ON/OFF FARM SELF EMPLOYMENT

TheClubMan

Well folks,

I recently lost my job. Im in my early twenties and live at home on the family farm. My father is milking but there's not enough to provide an income for us both.

I was hoping I could get a few ideas to run my own enterprise off a few acres like vegetables or poultry and and an off farm job like hoof pairing as an example.

I would love to stay at home and be able to help out my father too but I need to make my own living too.

Thanks for your help.

Miname

TheClubMan wrote: »

Well folks,

I recently lost my job. Im in my early twenties and live at home on the family farm. My father is milking but there's not enough to provide an income for us both.

I was hoping I could get a few ideas to run my own enterprise off a few acres like vegetables or poultry and and an off farm job like hoof pairing as an example.

I would love to stay at home and be able to help out my father too but I need to make my own living too.

Thanks for your help.

Poultry is big money to set up, 300000 for any reasonable start. Hoof pairing, scanning and ai might work as a combination and you could be well set up at 30000.

frazzledhome

Contract milking. €100 per day for 4 hrs work and 2 milkings off per week. Gives you the middle of the day free.

I've a position if close to berg KK/Sth Laois area

einn32

frazzledhome wrote: »

Contract milking. €100 per day for 4 hrs work and 2 milkings off per week. Gives you the middle of the day free.

I've a position if close to berg KK/Sth Laois area

That's pretty good money for milking i would think. How does it work?

Any bonuses included??

frazzledhome

einn32 wrote: »

That's pretty good money for milking i would think. How does it work?

Any bonuses included??[/quot

Are you interested?

Cavanjack

TheClubMan wrote: »

Well folks,

I recently lost my job. Im in my early twenties and live at home on the family farm. My father is milking but there's not enough to provide an income for us both.

I was hoping I could get a few ideas to run my own enterprise off a few acres like vegetables or poultry and and an off farm job like hoof pairing as an example.

I would love to stay at home and be able to help out my father too but I need to make my own living too.

Thanks for your help.

Get a trade or some other qualification separate from the farm. Do a bit of traveling. Don't tie yourself to home so soon. Time enough for that in your 30's. You are only young once so don't waste it.

CloughCasey1

Cavanjack wrote: »

Get a trade or some other qualification separate from the farm. Do a bit of traveling. Don't tie yourself to home so soon. Time enough for that in your 30's. You are only young once so don't waste it.

Or if you're a home bird and couldn't be arsed travelling you could do as frazz says mornings and evenings. Rent 20 acres with a small shed get a herd number apply for all grants known to man and rear all your dads calves. Do as you like with the bulls (I'd say he wouldn't be too hard on ya with prices) and keep the turnover of heifers going with your auld fella. He'll have extra room to expand dairy herd and you take half the extra profit on that as well as the few quid for rearing his heifers.

lakill Farm

frazzledhome wrote: »

Contract milking. €100 per day for 4 hrs work and 2 milkings off per week. Gives you the middle of the day free.

I've a position if close to berg KK/Sth Laois area

boards will probably invoice you now for recruiting

einn32

frazzledhome wrote: »

einn32 wrote: »

That's pretty good money for milking i would think. How does it work?

Any bonuses included??[/quot

Are you interested?

I would be but I'm over in oz at the minute. Getting some experience in a few types of farming. I'd like to get back to farming in Ireland some time alright but it will 2017 before I'm back!

visatorro

you could do a few hours with a contractor. and still keep the toe in at home. but like someone suggested if you could, you should travel for a year or so. I nevered travelled and I will be sixty before I get a chance again.
don't be afraid to try something new like a night class in college or trade either.

BarryD

TheClubMan wrote: »

Well folks,

I recently lost my job. Im in my early twenties and live at home on the family farm. My father is milking but there's not enough to provide an income for us both.

I was hoping I could get a few ideas to run my own enterprise off a few acres like vegetables or poultry and and an off farm job like hoof pairing as an example.

I would love to stay at home and be able to help out my father too but I need to make my own living too.

Thanks for your help.

Fair dues to you - you have the right attitude and that counts for a lot. I'm self employed (not in farming) for many years. It has its ups and downs and you're only ever as good as your last sale or job. In general terms, try and spread your customers/ services i.e. not great to end up totally reliant on one contract. Try to manage with as little or no borrowing at all and expand as income allows. That might be impractical depending on what you do but it'll help your sleep if you don't have much in the way of repayments to worry about. But you probably know all this as farming is essentially a self employed activity anyway.

TheClubMan

I was thinking more along the lines of a small free range enterprise. Either chickens or geese. I have some money saved up and don't want to borrow heavily. I would also need to be trained in hoof pairing and ai/scanning. I just gave it as an example

TheClubMan

Milking is something I thought about it. I used to do a bit with the Farm Relief but I just wasn't getting enough work. I'm in Wicklow unfortunately.

