Suckers for succulent success

Thrilled to share that the entrepreneurial bug has bitten the shortest person in our family. (FYI, that is not yet me.) Of all the possible business ideas C could come up with, this wasn’t one I saw coming: cacti.

The idea was sparked by one frustrated Dad’s suggestion that we switch yogurt brands because there was no use for the lovely ceramic pots it came in. C had insisted on saving them for “a project” and they were towering up along the edge of the kitchen sink. 

Facing an existential pot crisis, the idea was born. “I am going to sell cacti in those pots. It will make people happy *and* I will be recycling the pots so it’s good for the environment.” When asked how he envisions his startup, C explains that, lemonade stand like, he’s going to set up a table on our Soi (street) and sell cacti to passersby. 

As a streetwise Dad noted, I think this will prove to be our first fail as the foot traffic is almost all people who work for the people who live in the residences, the latter being the ones with the disposable income to be the target market. This is the equivalent of cold sales, an experience that everyone should have as much for self learning and finding your true grit as for anything else.

In failure lies an amazing learning opportunity. Yes we’re going to embrace the fails, reflect and learn, iterate and try again until we succeed. (Walking my work talk here!) I see my role to support but not head off any such rich learning opportunity. But I did insist on a business plan. 

There are remarkably few freely available videos to guide entrepreneurs in the single digit age range. C took note as a possible opportunity to make a video about his experience… “When I actually have some.” It was fascinating to see the  video that grabbed his attention — one selling business plan self-help to adult entrepreneurs. 

We watched many videos, discussed and took our own notes. We agreed that I would make the template of questions, and C, the entrepreneur, would complete them. The answer I love most is to the question, “What makes you uniquely qualified to succeed?”. Response? “I believe in myself.” Spoken like a true entrepreneur.

We’ve lightly explored alternate sales locations, like a local community garden that hosts people selling thing, farmers markets and even school. But first… the product. 

Using his own seed capital (ha ha ha) from his allowance, C bought a cacti garden and soil. After some more internet research on cacti and succulents, he has started propagating about 12 of one type and is processing the leaves for about 30 of another type. 

It will be months before the cacti may be ready for sale, but when they are C points out that he will have reached “that complicated thing that guy said on the road.” (Which was that having ready for sale cacti would be passing a “risk mitigation milestone.”)

The business projection is quite crazy — C worked out all his costs and if his cacti pricing is right and he can sell them, he figures that it’s all profit after the fifth sale to the 49th, when he will need to buy more soil. I did the spreadsheet based on his numbers. 

We’ll let you know next quarter where we are, which will still very much literally be in the “growth” phase!