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$240 Can No Longer Hold Me Hostage.

Idea threads

Awakened2022

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After reading @ Prime Periwinkle's reply to@ @ Marcus Aurelius' request for guidance, I decided to start this thread so that I may not be the faker she mentions after two years.

I joined this forum two years ago after reading TMFL. I had had a series of FTEs at my workplace and in my financial life that one of my goals was to become a millionaire and drive my life.

Since joining the forum, I have seen a massive transformation in my life, especially mindset-wise. When I first came here, I was asking if $240 should hold me hostage. I received lots of support and advice, some of which I implemented.

I am happy to announce that come next year around this time, I will no longer be held hostage by such a paltry amount.

HAVE I ROBBED A BANK, OR KILLED A EUROPEAN?

No! I have found an idea the execution of which is guaranteed to free me from the clutches of a job that no longer holds any attraction for me.

Is the idea SEXY?

It is the most unsexy, and that is what makes it a must-win.

Early this year, I changed my business from a small retail shop to a grocery store. My funds were pretty small, but my head was full of ideas garnered from this forum. The store is in the central district shopping center where retailers from all over the district shop. No MBA could have taught me the lessons I have since learned.

The most important one is that NO BUSINESS PLAN SURVIVES CONTACT WITH THE MARKET. I went in guns blazing ready to secure tenders from various schools for the supply of maize flour only to learn that I would need lots of capital to pull off such a feat.

In my introduction as Anon 05554, I mentioned that we as a family own agricultural land and we're beginning to earn more from the farm than from our day jobs. Because of the farm, we rarely buy food items. Hence, I didn't know that there was a big demand for dried cassava chips and high-quality cassava flour.

I launched my new business with half a tonne of beans, a tonne of maize,200kgs of millet, and 400kgs of dried cassava chips (all produced on my farm). Because I had produced them myself, and my mother taught us to produce clean food, the quality was out of this world.

Within two weeks, I had sold everything. It was then I appreciated the meaning of a productocracy. Referrals were coming in to the extent people started leaving their contacts so I could notify them when I brought in fresh supplies!

WHERE AM I GOING WITH THIS?

I have decided to grow cassava. A kilo of cassava flour sells for slightly less than a dollar and a cassava plant can at worst give one kilo. So, to make over $10k a year, I need to plant over 10000 cassava plants. An acre accommodates 4000 plants at a spacing of 1 meter by one meter. This means I need about three acres of land.


I have always grown cassava for home consumption. I know which variety yields more, which one makes a good dish, and which makes quality dry chips.

I have already planted around 2000 cassava plants and hope to hit the 10000 mark in August when the rainy season starts. I will use our land and even rent some of my inlaws'.

The major challenge will be how to dry such big quantities. I am looking into the possibility of constructing a solar dryer.

Uganda is facing a big food crisis with the population growing at a supersonic rate without a corresponding increase in agricultural investments. The price of food items has doubled and I don't expect that of cassava to go down any time soon.

I will be updating this thread whenever there is a new development. I want to look back two years from today and laugh at how small my dreams were.

I am looking at $100k a year as some big money to start with since I only make $240 a month as a teacher of English in a government secondary school.

I hope to leverage the fertile soils in my area, the fact that I already have a grocery store with a steady stream of customers, and the fact that farming comes naturally to me(I would rather spend the day chopping cassava than marking exam scripts).

My value skew will be unparalleled cleanliness and timely delivery since I will be drying it on my farm. (Currently, my neighbors order theirs from the capital).

If you have read this far, thank you. I have a lot to say, but typing on a phone has its limitations.

Looking forward to a year of growth and plenty of advice from those who know better. Good night good people.
 
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BizyDad

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After reading @ Prime Periwinkle's reply to@ @ Marcus Aurelius' request for guidance, I decided to start this thread so that I may not be the faker she mentions after two years.

I joined this forum two years ago after reading TMFL. I had had a series of FTEs at my workplace and in my financial life that one of my goals was to become a millionaire and drive my life.

Since joining the forum, I have seen a massive transformation in my life, especially mindset-wise. When I first came here, I was asking if $240 should hold me hostage. I received lots of support and advice, some of which I implemented.

I am happy to announce that come next year around this time, I will no longer be held hostage by such a paltry amount.

HAVE I ROBBED A BANK, OR KILLED A EUROPEAN?

No! I have found an idea the execution of which is guaranteed to free me from the clutches of a job that no longer holds any attraction for me.

Is the idea SEXY?

It is the most unsexy, and that is what makes it a must-win.

Early this year, I changed my business from a small retail shop to a grocery store. My funds were pretty small, but my head was full of ideas garnered from this forum. The store is in the central district shopping center where retailers from all over the district shop. No MBA could have taught me the lessons I have since learned.

The most important one is that NO BUSINESS PLAN SURVIVES CONTACT WITH THE MARKET. I went in guns blazing ready to secure tenders from various schools for the supply of maize flour only to learn that I would need lots of capital to pull off such a feat.

In my introduction as Anon 05554, I mentioned that we as a family own agricultural land and we're beginning to earn more from the farm than from our day jobs. Because of the farm, we rarely buy food items. Hence, I didn't know that there was a big demand for dried cassava chips and high-quality cassava flour.

I launched my new business with half a tonne of beans, a tonne of maize,200kgs of millet, and 400kgs of dried cassava chips (all produced on my farm). Because I had produced them myself, and my mother taught us to produce clean food, the quality was out of this world.

Within two weeks, I had sold everything. It was then I appreciated the meaning of a productocracy. Referrals were coming in to the extent people started leaving their contacts so I could notify them when I brought in fresh supplies!

WHERE AM I GOING WITH THIS?

