Introduction

If you’re interested in starting a microgreens business, whether as a side

income or full-time endevour, you’ve come to the right place! This guide will
give you the vital information you need to have a successful first commercial
crop.
I have an Urban Farm in Bloomington, Indiana where I grow Microgreens
year round, which currently involves a 6 rack system capable of producing 48
standard 1020 flats of microgreens per week.
I made so many mistakes in the beginning, including starting with too many
varieties and not focusing on the selling. So I’ve made this guide to help
others take a simpler, more direct and successful path to starting their
microgreens business.
Before we get to the “how” of growing and selling microgreens, let’s start
with the why. Let me first explain why I think starting a microgreens business
is such a fantastic opportunity.

A Perfect Opportunity
This is the absolutly perfect time to start a microgreens business for several
reasons:
1. They are just beginning to gain popularity as an actual ingredient
(rather than just a garnish) amongst both chefs and the general public
2. People are more interested than ever in buying locally grown food
3. Most farmers are not that skilled at business, so the competition is
generally weak
 4. Almost no one is delivering directly to customers homes on a
subscription basis, so this is an untapped market in any decent size
town with tons of potential for consistent, recurring revenue.
5. You can grow microgreens year-round indoors like clockwork, without
having to manage the weather or deal with pests.
6. Microgreens return a higher profit per area compared to all other
locally grown produce and vegetables I’ve worked with.
7. The University of Maryland recently released a study showing
microgreens to be up to 40 times more nutrient dense than their
mature counterparts. Basically, it’s a superfood!
8. By growing them, you will eat them too! It’s inevitable and your health
will thank you!
9. You will expand your circle of friends and help support a community.
10. The startup costs are fairly minimal
11. You can utilize your customer base to launch a full-scale produce
farm at any time (or another venture)
12. I could list 20 more reasons, but let’s move on for the sake of
progress…

How Much Can You Earn?

Generally, with the main varieties that I grow and suggest to others, you
should be able to profit about $20 per tray on average, with a total time
investment of about 20-30 minutes per tray on average, so we’re taking
about $40-$60/hour.
And its fun work!
Plus, it’s easy to scale up as you go by just adding new lights and equipment
as needed:
 • With one 4-ft wide shelf (lit with 2 4ft LED lights), you can finish 8 trays
per week ($160 profit)
• With two shelves, you can produce 16 trays per week ($320 profit)
• With four shelves, you can produce 32 trays per week ($640 profit)
And even at the $640/week stage, you will only need about 16 sq. ft. of your
house setup to grow and a couple days worth of work. It’s pretty amazing!
There are many people making multiple thousand dollars per week selling
microgreens out of a small space. It can be done, and you can be one of the
people doing it!
All it takes is starting small, focusing on making sales with the right strategy,
delivering a high quality product, and the business will begin to blossom and
grow.

Getting Started
So, does this sounds like something you might enjoy? Making money, getting
healthier, connecting with your community, enjoying more leisure time, and
building a business you can be proud of? I sure hope so! I really enjoy it, and
think you will as well.
I’ve created this guide for the sole purpose of helping you start fast, with
minimal expenses. Basically, I’ll lay out the path of least resistance.
This surely isn’t the ONLY way to start a Microgreens business – but I think
you’ll agree that it may be the BEST way - simple and effective.
So my basic recommendation is this: Purchase the minimum supplies to do
up to eight flats per week with two easy and profitable seed varieties, get
started growing, and then go land your first couple sales.
As sales take hold, scale up and/or expand your offerings. It’s really that easy
when you look at it from the overhead view.
Now let’s zoom in on each of these parts and discuss some details and
supplies you need to get started.

