Another mistake is growing plants that you like and not growing plants that people want. I sell plants from 2 acre back yard nursery by appointment only. I always control my customer flow and advertise "No crowds, Just me."
Thoroughly enjoyed not only watching & learning all your great business / horticulture & tech advice but also seeing you succeed while remaining genuine & honest.......great stuff
Jason, very good sharing! We've done the Farmer's Markets as well with our crops (fresh berries) but we figured out the time spent travelling, setting up and being there for 4 hours was just not feasible for us as we still needed to farm! So, we resorted to selling from our farm and people love the experience coming to a farm! You must read a book that really helped us to get a new viewpoint for our business - "The Experience Economy" - in this day in age it's not about a commodity but experience! This is what we're working on! Thank you for your openness about your business!
I know the struggle you're talking about - time on the farm vs. time marketing. It's good that you can combine them, and provide an added value for the customer at the same time. I'd like to aim in that direction too - but baby steps for now! And thanks for the book recommendation.
I really appreciate the upfront outline of what you will be talking about. Refreshing after so many long videos of lists that you end up skipping through
Thanks Rhonda. And I had some rare ones too! I'm still a little below market (this year it was $30 for a 2 gallon while many other local rose sellers are in the $50 to $70 range for 3 gallon pots. I'll have to look at pricing again, but I'm always hesitant to push large increases on to the customer.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm I believe the quality of your work speaks for itself and the market could bear the price increase. Keeping some common varieties as well could ensure you have options for everyone, but would also highlight the rare varieties. My thinking, at least. Wish you were close still 😉
I’m so happy to see you fighting back to this dilemma/pandemic! I have no doubts that your creativity and passion will get you through this. Maybe you will even find yourself in a better place as a small grower in the future. I think/hope this experience teaches people that local is always best!!!!!
Thanks Jenny - I think you're right. I'm learning lessons now about how to run my business online, and I'm not sure I'll ever plan a season again with so many off-site events
Great thoughts Jason...#5..I too priced too low. My sales were through the roof last year with very satisfied perceived value feedback from my customers, but when I sat down and completed my P&L at the end of the season, not so good. After 3 years of selling, this is still a work in progress for me. My standard product is a trade gallon perennial or shrub. My customer is not the landscaper looking for 2-3 gallon plants. It's the homeowner looking to add new plants to their landscape. I'd love to hear your insight on growing smaller but less expensive vs. larger and more expensive.
This has been a struggle for me. I need to learn 1) Not all of my customers are price sensitive 2) If I've grown something uncommon, there's little competition, so I can charge a little more, 3) If I've grown it larger, it's a greater value for my customer, and they won't mind paying for it. When I was selling at farmers markets and events, I found it useful to use standard pricing by pot size (like $3 for any 4" perennial). Now that I'm selling online, I can price individually without confusing my customers. It just makes sense to be able to vary pricing: lower for common and easy-to-grow, higher for uncommon, difficult or slow-growing
Many years ago, a friend was trying to get out of his business and decided to "price himself out." He found that he made more money than ever, as people loved his product and he finally had to TELL people he was quitting. He said people kept telling him they knew they were getting good value because he charged so much...a little crazy but there it is.
This was really informative! Thank you! I am busy with starting a small backyard nursery (with big dreams of developing it into a proper nursery) and videos like these truly help me a lot.
I've been a plant grower and markets for 17 years and yes spot on a tip for tomatoes would probably be change the pot size or put in a little bit early and get the stem thicker then others sometimes I would have 10 or more selling same as what I took but deference was I sold out they would go home full👍
Thank you Jason for your business insight. I am a investment consultant and plan to start a nursery. I have been growing plants for years as a hobby. Now that I am working from home, I am able to spend more time in my large garden. Watched several of your videos today and enjoyed all of them. Thank you.
This is a great video, I have experienced exactly the same thing. I am majorly guilty of no. 2, overly enthusiastic and spent too much money, lol. The worst mistake for me was seasonal items. It sold really well one year, so I bought container load and sold none the following year. To make things even more than worst, cost me money to dispose of it.
