Make Money Doing Something You Love

If you've ever been intimidated by the idea of starting your own small business and working for yourself, you probably thought it would be more complicated than it actually needs to be. You don’t have to invent something or have some brand new idea in order to start a small business.

Instead, you need a way to use what you already have and turn it into something that earns you money on your time.

Garden consulting is a way to be your own boss and earn $3,000 in any given period—maybe every week, every month, every quarter, or every year, depending on how much time you have to commit to it.

You earn that money by selling just three things: products, services, and advice. This is not—I repeat—this is not a complicated business. I'm going to show you how you can sell those three things for $3,000 in profit. I went from being a stay-at-home mom to the owner and founder of a 7-figure business when I started using what I already had (gardening knowledge) to make money.

From Broke Stay-at-Home Mom to Successful Business Owner

Back in 2015, I took a preschool refund check for $450 and used it to start my own garden consulting business. I could only work from 9 to 12 every day while my youngest daughter was in preschool. Even so, I built a $100,000-business in one year. I paid myself $25,000 that first year.

By 2021, my business was making $1 million a year. We'd put in 500 gardens in the Houston area, gone on over 800 consultations, and built a community of 50,000 people. 

In the years before I started my company, my husband and I were broke. Like, we had to ask dear friends to loan us money so we could pay our mortgage. Right around then, I had the surprise of a lifetime when I found out I was pregnant with our fourth child. I had to apply for Medicaid because I didn't have maternity insurance. I was clipping coupons and going to different stores each week to get the best prices on our groceries.

The same coupon-clipper on Medicaid built a million-dollar business by selling gardening products, services, and advice.

I should also tell you I don't have professional training. I'm not a master gardener or a horticulturist. I don't have an MBA. So if I can do this, you can do this, too.

I built my gardening business working part-time. It was a slow but steady climb selling just three types of products. Here's what I sold and how you can make $3,000 in profit (not sales) following my system.

Product #1: Plants

Once you have your business set up, you can buy plants at a discount. Then you sell those plants to your clients at full price to earn a small profit. You'll make about $2 on each and every plant that you sell.

It takes about 1 to 2 hours to go pick out all the right plants. You can deliver them to the client or have them come and pick them up. So you'll need to sell about 1,500 plants to earn $3,000, and it'll take you between 15 to 30 hours.

Why is this valuable to the client? Because people buy the wrong plants for their climate or their garden setup or their skill level. People waste so much money on plants that end up dying. But they keep buying plants anyways, so they might as well buy plants from you. That way, they're much more likely to end up with the right plants for them.

This is super easy to do once your garden consultant business is set up. I'd rank it a level 1 in difficulty.

Product #2: Raised Beds

You can either buy a raised bed at a discount or build a raised bed yourself. You deliver it to the client or schedule a pickup. A raised bed is a big product, but it's still just a product, and people are used to buying products.

You can make at least $150 per bed. It'll take you about 4 hours to either build the raised bed or research the best raised bed kits, go purchase them, and assemble them. I'd say this is about a 2 in terms of difficulty.

You'll need to sell 20 raised beds to make $3,000 in profit, and it'll take you about 80 hours, though that could certainly be less. You could fit those 80 hours in on the weekends or evenings.

Product #3: Raised Bed Kits

For this product, you'd pull together a raised bed, a trellis, and some plants, all of which you'd buy at a discount. You either have the kit delivered, deliver it yourself, or schedule a pickup.

The profit for each raised bed kit is around $300, depending on how much you charge your client. I'm being conservative when I estimate it'll take you about 10 hours to gather the materials for each kit and build the raised bed.

This product is a level 3 difficulty. Let's say you sell 10 kits to make $3,000, and it takes you about 80 hours of work to get there. That's not bad at all for a side gig, right?

Service #1: Create a Custom Planting Plan

I like to think of this service as getting paid to draw on a piece of paper with some watercolors or colored pencils. All you have to do is create planting plans for people by first getting the measurements of their garden space. Then, you'll come up with a seasonal plan for each of their raised beds.

This is the perfect side hustle for you if you're not interested in spending a lot of time in clients' garden spaces. Maybe you need to work completely from home. Well, sit in your home office and make planting plans.

You can make $100 per plan, and each one might take you 1 to 2 hours to complete. This is level 1 difficulty. I created all my first planting plans with my daughter's kindergarten Crayola colored pencils, okay? I can't even draw very well, so I just use circles to represent the plants. If I can do this, you can do this, too. You can make $3,000 selling 30 planting plans.

This service is fun for you and super helpful for the client. Do you know how many people on the internet ask me for my planting plans? People are dying for planting plans, but here's the really cool thing. You know what to plant in your area better than I do. You can tell your clients what to plant based on what you have growing in your own garden.

