For 5 Questions this week the Herald speaks to Kirsten Warcup, who runs a custom potting and personal plant shopping business, Pots By K, in Grand Forks.
Q: Tell us about yourself and how you came to own a business.
A: I have always been super into plants and planting. It just kind of started from a young age, and I have always loved planting pots and containers. Every year, it's always a big deal for my mom and I to go buy a bunch of flowers, then she lets me pick them all out and I get to plant everything. I've just learned so much about all of the plants through my own research that I was thinking about how I could apply all this knowledge. This year, I just decided to start a small business where I go out and I shop for people and put plants in their pots. I think the idea works because a lot of people go to the garden center and they don't know what to buy or which plants perform the best. That's where I got the idea from.
Q: Tell us about Pots By Kay, how does it work and what services do you offer?
A: I consult with the homeowner, and I see their plants or pots and where they're placed, and what kind of sun they get. I go out and either they tell me exactly what they want or I can pick out plants for them, or they let me design their pots. I pick out plants that I think would perform well in their pots and what would fit there, and the work they want to put in -- some plants are more work than others. I shop for them, then I go back to the home and plant them.
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Q: Who are your customers?
A: It's mostly for people who like the look of having pots, but don't really like to get dirty and plant things. It’s for those people who like to have really beautiful containers, or for people who don't really know what to plant or don't really want to deal with the hassle of doing it.
Q: How has business been?
A: Pots By K, because it's our first year, has been slow, but I can say that Tim Shea's Nursery and Landscaping and All Seasons Garden Center have been wild, absolutely wild. It's been kind of crazy shopping there.
Q: How are you advertising, and what do you intend to do during the winter?
A: I'm mostly just on Facebook, and then I'm coming up with some flyers now to put on houses and in businesses. I haven't really come up with a plan for winter yet. I'm graduating on Sunday, and I will be going to NDSU. This is going to be my first year actually going to Fargo. I’ll probably do nothing (with Pots By K) over the winter, then start back up in the spring because it's really in springtime, like May and June, when people want flowers planted in their pods.