This is really interesting. I am selling seedlings this year for the first time.i didn’t intend on going into sales. I grew 100 tiny tin seedlings for a health fair where I was to have a booth on growing your own healthy food. I also had more dwarf and microdwarf tomatoes because I put 5-6 seeds in a cell for each variety. The germination rate was high so I had extras. I have been trading them for eggs, bread flour, and other items. My goal is to teach people in my community to grow their own food. I wouldn’t mind Selling enough plants to by the green house I want, too!
I make handmade soaps and I have made every single one of those mistakes when I was selling at farmers markets. These mistakes are universal.... and really unavoidable. Even big companies make these mistakes. Good luck! Your location is absolutely gorgeous. But you know that already. :) To you point about the tomato competition, the farmers markets where I sold my soaps could only have one soap vendor, one handmade pasta vender, one honey vendor etc, and that rule was there to protect the small vendors who weren't making a whole lot to begin with. These farmers markets were not free to join. We had to pay a weekly fee to sell there and sometimes needed a commitment to an entire season. However, they would allow multiple produce sellers so the farmers had to adapt to the competition. I made great soap and I didn't have to worry about being undercut by the banana bread guy or the orchid girls because they weren't allowed to sell the specific soap I was making.
Thanks Mic. Always good to hear from another farmers market vendor. I know that many markets (including my home market) have policies to limit the amount of competition in various products. It's a tough line to draw when you're talking about fresh local produce - having more suppliers is generally a good thing for the market itself & helps to draw more customers overall. I have no hard feelings about the competition - and only mixed feelings about the subsidized nature of the competitor. My real gripe is with myself - and the fact that I stuck with a "losing" activity for too long. I appreciate your thoughtful input!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Id like to hightlight that you should be cautious using PayPal too heavily. I recommend reading about the pitfalls of using them. Ive had headaches that were a pain to resolve.
Thanks for the advice. So far they haven't been too bad. They charge more per transaction than I'd like, but online customers seem fairly willing to use them as a payment processor.
Hello Jason. I’m new to home gardening since I have a small backyard and bedding along the yard. I’m interested in planting different types and colors of roses and other plants but I’m curious if there’s different care for the little rose plants and the larger ones?
Hi Marcella. There are a few small differences between varieties, but nothing you need to worry about much. The smaller (often cluster-flowering) roses usually benefit from a lighter pruning and can tolerate a little more difficult conditions. Generally, the larger growing and flowering roses take a bit more sun/water/fertilizer and care to show off their best.
Hi Stefan. May have been a mouse or a fast little bird - they come in for the shelter and I think there were quite a few of them in the greenhouse that morning.
Jason, this coming april I need at list 15 pot of different color of Rose's, what place I need to go. Or market. Please let me know, I alway watching your vidio. Thank you and god bless.
dude i fuckin love your videos straight down to earth good guy i can just tell im in the process of figuring out what i want to grow for a plant business... i will strive to make it work been really stressed out lately and figured id start growing plants to take the stress away and man lemme tell you..... im starting to feel like a new person i love growing!!!! good day to you man!!!
Hi there it’s Norm Thompson I bin watching your videos very well put together I am trying hard to start making a few bucks off it to help us with all my medical bills I no you can’t relie on plant sales first we love working with plants and we already own the greenhouse witch helps if we could make 300. Per month be happy if you have any tricks that would help we would love to hear from you I wrote you a few weeks back
It's a bit arbitrary, but you have to pick a price that 1) meets the goals of your business, and 2) you can justify to customers by the rarity. So if you offered a run-of-the-mill echinacea in a 1 gallon pot for $7 (just picking numbers out of the air), you might easily push an rare variety up to $15 or more, depending on how fabulous it is. It makes sense to shop the online mail-order garden centers for comparable items, just so you have some idea what to base the prices on.