TheClubMan

I had thought about doing a welding course but Im having trouble finding one in my area. I would like to hop on the band wagon to Oz or Canada but I can't really up and leave at the moment as my father could do with a dig out and I want a farm to come back to when I do go.

TheClubMan

I would like to try something new but what is the question? I do have an interest in welding but i cant find any courses around me. I do plan to set sail at some stage just not at the moment. Id love to have my own business to keep me ticking over for a while. It doesn't have to be farming related

Kevhog1988

youve a great outlook anyway. Could you pick up a few shifts with a local builder etc?. Maybe do the digger ticket??.

Kevhog1988

What was your original job in out of interest??

TheClubMan

I have some ideas buzzing around in my head but the more I think about them the more I find flaws in them and just give up. Id love to sit down with someone who knows what theyre doing and help me make it work. What do the enterprise boards do? Would Teagasc help me?

IH784man

What about mobile sheep dipping/shower,you could hire one out and pull it on your own jeep,no very hard work involved just capping sheep into and out of the dipper.

You could also get into the firewood trade buying logs and cutting them yourself

ganmo

TheClubMan wrote: »

I have some ideas buzzing around in my head but the more I think about them the more I find flaws in them and just give up. Id love to sit down with someone who knows what theyre doing and help me make it work. What do the enterprise boards do? Would Teagasc help me?

Write down your ideas and what's involved in each, and price each bit.

You could sell raw milk and eggs...

TheClubMan

I worked with horses on a stud farm.

Kevhog1988

TheClubMan wrote: »

I worked with horses on a stud farm.

few quid in breaking & livery?

TheClubMan

That's something I never thought about. There are a lot of sheep farmers around and lads at timber. I might look into it.

TheClubMan

There's one fella a few miles away making a killing selling his own milk. Missed the boat there...

TheClubMan

Nope, just an awful lot of hardship!

coconnellz

Snail farming is quite lucrative you only need a couple of acres to start off!

Kevhog1988

coconnellz wrote: »

Snail farming is quite lucrative you only need a couple of acres to start off!

jasus tell me your secret 😂😂

ganmo

TheClubMan wrote: »

There's one fella a few miles away making a killing selling his own milk. Missed the boat there...

No harm in a bit of competition

Keep thinking, work through each idea and ya'll hit onto somethin that you'll enjoy and earn a enough to make it worth while.

BarryD

TheClubMan wrote: »

I have some ideas buzzing around in my head but the more I think about them the more I find flaws in them and just give up. Id love to sit down with someone who knows what theyre doing and help me make it work. What do the enterprise boards do? Would Teagasc help me?

Make up two lists: first, what skills you have and second, what service or supplies would people roundabout buy off you.

Reading between the lines though, you're kinda looking for some handy way to make a few bob without committing too much to it. Therein lies a bit of a problem - you'd might be better off looking for a bit of part time work/ sub contracting. If you want to start a small business, it isn't necessarily easy to build up a customer base and get people to pay you. Requires a fair bit of work and maybe lean times till you get more established. Probably more for the long run.

Feckthis

Why not a independent tree surgeon. Biggest outlay would be insurance. Add on to the business buy a log spitter and bring the ould fellas tractor.
Someone has a awkward tree in the way you will cut it down safely, split it up for them and have it fire ready for them to just pick up and throw in!.

Kovu

Gardening? I know one lad who's built up a good business and he started off trimming lawns/hedges and planting bits and pieces for people who had no time to do it themselves (or couldn't be arsed pushing a lawnmower about)
He also sprays roofs and other bits and pieces like that.

TheClubMan

That's something that may be of interest. I would hate to see the insurance bill though! Do you know how much training would cost?

TheClubMan

I would be fairly handy in the garden and we have a lot of tools at home already. How hard would it be to get a name out there for myself though?

Kovu

TheClubMan wrote: »

I would be fairly handy in the garden and we have a lot of tools at home already. How hard would it be to get a name out there for myself though?

Hmmm I dunno, he just sort of appeared as there was nobody in the area doing it. I recall flyers up in the local gardening centre for him and people just recommended him to others and it grew from there.

tom_k

TheClubMan wrote: »

That's something that may be of interest. I would hate to see the insurance bill though! Do you know how much training would cost?

For a rough notion of tree surgery training costs, have a look at this site.

http://www.davidlaw.ie/#training

A good broker would be able to come up with a figure for insurance costs and if you were to tackle larger trees, a one man operation won't cut it. Pun half intended

kowtow

coconnellz wrote:

Snail farming is quite lucrative you only need a couple of acres to start off!

Fencing is a nightmare though, and you'd want to be fit if they get through.

They'd be gone in an instant.

TheClubMan

kowtow wrote: »

I take it you saw the article in the farming independent! Slimey feckers! There'd be no catching them!

Farmer

In the list that you make, add in a column for "My chances of getting paid". It seems to be one of the greatest challenges for the self employed.