Business Plan Market Rabbit Option Project Outline. 2 Project Blueprint 3 Marketing Market Research Summary. 4 5 Legal Requirements 6 13 Advertisement Plan 14 18 Finances Start up Inventory. 19 Marketing Costs 20 Operational Costs 21 23 Total Project Cost.. 24 Sales Price. 25 28 Base Sales Quantities. 29 Funding Loan Options. 30 32 Signed Project Approval 33 1
Project Outline Market Rabbit Option: Rabbit breed (s): Use these key points to help you write an outline about your specific market rabbit project. Special Consideration o Breed chosen o Housing o Care o Environment o Processing Use of the rabbits o Care o Health concerns o Processing Products produced o Handling o Processing o Storage By Products Produced o Processing/Disposal 2
Blueprint Make a sketch with measurements of where you plan to set you your rabbit project. Mark the space where the rabbits will be housed, where equipment will be stored, where processing will occur, etc. 3
Market Research Summary Market rabbit project option: List rabbit products and by products to be sold: Describe your production plan. 4
Summarize your findings and explain your conclusions based on the three techniques you used to determine the market demand in your community: 5
Legal Requirements 1. Write down a summary of the rabbit market business you plan to start. Answer these questions and write down any additional information you think may be important. What will you be doing with the rabbits? Will you be breeding the animals? What is your final rabbit product? Do you plan to sell outside of your county or state? Will you be processing any part of the rabbit? If so which? 6
2. Compete the following information for each of the regulatory government agencies. National United States Department of Agriculture(USDA) www.usda.gov Phone #: E mail: United States Department Fish and Wildlife Service (DFWS) www.fws.gov Phone #: E mail: State Department of Agriculture Phone #: E mail: Address: State State Fish and Wildlife Service Phone #: E mail: Address: Property Zoning Phone #: E mail: Address: County Permits and Licenses Phone #: E mail: Address: 7
USDA 3. Contact each agency in the way most convenient for you, telephone seems to work bets and offer the fastest response. Let the person that you contact know that you are interested in starting a rabbit business and would like to know more about the necessary regulations. Using your summary explain what your business will entail, then ask the following questions. Make sure to write down any addition questions you ask and information given. National Whom did you have the pleasure of speaking with and what it their job title? What is regulated by each agency? Do you need a permit license or certificate? If so how much will it cost, how often must it be renewed? List the requirements and limitations: 8
National DFWS Whom did you have the pleasure of speaking with and what it their job title? What is regulated by this agency? Do you need a permit license or certificate? If so how much will it cost, how often must it be renewed? List the requirements and limitations: 9
State State Department of Agriculture Whom did you have the pleasure of speaking with and what it their job title? What is regulated by this agency? Do you need a permit license or certificate? If so how much will it cost, how often must it be renewed? List the requirements and limitations: 10
State State Department of Florida Wildlife Services Whom did you have the pleasure of speaking with and what it their job title? What is regulated by this agency? Do you need a permit license or certificate? If so how much will it cost, how often must it be renewed? List the requirements and limitations: 11
County Property Zoning (you will need the address of where you plan to conduct business) Whom did you have the pleasure of speaking with and what it their job title? What is the zoning on the property you plan to conduct business in? What uses are allowed for this property? Are you allowed to start a rabbit project in this property? What is the necessary zoning to undertake the project you are interested in? Do you need a permit license or certificate? If so how much will it cost, how often must it be renewed? List the requirements and limitations: 12
County Permits and Licenses Whom did you have the pleasure of speaking with and what it their job title? Do you need a permit license or certificate? If so how much will it cost, how often must it be renewed? List the requirements and limitations: 13
Advertisement Plan 1. Make a list of all the rabbit products, by product, and any additional product that may have derived from your rabbit enterprise. (such as worms, tomatoes from your green roof, ect.) 14
2. Now you will brain storm to come up with material for your advertisement. Write down the benefits that your customers will find appealing from each one of the items you have listed in #1. For example: Rabbit Meat Lean Low in cholesterol Low in sodium High in Protein Easily digestible Rich in omega fatty acids 15
3. Now you will outline an advertisement plan. Your plan should target your potential customer base, take into consideration the cost of caring out the plan, and its practicality. Consider the following in order to reach you potential customer base: Location Length advertisement Circulation of advertisement Cost 16
4. How will you deliver your message? (ex. Poster board, flyer, brochure, word of mouth, dress up in a rabbit costume and hold a sign, etc.) 5. What will your advertisements say? 6. Are you including a location or contact information for your customers to reach you? 7. Where will you advertise? Give place (s) address, name and phone number. 8. What is your business s name? 17
9. Include a picture of your advertisement or a copy of your flyer, brochure, or other pamphlet. 18
Start-up Inventory List all equipment that you will need to start the project. Include any equipment or supplies that you already had before starting the project. You will only calculate a depreciation value for items that you already had prior to starting the project. These are some items you will list in this inventory; building materials, cages/hutches, housing equipment, office supplies, permits, rabbit stock, feed, etc. Only materials, not rabbits, will depreciate a value of 10% each year. An example is listed below for a 2010 project. Item/Animal Description Date Acquired Purchase Cost Depreciation Value at Beginning of Project Bucket Feb.09 $10.00 $1.00 $9.00 Total Depreciation (Depreciation is an Expense) Start up Cost 19
