Home based plant nursery business
How to start a home based plant nursery and make money in USA (legally)?
Why am I writing this article that creates competitors for my own plants business?
Because, we are becoming plant nursery wholesalers and trying to create retail sellers who buy from us. That’s a win-win.
1) Register a LLC. It takes less than 10 min to register LLC in your state online. Google for Register LLC in <State Name>
2) Register for EIN number online.
3) Register for Sales Tax Number. It may sound complicated but simple. Every quarter, it’s 10 min Job to file sales tax online.
4) Setup a small area to host plants.
4.1) Identify 20x10 space in the backyard, lay black ground cover, place some 20 pots with plants.
4.2) Buy liner plants from us in wholesale and pot them into 4” or 1 Gallon pots. Will share wholesale pots online store details.
4.3) If you have access to used pallets, lay the pallet on the ground cover. This will keep plants elevated from ground and avoids crawling insects.
Ground cover keeps the area clean from weeds.
4.4) Put up sprinkler irrigation covering that area.
5) Apply for Nursery and Stock Dealer Registration. Google will give the result to your state authority instantly.
6) Agriculture inspector will come and inspect your backyard and approve license.
7) Order liners (small plants) that come in a tray with 50 plants. Pot them into 4” or 1 Gallon pots.
8,) Grow them for 2 to 4 weeks and sell them around. We will help you advertise the plants in your location with our network.
9) Seedlings can be grown in the beginning of the season and can be sold. We sell best quality seeds from Indian Plants and Seeds.
10) Ornamentals can be grown through the season and can be sold. We sell best quality liners from VVF Tropicals.
11) In Florida, Food Producing seeds and Plants are not taxes while ornamentals are taxed. Check your state laws about taxation.
12) Keep accounts in free tools like Waze or simple xls file. Just maintain accounts of expenses ( what you spend, on what did you spend) and income ( how much you are paid and what for you are paid).
Accounting can be simple and at the same time complicated. Hire a CPA to help if required. Couple of 100$ spent on CPA services is worth every penny.
13) How much you can earn on plants depends on how much you can sell with efficiency. Start with a small pilot, expand as you go.
14) Entrepreneurship is not for everyone. It takes a special personality to be one. Dignity of labor is high in USA and earning money in any form that’s legal is well respected.
15) Be upfront and straightforward in business. Demand the price for your effort. Set your prices as per the market demand.
Do not sell cheap. Cheap is not always best. Sell for right price by optimizing costs and giving value.
16) Remember to count your time spent at $25 per hour. Calculate the profit after paying yourself at that price.
Hire help as and when you scale up. Offload activities that can be delegated. This gives you time to innovate and look forward for next growth.
17) Display right attitude. Don’t take anyone for granted and don’t let anyone to take you for granted.
18) Think of innovative ideas to sell your plants. Plants as Return gifts in Indian functions can be a good hit.
Setup stalls in events selling plants.
We sell liners at great prices for individuals to buy them, pot them, grow them and sell them for a profit.
Checkout out our Catalogue.
https://www.vvftropicals.com/collections/liners-plugs-starter-plants
Let me know for any questions.