Service #2: Create a Custom Garden Design

For this option, you'll get measurements and then deliver a garden design to the client. You can profit $200 per design, and each design typically takes about 3 hours. Do 15 designs over about 45 hours to earn $3,000. This is a level 2 difficulty.

I teach all my Gardenary consultants how to create designs using a computer program, so again, you don't need drawing skills. This is another great work-from-home job option. You can sit at home and create garden designs for people, and they will pay you to do it.

Service #3: Install a Garden

You'll gather all the supplies, deliver the materials, and install the garden for the client. This is the most difficult option, but you can make a lot of money. You can earn at least $1,000 for each small install (and I've made a lot more than that on bigger installs). You might spend 10 hours completing a small garden install, so you'll need to do 3 installs over about 30 hours of work to earn $3,000 in profit.

If you're not handy, you can buy raised bed kits or even pay someone to help you with the physical labor.

Advice #1: A Garden Consultation

During a garden consultation, you visit the client at their home or business, measure and assess their available space, and then give them advice on how and where they can set up a garden. A consult lasts 1 hour, so it might take about 2 hours total of your time if you consider drive time.

Super easy, y'all. This is level 1 difficulty, and you can make at least $100 per consult (some of our Gardenary consultants charge as much as $200). If you do 30 consults over the course of 60 hours, you'll make $3,000.

Let me reiterate: You can make $3,000 talking about the garden. I mean, I used to talk about the garden all day for free. Even if you only have time to do one consult a week, you'll be earning a little something extra for your gardening knowledge and your time.

Advice #2: Garden Coaching

Coaching sessions are for clients who already have gardens. You visit the client at regular intervals and make a plan to help them be more successful in the garden.

The best way to sell coaching sessions is as a package—let's say 5 coaching sessions for $500. It'll take you about 10 hours to complete the coaching sessions, plus drive time. This is level 2 difficulty because you meet with the client over a longer period of time. To make $3,000, you only have to sell coaching packages to 6 clients, and it'll require about 60 hours of work.

Coaching sessions can be really rewarding, and you're essentially just interacting with your client in the garden, showing them what's working and what isn't working. We have some Gardenary consultants who charge clients for coaching for an entire year in the garden. That automatically gives them consistent, reliable income. Not a bad deal, right?

Advice #3: Garden Class

You can offer a class on a garden-related subject, such as herb gardening or salad gardening. Classes typically last about 1 to 1.5 hours, and you'll need 5 to 10 participants who are paying $70 to $75 each to make $300 per class. In total, you'll need about 5 hours to prepare for the class, advertise it, and host it.

This is a level 3 difficulty simply because you have to gather multiple people in one place. But all you have to do is host 10 classes over the course of about 50 hours to make $3,000.

How to Really Make Money as a Garden Consultant

If you want to make money, then sell products. Products are the fastest way to earn income, and you barely have to do anything.

If you want to make the most of your time, then sell services. If you're a busy mom, then doing a service like creating a planting plan or designing a garden means you get paid for your time.

If you want to do work that feels meaningful, then sell your advice.

And if you want to witness where the magic of garden consulting really happens, combine all three. Do an hour-long consult, then send the client a custom garden design, sell them all the products with a markup, and install the garden for them. Plant the garden up according to a planting plan you've created for them. Offer coaching to help them grow in their new space. Boom! The trifecta—products, services, and advice.

This is basically my business. That's how I made $1 million in one year.

With garden consulting, your margins are high, and you can make the most of your time. If you're a stay-at-home mom or the caretaker of elderly parents, you can do this. If you work full-time but want to earn some extra income, you can do this. If you need a job you can squeeze in from 9 am to 12 pm every day, you can do this.

If you've never owned a business before, you can do this.

If you live in a small town, you can do this.

I mean, we only sell three things: products, services, and advice. It's super simple. This business can work for anyone.

This Is Not a Get-Rich-Quick Scheme

Starting your own garden consulting business is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It's not even really a get-rich thing. It's just a way to earn a living doing something you love. It's a way to build a profitable business that can last.

I'm not promising you riches. But I am promising that this business will give you a reason to get up in the morning, and it'll always be on your terms. You can pick the things you love doing and just never offer the things you don't like doing. This is your business. You get to decide.

I've trained almost 1,000 gardeners how to set up their own successful consulting businesses inside our Gardenary Consultant Certification program. I can show you how to set your business up the fastest and simplest way. I can also teach you how to market your business, how to make sales without feeling sleazy, and so much more. I'd love to help you start your own business if you're ready.

Whether you're looking to work part- or full-time, this is the type of business that will bring so much value to your life—financially and in every other way.