Succulent flowers are on the horizon, and a post-80s female college graduate is full of anticipation
Searching for “Luoxi Farm” online, what greets the eye is a crowd of cute and charming ornamental succulents, a colorful and dazzling world.
The “farm owner” is Chen Xiaosi, a 2011 graduate in agriculture, forestry and horticulture from Baoding Vocational and Technical College. People say growing succulents is a form of spiritual cultivation, but in fact starting a business is more like a harsh spiritual trial. Only the strong who can weather the storms and endure loneliness can wait to hear the sound of flowers blooming.
“Soaking” in the lab, “rooting” in the fields
Chen Xiaosi, who loved fiddling with flowers and plants since childhood, had always dreamed of having her own pastoral world. When she entered college in 2008, she went straight for the horticultural technology major in the agriculture and forestry biology department that she had long admired. Agriculture and forestry courses cover a wide range of subjects, including vegetables, flowers, fruits and vegetables. The best part was that they were never just theoretical - instructors often led students in hands-on experiments and practical work. Chen Xiaosi's college years were spent either soaking in the lab conducting various tissue culture experiments, or rooting in the farm doing seedling hardening and field cultivation, or following her instructors to learn from their experience. Diligent and eager to learn, Chen Xiaosi quickly set her goal: master professional skills and realize her pastoral planting dream in the future. “I am especially grateful for the three years of practical training in college and the patient guidance of my teachers, which not only gave me a solid professional foundation but also strengthened my confidence in the field.”
Small goals require great effort. After graduating from college in 2011, the goal-oriented Chen Xiaosi resolutely chose a small startup agricultural company in Beijing, starting as a frontline technician and rooting herself in the fields to get up close and personal with strawberry cultivation - and she stayed there for 3 years. Xiaosi was always the most diligent and hardest-working employee. Through 3 years of practical training, she not only gained the true essence of strawberry cultivation but also rotated through management, sales, administrative and other related work. “Just as I had expected, a small company offers more opportunities for all-around growth, and it also laid a solid foundation for my own business.” The meticulous Xiaosi got exactly what she wished for.
Realizing the strawberry startup dream, stumbling into the “succulent” industry
In July 2014, a fully confident Chen Xiaosi resolutely returned to her hometown in Shijiazhuang, excitedly preparing to start her strawberry business. Unexpectedly, she met strong opposition from her parents, who withheld the startup capital. But planting as a business was a dream Chen Xiaosi had planned for years, and she would not waver - she wanted to live according to her own dreams and will. The stubborn Chen Xiaosi acted immediately, borrowing 50,000 yuan from friends and launching her strawberry startup journey at full speed.
In Zhangye Village, Yuanshi County, not far from home, Chen Xiaosi spent 15,000 yuan to rent two greenhouses, 10,000 yuan on custom strawberry packaging materials, 15,000 yuan on purchasing seedlings, and 10,000 yuan on early-stage labor, water and electricity, and other expenses. At the end of July, she began sealing the greenhouses for disinfection; at the end of August, she opened the greenhouses, applied base fertilizer, rotary-tilled the soil, and made beds - everything was ready. In early September, she planted strawberry seedlings; in mid-October, the strawberries budded and plastic mulch was laid; at the end of October, the greenhouses were full of blooming strawberry flowers, and bees moved in to pollinate the strawberries; at the end of November, red fruits began to appear one after another; and from New Year's Day, the peak harvest season began, with the whole greenhouse full of bright red, richly fragrant berries. At this point, Chen Xiaosi began inviting potential customers to come and taste the pollution-free strawberries, and the market gradually opened up.
In her spare time, the meticulous Chen Xiaosi had a flash of inspiration, recalling the succulents she had studied during her school years. These “lazy person” plants are especially easy to care for and only need plenty of sunlight. After doing her research, Chen Xiaosi immediately invested more than 2,000 yuan and introduced common varieties of seedlings such as Diancao Yulu, Huangli, and White Peony, planting about 2,000 pots of little succulents in the gaps and corners between the greenhouses. Before long, these tenacious and lovely little plants became vibrant accents in the greenhouses. A casual act bore unexpected fruit - the observant Xiaosi noticed that the people coming to pick strawberries were all drawn to the little plants in the corners, and each wanted to take a few pots home before leaving. Over time, the unassuming little succulents unexpectedly became rare treasures that everyone rushed to buy.
Could growing and selling succulents be a heaven-sent business opportunity? A new entrepreneurial seed began to sprout in Chen Xiaosi's mind. After several rounds of research, Chen Xiaosi found that the online succulent market was far larger than physical sales in the greenhouses. So she positioned her succulent sales mainly toward online wholesale. But after the market began to open up, she found that the succulents in her greenhouses were simply not enough to sell. A single wholesale customer needed at least 100 plants, but the number she could grow in her own greenhouses was too limited. Without experience and not daring to rashly expand production, Chen Xiaosi decided to find several suppliers with stable sources nearby and began small-scale online wholesale. As time passed and her customer base grew, her business got better and better.
Internet plus farm, striding boldly into the “succulent” market
In July 2015, Chen Xiaosi set aside one greenhouse to grow large quantities of popular succulents with short propagation cycles, propagating her own commonly sold varieties to ensure maximum profit. Spring and autumn are the peak seasons for succulent sales, so Xiaosi planted heavily in summer and winter. While asking her school teachers for cultivation methods, she also used the internet to teach herself, actively joined succulent forums, learned all kinds of related knowledge, and broadened her sales channels. Succulent varieties vary greatly in price, ranging from 3 yuan and 5 yuan to several hundred yuan, and succulent enthusiasts are all hunting for rare varieties. Having figured out the patterns of cultivation and the industry, Chen Xiaosi invested 300,000 yuan at once and introduced more than 200 kinds of succulents, including Yudie, Bear's Paw, Pink Vine, Purple Pearl, the Mountain series, the Yulu series, the Sempervivum series, and the Adromischus series, planting them on a large scale - one greenhouse held more than 100,000 pots, the whole greenhouse dyed in brilliant colors, fulfilling her dream of a sea of flowers and pastoral fields.
After three years of weathering the storms of entrepreneurship, Chen Xiaosi realized her strawberry dream, strengthened her succulent market, and gained her family's understanding and support. Her elderly father also moved in to keep her company, jointly guarding the greenhouses and protecting his child's career and dreams. “In starting a business, you must first set a goal, then accumulate all kinds of strength toward that goal, and when the time is ripe, unleash your full potential.” Sharing her entrepreneurial insights, Chen Xiaosi said that this entrepreneurial trial in the pastoral greenhouses honed her tenacious and firm will. She said: “I'm the stubborn type - once I set a goal, I see it through to the end.”