How to Have a Thriving Gardening Business
Gardening in general is one of the most wonderful occupation in any size form and shape. Be it on a small or large scale, as a hobby, as a source of fresh fruits and vegetables, or for that matter, as a business.
Anyway you look at it, if you are serious about gardening you can turn this most beautiful activity in a nice thriving gardening business, and create a good source of income.
I remember years ago in my youth having an ardent desire to work outside and blend in with the nature, to admire and observe the vegetation and to look and search for some way to start a nice garden, it was a real challenge to get started in the gardening field in those days.
Gardening and landscaping is really what I love doing the most, and therefore I take it very seriously.
Where I come from, the information was so limited and so hard to get access to it, that I had to rely mainly on what I was able to find in some gardening catalogs, and some limited advise from the gardening people I knew. And of course another source of information came from my mother who loved gardening! She taught me the basics and I’ve learned quite a few gardening things from her.
But today with the abundance of information available at our finger tips from the vast internet searches, it is so easy to find anything you can imagine just by using a few smart k-words, and you are able to learn a lot any time. All you need is the desire, determination, and the will to achieve whatever you put your mind to.
And the gardening field is absolutely one of the best in my opinion.
Providing that you are already involved in the gardening activity and you are already pretty familiar with what it takes to grow and tend to the plants, you can start planing for a thriving gardening business.
There are so many different situation that are specific to your location, the size of your garden, the demand in your area, as what kind of plant material are people looking for, and where to sell the trees, shrubs, herbs, vegetable plants, and the list can go on and on.
As you probably noticed or heard about the organic gardening and edible landscaping that are growing more and more in popularity, it would be a good idea that should be seriously taken in consideration.
So it is also a good idea to capitalize on these popular trends and take a closer look at them. More and more people conscious about healthy living are looking for fresh fruits and vegetables from local sources, like farmer’s markets that started to multiply all over the country, fruit stands, road side stands, flea markets, and many other places.
That being said is pretty evident that the market is there, the demand will increase, and therefore it is time to take full advantage of the situation.
Another factor to consider is the fact that the economy does not show any promising signs of improvement anytime soon, the people is getting interested in “edible landscaping” to grow their own source of fruits and vegetables. So if you are able to bring fruit trees, berry bushes, vegetable starter plants at your stand, they will buy and your gardening business will thrive.
Once you find out what is the demand in your area, what is your competition selling, decide what kind of plants you want to grow and offer to your market. I personally was always for a large variety of plant material to grow, like ornamental shrubs and trees, bedding plants, house plants, tropical plants, herbs, vegetable plants, berry plants, and any other gardening related items.
But it all depends on what are you more comfortable to grow and sell, as I’m aware of the different situations from place to place.
If you don’t have your own garden center or outlet yet, you can start by going to the local farmer’s markets, to different ones if there are any in other close by towns or cities, and alternating the set-up in different days. Make sure that you are always there in the same specific days at those different markets, as not to confuse your customers.
Once they know that you are offering quality fruits and vegetable plants, as well as other plant material, they will come back looking for you. The buyers will expect you to be dependable so that they can find you in those specific days. That’s how you build your traffic for your business.
Make sure you attract the customers to your stand with nice colorful, vibrant green and blooming plants and offer the best quality plants at fair prices.
Be friendly and answer to their questions even when you know they are not ready to buy yet. Give them free advice when they ask for, and that in itself will pay off down the road.
Building trust is one of the keys to have a thriving gardening business.
Mike Borlovan
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