Planning, Opening, and Operating a Garden Center!

Suppliers...

2009-05-17T22:24:00.009-04:00

We need suppliers! I've tried researching, but can't find anyone close to us. I'm going to make a list here so I can update it as I locate suppliers. I've tried contacting several suppliers for letters of intent for our business plan with no luck. We need organic and regular plants, organic soils and soil amendments, organic fertilizers, garden equipment, gardening tools, sprinkler systems, accounting software, security system, greenhouses, and so much more. Why can't we find suppliers? Why won't they respond? So far, only Monrovia has responded, with a very nice catalog. It is a hardcover, wirebound, colorful book with good information. Also, I did contact a tree supplier in NC who will do business with us once we get up and running. Plants suppliers Monrovia Trees/Shrubs suppliers Carolina Native Nursery Hydroponics suppliers Organic Fertilizer suppliers Organic Soil Amendments suppliers Container suppliers Emailed the following Suppliers: Baucom's Nursery - Charlotte Greenleaf Nursery Piedmont Carolina Nursery Bailey Nurseries

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2009-05-16T08:11:00.006-04:00

Boy have we been busy! Researching greenhouses, propagation, organics, native plants, etc. Also doing some propagation ourselves. I believe we may have settled on a greenhouse, but it will need a lot of work to get it ready for winter and storms. It's the Harbor Freight greenhouse, and very affordable. However, there are horror stories about how it doesn't hold up under windy conditions. Strong reinforcements will have to be built into it. Here's a picture of it:

Check out this guy's brick planting beds! Pretty neat!

There are quite a few modifications to make, and I don't have a clue what the people in the forums are talking about as far as tools and lag bolts and other jargon, but we may hire someone to do it.

Notes on Reading "So You Want to Start a Nursery" - Part 1

2009-05-10T22:16:00.005-04:00

I read the first 9 chapters this weekend and I've gotten some very good ideas.

First off, the book says you must define your business concept. What is our concept? Though we would like to go all-organic, we feel that our town isn't the prime location for it starting out. At least not until we build up our organic clientele. We will have to go 50-50, or maybe even 70 non and 30 organic...

One phrase that got me thinking in the book, that I hope to gain motivation from each time I read it, is:

"If you cannot take the leap of faith that is required to make the shift from working for someone else to working for yourself you will also not have the nerve it takes to make the day-to-day gambles required in the nursery business."

I have a lot of notes so far, and plan to have a lot more. This book will be my "gardening bible" for quite a while!

My Book Came Today!!!

2009-05-05T20:39:00.002-04:00

Yay! The books got here today! I gave Mom the propagation book, and I took the garden center book. Can't wait to start reading it! I'm sure we're going to learn a lot from them. I'll post my thoughts periodically as I'm reading through it, take notes, etc.

I have a busy week this week with finals at school, month-end close out at work, and going to the beach Thursday night. I should be able to start on the book next week.

I emailed the agent about the last property we visited and we are scheduled to meet again next Wednesday. I told her we would consider a much lower price, as long as all the inside work is completed as well. Wish I could find someone who knew what they were doing as far as home renovations... We'll bring along either my hubby or stepdad.

Ideas For Starting Out Small...

2009-05-03T11:52:00.003-04:00

Here I want to post ideas we come up with to start out small. We know that having a garden center is at least a year away, so this is what we plan to do in the meantime to build up our inventory, make customers aware of our name, and gain more plant knowledge.

We are shopping for greenhouses for our home. Mom and I will both purchase one and begin propagating our plants.
We could sell our plants at our homes, farmer's markets, town fairs, and approved parking lots.
We will keep our store location options open, constantly looking for the best price at the best location, for rent or purchase.
We will get our hands on as many gardening/propagation/industry books and magazines as possible.
Begin contacting possible suppliers, keeping a list of date, time, response, etc.
More ideas to come as we think of them...

A Garden Center Visit

2009-05-02T13:58:00.005-04:00

This morning Mom and I visited the local farmer's market and a well-known garden center in our area.

We hadn't even planned on going to the farmer's market, but as we got closer, I remembered Trey Pitsenberger's comment and told Mom to stop. At the farmer's market, we purchased some tomato and bell pepper plants. We also bought a basket of strawberries and 2 elephant ear plants.

I couldn't believe the things people were selling at a farmer's market! Jewelry, crocheted items, baked goods, wood furniture, bird houses, and more. I could see us doing pretty good there, especially with vegetable plants.

The garden center we went to is very popular. I've been there quite a few times. There is hardly room to walk, let alone park. The staff hardly ever smiles. The store is very crowded and unorganized. They are very overpriced. However, the place stays packed, and people come from miles around.

My hubby thinks Mom and I should purchase greenhouses for our homes. Then we could grow our own plants and lease a small shop to start out with. I'm sure we could find a suitable location. We just need to ride around the major roads a bit and keep our eyes open!

