We had absolutely no prior experience with livestock, but knew we wanted to find a way to earn a living through some other method than building more efficient tools of war. We had always lived in a rural environment and wanted to continue with that sort of lifestyle. With that in mind we thought that some sort of farming might be the answer. We began to do some research on different types of farming and found that most involved way too much work for way too little return. Just as we were beginning to get discouraged we stumbled across some information about raising alpaca on the internet. As soon as the first pictures popped up on the screen we both fell in love. Nancy's first comment was "They are soooo cuuute!".

We immediately began researching the business aspects of this endeavor and much to our surprise it appeared that these fuzzy little critters were a pretty good investment.

• The value of the animals is quite high and considering their rarity in this country it appeared that the prices would stay up for the foreseeable future.
• The quality and value of the fiber is extraordinary, and since Nancy was already a knitting enthusiast this seemed to be a good fit.
• It is feasible to raise alpaca on relatively small tracts of land which is a plus since we also needed to buy a farm and we had a finite amount of money to work with.
• The daily care requirements are quite low which was important to us because we knew that we would need to keep our existing jobs and care for the animals for at least a couple of years.
• We really liked the idea raising something that we did not have to kill in order to extract a profit
• And last but not least "They are soooo cuuute!".

Once we had decided that the business side of this adventure seemed viable, it was time to find a farm. We started searching the multiple listings, on line of course we are an internet based family, and calling brokers about the farms which met our criteria. One of our primary criteria was that the property be located in our current school district. We have three girls in high school and did not want to make them change schools during this critical phase of their education. We also wanted four bedrooms and at least 20 acres of land. Oh, I almost forgot the most important criteria, we had to be able to pay for it! We also wanted the house to be as remote as possible since Nancy and I are both hermits at heart.

The plan was to buy a farm in the spring, spend the summer getting the place ready to raise alpaca, and buy animals either that fall or the next spring.

We called about many, looked at some, and even made an offer on one which fell through (which was probably a good thing). All of the time overlooking this one place that was advertised as "20 acre horse farm with 4 bedrooms".

Along about this time we decided to join NEAOBA (New England Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association). Two weeks after we joined, I volunteered to take over the maintenance of their website. I figured that if I was going to get into this business, then I needed get to know how the business was conducted in this area and the website offered a good opportunity to interact with other people in the industry. I have a small web design company called Dog Bone Design, so I already had the necessary tools and skills.