Today we’d like to introduce you to Lora Irwin.
Lora, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My husband and I both threw in the towel with our careers after our 4th boy was born. I was an OT, Occupational Therapist and worked in outpatient rehab, and he was a special ed teacher. We wanted the freedom to work at home and home school a few of our older boys. Darren began selling cactus on eBay when eBay was just starting. He sold what he put up immediately. He introduced his father to this concept and his father ran with it soon opening up a shop on Amazon. Together, they truly pioneered the shipping of cactus and succulent industry. A few years later, my husband and I saw the opportunity to cater to large events, weddings, showers, etc. We opened our first online store on Etsy in 2010. With instant success, we were able to hire employees and launch our own website, thesucculentsource.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
When we first launched, my husband was working FT and I PT. We would parent our four boys and then either go pack orders in our greenhouses under LED lights or we would sit back to back in our office on our computers until 1 to 2 am. It was exhausting, yet exciting to build our business from ground zero!
Please tell us about The Succulent Source.
We ship succulents and cactus all over the US, all year long. Approx. 80% of our business is event-based: weddings, showers, receptions, retailers, trade shows, etc. and 20% of our business is your everyday gardeners and collectors. We also offer AMAZING bridal accessories thanks to our talented florist, AMBER. Items such as bouquets, hair combs, bracelets, boutineers, are all a unique part of what we sell. We also have launched our corporate gift page to provide beautiful, affordable and green gifts to customers, potential customers, employees, etc.
In addition, we are truly a family run business. All five of our boys have a part in our business. Some have their own pages on our website and have become experts in certain species of succulents. They get to keep the profit they make by being little entrepreneurs!
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I would have searched for more help sooner. Learning when and how much to delegate was a challenge to me as a new business owner. I tried to do it all: mother, work, home school, run a household. My personality is to be all in and it was a hard lesson to learn. I could not do it 100% in all realms. When I took the step to hire an assistant, I was able to take a deep breath!
Contact Info:
- Email: thesucculentsource@
gmail.com - Phone: 760.749.1086
- Instagram: @thesucculentsource @succulentsource
- Facebook: thesucculentsource
- Website: www.thesucculentsource.com
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