We could also sell our plants at a few yard sales, the farmer's market, or set up shop in a parking lot somewhere. Any profits we make would go into our "Garden Center Fund". It's a thought... I'm still diggin' the property we looked at yesterday.

Pics of Possible Location for EcOasis Garden Center!

2009-05-02T08:32:00.013-04:00

This is the left side of the property.

This is the front of the house. Too bad this gazebo was in the way when this picture was took. The things we could do with that front yard!

Here's the drive. We will pave it and extend it to the back of the store.

To the left side of the store. These buildings make it really hard to imagine greenhouses here... They do have a cute swing and gazebo that we may do a little bartering for!

More greenhouse area.

The edge of the property to the right. The trees to the right show the creek's path. It's very small, though. Not sure we could use it for much watering. Snakes will be a problem.

The stick you see at the right bottom of this pic shows the right side property line. We could use that entire triangle area to create a focal point for the 20,000+ cars that come by!

All in all, the property needs a lot of work, and we aren't cut out for it. We would have to hire subcontractors before we could even sell a plant...

Went to Look at the Property Today...

2009-05-01T20:07:00.005-04:00

Mom and I went to check out the site today. The area seemed great, lots and lots of traffic. The home on the site needs A LOT of work. There is only one finished room (bold and BLUE) and all the others are in the middle of construction. Mom and I walked through and tried to picture it as our garden center. It wasn't hard to do on the outside. The front of the house was so charming. We could really create a beautiful front entrance for the store. We decided parking would definately be behind the store, and the greenhouses would be to the right. We will be able to fit at least 3, possibly 4 greenhouses if they are smaller and closer together. The morning/evening sun is perfect also.

The home on site has a fireplace, laundry room, full bath, and 2 bedrooms. It's very small at only 920 square feet. We decided it would be best to knock out 2 walls and convert the living room and front bedroom into the store. The kitchen would be the register area, and the little nook off to the left of the kitchen would be a cafe area. So cute, so quaint, but SO unfinished. Did I mention it has hardwood floors throughout? Or that the attic has been converted for extra storage? Or that it has a small stream which runs down the right side of the property?

I do like this place. However, HOW ARE WE GOING TO PAY FOR IT WHEN WE DON'T HAVE ANY BUSINESS???!!!! I don't think the saying "If you build it, they will come" will work in this case...

The site has 12,000 to 14,000 cars passing by on a daily basis, with 20,000 - 22,000 on weekends due to a large flea market just 1/4 mile down the road.

Plus it's really CHEAP!!!

The agent told me, quite a few times, that we could ask the owner to finish their work. All of the rooms with the exception of the "Blue" room are unfinished. They have drywall with patch marks and no baseboards. You can clearly see holes where the walls/floors meet. All of that would have to be fixed, or the price reduced so that we could hire someone to do it.

For this location, we would need to:

Knock out the wall to the left as you enter the front door in order to open up the living room and front bedroom as one large space. Will need to find someone who knows if this can even be done...

Repaint the "blue" room and turn it into an office.

Landscape the front yard beautifully, giving homeowners ideas about what they can do in their yards.

Pave a driveway and parking lot.

Check pricing for:

Two greenhouses

Air conditioning

Coffee maker (Use Tassimo?)

How to Find Wholesale Plant Suppliers?

2009-04-30T21:11:00.003-04:00

I've tried 4 times to find wholesale plant suppliers in my area that are not big box suppliers. I found one so far... How in the world do you locate them? I really, really, REALLY wish we had a mentor. Hopefully when the book comes it will have information on this. The Small Business Administration suggests to get letters of intent from potential suppliers. We'll need suppliers for greenhouses, plants, trees, shrubs, watering systems, fertilizers, and other gardening items.

Looking for Real Estate... HARD!

2009-04-30T16:47:00.013-04:00

So we've been looking high and low for a suitable place to open a garden center... I may have found one today, but I'm not getting too excited just yet. It has a small house and the people sell storage buildings and gazebos on the site. I'm thinking the best place for a parking lot is behind the facility to the left, and the greenhouses will be to the right. We would plant trees along the highway to mask the greenhouses, and landscape the front yard beautifully. I'll post pics next.

More Pictures...

2009-04-30T08:56:00.008-04:00

Start-up Expenses

2009-04-29T21:07:00.010-04:00

I've been trying to come up with a list of start-up expenses and having problems... I'm not sure how much inventory we will need. Here I'm going to list some items I can think of offhand. I will come in and edit as I think of more items. One thing you normally don't find in garden centers around my area are bulbs. I wonder why? Here's a list of plants we should have. The ones in peach color we have available to propagate right NOW!!!

