It is really easy to give people advice on how to bring a product to market. Much was learned by walking the walk.
When I first started this venture I was focused entirely on the seeds and convincing people to grow more food. The product consisted of seeds and information in a can. As things progressed both the information and the contents expanded to become a full growing kit. By taking away more barriers we are able to better facilitate gardening for both newcomers and intermediate gardeners. The kits now contain everything a person would need to start a basic garden (seeds, information on the plants, planting date charts, germination tips, Plant Tonic, plant markers and gardener soap). The one kit that is more advanced is the Rare & Unusual which requires starting seeds indoors and transplanting them to the garden in late spring.
Removing Barriers to Success
It is as much about the packaging as
what is inside, or maybe even more.
Great beginnings. People loved the look of the original eco-friendly paper canister. But they were challenging to put together and cost a lot to ship.
This is where pragmatism almost killed the brand. We came up with a compact, folded package that contained all the elements, was easy to put together and, best of all, economical to ship.
People hated it….
We switched back to canisters, but rather than paper we went with tin. These were significantly easier to put together and although not biodegradable, they were reusable and recyclable.
And then the pandemic hit. We could not get new canisters from our existing supplier, nor could we find them anywhere else. As our inventory dwindled it became clear we had to make another change.
We thought of many possibilities to repackage in bags or other pragmatic and inexpensive options, but we learned our lesson from previous experience. So we decided to go big and completely revamp the seed collections, and grow them into full-on Gardening Kits. Due to numerous challenges, our launch was delayed until December 3, 2021. We did get some into stores in time for Christmas, thought, and we are in the process of filling spring orders. More to come.
The Value of Free Press!
The Value of Free Press!
In November of 2023 we got an interesting email regarding our product line, completely out of the blue. It was from a freelance writer we did not know and she asked if we had a photo of the Bee Garden Kit on a white background. We sent it to her within 10 minutes.
It was a good thing we did because it resulted in the Bee Garden Kit being featured in the 2023 Globe & Mail Christmas Gift Guide.
And our web sales shot up over 1000%!