Been keeping ball pythons little over 2 years now. This will be our first breeding season so fingers crossed.

I recommend getting females first, growing them up and buying a male(s) later down the road. Males are cheaper and breed at younger ages. I would suggest a back up male. Our hopeful stud turned out to be a complete dud our first season. He wouldn't breed a thing.

Work with genes you like and want to work with and come up with a goal(s) for the project(s) you plan on going with but also be flexible. We really like black pastel clowns and we are hoping to hit 1 or 5 this season and black pastel hypo clowns down the road.

Try to get a decent variety including hets.

I can't really speak on the business side but maybe look at specializing in a certain gene? Like how JD Constriction specializes in Axanthic.