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| Start a Herb Garden Home Business |
| Tuesday, November 28, 2006 |
It seems that the herb business is a growth business these days. In an ever increasing effort to find the next health food to satisfy the pallet of the American population, herbs have been receiving a lot of attention from the media. Numerous articles are being churned out daily touting the health benefits of herbs. This is a real winner, aside from the reported health benefits, herbs also add to the taste of bland foods such as potatoes, rice and vegetables.
So what does this mean to a stay at home mother with kids? A new item to purchase on the next grocery trip, or can there be more? The answer is that there most definitely can and is more to this. Moms at home can now turn this opportunity into a small thriving business if implemented correctly.
How can moms implement this home-based herb business at home? Here are a few steps that should be taken to ensure success.
Who will your customers be? The most popular options are in the local neighborhood. Contact your local grocers produce manager and then the local restaurant manager. The key question is not asking them if they want to buy from you, we know they need herbs, but rather ask them which herbs they need?
Before venturing out stop by the local library if you are not familiar with herbs and study up on how herbs grow, what are their scientific names, what is the growing season, how much yield can you expect from each plant? Bottom line, do your homework. Do not let them trip you up with a simple question. They will not ask a complicated question.
Study up on these herbs;
Basil, French Tarragon, Peppermint, Oregano, Sweet Marjoram, Rosemary, French Sorrel, Dill, Chives, Parsley, Thyme, Sage
Find out what the current wholesale prices are for these herbs. You can find this data through a subscription service. Typically these services cost a few dollars per month and may even include a free trial service. Otherwise you will need to work with the local grocer to find out what he is willing to pay. If you have a good reliable service he will work with you.
Decide on your packaging and labeling. Packaging and custom labels can be cost effective when purchased in bulk, but first find out if you will have any orders before purchasing supplies. You can design and make you own initial packaging for presentation purposes with the help of a local arts and crafts store.
To continue to enjoy success you should actively monitor which herbs customers are purchasing. You can either speak to the grocer who can see which herbs are selling best or ask the manager if you can speak with customers in the store.
Additionally it would be good to create some excitement out of cooking with herbs; many people do not know how to cook with them or what the benefits may be gained from herb cooking. Try running in store cooking classes for an hour or two. Provide demonstrations along with supplying free recipes that customers can take home to try themselves. Of course have some herb samples available to hand out and others to sell.
So once you have achieved your initial success, how will you take your fledging business to the next level? Well first you should decide what the next level is and what it can be. If you want more sales, can you support more sales through additional service? Would you need to hire someone to assist you? Can the next level just be, providing quality herbs to a minimal number of distributors that are completely satisfied with your product?
Once you have decided on a direction you should update your business plan to reflect the new course you will take. You should fully consider SWOT, what are the STRENGTHS of your direction, what are the WEAKNESSES, what are the OPPORTUNITIES, and what are your THREATS? Once you have answered these questions you are well on your way to either going on the new direction more successfully or placing the new direction on temporary hold until you are able to overcome the identified weaknesses or increased the compensating strengths.
I hope that this article has been helpful to your quest to join the ranks of the millions of people who are engaged in home-based self employment. The opportunities to make money selling something and in this case, herbs, are numerous. The question is to find your niche and to work at it as hard as possible so that success is not a dream but a reality. |
posted by I Am A WAHM @ 1:07 AM  |
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