[Jacob-list] Checkers & Jacob Sheep

[Thomas Simmons]

Sue, that was a great post.  If you don't mind, I'd like to add my .02, if
you don't mind me switching back and forth between my Shepherd's Hat and my
Economics/Business Prof Hat.

You can't "control" demand or prices or buying decisions for your product.
But you *can* control costs.  The single biggest mistake I've seen small
businessmen make over and over and over and over is to spend too much on
advertising, and hoping that it will help them in the end.  Most advertising
is more expensive than the payback, and there are more cost effective ways
to get your product out to the community than advertising.

For instance, I never once sold a sheep as a result of a paid ad.  But I
sold 25 of them in one month by using free E-mail lists (This one, the free
New England Heritage Breeds Marketplace, and  the Northeast Spinners' list).

I'm a cheap New England Yankee.  I actually turn a small profit on our small
farm each year.  But that means I've got to keep costs to nearly 0.  Part of
my downsizing last year meant that my hay costs through winter were minimal,
and, now that spring is here, nonexistant.

There are three main ways we can generate revenue from our Jacobs:
breedstock, meat, and wool. As for breedstock, I mentioned my own method
above.  At this point, I am *turning people away* who are looking for
Jacobs, and they are still getting my name off of free websites.

As for wool: I pay my shearer, I clean the fleeces myself (skirt & hand-pick
only), and then I pay to have the fleece made into roving.  I get to use my
artsy side (LOL!) by seperating the black & white, and then recombining them
in various combinations to produce a standard "palate" of roving colors.  I
have the rovings made at Zeilingers (blended colors) or Acadia (Variegated).

Then, I took several .15 cent blue school folders, and included a card-board
stock yellow card with some of each roving sample.  Next to the sample, I
wrote the name of the sheep primarily responsible for that roving, with a
bit of a bio (C'mon, wouldn't you want "Mist" from a Vermont ewe, or
"Charcoal" from a Prince Edward Island matriatrch?!) And we threw in a few
pictures as well.

Then, rather then buy a booth at a show ($$$$$$$$$$$$), I walked around the
show with an armful of these folders.  The long aand short of it is, a
wonderful upscale  shop (Harrisvile Designs) agreed to take all the roving I
could supply them, on consignment.  They get to keep their showroom stocked,
I get an outlet and free "salespeople" to sell the roving for me.  The sales
*more* than cover the processing and shearing costs.

Meat?  Presales over the net to homeschoolers and other folks on local email
loops do the trick.  My rule:  For each lamb that goes to the freezer for
me, there must be one sale that pays for the slaughter and butchering of
BOTH the customer's lamb and mine.

Anyway, that's me.  I won't pay the mortage with these sheep, that's for
sure, but I refuse to "lose" money on them.

Thom