Minimum Supplies Needed:

(Affiliate disclosure: I will get a small commission if you purchase through
any of the Amazon links below – it keeps me going, Thank You very much!)
• Lights
o 4ft 6500k LED lights: You want two or three one-bulb fixtures per
shelf. Here are a few options to look at:
6 pack (enough for 2-3 shelves): https://amzn.to/2M9ySQx
8 pack: https://amzn.to/2McN3V4
12 pack: https://amzn.to/2VVxgcC
Another brand: https://amzn.to/2EzUWNO
• Shop table
o For seeding, harvesting, and germination area
(http://amzn.to/1Nqueo8)
• Grow rack
o You can start by just hanging one light over your shop table, but if
you have the money to spend, these racks are great!
Try this: https://amzn.to/2YPsj71
Or these: https://amzn.to/2EBck4R , https://amzn.to/2K9Sotl
• Potting soil
o Just purchase the best quality potting soil you can find locally –
peat based mixes such as Pro Mix work great.
• Trays
 o 1020 trays with drain holes. Buy 20 minimum, so you can double
up for longevity and have a couple spares
(http://amzn.to/1NqunIh)
• Scissors or knife
o Get a really sharp kitchen knife or scissors
(http://amzn.to/1RpytUZ)
• Packaging
o You can just use ziplock bags when starting out. Or invest in
clamshells for a more professional look.
Small Clamshells: https://amzn.to/2EA1UTa
Large Clamshells: https://amzn.to/2MbzFAA
• Scale
o Digital Scale (http://amzn.to/1NquV0J)
• Fan
o Fans are used to move air to prevent disease, I recommend quiet
ones. (http://amzn.to/1NquZ0y)
• Timer
o Basic electrical outlet timer for lights and fan
(https://amzn.to/2NjXsKc)
o Power Strip if needed (https://amzn.to/2mndmYX)
• Food Grade 5-Gallon Bucket w/ lids
o 2 basic food-grade 5 gallon buckets for soaking seed (you can find
on Amazon (https://amzn.to/2Nkcz6h), but they are usually
cheaper in home improvement stores.
Then, purchase 1-5 lbs of each of these two seed varieties:
• Radish – Daikon, China Rose, and Rambo are all great
• Pea – Speckled
If you are in the United States, I highly recommend you purchase your seeds
from True Leaf Market. The have the best prices and highest quality
microgreens seeds. CLICK HERE to order your first seeds (I do NOT get a
comission when you buy, but my microgreens online course members do get
10% ongoing discount).

Let’s Get Prepped

While waiting on your seed order, drill a bunch of small holes in the bottom
of one of the 5-gallon buckets. You will then place this bucket inside the
other one and be able to lift it out to drain seeds that need soaking.
You are also going to want to start a spreadsheet to record exactly what you
are doing along the way. This will help you tune your system to produce very
predictable yields. Record every piece of data you can capture. Do not skip
this step!

Get Started Growing

Start this on a Saturday night and it should align your first harvest with a non-
busy restaurant day for sample delivery to chefs.
Put the 5-gallon bucket with holes drilled inside the other bucket and add
660 grams of pea seeds (2 trays worth). Cover by 2-3 times the amount of
water, cover with lid, and allow to soak overnight.
On Sunday morning, pull the 5 gallon bucket out of the other bucket to drain
the soak water off the peas. Fill your 4 flats with firmed down soil about an
inch and a half deep and spread out the soaked pea seeds on 2 of the trays,
trying to roughly divide them between the two trays by spreading around
with your hand. Cover each of the 2 trays with paper towels and water well.
On Monday afternoon, take the other two trays and sprinkle 60 grams of
radish seed over each. If you ordered a green and purple variety, do one of
each. Cover each of the 2 trays with paper towels and water.
Keep all flats moist and covered with the towels for about 3.5 days.
You can also stack the trays 2 high on
top of one another, and flip around the
trays after the first 24-48 hours. This
allows all the seeds to get more even
germination and put down solid roots.

