How to Start a Crawfish Farming Business

Do you want to start a crawfish farm? If YES, here is a complete guide to starting a crawfish farming business with NO money and no experience.

There are loads of business opportunities in the fish and seafood farming industry and crawfish farming is one of them. Crawfish, also known as crayfish, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, mudbugs or yabbies, are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters.

It is one of the world’s healthiest foods and is eaten in all the continents of the world. Its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory content makes it most desirable by those who are careful about their cholesterol intake. Crawfish is classified as a marine creature and it is easy to come by especially in coastal areas and the riverside.

Crayfish farming is known to be a profitable business and has evolved from small scale into a global industry in most countries where it is carried out.

Countries like Greece, Philippines, China, Japan, Nigeria, Thailand, Caribbean countries and even South American Countries have been farming crawfish for a long time now. united states isn’t far from the trade as there are loads of people from riverine areas whose profession is crawfish and seafood farming.

If you are looking to go into the sea food business, the good news is that you can’t get it wrong with the crawfish farming business. This is especially if you live in coastal areas. It is easy to start, cheap to maintain and it takes a short time to get good returns on your investment if you know the ropes.

Starting a crawfish farming business comes with its own fair share of challenges, but that does not rule out the fact that it is indeed a profitable business venture.

An aspiring entrepreneur can either choose to start a crawfish and seafood farm on a small scale or on a large scale depending on their financial status. So, if you are serious about starting your own crawfish farming business, all you need do is to read this article and you will be well equipped.

Steps to Starting a Crawfish Farming Business

1. Understand the Industry

Companies in this industry farm crawfish and other aquatic creatures in controlled aquatic environments. Industry operators use some form of intervention in the rearing process to enhance production such as holding in captivity and protecting from predators, pests and disease.

The Fish and Seafood Aquaculture industry that crawfish farming business is a part of has experienced slow growth over the last half decade.

This is due to the fact that the vast majority of industry revenue is derived from the sale of fish, mollusks and crustaceans that will be processed into food products, and the success of this industry is tied to the level of seafood consumption.

Per capita seafood consumption in the United States has declined in recent time, putting a strain on fish and seafood farmers. Nevertheless, with the recent increase in the price of seafood, combined with a healthy export market, the revenue generated in the industry is expected to grow accordingly.

The Fish and Seafood Aquaculture industry is indeed a fast – growing industry and pretty much active in countries such as United States of America, Australia, Japan, China, Germany and Singapore et al. There is no single fish and seafood/crawfish farm company that has dominant market share in the industry hence smaller fish and seafood/crawfish farms can successfully make profits.

Statistics has it that in the United States of America alone, there are about 2,807 registered and licensed fish and seafood farm (crawfish farms inclusive) businesses responsible for employing about 10,440 and the industry rakes in a whooping sum of $1 billion annually. The industry is projected to enjoy 0.3 percent annual growth.

A recent report published by IBISWorld shows that the Fish and Seafood Aquaculture industry is expected to generate 27.4 percent of revenue through the sale of farmed seafood (crawfish inclusive) in 2016. Crawfish is amongst the popular forms of seafood eaten in the United States.

The report stated that they are also relatively easy and inexpensive to farm and their farming does little damage to the environment in which they are raised. They are primarily raised in Mississippi, Louisiana and other parts of the Deep South where they have been cultivated in farms since the 1960’s.

One thing is certain when it comes to seafood cum crawfish farming, if you are able to conduct your market research and feasibility studies, you are likely not going to struggle to sell your farm produce (crawfish and other seafood) because there are always food processing companies and consumers out there who are ready to buy from you.

Some of the factors that encourage entrepreneurs to start their own crawfish and seafood farms are that the business is easy to set up and they can easily get support from the government; you can actually start your own crawfish farm in your compound if you live in rural/farming community.

All you need to do is purchase the first set of crawfish, purchase crawfish farming tools and then build your ponds or create demarcation in a lake or river around you. Despite the fact that crawfish farm has been in existence since time immemorial that does not in any way make the industry to be over saturated.

2. Conduct Market Research and Feasibility Studies

• Demographics and Psychographics

The demographic and psychographics composition of those who consume crawfish and other seafood are not restricted to a group of people. People of different races and cultures consume crawfish hence the market is all encompassing.

So, if you are looking towards defining the demographics of your crawfish farming business, then you should make it all encompassing. It should include grocery stores, food hubs, supermarkets, households, hotels, restaurants and businesses that rely on the supply of crawfish and other seafood.

