Ownership or rentership of ground tugs at a series of primal instincts—to cultivate, to promote growth, to improve, and ultimately to enjoy the rewards of your efforts.

Urban dwellers satisfy this drive by planting flowers in window boxes and herbs in pots on apartment ledges. Suburbanites lavish attention and money on carpet-thick lawns and sculpted terraces. Rural denizens concentrate their efforts on a particular field or specific livestock. Yet, in each case, there is always an ultimate goal, to manage the soil and land to achieve some direct benefit. Now, this is a good thing. The discovery that good land management returns a financial and emotional reward tends to promote better management in the future, which is also a good thing!

The challenge, of course, is figuring out the thing that will bring the best return, using the abilities and skills you already have, and fitting your efforts into the time you have available.

Sometimes, that combination of parameters creates a daunting barrier to further action: To answer that, I can share my experience. When we lived in Los Angeles in a miniscule city home, our entire lot was 40 feet wide and 70 feet long. Later, when we lived on a farm, our garden was bigger than that! In that space, a small house, garage, concrete patio, and grassy yard all seemed too tiny to squeeze in anything that might have contributed to making an additional income, but somehow, we managed.

We grew grapes up a chicken-wire lattice on the south side of the house, and planted highly productive dwarf fruit trees and harvested dozens of pounds of peaches, apples, and apricots every year. Not only was the flavor better than store-bought, by growing our own we avoiding having to spend money on fruit. A tall, narrow, multi-level cage housed over Coturnix quail, fast reproducing and mini-egg laying wonders.

The concrete patio provided an area for hubby Nick to teach fencing the sword kind , and an old upright piano in the small living room provided a place for me to give piano lessons. And, of course, both Nick and I wrote and sold freelance non-fiction articles by sharing time on an IBM Selectric typewriter.

We both were at home all day, so our children were home-schooled, too. Remember, this was on a lot smaller than a country garden. If we could do it, so can you! As a quick refresher, consider this: Every step in the process of building your profit system can also be rewarding and satisfying in its own way. Keep in mind that each of the following planning steps takes you closer and closer to your goal.

This is both simpler and more complex than it sounds. Get some graph paper or a piece of poster board. Spend several days to a week or so examining and measuring out your available space and draw out your property outlines.

Remember to look up as well as down; notice building heights, trellises and overhangs, and where sunlight falls. This will be your basic tool for the rest of your progress, so make this detailed enough that you can close your eyes and visualize the layout readily. Imagine where you could tuck in small cages, planters, or tools. Write out your skills. Again, simpler and more complex than it appears.

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Those abilities you take for granted say, changing the oil on your car, playing clarinet, training dogs, identifying garden herbs, baking bread from scratch, typing 70 words per minute, and so forth are NOT free goods. Each skill took you time and effort to acquire, and your time and existing skills all have value. Part of earning money on your land includes accepting the reality that you are allowed to profit from what you know. Most people can list over 40 skills if they think about it for a while.

Write down specific benefits of your area. This step can be the trigger to developing your plan, observing and acknowledging those features of your region that promote business development. Take a walk around the area or the neighborhood, notice what kind of businesses already flourish there. Observe the income level up-scale, moderate, downscale , and what people seem to want. Keep in mind that some elements that might be uncomfortable in other settings, such as high population density, can be a plus: Write down specific limitations of your area.

If you live in a gated community, it will be challenging for potential buyers to meet you spontaneously. This step helps you keep a realistic attitude about your plans.

Write down how you want to live in one year, two years, five years. We were not interested in having a huge income, or in amassing IRAs, but you might be.

Remember to factor your real as opposed to desired income needs in when you set up your plans. The following are meant as introductory concepts, designed to get you thinking. Let each act as a brainstorm-starter—hold an idea in mind, and imagine its ramifications in your setting, on your land. Be sure to write down key points; keep a notebook handy. This can be done in city or country. Look back at your list of skills.

What can you do? Play a musical instrument? Ride a horse well? Weave or spin wool? Build a masonry wall? Someone in your area wants to learn what you know. In order to teach, you need students. In order to get students, you must advertise locally: Put your ads where people likely to want your knowledge might go, such as health food stores, veterinary supply houses, or book stores.

