While driving around the neighborhood today with my pastor, we saw a sign that said: “Original Eggs.” Naturally, we had to check it out since both my pastor and I love organic eggs. But there was no arrow or sign that pointed to where they were, I could only ascertain it must be the house next to the sign post, then I went and knocked on their door. Later I discovered it was backyard chickens.
When we knocked on the door we were received warmly. A young man opened the door, he was friendly and full of energy. He informed us that he and his brother owned the backyard poultry together. What really impressed me was learning that the elder brother started this when he was just 11 years old. They've been running this business for around 7 years now.
It was no surprise to know their parents were farmers, it made sense. What impressed me was that for all the times i have been in the UK now and I have lived in the area and I had never noticed anyone raising chickens in their garden, but here it is growing into a legitimate business. Not only do they suply eggs regularly to their customers but also sell in bits to those to stopped by with a crate(six large eggs) going for £2.50. They even gave us a discount just for buying a two crates(12 large eggs) and supporting their business.
Because we were curious, we asked them if we could see the chickens. They kindly took us into their backyard, there counted about 14 layer chickens that were doing a remarkable job producing a lot of eggs. My pastor and I were both amazed by the fact that they can do so much with such limited space. It reminded me how much I just love farming and my pastor seems to as well. We both felt so inspired by their passion and ingenuity.
Here are young young guys actually using their back garden as a business, impressive and inspring right? It also reminded me how often opportunities are right in front of us. We just need to be prepared to look and use what we already have, just like they have done. But here comes the sad part, they said they are going to stop the business soon because they are both going to school and will not be able to devote time to the care and management of the chickens.
That made me feel sad, especially after all the time, energy, blood sweat and tears they have invested in their backyard chickens for seven years. I asked them why not look for someone to run it while they were away. One of them said something very important: “Business is an idea. It is a mindset. We believe we can always build again.” That stayed with me. As we finished our visit, I realized I was wearing my Hive-branded shirt. So, I took the opportunity to share with them about Hive blockchain and how it could support small businesses like theirs and they could use HBD for any future transactions. They were thrilled and very interested!