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How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
I was just listening to the RR with Chad Brown and when he said: "Lets say I produce 1000 babies this year, and sell em each for a couple hundred bucks, well guess what, I'm doing pretty good!" This got me thinking, obvious Brian produces over 1000 babies, and Ralph sure does a helluva lot too, and alot of them are worth ALOT more than a couple hundred bucks. So...how much are we talking a year here? Obviously they have to pay their staff, and sink thousands into new animals, but really, how much are we really talking about? 100,000? 200,000? 500,000? 1,000,000?! I think we have conclusive proof that this is the greatest job in the universe. Thats more than a freaking doctor or lawyer makes.
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
Yeah, that's a lot of money..
Oh wait: Building, staff, taxes, food, bedding, electricity, supplies, .....
Hmmm, guess it's not so simple as just counting what has hatched.... ;)
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
I hope they make gazillions of dollars because they seem like "normal" folks.
Every one talks about how cool they are...
But I have thought the same thing. I think BHB has said they produce up to 30,000 babies am I mistaken? Or does that include their height of the year including breeders hold backs babies and all?
If they produce 30,000 babies and sell each for $100 that is $3,000,000 just sayin....
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
3 million split between how many people? after costs of running the business?
I'm sure they are living more than comfortably, but it takes some serious work to become the best in any business.
And when you take care of that many animals for a living, you can't exactly go on vacations.
I'm jealous from a distance, but I think if I got a taste of how hard they work I wouldn't want to trade places with them!
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
More so than the money that they MAKE........
...Imagine their OVERHEAD. So if the dollar amount of their overhead is extremely high, their income must be exponentially larger.
RDR wasnt lookin at a viper for nothin! ;)
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Long
More so than the money that they MAKE........
...Imagine their OVERHEAD. So if the dollar amount of their overhead is extremely high, their income must be exponentially larger.
RDR wasnt lookin at a viper for nothin! ;)
RDR also owns his own construction business and his wife her own salon - so it's not just snakes that's making his income.
NERD lives very frugally - no fancy cars, high mortgage, it's not a koosh job - I've been behind the scenes twice at their facility - it's a LOT of sweat an a LOT of hard work while the economy tanks and the cost of living goes up. And a LOT of stress - seen it first hand.
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
A lot more than what I make!! :rofl:
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
I've been to the BHB facility and with the size of the building that houses their operation, the heating (Michigan winter) and maintenance costs alone would be very significant, not to mention the weekly feeding bill, and payroll costs or the investment in thousands of high end rack systems. I would suspect that the big breeders did have a few years of big profits but that's in the past and I would imagine that they aren't living like the Clampetts in the current economy.
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
Think of the tough times that goes into a business like that and all business.
Say they produce 3000 babies but do not sell alot of them right away. That is alot of babies to keep feeding,cleaning, watering not only for the supplies but the manpower to do so. I am sure that insurance, loans, employee pay, taxes, utilities, not to mention having to stay on the cutting edge of the B.P. market to stay ahead of the small/medium size breeders take a pretty nice chunk out of the total also.
Not saying they do bad but I help run a construction businees that does around 10 million a year in business. You better believe that I do not see anywhere near that amount of money and would bet that alot of people that do not own a business make more than I do with half the stress.
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
I imagine the BHB's, NERD's, and the RDR's make alot of money selling the high end snakes they have, but the overhead they must have in order to run such a large business is extreme I am sure. We run a small business here, in a 3,000 square foot facility, with 3 employees, and the overhead on something like that is outrageous, you're doing good to make profit to go in the bank account the way things are now. You can take BHB, they have a 30000 square foot facility that the have to heat and pay electricity (don't even wanna see this bill) on, as well as 8 to 10 employees atleast, plus only God knows how many rats he has to purchase as week. But like I said I am sure they make alot of money selling the snakes, but when you turn around and pay the bills and the employees, I am sure the life doesn't seem luxurious.
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
No one will know for sure how much they make. But you can be sure that if there overhead is high, they must be getting by enough to put up with it.
Bhb's myspace says he makes over 250k a year... Thats not too shabby if you ask me...
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
I can give you a quick breakdown of my business.
I produce around 750 balls a year, plus some colubrids (300 - 400), some boa's, some retics (this year hopefully). I do around $500,000 a year in total sales, not bad for working at home with animals I love. HOWEVER my costs are huge.