Local newspapers often carry short informative pieces by local folk. People will consider you an expert after they see it. Check out the prices of your competition, and underprice them just a little for your first experiences—later, as your client base increases, you can raise your price to middle range or higher. A 3-hour group meeting on one Saturday morning? Provide a clear, written description of what you teach and what the student can expect from a course. Anticipate what equipment you and your students will require; extra tools for beginners, clean-up supplies, blackboards or computer access.

Keep notes on what you did and if it worked, and change how or what you teach to accommodate what you learn about students. Teach the course you wish you had been able to take. Give them more than they expect, and keep learning. We kept rabbits in the city and made a profit. What do people buy in your area?

How about parakeets, finches, or cockatiels —small space requirements with potential sales to pet shops? Rats are interesting pets, smart, and breed rapidly. Exotic colors or hairless rats, which reproduce just as well as white ones, sell for higher rates. Guinea pigs and hamsters remain popular though low-profit pets. Dogs and cats are perennial sellers.

Keeping a pair of cats or small dogs in a city or country residence requires no more effort than keeping a single one.

Vacant commercial land - how to make money

They can produce litters per year, of offspring each time. Aim to produce healthy animals in desired breeds and colors. Smaller dogs cost less to feed than big ones, and sell more readily. Read extensively about dog or cat breeding.

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Acquire good quality registered breeding stock, from unrelated healthy lines. Watch out for fad animals, though—iguanas, hedgehogs, pot-bellied pigs, emus, monkeys—they go through phases of public interest and price fluctuations that make Wall Street look tame. Remember, if you consider breeding small stock, that there will be veterinary costs, vaccinations, registration costs, feed requirements, and cages—plus cleaning, handling, walking, and daily care.

Healthy, clean, vibrant animals command the highest prices, too. If you have several acres of land and an attractive rural location no matter how far out , consider offering a retreat or holiday getaway spot. Typically, customers for this service are upscale or middle-upper folk, who just want to get away from their usual life into a facsimile of country or wilderness living for a time.

They want to see cows and horses, perhaps pet a goat, and hold an egg minutes after it came from the chicken.

They will require phone, electric, internet wi-fi , air-conditioning, and thermostat-controlled winter heating. Keep in mind that these will be high-input clients, who expect to have their whims catered to. The return may make it worthwhile for you. Alternatively, consider appealing to the back-to-nature person, who just wants a little rough cabin on a hillside, a clean-burning oil lamp, and silence with daily organic food deliveries to their door, of course.

This individual or family may be seeking long country walks, contemplation, and inner renewal, and is generally low-input and largely self-sustaining. If you consider this option, write a very clear brochure that details all services offered, and all services NOT offered that someone might expect. Figure liability insurance into your start-up costs, and how you might respond if guests trashed your facility or accidentally set fires.

The way the grounds are laid out, guests often think they are deep in the country, and city-noises rarely filter into the rooms. However, in this facility, peace and quiet are the main selling points. If you enjoy exploring country auctions and have a good eye for local costs versus prices for the same items in larger metro areas, you might be a natural middleman middleperson?

When we were raising sheep, a clean shorn fleece from heirloom breeds of sheep Cotswold, Jacobs, Lincolns, for example were hard to sell in the country—they were too different from the plain white commercial wools that wholesalers wanted. Jacob fleece, with its white, brown, and black colors, was discounted by buyers to as low as 23 cents per pound. The secret is knowing where to find the product and where to sell it.

Begin by checking out products for which you already have an interest—antiques? I know a couple who sold a doll collection for a relative at a local auction. The dozens of dolls included some dolls that dated back to the Revolutionary War. Imagine if they had taken the time and gone through the trouble to put the whole collection, one by one, on ebay or other auctions. Would their time as middlemen have been well-spent?

Remember, too, that you can middleman single items. One time, we found a Japanese antique figurine at a thrift store. Higher-priced services might offer an estimate for a small fee to cover the house call itself. Each service is different, but if appearances are any indicator, their vehicles act as a primary means of advertisement: Specialty services to a niche market.

