The Third-Oldest Industry

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To market, to market. When your plants are of sufficient quantity and quality, it's time to sell them. The simplest places to start are the locally owned nurseries in your area, especially those you've already done business with. Make the initial contact in person and take along samples of your plants. At first you may have to price your plants below typical wholesale rates or offer them on consignment. But if you're persistent and provide an adequate quantity of quality plants at competitive prices, you can become a regular supplier.

The truly ambitious can try to tap the chain-store markets. The chains are a harder sell, Michael warns, since they typically will only do business with a select list of growers that must be approved by the head office. Most also require larger shipments than many backyard nurseries can provide. But if you do land a chain store, it may be the only account you'll need.

Don't limit your marketing to retailers, though. Park and school districts, homeowner associations, golf courses, and cemeteries all require a steady supply of plants and bedding materials. Whatever doesn't sell to the retailers take to the local farmers' or flea market and price it to sell. "The truth is you can eventually move everything you grow," Michael says. "You just have to find the right price."

Remaining flexible with their pricing and watching for bargains is how the Harlans grow their business. They don't sit around twiddling their green thumbs during the six months it takes their trees to grow to market size. If they spot latania on sale for $1.50 at a discount nursery or hardware store, they snap up as many plants as they can haul away. They then repot each of those $.25 plants with a few pennies of soil into the gallon cans the trees were originally shipped in. After eight weeks of watering, they sell each can of latania to a retailer for $2.

As long as growers learn the market, produce quality plants, and, above all, keep it simple, the backyard nursery is an enjoyable, rewarding way to make money. "When you find something that works," Michael says, "Stick to it and trust the process."

Details on Mike and Linda Harlan's home-based business are included in their book, Growing Profits: How to Start and Operate a Backyard Nursery (Moneta Publications, 1997). You can order it through MOTHER'S bookshelf by calling 1-800-888-9098. Ask for product #MEB249.

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