Starting a Business

Something has been weighing on my mind. I wanted to put some thoughts down about how Garden Anywhere Box came to be and our ups and downs along the way.

We didn't plan to start a business. It just happened. One thing led to another and here we are.

It all started because I got tired of all the weeding and heat associated with a summer garden. I had heard about Earthbox and decided to give that a try. We had success our first year. Yay! Larry decided to try to build his own boxes. He found plans on the internet, modified them a bit each year for three years, until he felt that the design was just right and would hold up to years of gardening.

The problem was that I was watering over 20 boxes by hand each day. Larry was working in Chicago doing telecom work. I was watering the garden...

I asked him if there was an easier way to do this besides dragging the hose around to all of the boxes every day in the heat of the summer. He thought about it and decided to see what he could come up with. He tried various ideas with little to no success. One day he hit upon an idea. Now he just had to figure out how to do it. Through trial and error he came up with what we now call Garden Anywhere Box with its exclusive watering system. Our watering system is what makes us different than any other container garden out there. This is when we decided to make this a business. We felt that if we liked to garden this way, others might, too.

Starting a Business

We launched our business at the Home and Garden Show in January, 2012. We didn't even

have a product to sell. We reserved a booth, made some fliers and handed them out like crazy. We did have a prototype that we demonstrated, but that was it. We didn't come to sell. We didn't even know if there would be any interest. We discovered that there was some interest...enough to pursue this as a business.

The problem arose when we could not get the parts that we needed to make our boxes. We had several companies that we were buying from. We could not always get our parts in a timely manner. We dared not advertise for fear that we could not fill orders.

Larry was in Midland at the time...doing telecom. He talked to a nursery owner about carrying Garden Anywhere Box at her store. She was hesitant, but when she sold a set while Larry was standing there explaining how they worked, she decided to give it a try. She order three 3 Box Systems. They sold. She ordered three more. They sold. She ordered 100. OMGoodness!

Larry went to the local hardware store to order some parts that he would need for the boxes. We had parts at home in Oklahoma, but he was trying to build boxes in Midland, TX with only a few supplies there.

He ordered the parts he was missing. He needed 200 of a certain part to do the boxes. He went to the store a few days later to get his order and they had eight parts. EIGHT! He stressed that he really needed 200. He bought what they had and went back a few days later.  Eight more parts...Seriously!  Again, he stressed that he was trying to start a business and needed 200 of the certain part. He went back a few days later and there were 12 parts. No kidding. He realized that he could not deliver what was ordered. He did continue to make GABs for individuals. There are a few GABs sprinkled around Midland to this day, but he's

Martha's garden in Midlandn

not been back to the nursery.

That was the first year. Lots of frustration getting the parts that we needed. We could not understand why companies would/could not work with us. We were paying them MONEY. That seemed like a good deal. We pay you money. You get us the parts we need. We make money selling our boxes and you make money selling us the parts. Makes sense, right?

It did not seem to work that way. We spent the first year of business making and selling a few boxes along the way as we could get parts. In the meantime, we talked with the manager at our neighborhood True Value hardware store. He was more than happy to work with us. (Hallelujah!) The only thing he could not get was the boxes. We still had to go to a larger hardware store for that.

Again, we paid money to have a big order of boxes delivered to the store. It was supposed to come in two weeks. We were told that if we paid in advance, our order would come directly to the store. It did not come in two weeks.  We waited and waited for our order. We finally got about 1/3 of our order and learned that the rest of OUR order had been drop-shipped to other stores in the chain along the way. Seriously? So, we waited. What else could we do? We did finally get our whole order, but discovered that we would need to order a few boxes at a time, all the time, to ensure that we would have boxes.

The Cruel Truth
As with any business,  the first year was one of learning. Boy, did we learn and we're still learning.

The next year, 2013, we went to the Home and Garden Show in January with product, prepared to sell, and we did. We did the second home show in March and sold boxes there,

Our five foot pepper plant at the
fair last year.

too.  We decided to get a booth at the fair. That was fun. We were interviewed by a local television station and won "Most Unique Product" at the fair. Things were looking up.

But, then...in January of this year, Larry started losing his eyesight to macular degeneration. His job in the telecommunications business had to come to a halt. He could no longer see to drive or see the normal print on the computer to do his job. We went from testing the waters of a small business and having that extra cushion of income to grow our business to being cast into the deep end treading water with only the income from selling boxes to sustain us and buy more supplies.

It has been a scary time for us at Garden Anywhere Box. We believe in our product. We know that it works. We know that people can be successful gardeners with GAB. We just need to get the word out and encourage people to help support this small business. You will get a great product and we will be able to support our family.

So, there you have it. This is our story so far. We are trying to figure out how to grow our business and buy supplies with very little income right now. I'm sure this is no different than other small businesses, but it's new to us. We believe that there are big things in store for Garden Anywhere Box. We continue to look for investors who can see our vision. We hope that through our trials, we will learn more and be able to overcome the obstacles in our path. Thank you for being a part of the Garden Anywhere Box family. We appreciate you all. Stay tuned for great things ahead.