Used pots from local farms and nurseries - the largest portion this year came from blueberry growers, who end up with piles of empty pots when they plant their rows. I think we paid .10 each for the pots
Check out Etsy and EBay on pricing and avail. very helpful . On my 3rd year with them now after retirement ! Very satisfying . My small business went crazy in April and May of 2020
Thanks Donna - a bit has changed since the release of this video, but you make good suggestions, and here's where it stands: Facebook has been quite good for local marketing. They've even gone in the direction of letting me integrate my farm website's online store with their marketplace, so that's a big advantage (not having to maintain the listings in both places). I don't bother with Craigslist anymore - just too many no-shows, too many inquiries that lead to nothing. Maybe this varies by location though.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm I planted 3 peach trees, 1 apple tree, 6 blueberry bushes and 2 dozen raspberry plants in the past 3 years. I had 7 gorgeous peaches last summer from a 5’ tree. I want a small business and have wood to make raised beds. My plan is to buy trees and plants, grow them a few years in fabric pots placed in a raised bed with dirt in between them and grow some veggies there for myself as the trees grow. I’m doing it to get a farm tax write off and also to have fabulous peaches. I’m in zone 5 in central NH. You?
Our business plans change along with whatever plants I'm enthusiastic about. Roses will always be the backbone of our selection, but perennials too - and then just anything that catches my fancy. We're about an hour east of Vancouver BC
It was a little bird. There were quite a few of them flying and scooting around the greenhouse that morning - I'm surprise more of them didn't make a cameo.
Hi guy we are on 3 year growing and selling but how can I talk to you and I email you then could I pay you to just talk to me I am trying hard to keep it going but I am loosing my both legs and getting prosthetic legs and one hand so I could really talk with you I really want to keep trying but I could use some that is smart I think you are doing great way to go
Thanks for the encouragement Norm. Sorry to hear about your health problems. I can't do individual consultations (just can't fit it in to my work week) but I'm happy to keep giving (free) advice here, and if there are any specific topics you'd like to see me address, drop those into the comments of one of the videos and I'll see what I can do to help.
Great video! I have a backyard nursery myself and deal with alot of the same problems! Check out my youtube channel, I am building a house right now so alot of my videos are construction related but I do have lots of plant videos as well. Most of my business comes from Facebook groups. I also had art work done in a comical cartoon theme almost like Mario Bros. art on plywood that says"plant sale" . I use these when I throw an actual sale. I do a facebook Ad that shows my address, time of sale which is usually the 3 day weekend, my Ad shows the time 9-6 and it says just show up. Doing it this way has brought me in about 10,000 in 3 days! Very hectic and sometimes gets too crowded where I might upset the neighbors. Once again, great video!
I’d say those are the business mistakes or business pressures I’ve encountered over and over during my business career…even after I had already faced that issue and thought I was a little smarter than the last time… I ran a small food processing business for 35 years and got the opportunity to “solve” those issues again and again … When I retired 7 years ago I thought I had the opportunity to do what I really loved; raise plants and sell them…from the beginning I only wanted to sell direct, from my farmstead….I had the experience of being a market gardener when I was young and the example of several local excellent horticulturists and small farmers to inform me about the possibilities and opportunities… The conclusion first…I really don’t want the activity I love to be wrapped up in all of the pressures of business… I lived with that stress for decades..and given the choice decided not to do it again… But I have a few anecdotes about starting a home farm business… 1. Customers will commit to your business if they like you and you product quality and selection…some customers just don’t come back because you don’t hit it off or they had a bad experience with your product… Customers come and go…you always have to be looking for/recruiting new customers… 2. Unique and timely product offerings…customers are looking for something new and different and at the right time, something with a story…one year I had hundreds of unusual tulips. They were very early for our area and I sold as many as I could cut…the next year I planted hundreds more…but, the moles ate 90% of them…but customers were asking for them…how many crop failures can I take? Will customers return a third time? 3. Customers may or may not like what you like…I love roses but in our cold climate the most beautiful tender roses have a tenuous reputation, they don’t survive our winters…to satisfy my own desire to grow these plants I made the decision to buy bare root hybrid teas etc. and enjoy the challenge of growing them in pots for 1 season…most gardeners consider that excessive expense and labor…I had gone through the experience of trying to over winter these beauties and had decided the annual expense of buying new plants was worth it to me….but my customers knew best, these tender roses do not survive our winters…even at an Inexpensive farm stand price of $25 nobody would buy them (though several of the nicest plants were stolen from my roadside stand.) my interests and priorities don’t necessarily match my costumers’. 4. Loss leaders keep your customers coming back…besides plants I also sold lamb meat and sheep hides and eggs and chicken, and some fruits …customers sometimes bought the roses or perennials or annuals or blueberries or apples or grapes but they always bought eggs and the lamb was gone within a week…problem was, those items meat and eggs are expensive to produce and most people expect good value on commodities… but they came back every week for eggs… So like you say ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket,’ don’t overspend, don’t over produce, etc I would add; expect change, keep looking for new customers, keep experimenting with new product ideas, keep up your quality, find products with a fanciful story, offer loss leaders that don’t cost too much to produce…
Thanks for all your insights Ken. I enjoyed the read. I wouldn't second-guess your choice about separating your hobby from your business - that's got to be a personal decision. I've obviously tied up my interests in growing plants with my living now, and I'm having a blast, but I could imagine it going the other way too. One of your final points: "expect change" yes! You won't know what exactly is coming, but you can be sure the business will be different every year.
