Winter greenhouse as a business: where to start and how to succeed?

In most regions of Russia, the season for growing vegetables, berries and herbs is quite short. You can lengthen it using greenhouses. By growing a variety of vegetables, fruits and herbs all year round, you can secure a stable income. To minimize losses, it is important to choose the right crops for cultivation and establish uninterrupted sales.

Growing vegetables, flowers, and other produce in greenhouses has many benefits that make this type of business attractive to beginners. Among them:

• relatively low cost of entry;
• the ability to work with a variety of cultures;
• short payback periods;
• good demand for quality products.

When planning to start a greenhouse business, you need to take into account the complexity. These include:

• high costs for heating greenhouses;
• implementation difficulties;
• working with a perishable product guarantees a high percentage of defects.

In greenhouses, you can grow any crop, from banal leaf lettuce to exotic indoor plants. Beginning growers prefer tomatoes and cucumbers, these vegetables are the easiest to sell. However, experts assure that the most profitable option is flowers. The second place is occupied by a variety of greens, and vegetables are in an honorable third.

Types of greenhouses: what to choose for a beginner?

Greenhouses for growing plants can be built independently, but more often specialists are invited to build them. There are many modifications that differ in shape, size, materials and other features:

1. The easiest option is an unheated greenhouse. It is suitable for growing early ground vegetables, seedlings. The greenhouse will protect plants from night cooling and the first frosts, but it is not suitable for use in winter.
2. Partially heated greenhouse guarantees a temperature not lower than 5 degrees, which is suitable for growing seedlings of flower crops and heat-loving exotic plants.
3. The most reliable all-season option is a heated winter greenhouse. This design is equipped with a heating system that prevents the temperature from dropping below 13 degrees. In such a greenhouse, you can grow any, even the most heat-loving vegetables and berries, herbs, flowers, seedlings.

The type of greenhouses is also influenced by its shape. Experts distinguish three categories that are most common:

1. Wall. The structure is attached to the house so that one wall is common. Such a device makes it possible to save on heating, but significantly limits the size of the greenhouse. Ideal for a winter garden, covered porch or greenhouse.
2. Arched. A popular design in which it is convenient to grow vegetables, herbs, flowers. This form is more often used for greenhouses and partially heated greenhouses.
3. Pitched. A greenhouse in the form of a house is suitable for growing tall and climbing plants.

The glazed pitched roof provides good lighting and additional heating; in winter, snow does not linger on it.

Depending on the internal structure of the greenhouse, there can be:

1. Shelving. Racks are attached to the side walls, on which plants planted in pots and boxes are placed in tiers. Often used when growing hydroponically (in a liquid nutrient solution).
2. Ground. In this case, ridges are organized in the greenhouse, plants are planted in rows in prepared soil. For such greenhouses, heating with a cable laid underground is desirable.

Sales of finished products

The owner of a greenhouse or greenhouse business will have to carefully consider the issue of selling products. Grown vegetables, berries and greens can be:

• sell on the market independently or through a hired seller;
• sell it to a grocery store or supermarket;
• sell to wholesale buyers;
• offer restaurants and cafes;
• sell through an online store or an agricultural cooperative.

The most profitable option is independent retail sales. Wholesalers buy products at the lowest price, and stores cannot guarantee the sale of the entire batch taken. The returned balances will have to be added to the losses.

Owners of several greenhouses who are faced with the need to sell a large crop should buy a car for the prompt delivery of products to customers, as well as hire a manager, who will be looking for new distribution channels.

How to open a flower shop from scratch and draw up a competent business plan with calculations - read

Winter greenhouse business plan

The greenhouse business does not require excessive investments. You can start with the construction of one greenhouse, gradually expanding and improving the economy.

At the initial stage, you will have to spend:

• for the construction and equipment of a greenhouse (about 120 sq. m) - 200,000 rubles;
• for the purchase of planting material, fertilizers, fuel - from 30,00 rubles per month

Greenhouse as a business: profitability and payback period

When growing vegetables or herbs in such a greenhouse, it is possible to make a profit from 100,000 rubles per month. Thus, a single construction will pay off in 2 seasons. The profitability of the business is about 70%.

Winter greenhouse as a business requires a careful approach and a sensitive response to market fluctuations. Be prepared to change direction by opting for more popular crops. Mobility, entrepreneurial spirit and the absence of stereotypes in matters of implementation will allow you to quickly achieve success.