MANTIS BREEDING BUSINESS
BEGINNINGS
A Bug’s Life
As I was spending some time with my younger brother in our backyard, we discovered a praying mantis. We were both intrigued, so we decided to keep it as a pet. After bringing it inside, I took to the internet in order to learn how to care for it.
Sometime during my research, I stumbled across something extremely interesting to me: the remarkable value of this insect. I was taken aback upon learning that people were paying $130 just for one bug. This seemingly insane valuation led me to wonder whether there was an opportunity for me to derive a profit.
I quickly discovered that there was a large demand for certain breeds of mantises from entomologists conducting research. So I began extensive research to learn to properly care for large groups of mantises. When I felt adequately prepared, I started searching for a place to purchase the Idolomantis Diabolica and connected with a seller in eastern Africa Tanzania who agreed to sell me ten Idolomantis Diabolica eggs in exchange for $400. My efforts were rewarded as I successfully bred the mantises to adulthood, which started my journey of selling the insects.
Soon, I was meeting buyers and arranging lucrative deals. My business exploded throughout my home. Unfortunately, during an unfortunate evacuation order from the city, I had to pack up my mantises and equipment to live in a hotel. At first, I was worried the manager would not allow me to bring my bugs with me, but after some convincing, he permitted it. Even a natural disaster was unable to deter me from continuing to grow my business, and ultimately, I was able to make several thousand dollars from the venture, which I later poured into purchasing PC parts to donate to community centers.
BUSINESS
Insights & Lessons
I’ve grown tremendously during this process, but my main lesson was that innovation and continual efforts to improve should be prioritized. Throughout the whole journey, I constantly found aspects to improve upon and inefficiencies to optimize. When I was able to find a new and improved way of doing things, I’d experience some kind of significant reward in my business.
This positive association with innovation that I experienced will no doubt shape the way I continue to go about all my endeavors. I feel that because of this experience I will always be on the lookout for anything I can improve upon in anything I do.