Hi Jason, I really enjoy your knowledge, energy, enthusiasm, honestly and the beauty you are creating and sharing in your posts… I hope to study your rose offerings and see if I can find more Zone 3- (we’re occasionally a little colder than Zone 3) rose plants…on your recent tour of the volunteer rose garden restoration you mentioned some Canadian bred hardies…this winter I’ll be studying your conversation with the curator there a go a hunting for some specimens… Thanks, Ken
This video is good for all businesses…not just for the plant business….
Another mistake is growing plants that you like and not growing plants that people want.
I sell plants from 2 acre back yard nursery by appointment only. I always control my customer flow and advertise "No crowds, Just me."
Great piece of advice. I've definitely made that mistake myself!
You are always so good with your info: plain, clear and to the point!
Thoroughly enjoyed not only watching & learning all your great business / horticulture & tech advice but also seeing you succeed while remaining genuine & honest.......great stuff
Thanks for watching and for your kind comments
Thanks for the transparency
Jason, very good sharing! We've done the Farmer's Markets as well with our crops (fresh berries) but we figured out the time spent travelling, setting up and being there for 4 hours was just not feasible for us as we still needed to farm! So, we resorted to selling from our farm and people love the experience coming to a farm! You must read a book that really helped us to get a new viewpoint for our business - "The Experience Economy" - in this day in age it's not about a commodity but experience! This is what we're working on! Thank you for your openness about your business!
I know the struggle you're talking about - time on the farm vs. time marketing. It's good that you can combine them, and provide an added value for the customer at the same time. I'd like to aim in that direction too - but baby steps for now! And thanks for the book recommendation.
Is book by Joseph Pine & James Gilmore?
Thank you for your total honesty! Respect you more for it! Your growing/learning experience is such a huge benefit for us! Thank You so much!
I really appreciate the upfront outline of what you will be talking about. Refreshing after so many long videos of lists that you end up skipping through
What a great video concept. Thank you for your authenticity. I wish I had been to your $10 rose sale! 😉
Thanks Rhonda. And I had some rare ones too! I'm still a little below market (this year it was $30 for a 2 gallon while many other local rose sellers are in the $50 to $70 range for 3 gallon pots. I'll have to look at pricing again, but I'm always hesitant to push large increases on to the customer.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm I believe the quality of your work speaks for itself and the market could bear the price increase. Keeping some common varieties as well could ensure you have options for everyone, but would also highlight the rare varieties. My thinking, at least. Wish you were close still 😉
I’m so happy to see you fighting back to this dilemma/pandemic! I have no doubts that your creativity and passion will get you through this. Maybe you will even find yourself in a better place as a small grower in the future. I think/hope this experience teaches people that local is always best!!!!!
Thanks Jenny - I think you're right. I'm learning lessons now about how to run my business online, and I'm not sure I'll ever plan a season again with so many off-site events
What pandemic? The one with less than a 1% mortality rate? Some pandemic. LOL!
