New business idea - give me some input

[deerchop]

I got an idea and wanted to put out some feelers to see if there was any good feedback on it. I have never heard of it on a small scale and there may be a reason but everything starts with an idea.

I farm a little in the summer and have a lot of extra property that is doing nothing. I was thinking about leasing out garden spots for families. They would be prepared and ready to plant and could even have a package together with all there seed and fertilizer ready for them. They lease the garden area, come down to the country a couple times a week and take care of it and grow there own produce. We would offer help as they needed it and even rent out tillers and small equipment as needed along with tractor work if they get a little overboard.

I figure a family could fill up there freezer with stuff and do it on there on and save some money and have the feeling that it was grown the way they wanted it grown.

It would be more toward people that live in subdivisions or areas they don't have a place to have a garden, maybe they just don't have the tools or the know how and need some help.

Anyway, give me some feed back on what you think. It would not cost much to try except for getting the idea out there with some advertising.

Oh yeah, and if you support the idea what would it be worth for a garden place plowed, tilled and ready to go for a growing season.

 

[brin]

In a perfect world it is a great idea and I have property in Rural Georgia and have tried to think of similar things but here is what always stops me...#1. Inxurance...what if someone gets hurt or fakes it ? #2. Here in my county it would be a commercial enterprise and you would need to get a business license and even rezone part of the property where customers would be and would park. #3 - how do you keep folks from stealing other folks crops..you can't be there all the time 24/7 watching over all the little garden plots.

But it is a great idea...just a few things to consider..

 

[deerchop]

Insurance is already taken care of due to our curb market on site that we have. I would also require them to sign a lease releasing us of responsibility for there actions, but it is just a piece of paper. I am out in the county and there are no regulations like you speak of where we are located, I would not even have to get a business license. As far as stealing, I have thought about that, maybe some fake cameras to monitor the operation? Only the honest folks play by the rules anyway. Thank's for the reply.

 

[Stimw]

You might google urban gardens or community gardens and read up on those. It might give you some insight into their problems and successes.
You also might post an ad on craigslist.org, garden/farm asking if there is a local interest.
I'm sure it will require some "baby sitting" some of the people. I hope you enjoy hand holding.

 

[brin]

You're lucky on the local regulations ..20 yrs. ago we could do anything we wanted to on our land zoned Ag...but now everything needs to be pemitted and it seems there is a new regulation for just about anything we do....Sad.

 

[dooleysm]

People live in the city and in subdivisions for a reason. I can't imagine that there's a huge pent up demand for people wanting to garden that don't have space to do it. Driving out 'to the country' a couple times a week, heck, even 1 day a week is a pretty big time commitment. You're not likely to get much out of a garden that you spend 1 evening a week on. By the time they rent the space and any tools from you and then buy seed and maybe fertilizer there is no way that they are going to save money on produce. Almost every city of any size has a farmer's market at least on the weekends. It sounds as if you're selling curbside produce as well ("curb market")? Why go to all the time, effort, and expense when they can get the same produce from you? I think you'd fare better if you expanded your own garden and either start selling or expand what you're already selling.

As you said though, it will cost you next to nothing to try it out, so go for it. I'm no captain of industry, so don't take my word for it.

 

[moeh1]

They do this in Europe alot, but they actually have a little shack with it. People get out of the city on the weekend and tend their garden too.

 

[FallbrookFarmer]

I have heard what might work is, if you form a co-op and pre-sell memberships. That way you know in advance how much to grow and you have a built in market.
A Lot of people now are willing to pay a premium for "organic" produce. If you can offer that to you customers, you would have a better chance of success IMHO
Also you are miles ahead if you tend to the crops yourself, as opposed to have a lot of people stomping around and ruing a lot of produce. In any event Best of Luck.

 

[schmism]

i think its a great idea and have considered doing the same.

but ive been marketing mine for several years now. trying to turn my personal garden into a larger comunity type garden.... even friends with large families in the area dont make it out to myplace but once or twice, hardly the weekely or every few days commitment which would be required to expand the garden more)

no takers.


in short, i dont think it will be worth much to people to pay YOU for the chance to come work a garden on your property.

on the other hand it seems like the perfect thing to write off on your taxes as a charitable contribution. (the "fake money" is worth much more than any real amount you could get someone to pay you for it)

 

[polo1665]

I also thought of doing this, but opted to lease the entire acreage out to a local farmer. He raises his crops and takes care of the land better than weekend warriors would. Of course I don't get near as much money as I could if the garden plot idea were to pan out.

What kind of rates were you thinking of asking?

Mark