3. Decide Which Niche to Concentrate On

There is no niche area in the crawfish farming business, every player in the industry simply farms crawfish and other seafood but some may decide to go into crawfish processing and packaging as against selling directly to grocery stores, food hubs, or in a farm market.

So, if you are looking towards starting your own crawfish farming business, then you should clearly define your market so that you will be able to know how to get crawfish and other seafood to them.

The Level of Competition in the Industry

No matter the line of business you decide to pitch your tent, you are still going to compete with others who are into same area of business and crawfish farms business is not an exemption.

The level of competition in the crawfish farming industry to some extent depends largely on the capacity of your crawfish farm. If you can successfully add crawfish processing and packaging to your crawfish farming business, you are likely going to experience little or no competition.

For instance, if you are the only crawfish farm in your location that is into crawfish and other seafood processing and packaging, you can successfully monopolize the market for a long time before you start having competitions.

4. Know Your Major Competitors in the Industry

In every industry, there are always brands who perform better or are better regarded by customers and the general public than others.

Some of these brands are those that have been in the industry for a long time, while others are best known for how they conduct their businesses and the results they have achieved over the years. These are some of the leading crawfish and seafood farms in the United States of America and in the globe;

• Taylor Shellfish Farms
• Blue Ridge Aquaculture, Inc.
• Wood’s Fisheries – Port St. Joe, Florida
• Ken’s Hatchery & Fish Farm, Inc.
• Freshwater Farms of Ohio
• Remlinger Fish Farm Ltd
• Hudson Valley Fish Farm, Inc
• Australis Aquaculture LLC
• Fresh Shrimp USA
• Watersmeet Fish Trout Hatchery
• Garden State Farmers Market
• Gwynnbrook Farms
• VeroBlue Farms
• Bensidoun USA Inc.
• Waterline-USA
• Lake and Wetland U.S.A. Kissimmee Office
• Fish & Farm
• Sullivan Harbor Farm
• Rushing Waters Fisheries LLC

Economic Analysis

When starting a crawfish farm business, you just have to get your costing cum economic analysis right if your intention of building the business is to generate profit, grow the business and perhaps expand the business, and start exporting processed and packaged crawfish and other seafood within your country and other countries of the world.

When conducting costing and economic analysis for your crawfish and seafood farm business, you have to critically examine these key factors; access to the market, access to cheap labor and of course good climatic condition.

As a matter of fact, you would have to continue to review these key factors at regular intervals while running your crawfish and seafood farm business. As a crawfish and seafood farm owner, you just have to have a proper grasp of your competitive landscape if indeed you want to stay competitive.

5. Decide Whether to Buy a Franchise or Start from Scratch

There is no hard and fast rule when it comes to choosing how you intend starting a business. Basically, you should be guided by your overall business vision and mission statement. If you are looking towards starting a crawfish and seafood farm, you would have to start from the scratch because you can hardly get a franchise of a crawfish and seafood farm to buy.

Besides, starting a crawfish and seafood farm from the scratch is less stressful when compared to other small scale businesses which usually require detailed groundwork before launching the business.

With a crawfish and seafood farm, you should just try as much as possible to secure your business license, pool your startup capital/working capital, secure a good aquaculture farm land in a good location, build business relationship with key stakeholders and then leverage on every marketing tool within your disposal especially the internet to market your crawfish and seafood.

Please note that most of the big and successful crawfish and seafood farms and players in the fish and seafood farms industry started from the scratch and they were able to build a solid business brand.

6. Know the Possible Threats and Challenges You Will Face

If you decide to start your own crawfish and seafood farm business today, one of the major challenges you are likely going to face is the presence of well – established crawfish and seafood farms in your target market location. The only way to avoid this challenge is to create your own market; concentrate on households, individuals, small restaurants and hotels who need a steady supply for crawfish and other seafood.

Some other threats and challenges that you are likely going to face when you start your own crawfish and seafood farm business are global economic downturn that can impact negatively on household spending, bad weather cum natural disasters (draughts, epidemics), unfavorable government policies and the arrival of a competitor (a crawfish farm or even fish and seafood farm that are also into farming crawfish) within same location.

There is hardly anything you can do as regards these threats and challenges other than to be optimistic that things will continue to work for your good.

7. Choose the Most Suitable Legal Entity (LLC, C Corp, S Corp)

Generally, you have the option of either choosing a general partnership, limited liability company which is commonly called an LLC, or a sole proprietorship for a business such as crawfish and seafood farm business.

