In a 2013 farm business ideas article (click to read it here), I wrote an article in which I made the case for Rabbit farming as a viable low cost means to boost availability of high quality protein towards raising the appallingly low per capita protein consumption in Nigeria/Africa.
In my usual habit of walking my talk, I have since gone far in my efforts to get involved in starting my own rabbit farm business (as part of an integrated Farm Business Support Centre offering I’m working to launch in Benin Republic).
While a student in the University, I’d operated a micro rabbit farm business in the backyard of my parents’ Lagos-Gbagada home.
Back then, I would sell my slaughtered and roasted rabbits, wrapped in foil paper, to health conscious seniors like Mrs. Lois Omagbemi (mother-in-law to Mary Onyali, the former African sprints champion).
Today, I’m keen to get my farm CEO clients and those aspiring, to see Commercial Rabbit farm business as the worthwhile venture that it really is. A quick google search on the web will show that the awareness of this lucrative venture has grown a lot in Africa.
My earlier mentioned article (click here to read it) highlights key benefits accruable from engaging in rabbit farming, so I will not repeat them here.
Instead, this article is meant to share with you excerpts from an exchange I had with an aspiring farm CEO working a day job, who showed interest in venturing into commercial rabbit farming, after a paid consultation session.
The recommendations I make to aspiring farm business owner today are being more and more influenced by what I’ve seen happen to other farm CEOs I’ve served over the past few years.
Nigeria in particular is a market with too much unpredictable variability.
For instance Bird Flu for poultry and Swine Flu for pigs are examples of diseases that diligent efforts of other countries’ government agencies in collaboration with their farmers have largely brought under control or eliminated.
Sadly, in Nigeria, I was shocked in Feb 2015 (i.e. last year) when an elderly Kano based Farm CEO told me over 700k birds had been lost to Bird Flu even though little news of it was known to the public and the government was doing more of talking than acting to end it.
That’s why the problem remains till now!
All of that led me to conclude that Catfish and Rabbits would offer less risky and more pocket friendly opportunities i- hence my decision to focus on recommending micro livestock like rabbits and fish.
Unless you have personal funds to invest immediately for a large scale operation, I feel most people need not invest in an elaborate business plan to startup
Like any other business, putting a business plan together will often be advisable. However, where it concerns rabbitry, I have a slightly different orientation. Like I told the farm CEO I mentioned above, when we met in his home, you can start very small with 3 to 4 does and 1 buck (or possibly 9 to 12 does and 3 bucks etc), and rapidly multiply them to a large operation in just one year.
My observations out here have taught me that it pays to startup small with a business like rabbitry (especially since you have a day job) to ensure one gets the hang of rearing them competently.
The best part, is that you can start small in January and arrive December with a big operation due to the rabbit’s unique high reproductive and growth capability.
That low cost start-up approach is one I personally prefer most people start with.
To encourage those who choose to go that small size startup route, here’s a 4 part zero cost offer of support I’d like to make as my own contribution to your DIY efforts. It’s what I had in mind to do all along if you went for it:
1. I will research and send you information about, and contact details for individuals and organizations you can connect with to get startup rabbit breeding stocks and other requirements.
2. I will gladly accompany you to examine rabbit stocks with providers you connect with. While there, I will interview the operators to establish the quality of the rabbit gene pool they work with, the breeding procedures they follow etc, so as to reasonably ascertain reliability of what they offer. It goes without saying though that one can never get 100% certainty.
3. It would be my pleasure to provide hands on practical rabbit farm management training for you to get you started in your operations. I will send you downloads links to 2 comprehensive manuals on rabbit farming, so that the hands on training will not take much time, or effort.
4. I will help you proactively search for buyers, and also share the many processing and sales/marketing ideas I have used successfully to sell my own raised rabbits.
5. When the rabbitry business is stabilized (6 months all being equal), you can then look at ways to integrate catfish farming – and again it would be my pleasure to help in any way I can.
The only thing you’ll have to do to make ANY of the above happen in terms of my support, will be to cover my expenses.
It would make me very happy to see you succeed in starting your own business in a manner that is convenient and pocket friendly. I believe it is possible to do so with rabbit and fish farming. But I am convinced those who are able to master rabbit farm business the way I advocate will have a massive competitive edge in the marketplace.
I say this based on the personal plans I have to launch mine, after years of careful observation and study of healthy living driven diet trends here in Nigeria/Africa. I will be putting my insights and expertise at your disposal.
That’s my token contribution offer, to support you in achieving your stated goal.
IMPORTANT NOTE: You must be my client in order to take advantage of the above zero cost support offer. Click here and here as well as here, to review products and services I offer, that you may wish to order (such as the Excel-VB Ration Formulator, the Poultry Farm Manager, the popular Feed Formulation Handbook and other information products).
Now, having said the above, if you’d still like to have something of a formal
document to work with, say to guide your expansion plans, here’s another offer.
I can use mainly my email and phone contacts, as well as online research where possible, to put together what would possibly be best referred to as a Feasibility Report for a Low Cost Rabbit Farm Business Startup.
Among others, I would go through my Farm CEO client contacts (in and out of Africa) to get relevant
additional details to combine with what I get locally in putting it together – including the aspect of integrating with catfish farming.
I would also visit their farms – and other well known farming establishments I have contacts in – to get more information for the feasibility report, since that’s my zone. Another thing: I could even explore buying high performing breeding stock for you to startup with! (You cover expenses of courses).
Note one of the major differences here (compared to the elaborate business plan option) is that I would not move around locally in Nigeria to identify, connect with and get farm specific data via face to face meetings. It would not be as comprehensive, but it could give you something to study as an action plan
implementation guide.
[IMPORTANT NOTE: Again you MUST be my client to take advantage of it.]
Now, the above report may also prove useful after you’ve started small and grown your rabbitry say for 6 months
By then you would have your own farm specific data that we would be able to post into my template’s spreadsheet tables for the feasibility study to generate real world reports/analyses that we can then present to convince prospective investors with!
The above in my opinion, will inspire more confidence in the minds of those we approach, because they will see on-farm proof of how rabbit farming can rapidly generate returns on a small investment. More importantly, they would be impressed with your demonstrated efforts to start where you are, with what you have.
If this additional adapted feasibility report offer idea appeals to you, or you would like to have a full featured, comprehensive business plan prepared for you, click here to send me a message.