This is very helpful for me because i'm planning to have a plant business, thanks for sharing your ideas
My pleasure - and good luck!
Great thoughts Jason...#5..I too priced too low. My sales were through the roof last year with very satisfied perceived value feedback from my customers, but when I sat down and completed my P&L at the end of the season, not so good. After 3 years of selling, this is still a work in progress for me. My standard product is a trade gallon perennial or shrub. My customer is not the landscaper looking for 2-3 gallon plants. It's the homeowner looking to add new plants to their landscape. I'd love to hear your insight on growing smaller but less expensive vs. larger and more expensive.
This has been a struggle for me. I need to learn 1) Not all of my customers are price sensitive 2) If I've grown something uncommon, there's little competition, so I can charge a little more, 3) If I've grown it larger, it's a greater value for my customer, and they won't mind paying for it. When I was selling at farmers markets and events, I found it useful to use standard pricing by pot size (like $3 for any 4" perennial). Now that I'm selling online, I can price individually without confusing my customers. It just makes sense to be able to vary pricing: lower for common and easy-to-grow, higher for uncommon, difficult or slow-growing
This is amazing, I'm planning on studying agriculture and these are some really useful tips
Thanks Giannina - I'm always excited to hear about someone choosing agriculture as a career. So many options!
Thank you so much I'm only starting my plant business and this is sm eye opener
I wish you success in your new business
Great advice Jason thanks for making these great videos.
Many years ago, a friend was trying to get out of his business and decided to "price himself out." He found that he made more money than ever, as people loved his product and he finally had to TELL people he was quitting. He said people kept telling him they knew they were getting good value because he charged so much...a little crazy but there it is.
Great story Anne - and goes to show that you can't assume much about other peoples values!
Thank you. I'll watch it a couple or 3 times
Great information! I am a Florida Master Gardener and I am thinking about starting a backyard nursery. Sharing your mistakes was a very helpful topic.
Thanks Mary - and best of luck with your business plans
Thanks Jason. Very inciteful while being relevant even here in Australia
I am just starting out and learning so much from you. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience!
Definitely my pleasure.
This was really informative! Thank you! I am busy with starting a small backyard nursery (with big dreams of developing it into a proper nursery) and videos like these truly help me a lot.
Thanks Eugene. I wish you all the best in your new plant business!
You are a gem for your honesty! So nice to hear about your business ventures. Best wishes and very much enjoy your videos! Keep it up.
thanks very informative, I can see how over ethusium can easily lead to over purchasing equipment you don't need or haven't fully thought through!
I've been a plant grower and markets for 17 years and yes spot on a tip for tomatoes would probably be change the pot size or put in a little bit early and get the stem thicker then others sometimes I would have 10 or more selling same as what I took but deference was I sold out they would go home full👍
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Thank you Jason for your business insight. I am a investment consultant and plan to start a nursery. I have been growing plants for years as a hobby. Now that I am working from home, I am able to spend more time in my large garden. Watched several of your videos today and enjoyed all of them. Thank you.
You have one of the best agricultural channels on RUclips. Thanks! Keep it up! Greetings from Peru.
Thanks for the knowledge.
This is a great video, I have experienced exactly the same thing.
I am majorly guilty of no. 2, overly enthusiastic and spent too much money, lol.
The worst mistake for me was seasonal items. It sold really well one year, so I bought container load and sold none the following year. To make things even more than worst, cost me money to dispose of it.
Thanks for sharing your experience on this - it's such a pitfall, and I think we're built for optimism!
Very helpful for me, thank you
This is really interesting. I am selling seedlings this year for the first time.i didn’t intend on going into sales. I grew 100 tiny tin seedlings for a health fair where I was to have a booth on growing your own healthy food. I also had more dwarf and microdwarf tomatoes because I put 5-6 seeds in a cell for each variety. The germination rate was high so I had extras. I have been trading them for eggs, bread flour, and other items. My goal is to teach people in my community to grow their own food. I wouldn’t mind Selling enough plants to by the green house I want, too!
Thanks Jeannie - great project!
Awesome! I wish you great success!
Thank you for sharing your experience. Greatly appreciated.
