Investment in Equipment

[delivron]

How much do you reinvest in your business annually as a percentage of your gross sales.

I have estimated that the number is close to 40%.

What percent of your gross sales have you invested in the following production years?
Include DE, Filters, Bottles, Barrels, Tubing, Spouts in your total.

Consider your production years ends May 30th.
Number of taps Tubing/Buckets %of Gross Sales Reinvested
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2009

[PerryW]

If your counting containers, then probably 10%. Only take a roll or two of tubing, a bag of connectors and a few minor repairs each year to keep me going.

[jmayerl]

I reinvest every penny and will until I get to 20000 taps or die, which ever comes first.

[lastwoodsman]

I am at the same stage as jmayerl I reinvest everything which this year is not much but I just ordered one of Daryls filter press's from Jim with this yrs proceeds. Another roll of tubing and a few bottles for next yr will come out of my pocket. the smartest thing I did was setup a LLC on Legal Zoom for 350.00. Makes a huge difference on my tax return. Far more than I make in syrup.
Woodsman

[500592]

I am doing kind of what jmayerl and lastwoodsman we just made a deal on a bigger evap package so we will be getting more buckets and two vac pumps also we may try to get a filter press

[spencer11]

i re-invest everything i make...and then some. my goal is to get to 500 taps before i go to college, then who knows how many after that. but everything i make goes right back into it every year for now.

spencer

[ennismaple]

You need to separate annual consumable costs (wood, gas/diesel, containers, labels, DE, filters etc...) from replacement of capital assets such as tubing, tanks, evaporators, pumps.

Consumables I'd estimate at around 10%. Repalcement of capital assets is ideally on a 15-year plan. Some things last longer, some a shorter amount of time.

[sjdoyon]

When you start out, you should have a business plan spelling out what you plan to produce and reinvest. Our first five years is focused on breaking even (everything goes back into the business). If we can get to 25,000 taps then we hopefully turn the corner and start putting money in our pockets.

Just depends what your goals are for production.

[GeneralStark]

When you start out, you should have a business plan spelling out what you plan to produce and reinvest. Our first five years is focused on breaking even (everything goes back into the business). If we can get to 25,000 taps then we hopefully turn the corner and start putting money in our pockets.

Just depends what your goals are for production.

Having a sense of what you can realistically produce from your resources is key. I have decided to focus more on value added products and finding unique niches so I can make more from limited resources. Value added equipment is expensive, but the return on investment can be quick.

I am putting the majority of my income from sales back into the woods and value added equipment for the first 4-5 years. My goal is to have a state of the art vacuum tubing system which will produce at a high rate of return and then turn the syrup into value added products. I am in a unique situation though in that I share boiling equipment and now ro equipment with two others that work in the industry and are genius scavengers. My investment in that side of things is in the form of skilled labor.

[Yellzee]

I think this is my first year in about 8 years of doing this that I legitimately feel like I made a profit and that's mainly because the critters didn't eat all my tubing over the summer for a change. too bad it was such a low output year. its mainly a hobby and time filler so I haven't really tracked as a business.

unfortunately I think I'm due for a real evaporator... so there goes about the next many years profits... realistically if I buy a used 2X6 for 4-6K, and go with about 150 taps a year... on a good year 150 liters at around 20 bucks a liter(big customers pay less though)... so best case 3000 revenue minus all expenses.... I'm quite a few years from just paying it off.

is it harder or easier to profit as a little guy?