I have what I know are novice questions, but I'm a novice when it comes to a focused breeding endeavor in chickens. I asked on another thread, but was wisely advised to ask here. Some questions are modified but the essential purpose is there.
1 - If starting with a new breed one wishes to breed to SOP, with none of the desired breed currently owned, is it best to seek a breeding pair or trio from an established breeder willing to part with such, or with a larger number of chicks or hatching eggs from a breeder or hatchery and culling to retain only the best 3, 6, 10 for future breeding? Is this breed-dependent? No. In other words, does it depend on US population of SOP-close birds as opposed to retaining/expanding current gene pool?
2 - Is it on either side of smart to foray into multiple breeds one is interested in? No. The greatest breeders in a breed usually only had that one breed.
3 - do you set any financial goals or parameters? If so do you stick to them? and also if so, do you base your parameters on sales of chicks/started juveniles you selected out of retaining for future breeding, or do you simply sell a certain number/percentage of chicks hatched regardless? Cull, then see what you have to sell. I will give breeding trios to 4-H regardless of the rarity of my birds. Depending on the wishes the breeder has for the birds you hatch from birds ottained from him/her.... he/she may have counsel on how to best place/sell the get. Nothing wrong with that. The breeder trusted you with his strain, best to take his/her advice on how to place the birds so the strain stays respected and not crossed willy-nilly for other people's novice color projects and cross-breeding diversity experiments...which the person will then tout they used the strain you let them have by name, embarrassing the breeder you got the birds from. There's nothing wrong with learning from your breed's breeder how to best place/sell your hatchlings/started birds. Tho many of these top lines do not sell chicks or eggs, they only sell started birds/
4 - Is there a fixed number of future breeders you winter over or is it dependent on the quality of the spring/summer hatch?
5 - are there heritage breeds known to be inherently profitable? Needed? Neglected? Lots of choices there, Follow your heart, breed the breed that makes your heart sing and you will have more fun.
6 - is there any such thing as the perfect breeding plan? No. The best breeding programs end up being a compilation of several breeding plans dependant on the needs of the flock at the time.
Asked as a returneee to chickens, fond of more than one breed, particularly non-whites due to predator concerns, and especially endangered and rare breeds. No LGDs or other LG - use electric-fence-protected run when not home (4 days/wk) but free range when here (the other 3).
Tons more questions but these are starters.
I currently have just my micro-flock but have long loved Leghorns as well as Speckled Sussex. When I found myself able to have chickens again this past summer, my immediate desire was for the latter, as I had them before and found them delightful, great at grasshopper control and foraging, and pretty good at laying, and thought I would get a few Brown Leghorns next spring. Then I started reading about Dorkings, and thought maybe I would add a few of them too, to see if I enjoyed them. 