Very Informative. Thank you.
Your channel is an eye opener for starters.. thanks.
Thank you for sharing, I've watched some of your videos and you share great contents, I love all of them. Thanks.
Thank you for sharing this information. I am in the start up process of doing a backyard nursery. Love your channel!
Thanks so much Crystal - have a great season!
Appreciate your advice Mr plant man
i love your video. very informative.. tq
Fantastic video!
So interesting topic
Thanks for sharing your experience!!!!
Brilliant insight, thank you for sharing, great to get a first-hand look into nursery production :)
My pleasure. Glad you found it interesting.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm yes, as a horticulture student, (with an interest in nursery production) it's great to get proper industry insights :)
More great Nursery business info! Thanks!
Such useful info again, thanks!
good for you!!!!! rooting for you
Great advice!! Thankyou for your tips.Cheers from Australia!🙂
Thanks Melanie!
Great information, thank you .😊
Always love these videos! Keep up the great work! Can’t wait for the next one.
Thanks!!
Great tips!
🌼🌼🌼
Thanks a lot for your valuable info Jason, this helps a lot and I really appreciate your knowledge.
Thanks for the encouragement Hoang Do
I make handmade soaps and I have made every single one of those mistakes when I was selling at farmers markets. These mistakes are universal.... and really unavoidable. Even big companies make these mistakes. Good luck!
Your location is absolutely gorgeous. But you know that already. :)
To you point about the tomato competition, the farmers markets where I sold my soaps could only have one soap vendor, one handmade pasta vender, one honey vendor etc, and that rule was there to protect the small vendors who weren't making a whole lot to begin with. These farmers markets were not free to join. We had to pay a weekly fee to sell there and sometimes needed a commitment to an entire season. However, they would allow multiple produce sellers so the farmers had to adapt to the competition. I made great soap and I didn't have to worry about being undercut by the banana bread guy or the orchid girls because they weren't allowed to sell the specific soap I was making.
Thanks Mic. Always good to hear from another farmers market vendor. I know that many markets (including my home market) have policies to limit the amount of competition in various products. It's a tough line to draw when you're talking about fresh local produce - having more suppliers is generally a good thing for the market itself & helps to draw more customers overall. I have no hard feelings about the competition - and only mixed feelings about the subsidized nature of the competitor. My real gripe is with myself - and the fact that I stuck with a "losing" activity for too long. I appreciate your thoughtful input!
Thanks for the video!
You're so helpful. Bless you xx
Thanks for sharing
Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Id like to hightlight that you should be cautious using PayPal too heavily. I recommend reading about the pitfalls of using them. Ive had headaches that were a pain to resolve.
Thanks for the advice. So far they haven't been too bad. They charge more per transaction than I'd like, but online customers seem fairly willing to use them as a payment processor.
Just found you today . Nice Info
Thanks Kristal.
Interesting, thanks for sharing 👍❤️😊
great info
Hello Jason. I’m new to home gardening since I have a small backyard and bedding along the yard. I’m interested in planting different types and colors of roses and other plants but I’m curious if there’s different care for the little rose plants and the larger ones?
Hi Marcella. There are a few small differences between varieties, but nothing you need to worry about much. The smaller (often cluster-flowering) roses usually benefit from a lighter pruning and can tolerate a little more difficult conditions. Generally, the larger growing and flowering roses take a bit more sun/water/fertilizer and care to show off their best.
Minute 5:16 that little mouse crossing the path hihi
Hi Stefan. May have been a mouse or a fast little bird - they come in for the shelter and I think there were quite a few of them in the greenhouse that morning.
Jason, this coming april I need at list 15 pot of different color of Rose's, what place I need to go. Or market. Please let me know, I alway watching your vidio. Thank you and god bless.
Hi Lally - depends on where you live. There are lots of online suppliers and local garden centers in the US
dude i fuckin love your videos straight down to earth good guy i can just tell im in the process of figuring out what i want to grow for a plant business... i will strive to make it work been really stressed out lately and figured id start growing plants to take the stress away and man lemme tell you..... im starting to feel like a new person i love growing!!!! good day to you man!!!
thank you for taking your time to make these videos means alot
Thanks so much - it's always a pleasure to hear from like-minded growers! Have a great season
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm no problem!!
