There are a few business ideas out there that can offer you good income with little time taken up. Sure there are also many scams and get-rich-quick schemes that claim the same but rest assured there are businesses like that. One great example is the business of selling indoor plants. While it does require significant investment it pays off well if you follow the tips to success. So let’s talk about the idea of starting a home business that sells indoor plants in Zimbabwe.

Indoor plants

Indoor plants vary widely but we can agree that they are kept for home aesthetic purposes. Some people like rooms that connect with nature and you can understand how that can easily be absent in most houses or rooms in our modern world. You will find that lilies, succulents, chillies, herbs and other small shrubs are popular in this realm. Plants do more than just add some greenery and beauty to a room of course. Some plants are desired for spiritual reasons and while we do not have time to dwell on that it may do you well to know which plants have spiritual motivations behind them. You may also find chillies and herbs are kept for culinary reasons. Indoor plants make great gifts and are also purchased by many young and middle-aged people.

Suppliers

The first thing we will look at is suppliers for your business. Your business will have 3 main elements to it. You will sell the plants of course. You will sell the pots or housing for the plants. Finally, you will sell consumables. We will look at each of these things separately to understand the supply considerations around them.

Pots

Pots and planters are an important part of this business. In many cases, they are sold separately to the plants as they have their value. While you want to provide a wide variety for all tastes it’s important to remember who your target market is. With that in mind, you want to look at stocking aesthetically pleasing pots and planters. You could consider making your own if you have the skills. Or perhaps you’re a potter looking for a way to sell more pots. Ceramic and plastic are the most popular materials here.

Plants

When it comes to the plants you are spoilt for choice and it will take an understanding of your target market to get the right plants. There is a frenzy with easy maintenance plants as many people buy house plants to learn to take care of things. So something easier to take care of appeals to these groups. You can grow plants from seeds or seedlings and you also have the option of buying them ready to go from a nursery.

Consumables

Consumables when it comes to plants include things such as fertiliser, compost, soil and insecticides. For the most part, these are things you simply buy and resell. Sometimes they may be sold in quantities too large for a single plant owner and you can take advantage of this by buying and repackaging.

Equipment

Earlier I mentioned that you could grow the plants from seeds. While this doesn’t apply to every single type of indoor plant you can see how this works with herbs and chillies as ideal examples. A lot of these plants are delicate and if you want to do this successfully all year round you may want to invest in grow tunnels and/or grow houses. These are essentially mini-greenhouses that give you the advantage of greenhouses without the bulk. A grow house can be the size of a wardrobe while grow tunnels can be the size of a bed. The grow houses can also be used for holding stock of plants that you buy ready to sell.

Marketing

Knowing your target market has been mentioned a lot thus far. The thing to understand is that while we will accept money from any customer, there is an ideal customer we look at. Our 4 Ps (product, price, place, promotion) will be catered to what we know about our ideal customers. Here are some important things to look out for to help your marketing stand out.

Trends

Understanding trends in your target market will help you a lot. You can understand a lot about what is driving demand in your market and how to relate to the driver by paying attention to trends.

Gifts

I don’t have any numbers to share with you here but I’m willing to stick my neck out and say a significant number of indoor plants are bought as gifts for other people. This presents a little disconnect; the customer is not the consumer. Not the worst thing to deal with just remember positioning them as ideal gifts in your marketing will go a long way. You can go a step further and be specific about the gift such as a housewarming gift, a new chapter in life gift and so on.

Packages

Gifting goes well with packages so don’t just think about the plant. Be daring and go a little wider. Incorporate other popular gifts such as a T-shirt that says “Plant parent” or something equally smart with the plant.

There you go! See, it does exist. Indoor plant selling can give you a healthy income without asking too much of you.