Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Chris Mower. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Chris, thanks for joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Success in business is a multifaceted achievement, reliant on a combination of strategic planning, adaptability, and unwavering dedication. Here are my thoughts on the key elements:

• Clear Vision and Strategic Planning:
– A well-defined business plan with clear goals and objectives is crucial.
– Ability to scale and deviate directions when needed
– Understanding your target market at the beginning recognizing that it will change overtime e.g. farmers markets and website to e-commerce fulfillment acting as a wholesaler.
– Anticipating market trends and adapting your strategy accordingly.
– Understanding your strengths and weaknesses, and securing help to shore up weaknesses

• Customer Focus:
– Building strong customer relationships so growth is based on new and repeat customers.
– providing quality product, packaging, and service before and after the sale.
– Gathering and acting on customer feedback.

• Financial Management:
– Sound financial planning and management.
– Controlling costs and maximizing profitability
.
• Adaptability and Innovation:
– Embracing change and adapting to evolving market conditions.
– Constant innovation and continuous improvement.
– Staying ahead of the competition by developing new products and services.

• Marketing and Sales:
– Building a strong brand and establishing a positive reputation.
– Implementing effective sales techniques to drive revenue.

• Resilience and Perseverance:
– Overcoming obstacles and learning from failures.
– A strong work ethic.
– Persisting through challenges and staying focused on long-term goals.

• Ethical Practices:
– Conducting business with integrity and transparency.
– Building trust with customers, employees, and stakeholders.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Upon retirement in 2019, I began looking for a “side hustle” that would keep me occupied but would also satisfy my desire to reenter the horticultural field. While visiting my oldest daughter in Milan Italy, I came across a kokedama (Japanese Moss Ball) in a local flower store. It caught my imagination, and I brought the concept back to the US to explore whether this would be a viable business option. To my amazement, it was not readily available as a handmade option to flowers or house plants. The hustle was created.

It was at this point I asked my youngest daughter Grace to join me on my new journey. With her background in marketing and branding we set off to take the product local and via our website (whitestablefarms.com). Using the power of digital marketing and local farmers markets we tested to concept to see if had legs. 2019 proved the concept viable, with Grace’s help we ventured out to see how we would fare in the e-commerce world. We directed our attention to both the direct to consumer and wholesale markets. Starting slow, we focused on getting the offering right (plant, packaging, shipping, customer service). Once all the pillars were in place and solid, we expanded to new domestic markets. Additionally, we broadened our offering to include over 72 plant offering. The “side hustle” took off and it became a full-time job. In 2023 we made over 4,000 kokedama and shipped over 3,000 of them to across the country.

In the 6 years of operations, we have made over 15,000 kokedama and shipped over 12,000 countrywide. I believe we are the largest sole proprietorship in this specific space

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

Upon retirement in 2019, I began looking for a “side hustle” that would keep me occupied but would also satisfy my desire to reenter the horticultural field. While visiting my oldest daughter in Milan Italy, I came across a hanging kokedama in a local flower store. It caught my imagination, and I brought the concept back to the US to explore whether this would be a viable business option. To my amazement, it was not readily available as a handmade option to flowers or house plants. The hustle was created.

It was at this point I asked my youngest daughter Grace to join me on my new journey. With her background in marketing and branding we set off to take the product local and via our website (whitestablefarms.com). Using the power of digital marketing and local farmers markets we tested to concept to see if had legs. 2019 proved the concept viable, with Grace’s help we ventured out to see how we would fare in the e-commerce world. We directed our attention to both the direct to consumer and wholesale markets. Starting slow, we focused on getting the offering right (plant, packaging, shipping, customer service). Once all the pillars were in place and solid, we expanded to new domestic markets. Additionally, we broadened our offering to include over 72 plant offering. The “side hustle” took off and it became a full-time job. In 2023 we made over 4,000 kokedama and shipped over 3,000 of them to across the country.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

We started the proof of concept at local farmers markets and through our website. Once we felt that the concept “had legs” we began exploring e-commerce relationships with large and diverse online platforms. Over the last 5 years we have added 4 e-commerce relationship where we fulfill orders that they generate from their respective platforms. Maintaining the 4 enables us to hedge ups and downs of each platform (some are hot year-round, and others are more seasonal based on the plants they offer to their customer base.

We explored getting involved with the larger platforms i.e. Amazon and E-Bay, but have elected not to partner with them as their commission structure and business model does not mesh with ours. To engage would mean we would have to scale both the addition of staff and acquisition of real estate. Addition of both would have a negative impact on our profit margins which eats away at

Contact Info:

• Website: https://whitestablefarms.com
• Instagram: whitestablefarms
• Linkedin: Chris Mower

Image Credits

All ours