Thanks so much!!!!
Nice..❤❤🌱🌳
Where did you get your greenhouse that’s showing in the background and what size is it?
95' by 20' - we're quite happy to have them because they came with the farm.
We want to see your edible forest!
about underpricing... i think you are definitely underselling those crazy cool succulent planters!
like $12 would be legit. i'd pay that
Thanks Megan.
Hi there it’s Norm Thompson I bin watching your videos very well put together I am trying hard to start making a few bucks off it to help us with all my medical bills I no you can’t relie on plant sales first we love working with plants and we already own the greenhouse witch helps if we could make 300. Per month be happy if you have any tricks that would help we would love to hear from you I wrote you a few weeks back
How do you price the plants you sell if they are rare in your area?
It's a bit arbitrary, but you have to pick a price that 1) meets the goals of your business, and 2) you can justify to customers by the rarity. So if you offered a run-of-the-mill echinacea in a 1 gallon pot for $7 (just picking numbers out of the air), you might easily push an rare variety up to $15 or more, depending on how fabulous it is. It makes sense to shop the online mail-order garden centers for comparable items, just so you have some idea what to base the prices on.
Where do you get all of the black plastic pots?
Used pots from local farms and nurseries - the largest portion this year came from blueberry growers, who end up with piles of empty pots when they plant their rows. I think we paid .10 each for the pots
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm okay thank you!
Check out Etsy and EBay on pricing and avail. very helpful . On my 3rd year with them now after retirement ! Very satisfying . My small business went crazy in April and May of 2020
So good to hear. The year turned out well (after a shaky start) for us too
Have you tried selling on Amazon?
Not yet. The live plants section of Amazon (in Canada anyway) is a bit underwhelming.
Does your town have a Facebook page you can sell on? What about Craigslist?
Thanks Donna - a bit has changed since the release of this video, but you make good suggestions, and here's where it stands: Facebook has been quite good for local marketing. They've even gone in the direction of letting me integrate my farm website's online store with their marketplace, so that's a big advantage (not having to maintain the listings in both places). I don't bother with Craigslist anymore - just too many no-shows, too many inquiries that lead to nothing. Maybe this varies by location though.
@@FraserValleyRoseFarm I planted 3 peach trees, 1 apple tree, 6 blueberry bushes and 2 dozen raspberry plants in the past 3 years. I had 7 gorgeous peaches last summer from a 5’ tree. I want a small business and have wood to make raised beds. My plan is to buy trees and plants, grow them a few years in fabric pots placed in a raised bed with dirt in between them and grow some veggies there for myself as the trees grow. I’m doing it to get a farm tax write off and also to have fabulous peaches. I’m in zone 5 in central NH. You?
Our business plans change along with whatever plants I'm enthusiastic about. Roses will always be the backbone of our selection, but perennials too - and then just anything that catches my fancy. We're about an hour east of Vancouver BC
Mistakes are learning but mistakes in rare plants kind is real sadness
What is that running in the background @5:15 ?
It was a little bird. There were quite a few of them flying and scooting around the greenhouse that morning - I'm surprise more of them didn't make a cameo.
Do you sell on Ebay?
How can I get government funding to grow plants? That's what I want to know.
They throw so much money around, I'm sure there's a way!
Omg I'm actually first!
5:15 mouse ran by,
Killed with kindness 1:24
Hi guy we are on 3 year growing and selling but how can I talk to you and I email you then could I pay you to just talk to me I am trying hard to keep it going but I am loosing my both legs and getting prosthetic legs and one hand so I could really talk with you I really want to keep trying but I could use some that is smart I think you are doing great way to go
Thanks for the encouragement Norm. Sorry to hear about your health problems. I can't do individual consultations (just can't fit it in to my work week) but I'm happy to keep giving (free) advice here, and if there are any specific topics you'd like to see me address, drop those into the comments of one of the videos and I'll see what I can do to help.
