Every day I receive dozens of letters and calls about aquaculture as a business. Many people simply do not understand what they really want. Someone told them that sturgeon farming is cool and profitable. And to my question “when did you last eat sturgeon?” almost everyone answers that they either do not remember (by the way, eating fish helps slow down problems that arise with memory) or the word “never” often sounds.
Why want to grow something you don’t eat yourself? What’s the point of this? I recommend growing those fish and hydrobionts that you yourself will eat. If you eat them, then your relatives, friends, neighbors will not mind eating the fish you have grown.
Where to start your acquaintance with this interesting type of economic activity? Let’s try to figure it out step by step together.
Aquaculture – money and food.
A fish farm or aquaculture business can earn you a decent amount of money. Regardless of whether you are the owner of a fish farm, or just grow a certain number of fish for your family using modern fish farming technologies, all this should bring moral and material rewards.
Fish is slowly becoming a very important source of protein for people, and with a little investment, you can easily feed your family through aquaculture. In the case of home aquaculture, you can solve problems with the disposal of food waste (for example, tilapia is happy to eat the leftovers of your meal), and fish waste is a valuable fertilizer with which you can grow delicious and nutritious vegetables.
Starting any business or activity requires certain knowledge and experience.
Starting any business or activity requires certain knowledge and experience. If you are new to fishing, then it is better to start with something small, break in the technology, practice and move on along the knurled path. In this case, you need to become the manager of your mini-farm. You won’t have a boss (other than your wife, of course) to tell you what to do. All decisions on running this business will fall on your shoulders. Be prepared for the fact that not everything will work out at first. But if you prepare well and are not afraid to make decisions, then you will definitely succeed. What else is needed for this?
Step One: The Knowledge Vacuum Cleaner.
Before you start your first RAS (recirculating aquaculture system) you should learn everything you can about the business. You should, like a vacuum cleaner, start absorbing everything that you can get for free from the net, books, seminars, webinars, forums. Get to know people who are already involved in this kind of activity. Many of them will want to share their work with you. But before that, you need to recharge with a huge amount of basic knowledge in order to speak the same language with these people.
Remember that the success of your business depends on the amount of knowledge on this issue by 90%.
Rest assured that the very vast amount of knowledge you suck up will be nothing but air. Your task is to separate the wheat from the chaff using your filter. Read, think, analyze, ask the right questions! All this will lead you to the fact that you have a puzzle in your head and you are ready to start your journey in this exciting activity.
Remember that the success of your business depends on the amount of knowledge on this issue by 90%. If you do your homework, then everything else will be a trifle for you and you will succeed in becoming a successful aqua farmer. Use your vacuum cleaner every day!
Step Two: Set Your Goal.
Ask yourself the question: “What is the output? Why do I need this?”. When you decide what you need it for and what you want to achieve with the help of this lesson, it will be much easier for you to achieve the desired result. You need to clearly understand what will be the output. When communicating with potential clients, I often ask them the above questions. And if in response I hear that a person “wants to try”, then I advise him to simply transfer the money to my account, and I will give him the fish I have grown.
He will also be able to visit his fish or shrimp until they are on his table. Do not waste time if you do not want to answer yourself the question “why do I need this?”. “There will not be a performance” – that’s how I answer these “tourists”.
So, first you need to set yourself a goal. Next, you should at least draw up a financial plan on a piece of napkin. This is necessary in order to understand how much money needs to be invested, how much money is needed for operating costs, what is the cost of grown products. Decide on the place, communications (water, heat), type of hydrobiont, logistics, etc.
All of these tips apply to both the person who wants to raise fish for their family and the aqua farmer who will be raising fish in large quantities. The difference is only in the volume of grown products and the amount of personal time. Everything else applies to all types of beginner aqua businessmen.
Third step: market analysis.
When you have already decided on the required amount of investment in the aquaculture business, the following questions arise: to whom to sell, what to sell, how much to grow, what type of fish is the most profitable. These are the most important questions in your business. Not even the questions themselves, but the answers to them. I will try to give advice on this topic (fish selection) in the next article. If you have questions, please ask them on our forum.
Did you get answers to these questions? What’s next?
Fourth step: put together the puzzle.
Once you have gone through all the stages of making a decision and feel that you are ready to start, then you need to start at the same moment. Many people delay the implementation of projects and waste precious time. Many people ask how to be in the right place at the right time in order to succeed in our business? To do this, you need to quickly determine for yourself this place and this time. Man is the smith of his own happiness! Only we can realize our plans. All the successful projects that you see, hear, read, were once only a small part in the brain of their creator.
Do not hesitate with the implementation for a second!
And so, do not hesitate with the implementation for a second! Proceed immediately to the purchase of the necessary equipment, the construction of the necessary premises, and the connection of communications. Decide on a zarybka supplier. Be sure to agree with him so that by the end of construction and the launch of the aquaculture complex, he will have the required amount of fish. Establish friendly relations with the fish supplier. This is important because the success of your business depends on this person. Decide on a feed supplier, make a certain prepayment so that you already have all the feed by the launch.
I’m sure you have a million more questions on this topic. Let’s figure out together how to make aquaculture a successful domestic and commercial business in our country.
Please visit the KoiGuru forum in the Aquaculture section and ask questions. This will allow us to decide together on ways to develop domestic aquaculture.
Vismar Aqua Leading Specialist – LUBOMIR HAYDAMAKA
+380 50 879 6803
+380 67 502 4730
