LIVEBIRDS ON TRACK!!

 

Livebirds, a brandname for our poultry supplying business , has moved from Broiler rearing to supplying Day Old Chicks suppliers. The recent move was "on trial" with the business supplying an average of 300chicks per week to local suppliers, the business is viable and profitable especially if we manage to  supply an average of 800 chicks per week. March and April have been mainly dedicated to securing the customers and it seems a breakthrough came two weeks ago when we got orders to supply 850 chicks.

Our joy was kept on check by our supplier who let us down and could not supply the 850chickens that we needed! The following week(last Friday the 3rd) we were waiting for a supply of 2400 chickens(yes , we had secured customers who needed 2400 day-old chicks!), CHINYIKA(our suppliers) only supplied 500 chickens instead of 2400! This  Friday we have an order for 2,000 chickens and we are still getting more orders.  The supplier enjoys great monopoly since the other two suppliers are not as good, and one of the other two is overloaded with orders and even more unreliable.

Meanwhile plans are also under way to recruit more orphaned young adults into the business,  they will be paid on commission.

We are making frantic efforts to get the other suppliers who can supply us with the day-old chicks.

 Meanwhile the Taxi Business, an arm of the Livebirds Poultry, is turning a steady profit and there are serious plans to buy another second taxi, we intend to employ another driver, we agreed that the driver should be an orphaned adult, it is a great opportunity for him/her to earn a living and to own a taxi at the end of the year.

We will make it, just wait and see! Keep watching this blog, we will upload photos almost weekly


It would not be enough if we end this quick update without mentioning our congratulations to Mr Stevan Talevski who tied the note with Miss Garman Jill. Stevan and Jill tied the note on the 28th of April 2013 and we thank the Lord that these two, who have been instrumental in the formation of Livebirds and have been supporting Livebirds Zimbabwe with business ideas from the onset, have tied the note, Livebirds Zimbabwe team have managed to send a Congratulations Card to the pair.

 

Prayer Requests;

**Pray that we get a consistent and reliable supplier of day old chicks from our suppliers

**Commitment on the Livebirds members ie Bob, Gladys and Floridah

**We are employing more orphans and vulnerable children(young adults) who are unemployed to be the salespeople for the business, pray that we help more people and be able to have competent youth.

We thank God for the W242 and for the passion they have to make this business venture a success, we wish the world was full of people like them.




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What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. –1 Corinthians 15:36

Its Easter weekend  around the world and we are reminded of the truth that life is born out of death.  It’s a living metaphor all around us.  A seedling lies dormant in the ground in order to grow into a plant.  A caterpillar undergoes a period of dark, yet fertile growth to emerge as a butterfly.  And sometimes are hearts have to let go of long entrenched ideas we hold tightly to in order for a greater, more beautiful story to arise and unfold. 

LiveBirds has struggled since their infancy to turn a profit on growing and selling chickens.  While their perseverance and dedication to the business is inspiring, even in the throes of typical new business obstacles, the hope of profit margins never actualized. 

Instead, a new strategy has been born out of the old.  LiveBirds started their first quarter of 2013 with a new, evolving business model. The Zimbabwe team is reducing the risk of chicken farming that requires major investments in inventory, disease vulnerability, and long eight week growing cycles of chicks by transforming their farming business into a ‘peeps,’ or ‘day-old chicks’ distribution business allowing access to impoverished rural areas to grow their own chickens for sustenance and dignity. We never cease to be amazed at the tenacity and artistry of our God in unfolding His story. 

 

LiveBirds changed their strategy by focusing their target market on rural areas that traditionally have little access to buying peeps by selling to these communities 'day old chicks' rather than mature butchered chickens. The rural areas do not have access to birds they can raise on their own unless they travel to bigger cities like Mutare, LiveBirds headquarters, which for some lies some four hundred miles away. LiveBirds is meeting this demand by supplying day old chicks to consumers and farmers. They strategically use the taxi once per week to travel to the rural communities, take orders, and offer cash advances to loyal customers. The following week the team returns with the orders of peeps and receive the remaining balance owed for a profit. Currently, they are up to 500 birds sold per week!  While we remain excited about the possibilities, this venture will remain in trial mode as we chart the viability of the business long term. Please pray for this new venture, and that we will remain open, while willingly listening to God’s plans.

Simultaneously, the LiveBirds Taxi Service continues to turn a steady profit!! As a result, the team is now preparing to purchase a second taxi with the profit from the first within three to six months of time.  Please continue to pray for this venture as well, for continued profit margins, to allow for an expanded Taxi Service and a crucial new employment opportunity for a fellow Zimbabwean. 

 
Finally, back at home in Charlotte the team is also in a period of new life. We are excitedly looking to expand our reach to other countries, while replicating the basic tenets of our business model. Recently our team met with local business leaders, a local University Professor and International Economics Students that have interest in supporting this endeavor. We also met with the Director of Hope for AIDS, Marcus Baeder, and pitched the idea to expand into 12 other countries where they have a presence. There is great enthusiasm on all sides as we are in the process of exploring the next LiveBirds venture. We ask for your prayers as we seek to follow God’s lead in this expansion as well. 

May you be blessed this Easter weekend with new life, and know that Jesus is alive in our increasingly connected world bringing about unfathomable ways we can come to know Him and His dearly beloved people across the globe, while growing our own hearts in the process.