As a serial entrepreneur, I am constantly coming up with new business concepts and different ways to grow my current business. My most recent idea — growing a Dahlia farm — is one that I am most excited about, not just for Wendi’s Good Things Market but for my family as well.
If you're from a farming family or have ever been around farmers, then you're used to all the stories. The stories about farm equipment, crops, growing season, planting season, etc. My husband, Matt, is one of four boys and his family holidays were spent sharing stories of “farm life.” Not initially being much of a farm girl myself, I often found myself on the fringe of conversation as our own two boys grew, and even Noelle, our daughter — who is 100% farm girl, began sharing their own stories of the farm.
But as soon as the conversation would turn to talking about entrepreneurship, I had something to say. When Cole, our middle son, decided to go into business I yearned for him to join me in my business pursuits, but he only had eyes for his dad and the farm. More often than not, at family dinners, I would say, "Hey I have this idea for an entrepreneurial endeavor that I think you can be a part of.” I would dream of my entire family joining me in product production and development at Wendi’s Good Things Market. We all have different talents and skills. Matt is so mechanical, Cole is a finance wiz, Wes is an Engineer, and Noelle is great with plants and animals. I knew we would make a good team.
Finally one day Cole told me, "Mom, our Venn diagrams just don't overlap.” Meaning, he liked farming, machinery, and dirt and the market was none of that. I laughed. I loved that he used a statistical diagram to describe the situation. But it got me thinking, that this was the key to getting my entire family involved in my entrepreneurial endeavors. I needed to come up with something where our Venn diagrams overlapped.
I can't remember the actual moment it happened when I woke up and realized that a dahlia was a tuber just like a potato. Did I mention one of the biggest crops we grow at our family farm is potatoes? Matt and the boys are expert professionals at growing potatoes. Soon, I was running quick calculations on margins, how we would grow the tubers in the greenhouse and announcing that this would be a part of the business that we could ALL work on together.
Let's stop here and talk about why growing a Dahlia farm is a perfect fit for Wendi's Good Things Market. First, because we are purveyors of joy. Flowers, especially dahlias are such a force for joy. Don’t you agree? Second, our farm is already set up with the right equipment, land and knowledge for growing. And third, the vision of moving our Wendi's Good Things Market operations to the farm, all surrounded by blooming dahlias at sunset, brings so much joy to my heart, how could I not do this?
With the amount of happiness I feel about cultivating this dream, I am sure it will bring so much joy to others as well — a perfect expression of our company's mission.
When I proposed the idea to Matt, imagine my surprise when he said, "I'm in.” Just like that, I had sold him on the idea. And while the formulation of the idea seemed easy and even with Matt on board, I know I have a long road ahead. A true labor of love, taking two years to build enough of a crop to harvest and sell.
To start, we’ve planted our first set of tubers at the farm (I can share with you another time about how to plant dahlia tubers). We began taking cuttings that we will be growing in the greenhouse — where we used to grow seed potatoes. By spring next year we"ll plant these tubers and another set of cuttings into the dahlia patch. Finally, we'll hope to be ready to sell tubers at Wendi’s Good Things Market by spring 2025.
The ultimate dream would be if we grew enough of a customer base to begin growing fields of dahlias on our farm. Can you imagine the beauty of that? I can just see it now! And as a mama, can you imagine how happy I will be when all these Venn Diagrams overlap?
It's a lot of dreaming and scheming. But I'm good at that. We're still working on getting our first cutting to take hold! The learning curve is harsh as we lost our first tray. However, we're on our third tray now and we’re seeing much better results.
Just like every new product we attempt at the market, many never make it to the end. The product development process is long and can be brutal. However, I am really rooting for this one — for the beauty and the joy it will bring to others, and to draw my sweet family into a project together. We'll keep you posted on the journey.