Website "Mini Market" Pays Off For Farm Couple

Website "Mini Market" Pays Off For Farm Couple COMPUTERS Computers 32-5-7 Maggidans.com is a website for mini goats that was started in 1997 as a way to promote the goats that Maggie Leman and Dan Dawson raise. They recently started selling products on the website that they developed themselves, and business is booming. "After developing our hand-pumped milker (Vol. 31, No. 5), we decided to start selling it on our website," says Leman. "Then we developed a maternity kit to use during kidding season. It isn't unique, but the booklet we include covers from two weeks before kidding to what to do if the kids aren't born right as well as what a normal birth should look like." Soon more products followed. They've since added a fecal kit with a microscope and multiple tests for parasites. Leman says that again it's the information included that adds value to the kit. "We give detailed instructions and photos of the parasites," she explains. "It makes it easier to understand what you're looking at." The latest product added to the site is a "suitcase stanchion". The portable stanchion platform folds up into a suitcase-style case. The larger size is 24 by 48 by 2 in., yet weighs only 30 lbs. The smaller one, suitable for pygmy or miniature goats, is 21 by 36 by 2 in and weighs 26 lbs. The pvc supports and expanded metal platform will support more than 200 lbs. "We have an older style portable stanchion, but it requires two people to move it around," says Leman. "With our suitcase stanchion, you can pick it up easily and move it. It uses a snap together design so there are no pins or wing nuts to get lost." Getting a small group of goats to a feed trough is easy with a Maggidan's Herd Holder. The 8-ft. lead has a series of snaps that hold up to five goats in a line with a snap on either end attached to posts or a fence. Like many of their other products, the $15 lead was developed out of need for use with their own goats. "We need a lot of leads around our farm, and one day Dan was playing around with poly rope and a splicer and figured the distance needed between," says Leman. "I use mine every day at home and at shows. Other people saw it and wanted one." Since building the website, Leman and Dawson have added a number of booklets and other goat keeping supplies and tools to it. "Construction of the site was a breeze," she says. "PayPal makes it so easy to collect payment. Although it takes time to learn, now I can change it quickly. I used Front Page software on the site itself." Keeping orders straight is the biggest challenge. However, as the website has grown with new products, keeping the site consistent is an ever-increasing effort. "If you make a change, you have to change it in multiple places on the site and also in our print catalog," says Leman. "You really have to be dedicated to answering emails and running the business seven days a week." The first thing to do, she advises, is to develop a filing and accounting system that works for you and the Internal Revenue Service. Manufacturing is easy, she says, and so is taking in the money. "It's the record keeping that takes effort," she adds. "After a while it still takes discipline, but not as much time." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Maggidans, 1205 Olive Branch Rd., Durham, N.C. 27703 (ph 919 596-0984; maggidans@msn.com; www.maggi dans.com).

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