Vegetable Plants
Tomato - Better Boy, Cherry, Roma, etc.
Cucumber
Squash
Bell Pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Broccoli
Cabbage
Watermelon
Cantaloupe
Herbs
Cilantro
Dill
Basil
Mint - Spearmint, Peppermint
Parsley
Stevia
Oregano
Thyme
Chives
Annuals
Daisy (Shasta)
Daisy (Cape Town Blue)
Daisy (Gerber)
Impatiens
Begonias
Geraniums
Petunias
Verbena
Salvia
Phlox
Sweet Potato Vine (Blackie and Chillin')
Coleus
Dahlias
Dianthus
Perennials
Peony
Clematis
Dianthus
Sedum
Hibiscus
Hostas
Daylilies
Iris
Ajuga
Shrubs
Nandina
Azalea
Burning Bush
Butterfly Bush
Gardenia
Trees
Weeping Cherry
Japanese Maple
Crepe Myrtle
Mimosa
Snowball Bush
Soil
Organic and non-organic
Soil Amendments
Organic and non-organic
Fertilizers
Organic and non-organic
Planters
Small, medium, and large planters in different colors, shapes, and sizes.

Again, we need to visit more garden centers to see what's available. Some have garden flags, stepping stones, birdbaths, etc. I don't think we'll need these in the beginning.

Garden Center Owners - What Would You Have Done Differently?

2009-04-27T18:39:00.006-04:00

I'm interested in knowing what garden center owners think they should have done differently, if anything. What do you wish would you have done, or not done, in the beginning? Planning? Building? Choosing the right greenhouse(s)? Maybe your "regrets" will help others like me.

I'm sure there will be things we'll look back on and wish we had done differently. I'm thinking one of my "regrets" may be the size of our retail store and land. I've been trying to research, but the best I can come up with is looking on Google Earth, and comparing the size of places... Maybe I'll be able to pull up some real estate records.

Thanks for your input!

Pics of my plants

2009-04-26T16:48:00.009-04:00

Rhododendron Bloomed Overnight!

2009-04-26T16:29:00.008-04:00

Here's the before and after pics of my Rhododendron. I took the before pic approximately 9:oopm last night, and the after pic today, about 30 minutes ago (4:00pm). The bud to the left in the before pic is the one that bloomed today. If I remember, I'll take a pic of the other bud tomorrow. There's a story behind these two bushes. My neighbors across the street dug them up and threw them at the side of their curb. Of course I grabbed them up, with their permission. They were horrible looking when I rescued them. One grows better than the other for whatever reason. The one blooming is the smaller one.

Just Ordered 2 Books

2009-04-26T09:36:00.007-04:00

There are many more to come in our arsenal, but for now, I've ordered:

So You Want to Start a Nursery - Tony Avent

and

American Horticultural Society Plant Propagation: The Fully Illustrated Plant-by-Plant Manual of Practical Techniques - Alan Toogood

I can't wait to get them. I purchased Avent's book for the obvious reason of starting a garden center. It had really good reviews, and comes recommended by a lot of garden center owners. I purchased Toogood's book because this is how Mom and I will start out; by propagating our own plants.

As I said before, I believe the best thing to do is start out small, growing plants at our homes and selling them. Any proceeds will go back into the business to finance purchasing more supplies. Profits will be left untouched. Nothing would please us more than to become a success story, working from the VERY bottom into a profitable business that we love.

I'm also going to purchase these:

The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control: A Complete Problem-Solving Guide to Keeping Your Garden and Yard Healthy Without Chemicals - Barbara W. Ellis

Secrets to a Successful Greenhouse and Business: A Complete Guide to Starting and Operating a High-Profit Organic or Hydroponic Business That Benefits the Environment - T.M.Taylor

I would also like to find some really good Carolina gardening books. If anyone has any recommendations, please post comments!

My Hero

2009-04-23T14:56:00.003-04:00

While researching opening a garden center, I was blessed with coming across Trey Pitsenberger's, "The Blogging Nurseryman". He blogs about his garden center, The Golden Gecko. Recently, he and his wife have opened a nursery for kids as well. This is a great idea to keep revenue coming in when business slow.

This brings me to another problem. How do we keep paying the bills when we have few (or zero) customers? It would be interesting to hear from other garden center owners on this topic.

I need to find something to do during the winter months to supplement the garden center's lack of customers. I'm working on a "cyber-cafe" idea. We will have wifi access, 4-6 tables, coffee, and simple snacks in the garden center. Problem is, how do we make money off of this? A cup of coffee and a snack at best is $3-$5 per person.

Other ideas I have is to host Chamber of Commerce meetings, garden club meetings, Red Hat meetings, etc. I am also good friends with a local winery. We could work on a partnership, such as hosting wine tastings for them. Getting our name out there to clubs and organizations will be top priority.