$1,000 a week in rodents
$800 a month in utilities
$1,000 a month in advertising / show expenses
$10,000 a year with superior
$10,000 a year in upgrading / adding new racks
$20,000 this year in moving costs
$30,000 a year minimum in upgrading my own collection with new animals.
I make more than enough for a comfortable living and pay all of my bills without much trouble however I don't really pay myself for my time. I have not been on a real vacation in 8 or 9 years. I'll be honest, I don't put anywhere near enough money away for retirement and live fairly frugally.
I've got money in the bank, but again with such high overhead, one or two bad months could drain saving really quickly as my overhead does not change even in the winter when I'm no longer really have anything to sell.
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
Quote:
Originally Posted by neilgolli
I can give you a quick breakdown of my business.
I produce around 750 balls a year, plus some colubrids (300 - 400), some boa's, some retics (this year hopefully). I do around $500,000 a year in total sales, not bad for working at home with animals I love. HOWEVER my costs are huge.
$1,000 a week in rodents
$800 a month in utilities
$1,000 a month in advertising / show expenses
$10,000 a year with superior
$10,000 a year in upgrading / adding new racks
$20,000 this year in moving costs
$30,000 a year minimum in upgrading my own collection with new animals.
I make more than enough for a comfortable living and pay all of my bills without much trouble however I don't really pay myself for my time. I have not been on a real vacation in 8 or 9 years. I'll be honest, I don't put anywhere near enough money away for retirement and live fairly frugally.
I've got money in the bank, but again with such high overhead, one or two bad months could drain saving really quickly as my overhead does not change even in the winter when I'm no longer really have anything to sell.
Do you do most of your sales directly to the customer or do you wholesale most of the animals out?
Just curious...
Also how many shows a year do you do?
I hope you dont mind me asking...
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
BHB has a nice facility, but like Robin has said, the overhead costs has got to be insane. I think Neil laid it out nicely. :)
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
Now are we talking what the owners pocket in profit or what the business turns. Cause like Neil said your overhead is extream when running a business and doing it right. I'm a small small mirco breeder and my overhead is still acouple of hundred dollars a month and I make 0 profit.
I'm sure they do well but I think that any sucessfull business owner knows where their profit celing is and they don't push it.
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
There is no doubt that as you get bigger your overhead increases and some of your profit gets eaten up. I always say I would never do what I do for the money, but I wouldn't work so hard if I didn't get paid to do so. I love what I do and you can't put a dollar amount on that. We are verfy fortunate to make very good money doing something that I only dreamed that I would do when I was younger. In the end if I made the same as I could working a normal job I would be ten times happier. I've also been lucky to make a lot more then a normal job. for me the more I make the more I can buy snakes. I'm like Kev from NERD, we live pretty modest for the income we bring in. It gives us the the chance to reinvest into more animals that I want to work with. This life isn't for everyone, it's a ton of work and takes deligence, but if you really have a passion for it, the income can be great and the journey is pricless. Thanks, Brian(BHB)
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
Not sure where I heard it but somewhere on RDR's site he mentioned that since he started he has made around $800K. So spread that out over the time he has been in the game and you get an estimate.
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
Quote:
Originally Posted by BHB
This life isn't for everyone, it's a ton of work and takes deligence, but if you really have a passion for it, the income can be great and the journey is pricless. Thanks, Brian(BHB)
Truer words have never been spoken.
:bow::bow::bow::bow::bow::bow::bow::bow::bow::bow:
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
I think it's a very high risk business.
Overhead costs are significant and constant. You spend lots of money to produce the product, and it keeps costing you until you sell it.
The product is perishable and high-end morphs are never guaranteed.
I'd think you'd be upside-down in the business for a number of years to get going, and the risk of going upside-down again never goes away. All it takes is a contagion or a power failure to wipe you out.
It's amazing to me that anyone can really succeed in the business. I have loads of respect to the few that have managed to do it :)
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
Quote:
Originally Posted by JasonG
Do you do most of your sales directly to the customer or do you wholesale most of the animals out?
Just curious...
Also how many shows a year do you do?
I hope you dont mind me asking...
Jason, I don't mind you asking at all. Some breeders don't see the $'s or production #'s as anyone else's business however I believe that to anyone in this hobby for more than a few years, its more than a hobby and at some level a business due to the amount of time and money they have invested and they are looking for some type of return. Thus I could not in good faith sell animals as a "investment" if I was not confident enough to share my experiences if asked.
