I have noticed over time that people will ask me similar and overlapping questions. For instance, when selling livestock I get asked: "Is this work?" and "Can I really make money?" Or, when selling fiber & yarn I get asked: "Do you do this all yourself?" and "Is this hard to do?" It is hard to figure out how to answer these questions in a quick one sentence answer. I can say "Yep" or "Nope", but I don't think I'm really telling the truth because they are really just bigger questions than that.
I have often tried to tell folks that owning a small farm, doing fiber art, and trying to sell your products is not just one job; it's three! When the operation is bigger than a sole proprietorship, then most people only do one aspect of the operation rather than doing it all (the pitching hay guy, to keeping records person, to making the business cards guy, to skirting fiber, to retail). And each aspect of it will take up as much time as you can give it, perhaps a little more, so you've got to love it.
To have livestock:
To do this part you have to have a love for nature and a tolerance for little sleep (at least on occasion). You will need a little land -- that is one reason we do goats, because they are very efficient space wise. You will need a truck for everything that is large, sticky or stinky. You will need a continual flow of a little bit of money for hay, grain, regular medical supplies, and barn and fence stuff to name a few things. A good bit of your time each and every day for watering, feeding, and general tending to. You will need to go outside when you most want to stay inside -- because it is icy and you need to check that their water hasn't frozen, because it is dreadfully hot and you need to check that they are not out of water, because you think there is a new baby being born and you're too excited to wait until the morning, because you hear something barking in the night and you must check that everyone is all right, because your intuition tells you someone isn't feeling well.
In return you will get: a rush of delight and perhaps gluttony to greet you and even knock you over every time you enter with grain, an incredibly peaceful moment sitting in the grass with your animals just enjoying the sun and shade, the elation of the birth of that baby and it being something expected or unexpected, a vet bill, and exhausting save and a gruesome loss -- and it will all happen over and over again.
Yep it is work, but if you like it - you honestly like it, it is good work.
To do the fiber art:
Granted I have not been doing "fiber" art all that long, but I have been an art teacher for a dozen years and I have identified myself as an art-person my whole life, so I feel qualified to answer this question at least as a little better than a beginner. You will need: some time and some inspiration, as in any art form. It takes time to develop skills and perfect what you are doing. There are many creative decisions to make along the way: will everything be one of a kind (as in painting or sculpture) or will you work on themes and movements (as in ceramics and photography). You need a "soup to nuts" understanding of the medium. You can't really do this well unless you try using your own products. Many aspects of fiber art is making something that another person will use in some other way -- if you are selling dyed locks or yarn; someone will make them into something else; or if you are making a finished product like a weaving or scarf, someone else will still handle and use that product. And, sometimes you are making the final thing.... the audience will either like or not, hang it on their wall or not. It is both craft and art in that way.
There is a lot of time involved and a lot of steps involved. You are starting with a very raw material -- hair, fur, fiber. It is also messy. Some art is orderly and neat, some craft is small and microcosmic. This is not, it is big, splashy and sometimes even smelly. It is also a bit weather dependent, you can only get your raw material at certain times of the year, and then only when it is dry. At different stages the fiber needs to be wet, wet & hot, drying out, or spread out on your table.
I'm not totally sure if this one is a choice or just in you at birth as a need to create. ...So is it a job? or is it a calling? - not sure, but again, if you like it --- you just can't help yourself, you like it!
To Sell things and Make Money:
Well, it is hard to be a "Jack of all Trades" and a "Master" of them all too! The making of money centers around two main skills as I see it: 1. being good at administrivia and 2. being good at selling/retail/presentation. Neither are my strong suits, but some aspects of each are interesting to me.
To run a farm and know if you are making money you essentially have to balance your expenses against your costs - just like anything else. But a farm is very "human" in its unending need for more to be poured into it. Prioritizing, and not doing things before you have the capacity to really do them is crucial. Spending is easy. Selling is less easy. There are quick ways to dump what you produce for less than its value to produce it, but that is a last and desperate solution to try to sustain your farm. So selling at good prices is your survival, and getting clients is your survival. I maintained and sold livestock for 10 years before I got into the fiber aspect of the Mohair cottage industry. I always struggled to sell enough animals at good enough prices to make what I wanted to put into them. When describing different aspects of this story to other mentor farmers (beef cattle, dairy, egg production, field crops, small scale livestock, to name a few) I always got immense sympathy and empathy from them. No matter what the scale (short of enormous corporate farming) all farmers seem to be united on the plight that it is very difficult to eek out a substantial living from farming. Much is beyond your control, it is labor intensive, and the public demands extremely low prices. That being said, I always managed to make enough to keep trying, keep hoping, keep making things more efficient, keep getting better at the selling & keeping better records. But if you are making things from what your farm produces, bear in mind that you are really running almost two businesses -- farming being one set of expenses and income, and as in my case, fiber art being a second set of expenses and income.
The parts of this that I have found interesting are: I like a challenge. There is a part of retail and dealing with the public that can be a pleasure (even if not always). The necessity of salesmanship has gotten me to forge new relationships, friendships, and professional activities. I have expanded to the Internet and learned many new things. I have gone to the public instead of waiting for the public to come to me. I enjoy graphic art and that is a big part of presentation of a product, so I have found that pleasant too.
The take aways:
- There is no end to the amount of time and energy your small farm will absorb.
- Owning livestock has a lot of highs and lows, you need to love it. I do.
- Making products from what your farm produces also requires inspiration, dedication and skill development.
- Recognize these activities as a full fledged business if you want to make money. I think it is attainable with will power.
So the short answers I give out to the public at the moment they ask are....
"Yep, it is work. I think you can make money. Yes, I do, do it all my self. And, no, its not hard if you enjoy it. Oh and Mam, that is twenty dollars plus tax; I think you'll find that it is very soft and a lovely color. I would be delighted to answer any of your questions." Well, and now you know some of the other things I'm thinking -- and feeling, I do love it.