Marketing Cost In this table write in the supplies you will need and how much each will cost. Write down supplies which you already have and will be using. You will calculate a depreciation value for items that you already had prior to starting the project. Materials will depreciate a value of 10% each year they are owned. An example is listed below for a project started in 2010. Item Description Date Acquired Purchase Cost Depreciation Value at Beginning of Project Markers June.08 $10.00 $1.90 $8.10 Total Depreciation (Depreciation is an Expense) Advertisement Cost 20
Operational Costs Monthly Supply Costs Here you will list all of the supplies that you will have to purchase every month. This includes items such as feed, bleach, vitamins, etc. Do not include items that you only purchased once, such as a grooming brush, those should be listed under your start up costs. You may decide to purchase certain items at the start of the month, bi weekly or towards the end. Consider when it would be best for you to make these purchases and use the date column to give an estimate that will help you plan your purchases. Date Item Description Paid to Purchase Cost Total Monthly Supply Costs 21
Additional Costs Certain market projects will require additional costs, such as monthly permits, inspections, or utilities. You must be able to pay these costs in order to continue with your business. Permits/ Inspection Date Description Paid to Cost Total Permit/Inspection Costs Utilities The water and energy that you use is considered utility costs, a utility company in your area provides you with these services. The utility company charges every month based on your energy and water usage. How to calculate your electrical use: Energy is equal to power multiplied by time. Power is the work that the device carries out, such as the light from a light bulb. For a lighting system, such as the bulb, the power is the wattage of the system. A 60 watt incandescent lamp uses 60 watts of power to operate. Since utilities measure usage for an entire building, they use kilowatts or thousands of watts. So a utility would measure the 60 watt lamp as.06 kw. (1000 Watts = 1 Kilowatts ) Utilities measure the time that the power is used in hours, that is why the energy measurement is in kilowatts per hr. Example: Jenny uses four bulb lamp with 60 watt bulbs to light up her rabbitry. These bulbs are on for about 6 hrs each day. Her utility company charges $0.08 kilowatts per hr ($0.08/kWh). Lets calculate how much her electrical cost will be. Total watts used by the lamp: 60 watts X 4 (because there are 4 bulbs) = 240 watts used by the lamp Watts used in one day: 240 watts X 6 hrs = 1440 watts Watts used in one month (30 days): 1440 watts X 30 =43200 watts Convert to kilowatts: 43200 watts / 1000 watts= 43.2 kilowatts Cost per month: $0.08/ kwh X 43.2 kw= $3.36 22
How to calculate your water use: The same concept applies to water usage. The utility company charges per gallon of water used per day. A water meter will give you a reading of the amount of water used. Most meters measure in cubic feet, to convert to gallons multiply by 7.48. Estimate you water usage for each activity you will perform each month, such as cleaning the cages, total water bottle refills, watering your worm crop, etc. Example: In order to calculate the amount of water that you rabbits will drink each month. Estimate about 1 bottle of water a day (32 oz). 1 gallon = 128 oz. Water consumed in a month(30 days): 32 oz X 30= 960 oz Convert to gallons: 960 oz/ 128 oz =7.5 gallons Now to calculate the cost of water usage per month simply multiply the amount of gallons used by price your utility company charges. Electrical Use Watts Device Used Time Used Cost Water Use Total Electrical Costs Activity Gallons Used Cost Total Water Costs 23
Total Project Costs Start Up Costs Total Starting Cost Marketing Costs Total Marketing Cost Operational Costs Monthly Supply Costs Permits/Inspections Electrical Use Water Use Total Starting Project Cots 24
Establishing a Sales Price 1. Contact at least 5 sellers for each of the products you plan to sell. Write down the name of the seller, their contact information and sales price. Pick sellers that are in a similar area as yours. It would not help you to establish your prices based on the going rate in France, if you will be selling in the USA. 25
2. Complete a sale price scale for each one of your products using the sales prices from the sellers you contacted. Write down the lowest value, an average of all the values you got for that product, and the highest. Product Price Scale Low Average High 26
3. The selling price of your products is determined by the demand and the quality of your product. Come up with a grading system for your products and a price for each grade. You can use your product price scale to help you. For example: Product Price Scale: For Pet Rabbits Low Average High $10 $25 $40 Small size: $35 Medium size: $25 Large size: $15 27
4. Make a list of all the products that you are selling. Write down the price for each grade of the product. You can change these values as you test out the market and actually put the products up for sale. There is an example filled in. Product Description Grade Sale Price Pet rabbits Medium sized $25.00 28
Base Sales Quantities Determine the minimum amount of each product that you would have to sell in order to meet the base sales price. Base Sales Price (same as Total Operational Costs) = Product Description Unit Price Quantity Total Sales 29
Loan Options Total Project Cost: Money available: Money will you need: 1. Contact your local 4 H office. Explain that you are interested in starting a market rabbit project and are looking for funding. Ask about potential grants, scholarships, or loans available. Write down the information below. 30
2. Contact organizations that promote agriculture, explain that you are interested in starting a market rabbit project and ask to see if they know of any funding options available. 31
3. Local community centers often have funding to aid in youth projects, especially when they benefit the community. Contact local centers, churches, schools, meeting lodges, etc. for information on funding your project. 32
Project Approval I, the member, am responsible for caring for the animal, which will include feeding, providing medical attention, fresh clean water, a cage/hutch, grooming, and cleaning after. If showing or breeding I will first get permission from my parent/ guardian and I will follow all rules and requirements. Member s Signature: Date: I/we, the parent(s)/guardian(s), are responsible for providing financial help if needed, along with assistance and encouragement while the member is raising the animal. I/We accept these responsibilities. Parent/ Guardian s Signature: Date: The 4 H Leader is responsible for visiting the member and the rabbit(s) to give assistance and advice when needed. I accept these responsibilities: Leader s Signature: Date 33