Start a profitable worm business from home
Yes, you can start a worm business from home on a very small budget. Get compost worms as breeding stock, start with one bin in your backyard, feed them free organic waste, and sell worms, worm castings and worm tea to gardeners, anglers and nurseries as your herd multiplies.
A worm business is an excellent way to create an income from home. In times when living expenses are rising much faster than incomes, we all have to find ways to make ends meet.
Yes, we can reduce our spending, but there is only so much one can cut. Many households run on survival mode for the last 5 to 10 days of every month, and others have recently lost their means of income. With better-paying jobs out of reach for many, what can be done to generate some extra cash?
How I started my worm business
I have been there and felt as if I were between a rock and a hard place! It seemed impossible to find the kind of work I was qualified for, so I decided to start my own business. If I was my own boss, it was up to me to make it work.
My problem was that I had only a small budget, or should I say no budget to speak of, to invest in my future. I researched many home business opportunities, but many didn’t strike my interest or the start-up costs were just too high.
Then one day I learned about making money with earthworms. I researched worm farming for a while and was quickly convinced that a worm business was the answer. I liked the idea of a green business, and the start-up costs for my backyard worm farm were extremely low.
I got my first batch of compost worms nearly 30 years ago and started my first worm business in South Africa soon after; later I farmed worms in Germany too. Although worm farming is already a multimillion-dollar industry, it is still a niche market.
I worked from home and started from scratch, with just one worm bin, and consistently multiplied my worm herd in my backyard. It took less than 2 months before I started to make some money. Not a lot at first, but my worms were breeding like crazy, and there were a lot of keen fishermen and gardeners who wanted worms for their hobbies. Within a year I was selling worms, worm castings and worm tea to private customers and retail outlets.
Compost worms are by far the least demanding colleagues I have ever had :-). They don’t moan, don’t demand a salary, work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and are happy if I just give them some organic waste and keep their home moist and cool.
How to start a worm business, step by step
1Get breeding stock you can multiply
Only a few kinds of earthworms are commercially usable and can be kept in captivity. Look out for:
- Eisenia fetida – compost worm, used by most worm businesses: loves rich organic matter, multiplies rapidly and is very hardy
- Eisenia hortensis / Dendrobaena veneta – European nightcrawler: bigger, popular with fishermen, eats a lot and multiplies quickly
- Lumbricus rubellus – red worm
- Eudrilus eugeniae – African nightcrawler
- Lumbricus terrestris – northern nightcrawler: not ideal for worm farming (eats less, multiplies slowly), but an excellent bait worm
In countries with no worm breeder yet, you can often find compost worms in well-established compost heaps, garden centres, nurseries or anywhere organic matter decomposes.
A big compost worm “Eisenia fetida” 2Start small, in your backyard
Start with a single bin, bucket or old drum. Place your worms in shredded moist newspaper and follow starting and maintaining a worm farm or build a homemade 3-tier bin.
3Feed them for free and let them multiply
Feed kitchen waste or other organic material like horse manure or dog poop, which you can often get for free. A properly managed worm herd will always multiply and replenish its numbers after worms have been sold.
Compost worms at work 4Choose your products
- Worms for new worm farms, bait for anglers, and animal feed
- Worm castings – one of the world’s best balanced plant foods and soil conditioners
- Worm tea – a liquid organic fertilizer and natural pesticide
- Workshops that explain the basics of worm composting
Fresh worm castings 5Find your customers
Nurseries, garden centres, fishermen, gardeners, pet owners, households that want to recycle their food and garden scraps, restaurants, guesthouses, hotels, zoos… The list goes on and on! Have a look at the worm business directory too.
6Grow at your own pace
A worm business can be started with a single old bucket and grown to a level that suits your personal needs and goals: some extra income on the side, or a large and profitable eco-friendly company.
Why a worm business is a sustainable business
Sustainability is achieved if a concept or action could go on forever, benefiting everyone who comes into contact with it. A business that makes huge profits but pollutes the environment it depends on is not sustainable and is doomed sooner or later.
When I thought about green business ideas, solar and wind power, recycling and organic farming all appealed to me. But most shared one obstacle: money. Worm farming fitted me like a glove. It uses worms as its main work force, waste as raw material, and produces valuable plant foods and soil conditioners.
After more than 15 years as a commercial worm farmer I wrote down everything I learned in my book How to Start a Profitable Worm Business on a Shoestring Budget: raising worms, bins, food, protecting worms, castings, worm tea, markets, packaging, pricing and delivery.
What readers of my worm business book say
Word-for-word excerpts from Amazon reviews of How to Start a Profitable Worm Business on a Shoestring Budget. Cuts are marked […].
“I like this author, and his book. Both are direct, honest and practical. Here’s the information you need to start turning muck into money.”
“He is not a scientist – but an entrepreneur who achieved a successful and thriving worm business. It’s an easy read that is comprehensive and encouraging.”
“This is a very business orientated book with lots of good sound information.”
“I was curious about the possibility of selling worms […] Lots of valuable info to better understand & refine one’s worm ‘operations’ […]”
“I would recommend the book to anyone who is interested in starting a business in worm farming […] It is a very cost efficient and simple business”