Ordinarily, sole proprietorship should have been the ideal business structure for a small scale crawfish and seafood farm business especially if you are just starting out with moderate start – up capital. But people prefer limited liability Company for certain reasons.

As a matter of fact, if your intention is to grow the business and sell your crawfish and other seafood all across the United States of America, then choosing sole proprietor is not an option for you. Limited Liability Company, LLC or even general partnership will cut it for you.

Setting up an LLC protects you from personal liability. If anything goes wrong in the business, it is only the money that you invested into the limited liability company that will be at risk. It is not so for sole proprietorships and general partnerships.

Limited liability companies are simpler and more flexible to operate and you don’t need a board of directors, shareholders meetings and other managerial formalities.

These are some of the factors you should consider before choosing a legal entity for your crawfish and seafood farm business; limitation of personal liability, ease of transferability, admission of new owners, investors’ expectation and of course taxes.

If you take your time to critically study the various legal entities available to use for your crawfish and seafood farming business, you will agree that limited liability company; an LLC is most suitable. You can start this type of business as limited liability company (LLC) and in future convert it to a ‘C’ corporation or an ‘S’ corporation especially when you have the plans of going public.

8. Choose a Catchy Business Name

Generally, when it comes to choosing a name for your business, you should be creative because whatever name you choose for your business will go a long way to create a perception of what the business represents. Typically, it is the norm for people to follow the trend in the industry they intend operating from when naming their business.

If you are considering starting your own crawfish and seafood farm business, here are some catchy names that you can choose from;

• Swampy Deal Crawfish Farms Ltd
• Cobra Lane Seafood Farms, LLC
• Tony Flint & Sons Seafood, Inc.
• Victor Vance Seafood Farms Ltd.
• Moore Anderson Crawfish Farms, LLC
• Light Ocean Crawfish Farms Ltd.
• Donald West Seafood Farms, Inc.
• Nordic Group Seafood Farms, Inc.
• Emmanuel San Diego Seafood Farms, Inc.
• Tampa Bay Crawfish Farms, LLC.

9. Discuss with an Agent to Know the Best Insurance Policies for You

In the United States and in most countries of the world, you can’t operate a business without having some of the basic insurance policy covers that are required by the industry you want to operate from. Thus, it is imperative to create a budget for insurance and perhaps consult an insurance broker to guide you in choosing the best and most appropriate insurance policies for your crawfish and seafood farm business.

Here are some of the basic insurance covers that you should consider purchasing if you want to start your own crawfish and seafood farm business in the United States of America;

• General insurance
• Health insurance
• Liability insurance
• Farm Equipment and Auto Insurance
• Commercial Agribusiness Insurance
• Workers Compensation
• Overhead expense disability insurance
• Business owner’s policy group insurance
• Payment protection insurance

10. Protect your Intellectual Property With Trademark, Copyrights, Patents

If you are considering starting your own a crawfish and seafood farm business, usually you may not have any need to file for intellectual property protection/trademark. This is because the nature of the business makes it possible for you to successfully run it without having any cause to challenge anybody in court for illegally making use of your company’s intellectual properties.

11. Get the Necessary Professional Certification

Aside from your ability to farm crawfish and seafood, professional certification is one reason why some seafood farmers stand out. If you want to make an impact in the fish and seafood farms industry, you should work towards acquiring all the needed certifications in your area of specialization.

You are strongly encouraged to pursue professional certifications; it will go a long way to show your commitment towards the business.

Certification validates your competency and shows that you are highly skilled, committed to your career and up-to-date in this competitive market. These are some of the certifications you can work towards achieving if you want to run your own crawfish and seafood farms;

• ASC Certification
• Membership of Society of Aquaculture Professionals (SAP)
• Degree or Diploma in Fishery Science and related courses

Please note that the average local crawfish and seafood farmer in suburbs in the United States do not have certifications and that does not in any way stop them from growing their crawfish and seafood farms to enviable heights.

12. Get the Necessary Legal Documents You Need to Operate

The essence of having the necessary documentation in place before launching a business in the United States of America cannot be overemphasized. It is a fact that you cannot successfully run any business in the United States without the proper documentations.

