The development of a business and its continuous management is an all-encompassing and tiring experience, which is built on the skills acquired over years.
Here we want to present you the story of Andrea Pinneri and Carlotta Stella, two young agricultural entrepreneurs who represent, in our opinion, an exceptional example of passion and commitment to their work.
Diligence and devotion (as well as artistic and aesthetic creativity) definitely seem to be the strong point of these nature enthusiasts.
Together they manage a field of colorful striped tulips in the hills of Turin. Beautiful flowers bloom every spring, and people can pick their own for a fee.
This is not the only activity possible in the field: in addition to the collection, other projects are organised, some specifically designed for the little ones (such as decorating Halloween pumpkins, or writing a letter for Santa Claus with lots of of snack and house gift).
How an unconventional company was born
During some walks among the hills of Turin, the boys noticed a stretch of uncultivated land that would have been perfect for an expanse of flowers. They opted for a tulip harvest field inspired by realities born in Italy in previous years. In fact, in northern Italy (but not only) many of these harvesting fields have sprung up, such as Italian Tulips, Tulips in Sardinia, Il Giardino di Lu', Tulipania, the Tuliparty of Turin and many flower farms that they also cultivate and open themselves to self-harvesting.
Carlotta and Andrea's passion for flowers, which can clearly be felt, did not arise suddenly: the former has always been passionate about plants, flowers, vegetable gardens, while the latter is grew up in the family business, a floriculture, and is a gardener by trade.
Nothing is born by chance and skills are not invented completely when you decide to start a business. They must be previous and solid.
The project began with the study and subdivision of the land for different crops (tulips, pumpkins and sunflowers). Then, the work began: from fencing with electric wire to finding the material, up to ordering the bulbs, then planted by hand after having studied how to structure the rows.
A job that required, and requires, constant study and ideation, continuously testing creativity and problem solving. In addition to being demanding and stressful, especially on a psychological level.
The concern that everything would go to pieces, according to Andrea and Carlotta, was there until the opening, especially with regards to the meteorological point of view. Shortly before the camp opened there was a hailstorm in the area. He risked ruining everything.
Obviously, there were other difficulties due to the good news as well. How to manage the exceptional influx of customers, and therefore the organization. The number of visitors exceeded their own expectations.
In any case, Andrea and Carlotta always tried to pay attention to every single person who came to their camp, even when the amount of work was important. We believe that this attitude for service, even in the presence of an indiscriminate flow of customers, is one of the keys to success in entrepreneurship.
“Despite having no certainties, we decided to throw ourselves into this adventure because for us it is a life project and we will build it little by little”
And the marketing side?
They really did their best: they focused on offlineand online advertising (to learn about the various types of marketing, take a look here: https://www.deepmarketing.it/approfondimenti/tipologie-marketing/ ).
The first method, in their case, was the distribution of flyers in the area and the posting of advertising posters. The second, posts on Facebook and Instagram pages. They brought updates from the field as much as possible.
“The time invested in publishing content on social has paid off, and we have seen the numbers grow significantly.”
Scalable business models (which grow without encountering internal resource limits), which are so fashionable especially online, are still not in the interests of these two entrepreneurs.
They don't want "everything right away", but something that represents them, in line with their way of life and their philosophy.
Thanks to diligence and a sense of responsibility, as well as passion, the results have arrived. And they brought with them great joy and contentment.
Yes, it was partly thanks to marketing. But we shouldn't delude ourselves too much: it wouldn't have been possible if there had been little substance behind it.
And offering an excellent service or product to the community is often among the first desires of those who open a business.
An activity like that of Carlotta and Andrea works because behind it hides a lot of passion and commitment, as well as honesty and transparency (as can be seen from the social profiles of the Garden).
Generally, marketing for agricultural businesses is still essential to achieve the desired success and efficiency.
Determining your product and target market is crucial. Using digital strategies can increase organic site traffic, improve search engine rankings, and generate leads(contacts) more efficiently.
Farm companies can also make use of social media to successfully engage potential and non-potential customers (as Carlotta and Andrea did successfully).
The best approach depends on the specific needs of the company, but could include marketing the list of products and services with special offers and discounts.
Access to the field
You can find Andrea and Carlotta in Strada Rosero in Pino Torinese, between the hamlet of Tetti Rosero and Via Ciattalina.
Unfortunately, being an agricultural field, they don't have a street number, but they have no problem being found.
They are open on Saturdays and Sundays from 9.30 to 18.30, on Mondays and Tuesdays upon reservation from 9.30 to 18.30, and on Fridays from 15.00 onwards (always upon reservation).
To facilitate parking, reservations are welcome even on weekends.
Entrance fees
Entrance is free for children up to twelve years of age and for disabled people.
The ticket to enter the field costs 4 euros and includes the picking of two tulips, 4.50 for those who also want to take the bulbs home.
Each extra flower costs 1 euro, with the bulb 1.50.
Let's talk about dedication
We asked ourselves how Andrea and Carlotta manage to manage such a demanding job, which requires great presence, with the new projects they continuously create. A job that is in some ways similar, yet so different, to ours at Deep Marketing.
Their response was as follows:
“We manage it one step at a time, based on what requires priority, studying and planning everything down to the smallest detail, dividing tasks and collaborating together.”
We believe that the key is collaboration. He manages to ensure that experiences are passed down, especially from the more experienced to the younger ones. But also that everyone joins forces to collaborate and create something new.
In our opinion, Andrea and Carlotta can be a great example for many people, especially young entrepreneurs. Their way of doing business and spirit of sacrifice can inspire many.
The toil of the terrain can be a metaphor for life, which is certainly not downhill.
And speaking of novice entrepreneurs (with healthy ideas, often discouraged): Carlotta and Andrea's advice to these is to pursue and work towards their goals with passion, commitment and ability, putting their heart into it. Many appreciated their work and indeed, their own expectations were exceeded.
Rural entrepreneurship
Let's broaden the view. Young people are returning to work in the fields.
In our country only agricultural businesses are growing, among those led by under 35s. Over the course of ten years they have grown by 1%, while the total of the others is -13%
This is usually not “old fashioned” farming. Work in the fields has changed a lot, although this is not a rule that applies to all farms.
Even with regards to marketing and communication, as we have seen, we are increasingly making use of digital tools. They also help you track conversions (i.e. specific, pre-defined, measurable actions that are important to your business).
But technology doesn't only help with this. The so-called “AgriTech”s often monitor crops with drones, which are even able to provide specifications on the land.
The aims of these enterprises are not always conventional: there is the establishment of kindergartens, educational farms, projects for the disabled. Not to mention social reintegration.
Among farms that produce sustainable and in some cases even organic cosmetics, innovations allow production without damaging the environment and healthier food.
This is thanks to young and passionate rural entrepreneurship. As well as the opportunities that the world of agriculture reserves for young people.
Some data
In the period in which Covid hit hardest, there were 11,000 more people employed in agriculture than in the last ten years. A big difference with other sectors: -14% of staff in catering; -3.7% among in-store or wholesale sellers; -4.2% among workers.
This sector, unlike what one might suspect, does not experience crises in a technological era like ours. New technologies, as we have seen, are exploited precisely to improve it - always with an eye on the human and social needs of customers.
Also thanks to creativity and interest in the territory.
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