Turning Compost into $

 

“Okay”, you are saying, “I did what you said and composted my manure and now instead of manure piling up, it is compost! What now?”

First of all congratulations on taking this initial step on the road to a sustainable future for our horses. Manure is considered a potentially hazardous waste product while compost is a desirable one. Now you have this quality product and you need to have a plan for it to leave your property at least as quickly as your horses can replace it! Basically, your choices going forward will largely be determined by 1. How many horses you have and 2. If you like the idea of making money from what was originally a waste product!

Note: If you are already business and web presence savvy then you can skip the next few paragraphs which are just some basic info to help get those who aren’t get started!

Basic Business Steps:

First of all, setting up an eco-business to sell compost is not any different than setting up any other business and it should be done as properly. Unless you are knowledgeable about these things you need to be consulting with experts in various fields.  I recommend the Small Business Administration or SBA as a good place to start for valuable and free information (see link at end of blog). Below I have listed just some basic steps you will be taking to get your business up and running.

1. Writing a business plan is always the first step. The SBA can tell you how to write one. It helps you to focus on what your goals are and how you will achieve them.
2. Create a website, unless you already have one for your horse farm or related business, which means you are going to have to come up with an unused Domain Name (this is probably the hardest part!) and at the same time check your state’s records to make sure that no one has registered a business under that particular name so that you can claim it there as well! Make a list starting with your favorite choice and work down. Try to pick one that is easy for people to remember and spell.
3. Hiring an attorney for setting up an LLC and writing contracts for partnerships etc will come in handy.
4. Register your company with your state corporation commission. Different states have different rules. Your attorney can handle this for you too.
5. Hire a website designer unless you feel up to it. Even if you are not a techie it is possible to create your own website. However, the less you know the more time it will take, so, if you would rather be in the barn instead of in front of a computer, I recommend finding someone to do this for you!
6. Choose a web host for your domain. For the latter, since this is a blog about sustainability, I recommend GreenGeeks which is who I use, and yes, Disclosure here!! I am a member of their Affiliate Program which means that I receive a commission for any new customers that sign up through the link on this site, but the real reason that I recommend them is the same as why I use them, they are the greenest web hosts around and dedicated to staying that way. The carbon footprint of this blog and all the thousands of other websites that they host is offset by 3 times the CO2 equivalent in wind energy!  Besides that, they are reasonably priced, WordPress friendly and have great customer service/support. If you already have a website but want to get greener they will transfer it for you for free!
7. Choose a logo – Are you a graphic artist? If not, you may have to hire someone to design a logo for your composting business. If you already have a logo for your horse farm, then, of course, use it!
8. Make Connections – Once you have your website up and running you will need someone who knows how to get it noticed by the search engines (called SEO) and get it connected to whatever social media that you use. Your website designer should be able to do this for you.
9. Get business cards – Don’t order until you have a logo, web address, email address, etc. Be sure to order ones on recycled paper

 

This is just a brief introduction to help you have some idea of what it will take to get a business up and running. Please talk to friends that have businesses, pick their brains, get referrals and advice, read books and articles, research the info available online, and then go for it.

If you only have a few horses, say less than 4-6 then you are not likely to generate enough compost to be able to create a business around it by yourself. In order to create space for your ongoing accumulation, you will probably have to offer it for free or for a nominal amount by running a perpetual ad on Craigslist and/or your community website. If you have a front-end loader then you can even offer to load it for free to encourage people to come and get it. Emphasize the fact that it is compost and not just decayed manure and remember that the goal here is saving the earth one shovelful at a time! It should be easier to find a home for your compost than for manure and if you have done it properly and cooked the weed seeds then you might even find a local small business ie: nursery, worm farm, etc. who would become a repeat customer. In the meantime try saving money by using some or all of the compost yourself. If you already have a garden then compost will make it a better one! If you don’t have a garden then what are you waiting for? At the very least plant some tomatoes and zucchini for your family and friends and the local food bank and some carrots for your horses. If you use bedding then try switching to either 50/50 compost/bedding or 100% compost. according to the latest studies horses (and other animals too) are healthier when bedded on compost! More info here  http://www.betterground.org/2012-spring-nexus/

If, though, you would like to offset some of the cost of owning horses by selling your compost then here are some suggestions.

Possible Money-Making Ideas:

 