If you do, it won’t be too long before the long hands of the law catch up with you. These are some of the basic legal documents that you are expected to have in place if you want to legally run your own crawfish and seafood farming business in the United States of America;

• Business and liability insurance
• Commercial Vehicle Operator’s Registration for distribution truck
• Appropriate driver’s licenses for drivers
• Assistant’s licenses for assistants
• Health inspection Certificate
• Proof of ownership, proper identification and vehicle license
• Tax Payer’s ID
• Fire certificate
• Certificate of Incorporation
• Business License
• Business Plan
• Non – disclosure Agreement
• Employment Agreement (offer letters)
• Employee’s Handbook
• Operating Agreement for LLCs
• Farm Partnership Agreement
• Operating Agreement for LLCs
• Insurance Policy

13. Raise the Needed Startup Capital

Starting a standard and well – equipped crawfish and seafood farming business can be capital intensive especially if you choose to launch a large crawfish and seafood farm with the capacity to supply crawfish and other seafood beyond your immediate community.

Securing a large aquatic farm land, building well – secured and conducive ponds, purchase of the first set of juvenile crawfish and other seafood, and seafood farming tools are part of what will consume a large chunk of your startup capital, but if you choose to start the business on a small scale, you may not have the need to go source for fund to finance the business.

No doubt when it comes to financing a business, one of the major factors that you should consider is to write a good business plan. If you have a good and workable business plan document in place, you may not have to labor yourself before convincing your bank, investors and your friends to invest in your business.

Here are some of the options you can explore when sourcing for startup capital for your crawfish and seafood farming business;

• Raising money from personal savings and sale of personal stocks and properties
• Raising money from investors and business partners
• Sell of shares to interested investors
• Applying for Loan from your Bank
• Pitching your business idea and applying for business grants and seed funding from government, donor organizations and angel investors
• Source for soft loans from your family members and your friends

14. Choose a Suitable Location for your Business

Starting a business such as crawfish and seafood farm comes with its own challenges; it is a business that cannot be started in any location of your choice.

As a matter of fact, you will not be allowed to start a crawfish and seafood farm in a residential estate in the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. The only location you can be allowed to start a crawfish and seafood farm is a farm land designated for crawfish and seafood farming and it is usually around coastal or swampy areas.

Before choosing a location for your crawfish and seafood farm, ensure that you first conduct thorough feasibility studies and market survey. The possibility of you coming across similar business that just closed shop in the location you want to start yours can’t be ruled out.

This is why it is very important to gather as much facts and figures before choosing a location to set – up your own crawfish and seafood farm. These are some of the key factors that you should consider before choosing a location for your crawfish and seafood farm;

• The demography of the location
• The demand for crawfish and other seafood in the location
• Accessibility of the location
• The number of crawfish and seafood farms and related aquaculture businesses in the location
• The local laws and regulations in the community
• Traffic, parking and security

15. Hire Employees for your Technical and Manpower Needs

When it comes to starting a standard crawfish and seafood farm business, you will need to construct safe and standard ponds (indoors or outdoors), get a good supply of water, acquire crawfish and seafood harvesters, multi-functional crawfish and seafood pump and other crawfish and seafood farming tools. This equipment can be purchased as fairly used if you are on a low budget.

When it comes to choosing between renting and leasing an aquatic farm land for your crawfish and seafood farm, the size of the crawfish and seafood farm should determine your choice. If you have enough capital to run a pretty large and well – equipped crawfish and seafood farm, then you should consider the option of long lease or out rightly purchasing an aquatic farm land.

As regards the number of employees that you are expected to kick start the business with, you would need to consider your finance before making the decision.

Averagely, when it comes to starting a standard crawfish and seafood farm business on a large scale, you would need the services of the following professionals; Chief Operating Officer (you can occupy this position), General Farm Manager, Accountant/Cashier, Sales and Marketing Executive, Field Employees, Cleaners, and Security Guards.

Over and above, you would need a minimum of 5 to 10 key staff members to effectively run a medium scale but standard crawfish and seafood farming business. Please note that there will be times when you are expected to go out of your way to hire experts to help you handle some job functions.

If you are just starting out you may not have the financial capacity or required business structure to retain all the professionals that are expected to work with you which is why you should make plans to partner with vet clinics around you.

The Service Delivery Process of the Business

When it comes to operational activities of a crawfish and seafood farm, the process is simple and straight forward, and as a matter of fact, a crawfish and seafood farm can successfully run on autopilot with little or no supervision from the owner.

Basically, when the ponds and the required facility has been put in place and the juvenile crawfish and other seafood placed inside, then every morning and evening and perhaps afternoon, the crawfish and seafood are fed and once in a specific period, the water in the pond is changed.

