iGallus Limited

Will your new poultry business be profitable?

A chick that will grow into a cock can be spotted the very day it hatches – To every situation or thing; there is sign of where it is tending to at the early stages if you look critically.- African Proverb

Have you planned?

A large part of profitable poultry farming is down to pre-planning and on going management and planning.

It seems that when ever I say to someone I am involved in the poultry industry they either say they have kept chickens "before" or they know someone who "used" to keep / farm chickens.

What strikes me is that very few are still in the business! Why? There are a number of factors that come to mind, some being, disease, poor feed, poor chick, theft and no market..

I think its lack of planning before committing time, money and resources to a poultry venture.

The cost of hiring a person who is both experienced and knowledgeable in the industry can be a fraction of the total cost to the start up.

Undertaking a study as to weather your idea of setting up a poultry venture in an area is a first step. The study can look at such things as accessibility to markets and raw material suppliers for your venture.

How much can you produce the poultry product for and how much is the lowest market price?

Collect as much market information as possible and then hire someone to build a profit / cost model incorporating this information into it.

Is there sufficient profit?

Don't kid yourself! Tight margins are not acceptable and if your model is showing this don't bother even starting. You might as well go and take your hard earned cash to a casino.

What next if the profit model shows a good return?

Now the real work really starts! Don't think this is the only bit of information you require to be successful. A full business plan with detailed financials will be a good next step to understanding your concept and to double check your market information, strategy and figures. Often the act of writing down what it is you want to do and achieve can help you say "hmmm hang on, this might not work"

OK, so the business plan and financials look feasible. What next?

Great! Next we hire a project manager to design, cost and set up a construction plan leading into a production plan for your venture. This is where planning is very important in making sure you have the right site, buildings, materials, equipment and construction crew. This planning process needs to be long and drawn out and we need to constantly check, change and double check everything before starting.

I have only covered a few points here, but I hope my thread throughout the piece has been the same....Planning and preparation prevents poor performance!

Many thanks for reading and thanks for all the likes and comments on my previous posts!