A niche business is one that appeals to a small group or special interest, that is, a marketing niche pronounced nitch. In the same way, setting up a portion of your land for specialty events or hobbies may be the way to go. How about a special place for black powder fans or bow hunters to shoot at various types of targets? Or a meeting place for stock dog trainers to try out their dogs need sheep for this, naturally. Would an indoor shooting range work on your property?

Or, perhaps, an outdoor training facility of any kind? After we left the farm, we continued to acquire lamb by subscription. In the spring we agreed to buy two grown-out lambs in August from a small backyard flock. We also paid for the processing costs so the seller received above market price for a virtually guaranteed sale, and had some start up funds to help pay for feed costs.

The deposit was non-refundable, by the way. The same could be done with an assortment of vegetables, too, if your gardening efforts tend to be super-abundant. Give buyers a choice of three different plans exotic veggies, table veggies, cooking veggies, for example , and have them pay half up front.

This is a bit closer to farming, but can actually be done on very small amount of space, including a well-planned suburban backyard. This might be a little higher priced than conventional landscaping, too. Start up costs would include seeds or plant starts, potting soil, and containers.

Check out websites for bulk purchases of your basic supplies or exotics you can grow. Every region has its attractions. Out-of-towners who like to see what is off the beaten path may be seeking a small regional touring service, especially if it offers something special—say, a day tour of Amish country in a horse-drawn buggy? If you have that horse and wagon set up already, you may be halfway to accomplishing this business.

The other half of starting up is knowing some interesting information about your area, preparing a tour program or set of stops, and, of course, advertising it.

Local hotels and motels, gas stations, and tourist restaurants may allow you to put up flyers or set out brochures which can be made on your home computer. Describe the tour, include some photographs of your ride, and have a few stops where passengers can get out and pick an ear of corn or shop at a roadside stand.

Be prepared with a list of recommendations for realtors, restaurants, and good auto mechanics in case riders ask. Pond fishing and casting pools: Even in the heart of the Ozarks, where nearly every stream and lake is saturated with catfish, an older gent runs a pond fishery that specializes in catfish.

He tosses in some catfish food when he remembers. He could make a little more if he offered soda pop, cold sandwiches, chips in small bags, or other pre-packaged snacks, as well. Petting zoo, historical farm: A petting zoo is nothing more elaborate than a collection of tame, docile, friendly animals located where people can touch them.

Sadly, in our culture, the average person has very little interaction with live animals. This idea is a natural attraction for children and animal-loving adults. Basically, the animals would need to be kept in a small enclosure or yard where they could move around with some freedom.

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Here they see the small angora goat, a pair of rabbits, a potbellied pig, several chickens and ducks, and perhaps an emu or some other unusual animal. You may be able to contact local schools and offer school specials: Be sure to form an alliance with a local veterinarian to keep vaccinations and other care up to date, and keep the visible facility spotlessly clean—people sometimes misunderstand the realities of animal care.

Historical farms take a different route. If you have an interest in oldtime skills blacksmithing, weaving, spinning, leather working, etc. Dress in period clothes, surround yourself with period goods such as candles or oil lamps, and be willing to give a demonstration of your talents. You may be able to focus your demonstration days on one or two days a week say, Fridays and Saturdays , and include colleagues who have their own skills. Let these ideas be a starting point for your own potential business.

Brainstorm, read, check the internet, and figure out your costs versus the probable returns. Assume your new business will probably not pay for itself the first year, and may just break even the second year. If you keep at it, the possibility of living comfortably right off your land grows, too. Backwoods Home Magazine Practical ideas for self-reliant living. This is where temporary important announcements will appear.

Skip to primary content. Skip to secondary content. Even on a small lot you can grow a variety of fruits and vegetables. Others require more complex skills, combining skill and service in one swoop such as: Many skills, such as playing piano, are marketable to someone who wants to learn what you know.

You can raise small stock to sell to individuals or markets. Freelance writing is another way to earn a profit from your homestead. The author raised Cortunix quail, a fast producing and mini-egg laying wonder, that also produced an income. Finally… Let these ideas be a starting point for your own potential business. Backwoods Home Magazine, Inc.