Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Yussy McManus. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Yussy, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?
I am a firm believer in risk taking!! Without that mindset, I never would have taken the plunge to start my first business.
Though I have always been partial to risk taking, I dove in headfirst to my first major risk in 2015. I decided to quit my great job as Lead Interior Designer at a decorated design firm in Naples, Florida, sell my house, and move to San Antonio, TX to start my very first business. My husband, Travis, and I made the move together, not knowing anyone or much about San Antonio other than I loved the area and had a dream to run my own interior design business and industry experience. We began flipping houses, which brought in many customers in the residential and commercial sectors and lead to many interior design awards for my work. We also opened a construction company to aid with my design firm.
In 2020, another profound risk was taken. After closing our construction company, we were looking for the next business to start. We had a beautiful 16-acre ranchette just south of the city and an urge to get back into the farm and ranch industry my husband and I both grew up in. We knew we wanted to raise animals but were unsure of what species to raise. After many discussions and brainstorming sessions, we decided to learn about alpacas and see if they were a good fit for us.
My husband and I both enthusiastically became immersed in the alpaca industry, eager to learn what we could. The more we learned, studied and met them, the more we began to love these curious, gentle and adorable animals. Before we knew it, we embarked on another major risk- starting an alpaca business. Though we dedicated lots of time and research before beginning this endeavor, we both dove in headfirst with a little bit of “we’ll figure it out” mentality.
We invested into our infrastructure and hired a professional alpaca consultant, Jody Hatch, to help guide our breeding program and overall vision for our business. We ended up creating a highly successful agritourism business in Texas, while we began our sophisticated breeding program.
Though business was doing fantastically in Texas, the immensely hot weather made raising alpacas very difficult and stressful. My husband and I then embarked on our next major risk- re-locating our successful and growing new business halfway across the country to Finksburg, Maryland. We loaded up over 80 animals (4 different species), heavy equipment, trucks, trailers, 2 businesses, and our personal belongings to chase cooler weather and greener pastures for our beloved herd. It was a big decision to make, leaving our wonderful farm we worked hard to outfit for our needs, but we were motivated by better conditions for our animals.
Now close to 2 years in Maryland and a little over 1 year of being open to the public, our business is on a new trajectory and growing rapidly. Moving locations meant pivoting our business model to find what worked in our new market. Any small business owners understand the importance of maintaining goals while adapting to what works for your business.
All in all, I never would be where I am today without several major risks I took to pursue my dreams and goals. I would encourage others to do their research, take the plunge, work hard, and trust your gut. I ultimately believe that drive, determination, and gut will lead to success. Always chase your dreams and take the risk!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My husband, Travis and I, own and operate Black Barn Alpacas in Finksburg, Maryland. We focus on ethically and sustainably raising premium quality grey and black alpacas, providing educational and immersive alpaca experiences for visitors, and selling quality alpaca products at our shoppe.
We both started our beloved business as animal lovers who grew up in the farm and ranch industry and had the desire to return to it after many years in the corporate world. We chose alpacas after learning about them and quickly falling head over heels for these amazing animals.
I believe what makes us different from other farms is our commitment to animal wellbeing, our diverse offerings, and maintaining top notch facilities. Our herd’s health and wellbeing is always at the forefront of our mission, which our visitors recognize when they interact with our animals. Our alpacas are very healthy, docile, friendly, and approachable, and we often hear reviews stating it is clear that we love our herd. That is the truth!
I am most proud of the health and happiness of our herd, along with the incredible experiences we provide our community with meeting our animals. I am also immensely proud of our ability to start a successful alpaca business despite moving cross country and having to start all over. Every moment spent with our animals is worth every bit of effort and struggle we have faced to start and run this business!
Have you ever had to pivot?
One of my favorite words as a business owner is PIVOT!! It is crucial to the success of your business. I have pivoted in my professional career, and for my businesses.
The most recent pivot has been to adjust our business model from starting in Texas and moving to a completely different market halfway across the country to Maryland. Customers are wildly different in these locations, which required us to adapt our business model.
The largest pivot we made in our business has been our agritourism. In Texas, we offered a lower ticket price, a shorter guided tour, welcomed a much larger volume of visitors, and had less regulation meaning we could offer lots of different experiences. Maryland has a lot more competition and regulation than Texas, which forced us to fine tune our offerings according to our new visitor expectations.
We now offer a more luxury and intimate agritourism experience, with alpaca education at the forefront. We limit our group sizes to maintain intimacy in the experience. We also decided to be a primitive experience, as opposed to many over-developed farms in our area. We want our visitors to be in tuned with our animals and nature. We are also excited to introduce wellness offerings at our farm, which is conducive to our animals and nature-oriented environment.
If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?
Multiple revenue streams are crucial to the success of a farm and ranch business. Our industry is typically seasonal, resulting in the need for creativity to drum up and maintain business year-round.
Though our main and original focus in the alpaca industry was to raise premium quality black and grey alpacas, we learned this takes time and is costly. We introduced agritourism to provide revenue to run our farm and feed our animals. We offer guided alpaca tours which are very popular, seasonal festivals which are excellent revenue producers, along with a host of experiences ranging from yoga to birthday parties, photography sessions, summer camps, and more.
Our retail store featuring alpaca products is also a major revenue stream for us; it is also the perfect fit to promote the sustainable, luxury natural fiber that our beloved animals are known for producing.
Another revenue stream is selling alpacas ranging from pet, fiber, to champion quality animals, along with offering mentorship for first time owners. This is a difficult part of the business though we understand we cannot keep every animal, we ensure they all go to loving homes.
Other smaller revenue streams include harvesting and selling hay, alpaca manure, and raw fleece to other processors. We look forward to introducing fiber production in the future, which would provide an additional revenue stream.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://blackbarnalpacas.com
- Instagram: @blackbarnalpacas
- Facebook: Black Barn Alpacas
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/black-barn-alpacas-finksburg
Image Credits
Yussy McManus and Rachel Shipley