Passionate About Gardens

[SATaylor]

Hi Everyone. I'm a newbie to the site. I just heard about it, and couldn't wait to logon.

I am a Vice President and Operations Manager in a large financial institution. Banking is virtually all I've ever done, but I am now interested in making a career change. Actually, it's been my desire for some 10 years now.

I love to garden, and want the opportunity to work in a related field. Ultimately, I would like to have my own garden center/nursery. In fact, I already have my business name picked out and registered. Problem is, I don't know how to get started.

I've done some very small jobs that I got through people I know, the largest of which included flowerscaping a subdivision entrance, and a church entrance. I've had business cards printed up, and gone door to door leaving them for flowerscaping services. Disappointingly, nothing came of that. I am so passionate about plants and gardens that at times I have been more helpful to shoppers in nurseries than their staff.

I'm perfectly willing to work part-time for an existing business, to augment my knowledge, but it seems to be a hard business to break into. I know this is my calling. Any advice?

[No Rush]

Hello from South Texas! One piece of advice I will give you is "just to it" everything will fall in to place the more you learn. Don't worry to much about a name, organization, bla bla bla...seek out help from your local SBA or Small Business Development Center; they are very helpful. Good luck...

[Az Gardener]

Which part of the industry do you want to do? You said you wanted a nursery but you are advertising to install flowers. I only ask because each area takes specific knowledge and while education is never a bad thing it takes time. If a nursery is what you want I would get a part time job at any type nursery and get going on the education part. You will make contacts at that job that will land you other work if you want. The plant part is a very satisfying but it alone wont pay the bills. This is a labor intensive industry so you need to learn how to hire and manage employees.

[Cart-Away]

Ever considered tapping into the great demand for outdoor living spaces that ususally include a garden?

[larryinalabama]

I once had the nursury dream, for now I just 30 or so "GARDENS" to tend to. Hope this will be an interesting thred.

[socallawndude]

Right on, I'll tell you if it's something you're passionate about stick to it and it will come together. All it takes is a call from 1 of those cards you put out and if you do well enough they will refer you to a friend and it's like dominos. Good luck with it!