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Are Ball Python Morphs the Next "Dot Bombs"?
Last Edited: February 20, 2006
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I recently saw the following question posted on an internet message board ....
"Are Ball Python Morphs the Next Dot Bombs?"
Here is the response that I posted ...
That’s a great question … and my answer is “I sure hope so!”.
As someone that was intimately involved with the “dot com” craze of the late nineties, there are certainly a lot of similarities.
People wanted in on a “money maker” and they threw money into starting internet companies just for the sake of “being a player”.
There were scammers, get rich quick people, and people that just didn’t have any business running a company being given tens of millions of
dollars in venture capital because they had a snappy power point presentation. In the end, the large majority of them failed. Not because the
market wouldn’t support them, but because they just had no idea of how to run a business. When the dust cleared from the great “dot com” crash,
there were and still are many successful internet companies standing that most people thought never had a chance; Amazon.com, Buy.com, MyWay.com, and
the list goes on and on. There have also been new companies started since then like Google.com and MySpace.com. There are also many little known
companies that have a thriving internet presence and are making good money. A close friend of mine makes $40,000.00 a year running a “brain teaser”
puzzle site. The difference between the companies that survived and the companies that failed had absolutely nothing to do with “the market” and everything
to do with knowing how to run a business. ANY BUSINESS (whether a dot com, bricks and mortar store, or ball python breeding operation) that does
not have a solid business plan and that doesn’t understand things like marketing, advertising, sales, fiscal discipline, and everything else
that traditionally goes along with running a business will sooner or later fail.
Just because you have a hundred, or a thousand, or ten thousand dollars to throw at a breeder for an investment morph does not mean that you
are going to make a million dollars breeding ball pythons. Running a business is hard work that takes a certain amount of skill and dedication
that many people just don’t have. Maintaining a large breeding colony of any reptile, let alone ball pythons, also takes a very high level of skill
and dedication that most people can’t imagine. Just like the frenzied dot coms of the late 90’s, the fly by nighters in the ball python world will
eventually fail. People that don’t want to do the work of running a business and only want to cash in on the big money being spent on morphs will
eventually find it more and more difficult to operate in an over crowded market and they will move on to the next “hot thing” whether it be rainbow
boas, ipod accessories, or jelly flavored cell phones. When the smoke clears, the people that are passionate, dedicated, professional, and actually
want to run a business like a business will remain and we’ll all be better for it.
Just like the way the internet exists today, there will be room for ball python breeders on all levels to make as much or as little money as they
would like- depending on the amount of hard and dedication that they want to put in. Similar to the way Google jumped on the internet scene and dominated
everything they touched, there will be new breeders that rise up quickly and dominate the market. Alternatively, there will also be breeders like my
friend with his “brain teaser” internet site that works a few hours a week and makes his 40K a year “on the side” and is perfectly happy with where his
business is.
This cycle is nothing new … it happens over and over again in all kinds of business … as pointed out, it’s happened with internet companies, it’s also
happened in the desktop computer market, it’s happened in the exotic bird market, the sports memorabilia market, and I am sure dozens more that I can’t
just spit out off of the top of my head.
As far as ball pythons as an investment, I’m sorry but as someone that is actively invested in the stock market, bonds, and commodities I can tell you
with great confidence that there is no better investment on the planet right now than ball pythons. On my initial investment into ball pythons in 1996, I’ve
managed a return of better than 5000% (and that is just part time!). That would be like a $150,000.00 house being sold for $7.5 million in 10 years.
There is no IRA, stock, bond, or real estate investment that can give you a return like that.
If you’re going to invest in and breed ball pythons, then you’re running a business … act like it! Have a plan, research business practices,
marketing, sales tactics, BE A BUSINESS PERSON …
… or, go up in smoke like the dot bombs.
-adam
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