Last Updated on April 23, 2024 by Real Men Sow
If you have a keen green thumb and enjoy growing your produce for personal use, you may have considered starting a small business and selling your harvest to others. With the cost-of-living crisis here in the UK, food staples are increasing in price more than ever so growing your fruit and vegetables can be a great way to keep costs down while also making some money on the side selling any surplus.
What to grow
While growing your favourite plants, fruits and vegetables can be fun, if you are looking to sell your produce, there are a few factors you should consider. Generally, you will want to opt for low-effort, high-yield varieties such as peas, tomatoes, lettuce and mushrooms which will ensure that you are maximising the benefit from the time and effort you invest.
Some key factors include:
- Growing speed
- Growing method (soil or hydroponics)
- Price per kilo
- Potential yield
- Effort required
How to market your produce
Offline and online marketing are both great ways to spread the word about your new business. When it comes to offline marketing visiting local fairs or shops along with your own personalised signage can be very effective. If you are looking to focus on local residents (which can make delivering your goods easier) then handing out leaflets showcasing your produce can be a quick and easy way to make yourself known.
Utilising social media is a brilliant way to spread the word using images and videos. Sites like Facebook and Instagram will allow you to create a business account for free where you can interact with customers, run promotions and keep customers up to date on the latest happenings.
For an extra touch, consider editing your videos to polish them up before posting, which can help capture more attention on social media.
Selling and delivering
If you have a car or van you may opt to offer delivery services to locals and charge mileage which can help keep your costs down. If you find that your business starts to grow and you have more requests than you can handle, you may consider recruiting a third party to help with this.
If you don’t want to deliver your greenhouse produce, then there are plenty of other ways to sell it. You could look to set up stalls at car boots or farmers’ markets, while these may cost a small fee, you will likely find a captive audience and you could offer samples of some of the products that you can make from your produce like jams or chutneys.
Visiting local businesses like restaurants or cafes is also a brilliant way to sell your produce. Many businesses now put effort into buying local, fresh ingredients so you could look to become their new supplier!