Once the crawfish and seafood are matured, they are harvested with the aid of crawfish and seafood harvesters and then sold to buyers or they are transported to farm markets or food hubs, grocery stores or to hotels and restaurants et al as requested.

It is important to state that even though the above stated is the ideal business process of a crawfish and seafood farm, the farm may decide to improvise or adopt any business process and structure that will guarantee them good return on their services and investments; the above stated crawfish and seafood farm business process is not cast on stone.

16. Write a Marketing Plan Packed with ideas & Strategies

As a crawfish and seafood farmer, you would have to prove that you have the capacity not only to manage a crawfish and seafood farm, but also to supply crawfish and other seafood in commercial quantities, and on a consistent basis.

So, if you have plans to start your own crawfish and seafood farming business, it will pay you to first build your capacity before sourcing to supply crawfish and other seafood to larger hotels or food processing and packaging companies who required crawfish and other seafood.

The fact that the entry barrier for starting a small – scale crawfish and seafood farming business is low means that there is bound to be more players in the industry no matter the location you choose to start yours. In essence, you must come up with creativity if you must carve out a market for yourself within the available market in your community, city, state or country.

So, when you are drafting your marketing plans and strategies for your crawfish and seafood farming business, make sure that you create a compelling personal and company profile.

Aside from your qualifications and experience, it is important to clearly state in practical terms what you have been able to achieve in time past as it relates to the industry you intend starting your business. This will help boost your chances in the market place when marketing your crawfish and other seafood. Here are some of the platforms you can utilize to market your crawfish and seafood farm and its produce;

• Introduce your business by sending introductory letters alongside your brochure to households, hotels, restaurants, food processing and packing companies that need a steady supply of crawfish and other seafood (if you are just starting out, you may want to concentrate on start – ups and smaller businesses)
• Promptness in bidding for crawfish and other seafood supply contracts
• Open your crawfish and seafood farm with a party so as to capture the attention of residents who are your first targets
• Engage in roadshows in targeted communities from time to time to sell your crawfish and other seafood
• Advertise your crawfish and seafood farm in community based newspapers, local TV and radio stations
• List your business and products on yellow pages ads  (local directories)
• Leverage on the internet to promote your crawfish and seafood farm
• Engage in direct marketing and sales
• Encourage the use of word of mouth marketing (referrals)
• Leverage on the internet to promote your business
• Join local chambers of commerce and industry around you with the main aim of networking and marketing your products; you are likely going to get referrals from such networks
• Engage the services of marketing executives and business developers to carry out direct marketing for you.

17. Work Out a Reasonable Pricing for your Services & Products

One key factor that will help you sell your crawfish and other seafood at a price that is highly attractive is to ensure that you source your start – up capital from sources that won’t put pressure on you or give you high interest rates. So also, when it comes to juvenile crawfish and other seafood supply, aquaculture farming equipment and tools, feed and medications, it is advisable that you also purchase them directly from the manufacturers or from wholesalers.

Another strategy that will help you sell your crawfish and other seafood at the right price is to ensure that you cut operational cost to the barest minimum, and channel your efforts towards marketing and promoting your brand name. Aside from the fact that this strategy will help you save cost, it will also help you get the right pricing for your services.

You can also try as much as possible to work with independent contractors and marketers; it will help you save cost for paying sales and marketing executives.

18. Develop Strategies to Boost Brand Awareness and Create a Corporate Identity

No matter the industry you belong to, the truth is that the market is dynamic and it requires consistent brand awareness and promotion to continue to appeal to your target market. Here are the platforms you can leverage on to boost your brand awareness and create corporate identity for your crawfish and seafood farming business;

• Place adverts on both print (newspapers and magazines) and electronic media platforms
• Sponsor relevant community based events
• Leverage on the internet and social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google + et al to promote your business
• Install your billboards in strategic locations all around your city or state
• Engage in roadshows from time to time in targeted neighborhoods
• Distribute your fliers and handbills in target areas
• Contact households, hotels, restaurants, food processing and packaging companies that need regular supply of crawfish and other seafood, grocery stores and related businesses in your target areas by calling them up and informing them of your crawfish and seafood farm
• List your crawfish and seafood farm in local directories
• Advertise your crawfish and seafood farm in your official website and employ strategies that will help you pull traffic to the site.
• Ensure that all your staff members wear your branded shirts and all your vehicles and trucks are well branded with your company logo et al