The drawbacks of juggling a full-time gig and a start-up are many, however, and can come at a steep cost to one's personal or family life. "There is a period of about two years in my life that are lost," says Donna Binder, 53, a longtime educator in the Houston school district who decided to start an alpaca-breeding business on the side in 1997.
Binder and husband Laurence, also an educator, were inspired to raise alpacas — shaggy-haired animals that are cousins to llamas — after deciding they wanted to leave city life behind and move to the country. Worried about the expense of buying land, "we thought we'd look at different ways to get tax breaks — and that led us to having animals," she says. Intimidated by cattle ranching, the couple discovered gentle-natured alpacas at Houston's big annual rodeo. Within months, the couple had sold their city home, moved into a rental, broke ground for a new house on an 18-acre farm, and acquired five alpacas. Read more