I take mine to flea markets and ebay
Nice! I've considered the local flea market (pre-covid) because they really do see a lot of customer traffic
Great video! I have a backyard nursery myself and deal with alot of the same problems! Check out my youtube channel, I am building a house right now so alot of my videos are construction related but I do have lots of plant videos as well. Most of my business comes from Facebook groups. I also had art work done in a comical cartoon theme almost like Mario Bros. art on plywood that says"plant sale" . I use these when I throw an actual sale. I do a facebook Ad that shows my address, time of sale which is usually the 3 day weekend, my Ad shows the time 9-6 and it says just show up. Doing it this way has brought me in about 10,000 in 3 days! Very hectic and sometimes gets too crowded where I might upset the neighbors. Once again, great video!
#1 is the same reason why covid19 is an issue
I’d say those are the business mistakes or business pressures I’ve encountered over and over during my business career…even after I had already faced that issue and thought I was a little smarter than the last time…
I ran a small food processing business for 35 years and got the opportunity to “solve” those issues again and again …
When I retired 7 years ago I thought I had the opportunity to do what I really loved; raise plants and sell them…from the beginning I only wanted to sell direct, from my farmstead….I had the experience of being a market gardener when I was young and the example of several local excellent horticulturists and small farmers to inform me about the possibilities and opportunities…
The conclusion first…I really don’t want the activity I love to be wrapped up in all of the pressures of business… I lived with that stress for decades..and given the choice decided not to do it again…
But I have a few anecdotes about starting a home farm business…
1. Customers will commit to your business if they like you and you product quality and selection…some customers just don’t come back because you don’t hit it off or they had a bad experience with your product…
Customers come and go…you always have to be looking for/recruiting new customers…
2. Unique and timely product offerings…customers are looking for something new and different and at the right time, something with a story…one year I had hundreds of unusual tulips. They were very early for our area and I sold as many as I could cut…the next year I planted hundreds more…but, the moles ate 90% of them…but customers were asking for them…how many crop failures can I take? Will customers return a third time?
3. Customers may or may not like what you like…I love roses but in our cold climate the most beautiful tender roses have a tenuous reputation, they don’t survive our winters…to satisfy my own desire to grow these plants I made the decision to buy bare root hybrid teas etc. and enjoy the challenge of growing them in pots for 1 season…most gardeners consider that excessive expense and labor…I had gone through the experience of trying to over winter these beauties and had decided the annual expense of buying new plants was worth it to me….but my customers knew best, these tender roses do not survive our winters…even at an Inexpensive farm stand price of $25 nobody would buy them (though several of the nicest plants were stolen from my roadside stand.) my interests and priorities don’t necessarily match my costumers’.
4. Loss leaders keep your customers coming back…besides plants I also sold lamb meat and sheep hides and eggs and chicken, and some fruits …customers sometimes bought the roses or perennials or annuals or blueberries or apples or grapes but they always bought eggs and the lamb was gone within a week…problem was, those items meat and eggs are expensive to produce and most people expect good value on commodities… but they came back every week for eggs…
So like you say ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket,’ don’t overspend, don’t over produce, etc I would add; expect change, keep looking for new customers, keep experimenting with new product ideas, keep up your quality, find products with a fanciful story, offer loss leaders that don’t cost too much to produce…
Thanks for all your insights Ken. I enjoyed the read. I wouldn't second-guess your choice about separating your hobby from your business - that's got to be a personal decision. I've obviously tied up my interests in growing plants with my living now, and I'm having a blast, but I could imagine it going the other way too. One of your final points: "expect change" yes! You won't know what exactly is coming, but you can be sure the business will be different every year.
Hi Jason,
I really enjoy your knowledge, energy, enthusiasm, honestly and the beauty you are creating and sharing in your posts… I hope to study your rose offerings and see if I can find more Zone 3- (we’re occasionally a little colder than Zone 3) rose plants…on your recent tour of the volunteer rose garden restoration you mentioned some Canadian bred hardies…this winter I’ll be studying your conversation with the curator there a go a hunting for some specimens…
Thanks,
Ken
Thank you I m starting a nursery soon and your tips are a great help