I have decided to grow cassava. A kilo of cassava flour sells for slightly less than a dollar and a cassava plant can at worst give one kilo. So, to make over $10k a year, I need to plant over 10000 cassava plants. An acre accommodates 4000 plants at a spacing of 1 meter by one meter. This means I need about three acres of land.


I have always grown cassava for home consumption. I know which variety yields more, which one makes a good dish, and which makes quality dry chips.

I have already planted around 2000 cassava plants and hope to hit the 10000 mark in August when the rainy season starts. I will use our land and even rent some of my inlaws'.

The major challenge will be how to dry such big quantities. I am looking into the possibility of constructing a solar dryer.

Uganda is facing a big food crisis with the population growing at a supersonic rate without a corresponding increase in agricultural investments. The price of food items has doubled and I don't expect that of cassava to go down any time soon.

I will be updating this thread whenever there is a new development. I want to look back two years from today and laugh at how small my dreams were.

I am looking at $100k a year as some big money to start with since I only make $240 a month as a teacher of English in a government secondary school.

I hope to leverage the fertile soils in my area, the fact that I already have a grocery store with a steady stream of customers, and the fact that farming comes naturally to me(I would rather spend the day chopping cassava than marking exam scripts).

My value skew will be unparalleled cleanliness and timely delivery since I will be drying it on my farm. (Currently, my neighbors order theirs from the capital).

If you have read this far, thank you. I have a lot to say, but typing on a phone has its limitations.

Looking forward to a year of growth and plenty of advice from those who know better. Good night good people.

Congrats on the progress. I look forward to hearing more.
 

Awakened2022

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Time for an update.

I am back in town and business is slow. However, the demand for clean dry cassava chips is up. I came from the village with 76 kgs and was sold out before midday.

Others have dry cassava chips but they aren't as clean as mine. I get excited when my neighbors who also sell cassava chips buy from me cassava for their personal use.This makes me wish I had planted a lot last year. As things stand, I have to be patient.

The dry season is upon us and all planting activities have to be put on hold till mid August. We shall instead be harvesting coffee, beans, peanuts, and soy.

I was excited to have someone call to book 50kgs of cassava chips for his party in June. As the business lady I have become, I told him to make a deposit in lieu of commitment..Waiting to hear back from him.

I am wondering whether I shouldn't name this thread,"Farming My Way Into the Fastlane."What do you think?

Will give another update when the harvest is all in so that we can evaluate if the margins are worth my efforts.

Btw, we haven't been paid salaries for three months. I don't know what I would be feeding my family of 9 if we hadn't invested in Agriculture.

Till next time.
Aura
 
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Isaac Odongo

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Hey

Well done

I am excited.

How do you make your cassava flour?

I remember once eating cassava flour from fresh, unfermented cassava. What a delicacy it was. But nobody seems to be bothered about it.

It is the best flour anyone can eat. But it can’t be found with ease.
 

Awakened2022

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Hey

Well done

I am excited.

How do you make your cassava flour?

I remember once eating cassava flour from fresh, unfermented cassava. What a delicacy it was. But nobody seems to be bothered about it.

It is the best flour anyone can eat. But it can’t be found with ease.
Thanks for the words of encouragement. I make my flour by following the following steps:

1st I wash the cassava, then I cut it into medium-sized chips which I peel. Thereafter, I rinse it and spread it on a clean tarpaulin to dry.

That is where the real battle begins. If it does not shine that first day, the color will change, the smell will be horrible and molds will grow. That is why I am planning to invest in a solar drier. A flush one would be better, but it is mighty expensive and we do not have hydroelectricity in my village.

When it is dry after like five days, I get it milled and the selling begins.

I do not know about fermented cassava flour. How is it made?
Btw, a kilogram of cassava flour retails at 3000shs and wholesale at 2500shs.

With the price of maize flour skyrocketing daily, investing in cassava growing might be the best decision of my life. One year is not too long a time to asses and adjust.

Good day.

Aura.
 

Isaac Odongo

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1st I wash the cassava, then I cut it into medium-sized chips which I peel. Thereafter, I rinse it and spread it on a clean tarpaulin to dry.
Harvest. Wash. Peel. Cut up. Remove impurities. Sort the best quality for flour. Crush into pulp. Something like sort again for what isn't crushed. Crush that as well. Then dry and then mill. All in one revolution of the sun. The flour is great when made into bread. I don't know the price. But it can be parked. And it seems some supermarkets take it as well. It is superior to maize flour, at least in taste. It doesn't even feel like cassava.
Btw, a kilogram of cassava flour retails at 3000shs and wholesale at 2500shs.
The other one should for now be relatively higher than these.
 
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Awakened2022

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Harvest. Wash. Peel. Cut up. Remove impurities. Sort the best quality for flour. Crush into pulp. Something like sort again for what isn't crushed. Crush that as well. Then dry and then mill. All in one revolution of the sun. The flour is great when made into bread. I don't know the price. But it can be parked. And it seems some supermarkets take it as well. It is superior to maize flour, at least in taste. It doesn't even feel like cassava.

The other one should for now be relatively higher than these.
Since it is shining daily, I will continue with my method for the time being. I will give your method a try next year when my cassava matures and I go all in to make huge quantities of flour.

Btw @Isaac Odongo, how are the prices of foodstuffs that end? Here in the West, everything has skyrocketed in price. For beans, it's like they will soon be extinct. It is the harvest season and a kilogram which less than two years ago was at 1800 shs now stands at 4500 shs. One wonders what a kilo will cost in October since the next harvest season is in December.

Thanks to this forum, when someone said to look at what is already working for you and multiply it by 100, I decided to up my bean-growing game. I am heading to the village to oversee their harvesting and will report on the output.

If you are in Africa and wondering how to start, what about looking into food growing and processing as well as climate-smart farming?

Till then,

Aura.
 

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