Today we’d like to introduce you to David Stevens.
David, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Three years ago, my girlfriend mentioned how much she missed gardening. But she didn’t have space to garden outside. In secret, I plotted to buy her an indoor garden for Valentine’s day. I soon discovered there just wasn’t a garden on the market that allowed people to grow a significant portion of fruits and vegetables indoors, in the comfort of their living rooms. Other systems were ugly, took up too much space, or were dirty and difficult to maintain. Recognizing that having a garden and eating home-grown food is an experience that many people want, but are unable to have, I set out to create the iHarvestTM.
The iHarvestTM grows 30 fruits and vegetables in only 2.5 sq. feet of floor space. It’s attractive as soon as you get it, and even more beautiful when your plants are growing. It’s also hydroponic, which means you’re not bringing dirt indoors, and it uses 95% less water than typical gardening. And indoor gardeners get the benefit of fresh, pesticide-free and herbicide-free food all year ’round. Finally, the iHarvest’s hydroponic technology grows many fruits and vegetables 30-50% faster and bigger than typical gardening, so users can grow $1,000 worth of fresh groceries every year.
Has it been a smooth road?
No, but if it were easy somebody else would have done it already. Honestly, I had no idea how expensive the production of a garden like this would be. The type of work necessary to build hundreds or thousands of iHarvests at scale could not be done by hand. Manufacturing requires enormous steal molds that are operated by even more enormous machines. And this costs a lot of money.
My first big risk was deciding to fund the project via a Kickstarter campaign. A great deal of effort and startup capital went into this, but the results were worth it! We raised over $225,000 on Kickstarter, and have continued to sell many additional units in the months since.
Incorporating great materials into the iHarvestTM wasn’t easy either. I manufactured the iHarvestTM with high quality, food grade, BPA-free plastic materials. People grow food to be healthy, and they deserve a system that makes that a priority for them. The iHarvest’s low energy, full spectrum LED’s were hard to come by as well, but they allow our customers to grow fruits and vegetables beautifully, with absolutely no natural sunlight needed.
In late January, after some delays, we were able to deliver over 400 iHarvestTM units to our North American customers. The support I received from our incredible customers has made it all worthwhile. iHarvest growers are happily beginning to grow fresh fruits and vegetables in their living rooms and kitchens. Most of them are part of our “Indoor Garden Works Group” on Facebook. They’re sharing their stories and experiences with each other, and helping each other grow. It’s great to watch!
We’d love to hear more about your business.
IGWorksTM stands for Indoor Garden Works. We specialize in growing fruits and vegetables beautifully, in the comfort of your home. Our most popular product is the iHarvestTM, which allows you to grow 30 plants 30-50% faster than typical gardening, in only 2.5 square feet of floor space. We also provide attractive, high efficiency LED lights made specifically for those that want to grow miniature fruit trees (lemons, limes, peaches, passion fruit, etc.) in their home.
As the founder of IGWorksTM, I’m most proud of our commitment to providing beautiful, highly functional and space conscious products that allow all of us to garden, no matter the season or where we live. In addition to beauty and functionality, we’ve set ourselves apart from the competition by focusing on using food grade, BPA free materials for our gardens, because health is a priority for us all.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
What I love most about San Diego, other than the weather and beautiful beaches, is the entrepreneurial community that has developed here. There are so many fascinating individuals pursuing dreams and helping others to pursue theirs as well. Without being exposed to that type of community, I don’t know that IGWorksTM would have come to fruition.
Pricing:
- The iHarvestTM sells for $699.00
Contact Info:
- Website: https://igworks.com/
- Email: Dave@IGWorks.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indoorgardenworks/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IndoorGardenWorks/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/IG_Works
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