Months 1–4

Founder equity committed; Blended Finance application lodged a full year ahead; trademark cleared and livestock brand registered before any branding spend

Months 2–5

Grazing lease secured with capacity confirmed by independent assessment; company, tax and veterinary registrations completed

Months 3–8

Perimeter and camp fencing, boreholes and solar pumps, handling facility and crush built

Month 8

Foundation herd of 120 cows and 5 bulls placed; quarantine camp established

Months 10–12

First controlled 90-day breeding season with bulls fertility tested beforehand; herd records and traceability begun

End Year 1

Gate 1: weaning above 64%, cow mortality below 3%, twelve months of complete records

Year 2

First retained heifers enter the herd; second water point and camp fencing; herd to 170 cows

End Year 2

Gate 2: weaning above 68%, grazing confirmed for 250 cows, no biosecurity incident

Year 3

Second Blended Finance tranche drawn; third water point, fodder store and own transport; herd to 250 cows

End Year 3

Gate 3: weaning above 73%, two years of financial statements, quarantine camp operating

Year 4

Management layer established with a foreman appointed; herd to 350 cows; grazing confirmed in writing for 450

End Year 4

Gate 4: weaning above 76%, grazing confirmed for 450 cows

Year 5

Final expansion to 450 cows; drought fodder reserve established; 231 weaners sold; cash break-even crossed

Grazing lease with capacity confirmed

Everything; the herd cannot exist without veld

Independent assessment before the lease is signed, and again before every expansion

Blended Finance application

R1.80m of Year 1 funding and R1.60m in Year 3

Lodged a full year ahead through more than one participating institution

Trademark clearance

Any branding, signage or website spend

A few thousand rand and a few weeks; the only irreversible cost is doing it last

Livestock brand registration

The foundation herd arriving

Statutory; required before animals are placed

Infrastructure complete before the herd

Cattle welfare, condition and the first breeding season

Fencing, water and handling built in months 3 to 8, ahead of a month 8 placement

Bull fertility testing

Every breeding season and therefore every calf crop

Before each season without exception; an untested bull can cost a year

Twelve months of complete records

Gate 1 and every funding application thereafter

Recorded from the day the first cow arrives; cannot be reconstructed

State veterinary position checked

Every purchase and every movement

Before, not after. A movement into a tightening control area cannot be undone