Do Your Research
Before you jump into any business venture you want to take the time to research it and make sure that it is worth your time and financial investment. Hopefully, you can find things that don’t cost as much to get into and just require your time. I am not telling you this to scare you away…But I have had an idea and ran with it without doing the proper research. Just because I think it’s cool does not mean that everyone else does too.
Check Your Competition
This is important! Depending on what you choose a lot of other people might have had the same idea. Look into whether or not you will be able to sell your good or service or is the market is already saturated.
Plan It Out
Take the time to look into the business you have decided on. Think about the work that will go into it and the time of year that you will be putting in the most time. Will You need to prepare things ahead of time? Should you be learning and reading things now, so when the season hits you are ready? Will you need any permits from your city? Are there any rules for your area you need to know about? Figure that all out now so that when the time hits you can get started with little to no hiccups.
Find places to sell
Think about where you will be able to sell. Do you live on the main rd? Can you put things in front of your house? If not think of other ways. Is there a local farmers market? Local Facebook groups? Or what about smaller local stores? Can you make a deal with a small store to let you sell your produce or product in their place of business? Don’t overlook this step. Because if you don’t have a place to sell your product it won’t matter how good your product is. No one will even know you exist! When it comes to any business you have to know how to market!
Consider trading
Back in the day people did not have the need for grocery stores because they had each other. They would each grow things and trade! What a cool practice… why have we gotten away from this? I have no idea! I know this is not necessarily “making money” but it will help you to save so that you don’t have to make as much money. Talk to your neighbors or friends and see what you can trade with them when the time comes. My cousin and I do this all the time. I can certain foods and she trades me beef that they process. It’s great! Yes, I know I am old-fashioned. But I love living more simply when I can.
Unique ways to make cash on 2 Acres
In this list, I have tried to come up with a list of ideas that are as cheap and the least time consuming as possible. I have also come up with things that can be done at different times of the year so that you can utilize your property as much as possible. I am also advocating you try multiple different things. Maybe not all at once…
But you know what they say “Don’t have all your eggs in one basket!” It is very nice to have income coming in from different places in case something falls through for one venture, you still have money coming in from other things.
- Pumpkin Patch
As I mentioned above growing pumpkins is seasonal. So get everything done ahead of time so that you are ready for the fall. Pumpkin patches are super fun and what’s nice is that it is something you can do as a family. If you have kids have them help plant and take care of the patch throughout the season. Once it comes time for selling have them go and pick the pumpkins.
Growing up my friend and her family had a very large pumpkin patch and it was her and her brothers job to take care of it and sell them. The way they did it was to have the pumpkins on a wagon for sale in front of her house. They lived on a busy road though…So it worked well for them. If you don’t live on a busy road I would suggest taking them to the local farmers market.
2.Maple Syrup
This is a great option! If you don’t have maple trees pay attention to the houses around you. Maple syrup is so easy and there is so much money to be made. Friends of mine did it just as a hobby and are selling it for $50.00 a gallon. Again, this is another great project for the kids to help with. And if you are running a small operation you don’t need super fancy tools. Just grab a few of the basics from Amazon and you are good to go!
3.Chickens
You can either raise chickens as meat birds or for eggs. If you are already doing it for yourself it would not be a big deal to add in a few more. In our area, you can get up to $8.00 or more a pound for grass-fed organic chicken. That adds up quickly. I would suggest that you find buyers for your chickens before you make the investment. You can do this by word of mouth or local Facebook groups.
Eggs are another great source of income. In my area you can get between $3.00-$4.00 for a Dozen farm fresh eggs. Chicken should lay about 1 egg a day. I currently have 13 birds, so I am looking at about a dozen a day. It does not sound like much, but that is $3 a day which comes out to around $100 a month. Again, If you already have birds it is not a big deal to have a few extra. This is also great for your kids to help with.
4.Berries
We have 2 acres and when we moved in, I did not even realize we had wild berries. They all grow on the edge of our property. I plan to plant more, but this works for now. If you have an area that is a little more overgrown throw in some berry plants. You can obviously sell any produce that you grow. But berries are very low maintenance. You don’t even have to weed the patch if you don’t want to and you can get a lot more money for berries than other produce.
5.Bee Keeping
This one sounds so scary, but with a few tools you can get your bee business started. Honey is so yummy and so good for you. Local honey can help with allergies. Is that cool or what? This one will be for mom and dad to do…Or the teenage kids. Just like the maple syrup you can get started with a quick kit from Amazon.
6. Make Meals With Fresh Produce
Healthy eating is becoming popular now…(not sure why it ever became unpopular) But people don’t have the time or resources to make their own homemade meals. You could start a business where you make meals for other families. People pay big bucks for pre-made meals.
I mean the company hello Fresh gets $10 a serving for their service and with that you still have to make the meal! Lets say you made meals for a family of 4 and charged $10. You are looking at $40 bucks a day. Depending on your area you could get much more. AND you are already making dinner. So it is really not that much extra work. You could also offer a service like hello fresh and just provide the food and the family makes their own meals.
7. Selling Flowers
Do you love having a gorgeous flower garden? Awesome! Think ahead and talk to local wedding planners or decorates and see what their needs are. Make a deal with them and plant what they need. You get a beautiful garden that you can than get paid for. Win-win! Or like I mentioned take them to the local farmers market!
8. Online Business
Now I know that this does not really apply when talking about how to make money on your land. But there is so much potential to make money online and I just have to share it with you. As you are noticing I keep saying “If you are doing it anyway” and this applies here too. If you are already taking the time to learn about beekeeping or raising chickens then take pictures and make a blog. Or a youtube channel!
Might you as well be making money along the way right? Now there is WAY too much to tell you exactly how to do this on this post. But if this intrigues you I would suggest to start researching and looking into it. I promise it is not a get rich quick scheme. It really works and is such a great way to make money while living off of the homestead. And why not teach others as you go along?
There are so many unique ways to make cash on 2 acres. I would just encourage you to think outside of the box. Think about things that people might not have done before. Think of more specific niches that others might not have thought of. Thanks for the read and I hope that this will give you lots to think about when choosing your next business venture!
Happy Homesteading!
~Courtney