About 25 years ago, in the San Francisco Bay Area, I noticed a woman selling house plants at a Saturday flea market. She was doing great and I stopped, chatted and started to help her. By the end of the day I had all kinds of insights.
The next week I researched large greenhouse growing operations in the East Bay. I located the fellow selling wqaunties to Safeway type chains. On Friday, I went to a Used Truck lot and picked out a 2 1/2 long cube. Leaving my van as collateral and $20 for insurance I supposedly took it to my "mechanic" for an overnight check. I stopped at a junk yard and got old water pipe, which I cut to length, hung in the cube (for hanging plants) I then went to the volume wholesale greenhouse and asked the owner about price on 1000-6" plants. "$1.10" he said. I said, "How about 3000?" He said "$1.00"...I said, "How about if I take no sleeves (paper coverings) and load them myself?" He said 85 cents.
The Mexican help got passed a few J's and we got about 3300 plants loaded jiffy quick.
I wrote a bad check for some $2700.
The next morning I arrived at the Marin City Flea Market at 5:30 AM...I unloaded the truck, hired a boy to watch the plants, and headed madly back to the East Bay Used Truck lot where I turned in the truck, jumped in my van and drove madly back to Marin City. I sold hard all day...some of them were so beautiful they went for $7.00/ea. Spending the night Sat. in my van, I was up bright and early Sunday, spraying the plants, picking bad leaves and generally straightening up. By Sunday evening late, I was down to 100 plants which I began giving away to vendors about me and stragglers. I left there with none.
Monday morning I covered the bad check.
Cleared $7000
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