Entrepreneurial trio sows business seeds
Print Edition
SUCCULENTS, which are easy to grow and not thirsty plants, are popular as ornamentals because of their striking, often unusual appearances.
Three young people in Minhang have turned that popularity into a profitable small business.
Chen Yifan, Ye Beibei and Jin Yi, all around their 30s, founded Zhiqiuyuan Life House, an online store selling succulent plants. At the time, all three had other lines of work. What united them was a love of succulents.
“We met for the first time five years ago at an event for plant enthusiasts,” said Chen. “We shared a similar desire to start our own businesses, and, more importantly, we were all fascinated by succulents.”
A bit later, when Chen visited a botanical garden in the southeastern city of Xiamen, he suddenly realized what he wanted to do. He quit his job and convinced Ye and Jin to join him in the new enterprise.
Initial success
Zhiqiuyuan met with initial success and has become a leading supplier of succulent plants in China.
“I think our success is hatched from pure love,” said Chen. “We love these plants more than anything, as do many of our customers. With this common ground, business becomes easy.”
In recent years, succulent plants have become popular as decorations for office desks and interesting potted greenery in homes.
Many succulents, a group that includes cacti and aloe, grow in arid climates. Their leaves, which look fleshy, store water and nutrition.
Last year, succulents ranked at the top of searches under the plant category on Taobao.com, China’s leading e-commerce platform. There were about 60,000 searches a day.
Zhiqiuyuan is one of the most popular succulent plant stores on Taobao. The trio of owners handles everything from taking orders to tending plants, from packing them up to arranging delivery.
To ensure an adequate supply of plants, Chen, Jin and Ye rented a plot of land three years ago in Pujiang Town in Minhang. There they built a 1,600-square-meter greenhouse and hailed it as “the greenhouse closest to a subway station in China.”
Communication platform
“The plants we want to sell are not necessary for ceremonial purposes or special occasions,” Jin said. “We want to sell plants to ordinary people who will love them and tend them every day. We also provide a platform for succulent lovers to communicate and learn about the plants.”
Zhiqiuyuan currently sells around 80 pots of plants every day. Its customers span the length and width of China, from people living nearby Minhang to people in Taiwan.
“We import most of our new breeds,” Jin said. “We take care in their breeding and consider it a long-term project so that we get everything right. Still, we have customers who want to buy up new breeds as soon as we get them in, no matter what the cost.”
Popular greenhouse
The greenhouse itself has become popular. On weekends, local residents, area farmers and white-collar workers from downtown Shanghai mingle at the site, perusing all the plants. People seldom go home empty-handed.
Some of the plants are potted in high-quality porcelain containers made in Jingdezhen, a town in Jiangxi Province renowned for its chinaware.
“There were some complaints, of course, mainly about our packaging,” said Jin. “Because the succulents are small and low-priced, we normally just wrapped them in old newspapers or paper towels. Some people told us that such dull packaging diminished the quality of the overall product.”
To address those concerns and lift the level of their marketing, the three owners have started to use a higher quality of packaging that includes sturdy cardboard boxes and bubble packs. The boxes are so solid so they can be used afterward as penholders or snack containers.
“We stick a barcode linked to our store on the boxes,” Jin said. “When buyers show off our plants in their offices, co-workers who are interested in buying succulents can just flash the code to reach us.”
Each plant also comes with a card bearing a watercolor picture of succulents on one side and care instructions on the other.
Zhiquiyuan is expanding as it flourishes. It has now become the official Shanghai agent for a Dutch company importing succulents from Europe.
Getting a foothold
“The company doesn’t care about how much money we make,” said Chen. “They just want European succulents to gain a foothold in the Chinese market. To be honest, the quality of imported breeds is much better than domestic ones. They are usually bigger, ‘meatier’ and look better.”
At the same time, Zhiqiuyuan insists that its prices be kept within the reach of ordinary people. Imported succulents usually sell for 99 yuan (US$15.80), about 10 percent to 30 percent lower than in other retail outlets. In one month alone, sales of the plants brought in 100,000 yuan.
“We’re happy that more succulent lovers have the access to good products,” said Chen. “To us, they are not just plants. They are pets. They are family.”
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