In the meantime, hang or mount the

light fixtures about 10 inches above
the table or shelves you are growing
on and set up a fan that will provide airflow across the area.
After about 3-4 days of sprouting under the paper towels, move them onto
the grow area and turn on the lights. Remove paper towels as they dry out.
Turn on your fan as well and keep all your trays well watered.
In the meantime, get on a computer and create a basic fresh sheet and
contact card. See my video here for an example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDfM-ZL0y1M
The radish microgreens should be ready to harvest in about 3-3.5 days under
the lights, and the peas may need about 2 days more which is why we
started them earlier.
When they both look ready to harvest (radish about 3 inches and peas about
5-6 inches), cut the microgreens towards the based with a sharp knife, and
put into bags or clamshells to give away as samples.
Compost the old soil and clean the trays.
Now that you’ve got your samples, its time to get them in customers hands.
Don’t start growing any more greens until you’ve given away all those
samples!!! This is crucial!
Making Your First Sale
It should be around Tuesday at this point..
Pick your 4 best prospects, the 4 restaurants you’d love to do business with,
then call early afternoon and say this:
“Hello, I wanted to drop by some locally grown greens for your chef to
sample. Do you think he will be in tomorrow or the next day between 2-
4pm?”
Then, see what they say. If they suggest a different time - go with that if you
can. If you can only do it after 5, say because you work full-time, then
obviously check on that time. But do your best to target a slow time for the
restaurant.
If they say yes the chef is typically in at that time, say something like:
“Great! I’ll swing by to drop by the samples and maybe say hi if they
aren’t too busy. Thanks so much!”
If they say no he’s typically not in, then either ask when a good time to drop
by samples would be (ideal) or tell them you will just leave them with
someone in the kitchen (not totally ideal).
Then, follow through on your comittment. If the chef’s in, and has a minute
to say hi or even look at the greens, that’s great. If not, leave your samples
and fresh sheet/contact card with someone in the kitchen if you can, or just
leave them with anyone.
If you score your first order on the spot, congrats!! If not, that’s totally
normal.
Ask the chef if you can follow up by email or text a couple days later to see
what they thought.
If the chef said he wasn’t interested, try somewhere else but still follow up
with them again in a month or two. If they showed interest but didn’t place
an order, follow up with an email or text message in 2-3 days (with attached
fresh sheet again) and say it was nice to meet them, see how they liked the
greens, and directly ask “would you like to place an order?”
If you don’t get a response – follow up in another week or so. Nothing again,
follow up a third time. Chefs are busy and often operate chaiotically. It can
sometimes take several follow ups before you get a solid response of a yes or
no. If they say no, be sure to ask why, as that information can be very useful.
Maybe you can come down on price? Maybe you can deliver fresher than
their current supplier? Maybe you’ve got a cooler story than their current
supplier (bike delivery!)? Maybe you can think of some way to overcome
their rejection point.
Hopefully you get an order, but if not, grow another round of samples and
target four more commercial customers. Continue to repeat this process for
all the potential commercial customers in your area.
Hopefully this results in several accounts and the demand to start scaling up
your operation. If you went through all these steps – the growing, calling,
meetings, giving out samples, and following up several times to all the
potential customers in your area and you still don’t have any sales, then
maybe the demand from chefs in your town just isn’t there.
At this point you might decide to start a home delivery subscription program
instead or in addition to restaurants. Here is a video I made on that:
https://youtu.be/6D2y_BuncWY
If you get all no’s and you’re in a very large city, something’s not right!
Maybe your pricing is too high, maybe your product quality is low, dirty
packaging? By asking the chef’s why they don’t want to purchase, you’ll find
out whats going wrong.

That’s it!
That’s the basics of an efficient and effective way to quickly launch your
microgreens business.
Once you land your first commercial customer and begin to scale up, you can
then decide to start selling at the farmers market, launch a home-delivery
program, or begin selling to grocery stores.
Keep going! There are so many ways to grow your business.
I will be posting up additional info over on My YouTube Channel and also
through the newsletter you subscribed to at MicrogreensFarmer.com - so
keep an eye out for that content!
You will also probably hear more information from me about the opportunity
to join my online course Microgreens Business. It includes hours of videos,
30 crops cheat sheets, and tons more business downloads to help skyrocked
your success. So look for those emails as well…
If you found this guide helpful, would you consider leaving me a review on
Facebook HERE and giving me a follow on Instagram HERE? I’d really, really
appreciate it!
Thanks for reading and feel free to email any and all questions you have to
nate@microgreensfarmer.com and I’ll try and create a video or answer your
question in a post or individually. Please let me know if you think something
is missing from this guide.
My mission here is to help guide you to success!
Best of luck. You can do it!!!
- Nate