I've wholesaled more this year than I ever have however that is mainly due to moving twice this year and the time, energy and effort those moves have taken. I think that I've shorten my life by 10 years in the last 6 months.
Total I will do around 25 shows this year, counting Cleveland and Columbus as 2 shows that are held the same weekend each month. I've sold animals to more overall customers however the average sale has been considerably less than in previous years. I've had more repeat buyers this year than any other year that I've been in business but again the average transaction has been lower.
I live a great life and could not picture it any other way but its not for the faint at heart. I could not have made it threw this year without Justin's FULL time help. We put in a ton of hours and its a lot of hard work. With the economy the way that it is and will likely be for the next several years to come we truly appreciate each and every sale and the fact that we are able to make a living doing what we love.
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
Thank you for the detailed response Neil. Breeders like you are what small timers like myself look up too.
:0)
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
It is truly amazing the humility that I have seen in this hobby/industry. I work in the oil field in Texas and I own my own business with my family. You never see people helping each other in my industry. People want to screw you every chance they get, they give you miss information and try to hurt your business at every single turn.
I really respect a lot of these guys who are so willing to help because that is how my father raised me and it is so rare to find good people.
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pwilliams58
I was just listening to the RR with Chad Brown and when he said: "Lets say I produce 1000 babies this year, and sell em each for a couple hundred bucks, well guess what, I'm doing pretty good!" This got me thinking, obvious Brian produces over 1000 babies, and Ralph sure does a helluva lot too, and alot of them are worth ALOT more than a couple hundred bucks. So...how much are we talking a year here? Obviously they have to pay their staff, and sink thousands into new animals, but really, how much are we really talking about? 100,000? 200,000? 500,000? 1,000,000?! I think we have conclusive proof that this is the greatest job in the universe. Thats more than a freaking doctor or lawyer makes.
ok Ralph may make alot of money, but keep in mind, if I'm not mistaken he holds down a 9-5 as a general construction contractor. So even he has to hold down a job to make sure he has everything taken care of. So if you think your gonna get into BP's and make loads of money, it just isn't gonna happen. When I was still breeding boa's and blood's at my height i had produced my first snows out of dbl het X snow. I got 16 of them and guess what it took me over a year to sell them all. With rats and bedding and electricity, I don't think I made any money on half of them. Snows were selling for over 2500 when I produced mine and I'll bet I got an average of 1200 for them. Which means I sold/traded some of them for way under value. So no breeding snakes is not a get rich quick deal its a passion thing. When you figure that out you won't care what anybody else "makes" because you'll be to busy having fun doing what you love lol.
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Re: How much money do you think people like RDR and BHB make a year?
Quote:
Originally Posted by fishmommy
I think it's a very high risk business.
Overhead costs are significant and constant. You spend lots of money to produce the product, and it keeps costing you until you sell it.
The product is perishable and high-end morphs are never guaranteed.
I'd think you'd be upside-down in the business for a number of years to get going, and the risk of going upside-down again never goes away. All it takes is a contagion or a power failure to wipe you out.
It's amazing to me that anyone can really succeed in the business. I have loads of respect to the few that have managed to do it :)
A contagion could be very bad. That is why maintaining a clean environment and doing quarantines is so important. As for power failure, I would be surprised if the bigger breeders do not have back up generators. Brian with all his animals and the cold winters likely does. He seams to have to much business sense to not have a back up plan for such problems. I only have a few snakes (6) to relive my childhood love of collecting and raising reptiles. On my porch is a generator for the winter power outages in the country.
I know a lady who runs a rescue shelter and has 20-25 personal snakes on top of her rescue shed inhabitants waiting adoption. Not a business by any means. A snake room was built in the back yard and you guessed it....... back up generators. It is amazing to see what some big dealers have been able to accomplish while doing what they love.
Thanks guys for your hard work. I advise anyone who has even a small collection and lives in an area that gets cold to invest in a generator. I would bet Ralph Davis being in the construction business has a few generators that get used if he has a winter power outage.
My neighbor's generators are wired to his house's electrical system. Power goes out, generators get cranked, and one flip of a switch and his whole house has electricity again, of course he is an electrician by trade. Those here who are not so lucky often spend a lot of time there during outages at the neighbors house. Too bad for me he doesn't like snakes.:colbert:
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