When you start growing your own produce, it can feel incredibly liberating. But now you have an abundance of produce and you aren't sure what to do with it. Fortunately, the 28 million small businesses in the U.S. can give you a few ideas. Why not try to sell your excess produce? If you're not sure where or how to start, here are three essential tips to help you out.
Decide Where to Sell
The first decision you'll need to make is where to sell your excess produce. Is there a local farmer's market where you can set up a stand? Are you in an area where there are a lot of family farm stands on the roadside? Is there a local grocer who would want to sell some of your specialty items? These are all things to take into consideration when you're determining where you want to sell your produce. If you decide to take the route of a farmer's market, make sure you're looking into setup fees and what kind of equipment you'll need to bring to run a stand. In addition, you'll want to scope out where you're thinking about selling. If you have an abundance of summer squash to sell and the farmer's market is already flooded with people selling squash, it might be a better idea to take your produce elsewhere. Of course, you could always change up what you're selling, too.
Decide What to Sell
On that note, the next important decision you'll need to make is what you'll be selling. This is an important one, especially if your eyes are a little bigger than your stomach. It's not logical to grow 10 different things your first year selling produce unless you have a dedicated team helping you. When deciding what to sell, keep it minimal. For instance, if you regularly grow and harvest flowers for bouquets for your home, it might be a good idea to sell a limited selection of your flowers, to begin with. You could even plan your arrangements to coincide with holidays. Almost 37% of flowers purchased are for holidays like Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Mother's day, after all. Determining what you want to sell should also work into your regular growing schedule -- don't try to sell strawberries in October!
Decide How to Sell
Determining how to sell your produce can be a challenging decision to make. Fortunately, fruits and vegetables offer a beautiful and colorful display all on their own. And with the number of vegans increasing by almost 600% over the last three years, it shouldn't be too tough to find a great market for the fruits of your labor. The key is determining how you're going to get your produce to these customers. Will you create boxes that can be made to order? you could hire someone to create a custom sign for your produce stand, too. Marketing your little produce stand, no matter where it is, should be at the top of your priorities list. When you want to sell produce from your own garden, it might be a little tough to get started. But with these tips and a bit of elbow grease, you should be on your way to making a little extra cash with the literal fruits of your labor in no time flat.
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