Worm Composting

2009-04-22T10:26:00.002-04:00

I've never heard of this! My grandmother used to keep rabbits so that she could use their droppings for a worm bed. She then used the worms to fish with. That's the only use I've seen for worms other than in the garden.

Here's an article on savvygardening.com :

http://www.savvygardener.com/Features/worm_composting.html

I'm sure my family would hate me for bringing worms in the house, but I would love to do this. When I open my garden center, I will definately have one!

Houston, We Have a Problem!

2009-04-21T08:05:00.001-04:00

My husband is not taking my business idea seriously... Granted he's seen me try out many ideas to make money, but never something I ENJOYED doing. So I can't blame him there. I have to prove myself to him. So, if I can sell this idea to my husband, the ultimate skeptic, I can sell it to anyone! For the sake of filing divorce papers, I cannot mention this to him again for a while.

There is one big thing... I've been going to school forever to get a degree in accounting. Yes, I like accounting, but I don't LOVE it. I can do it, but I don't want to. My husband wants me to keep going to school for my Masters and take the CPA exam. I don't know how I can do that and have my own garden center too. I don't know that I still WANT to be a CPA. That's a huge realization because it was my dream when I first started school.

However, my education and experience has prepared me somewhat to open my own business. My husband has his own business. He doesn't make much money; just enough to get by. He's afraid the same will happen to me.

Bottom line is this: Right now at this moment, I'm sick and tired of going to school. I DON'T want to go for my Masters. I DON'T want the stress of sitting for the CPA exam. I DO want my own business. I DO believe if I devote my time to research and start out small, opening a garden center will be a profitable idea. All this may change a year or two down the road, but right now, this is where I'm at.

I believe the best thing to do is to start out small. Mom and I can propagate our plants at home and find somewhere to sell them. Maybe on the side of the road! Who knows.

Costs to Produce an Organic Plant

2009-04-20T08:10:00.004-04:00

Mom and I need to calculate the true costs of growing an organic plant. We usually use the seeds from our yard. We either let them fall and grow where they lay for a year or two before digging them up, or we collect seeds and start from scratch. We didn't do this too often, but now we will begin doing it each season. No cost there!

We want to find some 1-gallon buckets that nurseries or landscapers may be willing to donate. We'll only need about 100 to start. No cost there!

Next, we'll need to purchase some organic potting mixes and fertilizers. Let's just say 1 bag of mix and 1 box of fertilizer for 5 plants. These costs can be estimated easily. For time's sake on this post, I'm going to say the potting mix and fertilizer costs for 5 plants will be $10 total, or $2.00 for each plant.

Water can be free (rain) or not (filtered). We plan to use rain barrels, set up high so water pressure will be good. If there should be a drought, the cost of water will need to be factored in.

Labor is the highest cost, and the hardest to pinpoint. If we use the 1 bag of soil, 5 pots method, we could easily estimate planting time. However, we will need to keep up with all the times we water, fertilize, and move the plants. Now the hard question... How much is our time WORTH? I guess the simplest way to do this is to determine what salary I want to make in a year, say $40,000 to start. Now, divide that by 353 days. (Figuring in 12 days for vacations & holidays. Just a simple formula for now.) You get $113.31 per day. Now, divide that by 9 hours. You get $12.59 per hour. Let's say it takes you 20 minutes to plant 5 plants. Another 40 minutes worth of watering, fertilizing, and moving through the growth time. That's 1 hour to grow 5 plants. So, divide $12.59 by 5 plants, you get $2.52.

So, with $2.00 for materials and $2.52 for labor, cost is $4.52-$5.00 per plant. Now, we need to keep the lights on, make our mortgage payment, pay our coffee bill, etc. Add on another $3.00-$4.00 per plant. If we just want to break even, we'll charge $7.99 - $8.99 per plant. If we want to make a profit, we'll need to charge $9.99 - $12.99 per plant. I've seen organic plants priced WAY higher than this, just for organic's sake. We won't do that. We want to be the best priced organic garden center in our area. We want to be fair, reasonable. Sure, we have to make a living, but inflating prices for the sake of saying they're organic is just wrong.

I would love for someone to tell me where we're going wrong with this pricing method, or what we're doing right.

We Have a Name!!!

2009-04-19T15:57:00.004-04:00

Yes! Yes! Yes! After weeks and weeks of typing and writing, deleting and erasing, many, many, many "Nah"s, we have a name!

Hereafter, our business will be called the "EcOasis Garden Center". Now I can start working on our business plan, contacting other garden centers across the country for advice, and making this dream a REALITY!

I've just registered our domain, http://www.ecoasisgardencenter.com/ on GoDaddy.com. Now, need to work on our logo and website. If I could just find someone willing to do it for free while I list their name as designer... I've heard nightmare stories of how other people have done that, and the person would leave broken links, or quit half-way through. We'll just have to see...