Homestead Has to Cover
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- Startup Costs – land, Infrastructure, fencing (Generally Amortized Costs)
- Running Costs – more than feed, Electricity, water, taxes on land,
- Surprise Costs – Vet bills, storm damage
- Finishing costs – butcher, packaging, storage
- TIME and Labor
- Opportunity Costs – time spent raising egg laying chickens could be spent driving for uber
- WASTE – Veggies grown not eaten, eggs go bad
The PASTURED POULTRY PACKET is good at this.
3 Ways to Profit From Your Homestead
- Direct Products – lettuce, eggs, milk, cheese, REPLACING WHAT YOUR BUYING
- Indirect products – manure, land management, (BUT NOT UNLESS NEEDED, if you don’t NEED manure in your life it’s not brown gold)
- Sales – selling excess
How can you figure out how much to price? Collect data with SPREADSHEETS
How much do you charge above your costs? Accountant Mike suggests a MINIMUM of 10%!
The pigs would have cost you more than 1K if they had died. You had three costs:
1. Pig
2. Deposit
3. Transportation
Assuming you were able to replace the pigs at the same price or even at a discount if your supplier felt bad for you, then the cost would have been the original cost of pig and transportation.