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Re: [SG] HOW TO MAKE HORT A BUSINESS

Carmel, like Bobbie, I started with the determination that I would make my
perennials nursery grow itself.  That is, I would not borrow money to get
it started.  At the time, I realized that I didn't really know anything
about running a retail business.  I thought of working at another nursery
for a while, but there were none anywhere close.  I would have had to
relocate.  I thought of taking courses, but I really didn't want to go back
to school.  Instead, I read voraciously and let the plants teach me.  They
will.  All you have to do is be a careful observer.
I have also thought from time to time about taking business courses.  But,
I still don't  want to go back to school, so what I have done instead is
take advantage of workshops and seminars sponsored by my local chamber of
commerce, the Nebr. Business Development Center, and business magazines.  I
have gotten a lot of great ideas this way.
I started by asking the question, "What do my customers need?"  I've been
asking myself that question every day for the last 16 years, and the
answers have determined the direction my business has taken.  At the
beginning, I thought that the nursery might be a parttime spring thing.  I
really did not get ambitious until about the 3rd year. That's when I set
the goal of trying to atract garden visitors from a 40-mile radius.  If I
had known then what I know now, I would have been scared to try it at all.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would have 3 acres under
cultivation, that I would produce and mail a catalog, that I would see
people coming here from considerably farther than 40 miles, or that I would
grow so many plants!  But every year, the business has grown, and I have
grown with it.  I get used to the idea of having a little bit more to oversee.

I started very frugally--mostly with what I had in my garden at the time.
This continues to grow too.  I still feel fairly cautious about expansions.
I think it is still possible to start with what you have(and what you are)
and build on it.  There are so many ways to approach a horticultural
business.  You have to figure out which approach suits you personally.
And, of course, keep asking "What do my customers need?"

Gail Korn
Garden Perennials
Wayne, NE  Zone 4

At 10:24 AM 9/15/98 +0100, you wrote:
>thanks to those that shared...all replies addressed different concerns
>and raised some new questions. I really would be interested in hearing
>some more about the real 'business end' of it all. How long did it take
>to turn a profit? How did you get started financially?
>
>Thanks again to all,
>
>Carmel Matsushita
>
>
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