Research draft. Not legal, tax or financial advice. Figures are dated to their sources; placeholder assumptions are flagged as such.
Business Model Options
Framing. The research has one fixed premise: a custom-exempt service in the Shenandoah Valley that takes beef from the owner’s farm to the owner’s freezer, because regional plants are full (PEC 2021: 125-150% of capacity, cutter shortage at all 7 plants) (PEC). The options differ on who does the work, where it happens, and what the company owns. Each has its own page with an identical structure. The business plan, PDF and calculator model Option B. Not legal advice; every number carries its source and year on the option page; [inferred] marks derived claims.
Comparison matrix
| A. Kill-only + partner cut shop | B. Cooler-dock kill-and-cut | C. Storage cooler, cut on farm | D. Rental + storage | E. Rental + education | F. Tiered offering | G. No static site | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who does the work | Company kills; partner shop cuts | Company kills and cuts | Company kills and cuts | Owner (renter) kills and cuts | Owner kills and cuts; company teaches and advises | Per tier: T1/T2 owner (T2 staff advise only); T3 company | Company kills and cuts, on farms |
| Legal basis | VDACS Custom Permit (free) | Custom Permit; “mobile slaughter and processing unit” allowed | Custom Permit; split stages OK if “Not for Sale” (Note 13) | Personal use, 9 CFR 303.1(a)(1); company must not “participate” | Personal use for renters; company stays at advise-only, or holds a Custom Permit as safe harbor | A tier is a legal configuration: T1/T2 personal use (or owner’s own Custom Permit); T3 company Custom Permit; staff hands-on work flips a job to T3 | Custom Permit; split stages “Not for Sale” (Note 13); cutting A’s beef on C’s farm needs VDACS |
| Cooler zoning (Frederick Co.) | No cooler | Cutting dock = “Animal Slaughtering and Processing”: M2 by right, RA CUP; not B2/B3/M1/TM | Storage only: B3 by right; M1 unconfirmed | Storage + trailer rental: B3 best fit; semi rental classification uncertain | As D; classroom = trade school by right (B2, B3, TM, M1) | Inherits the site: M2 allows all tiers; at a B3 storage cooler no tier may cut on site (T3 becomes Option C) | No cooler site; home base for a loaded unit not researched |
| Farm-side zoning | Open: is a farm kill a “slaughterhouse” use in RA? | Same open question | Sharper: kill and cut on farms | Fits the RA “farmers … for their own family use” exception if owner-raised | As D; paid classes on RA farms not checked | T1/T2 as D; T3 as B | Sharpest: kill and cut many owners’ beef on farms |
| Waste | Offal D.4 on farm; capture blood | Farm: offal D.4, blood captured; dock: sewer best | Cutting wash water on every farm: holding tank + hauler | Renter’s farm (D.4 fits cleanly); company cleans unit | As D; course teaches blood capture | T1 as D; T2 as D, company haul-off optional; T3 as B | Offal D.4 on farm; cutting wash water on every farm (holding tank + hauler) |
| Capacity limit | Partner cut-shop slots | Cutting labor: about 6-10 head/week, 2 people | About 5-7 head/week [inferred] (setup and travel per farm) | Rental days and units; no cutter ceiling | Instructor time (about 8 students/class) | Cutters for T3; unit calendar for T1/T2 (1 rental day/head [placeholder]) [inferred] | Onboard slots: slots = head/wk × hang days ÷ 7; 8 slots = 400/yr at 7 days, 200 at 14 [inferred] |
| Capex | $72k-$115k rig (2026) | $471,576 illustrative (Sentinel 53 ft from $300k) | About B’s [inferred] + holding tank | Unit + storage cooler; semi needs CDL, towables lack cut room | D’s, or near zero for education-only start | B’s (same unit + cooler) | $405,000 calculator preset (unit price unchanged); 12-16 slot unit quote-only |
| Revenue model | Kill fee + mileage + daily minimum | About $800-1,100/head (kill + cut and pack) | As B, more mileage | Rental day + storage [placeholder: about $400/day, $50/head] | D + certification, workshops ($675-775/student, 2026), coaching (about $150/hr, MPA’s implied value of bundled coaching, 2025 [inferred]) | T3 $930, T2 $825, T1 $450/head [mostly placeholder] + a la carte add-ons (Gore’s 2026, Backyard Butchery 2025 structure) | As B, minus long aging and storage add-ons |
| Biggest risk | Feeds the bottleneck; partner unit idled 2 yr (Central Coast) | M2 site cost or RA CUP; cutting labor | Throughput at break-even (about 5.3/week, 274/52 [inferred]) | Market mismatch; no red-meat DIY rental precedent; waivers void (Hiett) | Undefined “participates” line; unpriced workshop insurance | At default staffing, DIY share raises break-even (311 head at 50/30/20); storage of personal-use carcasses and coaching need VDACS answers | Slot ceiling below break-even at 14-day hang (200 vs 240 head); all beef in one 24/7 box |
| Status | Superseded | Chosen | Candidate | Candidate | Candidate | Candidate (new) | Candidate (new) |
Sources for each cell are on the option pages. Zoning: Article VI use lists, RA.
Decision status
- Option A: Kill-Only Mobile Unit + Partner Cut Shop: superseded (round 3). Does not relieve the cutter bottleneck.
- Option B: Cooler-Dock Kill-and-Cut: chosen. Plan of record; round 4 sets the site answer to M2 by right or an RA CUP.
- Option C: Storage-Only Cooler, Cut Back on the Farm: candidate. Fallback if M2 sites fail.
- Option D: Rental Plus Storage: candidate. Best as an add-on tier, not standalone.
- Option E: Rental Plus Education: candidate. Cheapest demand test; gated on written VDACS answers about “participates”.
- Option F: Tiered Offering: candidate (round 5). Combines D, E and B as price tiers (Rent, Coached, Full service) plus add-ons on one unit and cooler; modelled in the calculator’s tier mix. Hypothesis: B as the core, DIY tiers capped at about 20-30% of head.
- Option G: No Static Site: candidate (2026-10-12). No company cooler: G1 parks the unit at the farm (ruled out with full-time staff; viable with part-time hourly labor for 5-8 head/farm batches at a 7-day hang), G2 drops reefer trailers at farms (unpriced), G3 rolls carcasses in the onboard cooler (best fit, slot-limited: about 6-8 head/wk at a 7-day hang). Calculator preset and slot check.
Options can combine. Option F works out that combination [inferred]: B as the core (“we do it”), with D and E as an off-season “you do it” tier, all under one free Custom Permit. The pro forma calculator models the tier mix.
How to add an option
Each new idea is one iteration:
- Option page. Create
wiki/options/option-<letter>-<slug>.mdwith frontmatter (title,category: option,status,sources,created,updated,tags,summary,confidence) and the standard sections, in order: How it works; Legal basis; Zoning and site (Frederick County); Waste; Capacity and labor; Economics; What it fixes; What it costs; Open questions; Verdict; See Also. - Matrix row data. Add a column to the matrix above and a line to Decision status. Change a status only when a decision is made.
- Exploration log. Add a dated, numbered entry to Exploration Log: the question as asked, the short answer, what changed, links.
- Indexes. Update
wiki/options/_index.md,wiki/_index.md, the master_index.mdandlog.md; add any new raw sources to theirraw/<type>/_index.md. Add an<li>with the rightoption-badgeto the Business model options list insite/index.html(hand-written, not generated), and update its badge whenever a status changes. - Commit and push the iteration as one commit, so the site rebuilds.