Niche Influencer Turned Business Owner Wants to DOUBLE This Year

This inspiring conversation with Kate, co-founder of She Grows Veg, reveals how a passion project on Instagram transformed into a thriving e-commerce business selling heritage vegetable seeds. In just 15 months, this startup has disrupted the traditional seed industry with innovative digital marketing.

The origin story:

• Started as an Instagram account by Lucy sharing unusual vegetable growing journeys
• Built to 150,000 followers before monetisation
• Kate quit her 25-year marketing career to launch the business
• Founders went unpaid for six months while establishing the company

Kate and Lucy identified a significant market opportunity when followers kept asking where to find the unusual seeds featured on Instagram. They disrupted the traditional seed industry by focusing exclusively on e-commerce, eliminating printed catalogs, and creating Instagram-perfect photography for their seed packets.

Key business innovations:

• QR codes on seed packets linking to YouTube growing guides
• Focus on beautiful, visually appealing packaging and photography
• E-commerce only approach (no garden center distribution)
• Targeting younger demographics (under 40) who represent 82% of market growth
• Subscription model to smooth out seasonal revenue fluctuations

The business achieved remarkable growth in its first year, turning over £250,000. Now with a team of 13 women, they’ve expanded their product line with 100 new seed varieties and won gold at the Chelsea Flower Show on their first attempt.

Marketing strategy focus areas:

• Heritage and heirloom seeds as their primary niche
• Unusual vegetable varieties as a secondary focus
• Creating jargon-free growing advice for beginners
• Food-oriented content connecting growing with eating
• Content strategy across blog, YouTube, and Instagram

Their current marketing mix includes approximately £10,000 monthly ad spend, with £7,000 allocated to Google Ads campaigns. They maintain a target ROAS of 3-4x despite relatively low average order values (£30-40).

Growth challenges:

• Brand awareness in a competitive market
• Cash flow limitations affecting marketing investment
• Balancing immediate revenue needs with brand building
• Creating optimised content that strengthens their niche position
• Scaling efficiently to reach their £10M long-term revenue goal

Kate and Lucy’s vision extends beyond business success. They aim to get as many people in the UK growing their own food as possible, with community outreach programs helping disadvantaged backgrounds in social housing start growing vegetables.

Moving forward:

• Seeking angel investment to fuel expansion
• Planning to double revenue in the next year
• Creating more themed gift bundles and expanding product lines
• Launching new subscription boxes including a children’s offering
• Continuing to perfect their content strategy around heirloom seeds

This seed business demonstrates how identifying a market gap, leveraging social media expertise, and creating a distinctive brand position can disrupt even the most traditional industries.

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