I.                   1-6 Horses –

1. Going it alone or with just your family – Probably not going to generate enough compost to run a viable retail composting business. If you really want to give it a try, then I suggest looking for friends or neighbors in the same situation and explore ways that you can combine all your composting efforts into one. Please go about setting up any type of arrangement that you agree on as you would any other business even if it is with your best friend(s). Use of an attorney to draw up the paperwork will help prevent problems later on and free up your time to get started on the physical aspects of the business. Some things to think about including in an agreement will be the location of compost bins, ownership/availability of mechanical equipment, the delegation of responsibilities (more involved than just the manual work ie: advertising, responding to emails, answering the phone, ETC.) This type of co-op set-up has the potential to provide an extra income stream which we small horse farm owners can always use, as well as a great way to get rid of all that manure.
2. Try vermicomposting, worm castings (essentially worm poop) are much more valuable than just regular compost. This is a business that you, your family or even one of your teenagers can run! You could potentially market the castings or castings/compost mixture online via eBay or Facebook or locally. This is just a short intro as there are lots of step by step directions on vermicomposting out there even at your local library! Most of it is directed towards kitchen waste or “backyard composting” but, the main difference for you would be quantity and your kitchen waste can even be included, (remember no dairy, meat products or eggshells!) A few things to know – Compost worms are not the same as our everyday earthworms so be sure to get the right kind, Eisenia Foetida, which are the ones commonly used for composting. Sometimes called red wigglers, compost or manure worms just make sure that they are the Eisenia and not just earthworms or something else. Regular earthworms live in the soil but red wigglers do not. They do not go more than 6-8 inches deep and only eat organic matter, not dirt. They are user-friendly but do have some basic needs. Protection from freezing and/or extreme heat, a container that they can’t escape from, moist but not soggy bedding, and a lid. They don’t like light and it will help to protect them from other creatures that might consider them a delicacy. Fresh manure or a compost pile that is still heating up will cook them so you either have to age ingredients before adding any substantial amount to your worm bins or if you have space put the fresh stuff on one side of the bin and let your worms decide when it is safe to migrate.  I suggest starting small, get a feel for it and then decide if you want to ramp it up. Another option is to get a group of you to form a worm co-op and turn it into a real business. Check out the prices for worm castings or compost with castings at your local nurseries and online. It might inspire you! Try to buy your starter worms close to home so you can avoid shipping if possible but still make sure that whoever you get them from has a good rating for their business. I haven’t ordered any yet myself (on my manure bucket list!) so am providing links as a courtesy, not an endorsement.

 

II.                6 or More Horses –

A. The more manure you have the bigger your problem is but the converse is usually true, the more compost you have the easier it is to get rid of it! Of course, you will need to create a business in order to promote and sell it, but you have more options. Just like any other business you should have a quality product which in this case means compost that is free of weed and other seeds, does not contain rocks or gravel, etc and you will also need to provide good customer service such as responding to emails/phone calls promptly and having regular business hours for loading. Almost every business today requires a web presence but if your farm already has a website then you could probably just set up another page pertaining to your compost business. If not, then you will have to start from scratch (basic steps above). In order to sell your compost retail or in smaller but higher priced quantities it will have to be bagged. Ideally, those bags should be branded with your company name, logo and contact info. Do your best to use earth-friendly bags either made of recycled materials and/or recyclable, reusable, biodegradable. You can help by offering customers a credit when they bring back their bags! Links at the end of the post or see if you can find other eco-friendly bag suppliers. We would all appreciate the info!

 

 

Some potential customers and uses for compost:

1. Wholesale – to Landscape and Nursery Businesses

2. Retail – Bagged and Branded to Nurseries, Hardware Stores, etc

3. Wholesale – as Arena Footing

4. Retail – Bagged and Branded as Stall Bedding (Yes! And this is probably the ultimate in recycling.) Try a booth at some of your larger horse shows. Get some periodicals to write some articles about you and get this started being accepted as mainstream bedding! Worth dozens of Gold Stars on your Sustainability Chart!! Check out this link  – https://articles.extension.org/pages/67724/benefits-of-bedding-reuse-for-the-equine-industry

5. Wholesale – By the U-Pick-Up load to local gardeners, worm farms, etc

6. Retail – Bagged and Branded Worm Castings/Castings w/Compost from your very own worm farm (see above). High dollar product from previous waste!!!!

7. Retail – You deliver to Schools, Community Gardens, Home Shows, etc. (You could pick up some free publicity by making some of these donations.)

8. Retail – Bagged and Branded at Farmers Markets, Swap Meets, Craft Fairs, etc. Also works as a marketing tool by introducing more people to your product.

9. Retail – Bagged and Branded from your own farm “store”. If you are already running a public horse business such as boarding/training then those clients can become potential compost customers and word of mouth promoters.

10. On-Line – Bagged and Branded on sites like eBay, Facebook, Amazon, etc. especially the higher dollar items like worm castings or the worm casting – compost mix.

As you can see there are numerous ways to make money off your compost which, helps to show that the path to sustainable horsekeeping can benefit our pocketbooks as well as the Earth.  At the same time, we will be spreading some “good” compost around instead of some “bad” manure. A real Win-Win!

 

Links

https://www.sba.gov/  The Small Business Administration website has all kinds of information about starting and running a business. I suggest that you make it your first sto

https://www.greengeeks.com/track/ecoequine This is who I use to host my websites. They are the greenest web hosting company available and help me minimize my carbon footprint. I am an affiliate as I shared above but I would recommend them anyway. If you would like to have a greener presence for your website then click on the link.

https://unclejimswormfarm.com/  I haven’t tried them yet, but they have been in business for 40 years which speaks for itself! Their worms are also available on Amazon if you would rather shop there (see next link).

https://www.amazon.com/Uncle-Jims-Worm-Farm-Composting/dp/B00F0MB40S/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1535149103&sr=8-3&keywords=compost+worm&refinements=p_89%3AUncle+Jim%27s+Worm+Farm

https://nyp-corp.com/burlap-bags.html  They have both burlap and polypropylene bags.