The operations of Centrum Ogrodnicze Zielone Centrum and Biuro Projektowania Krajobrazu Green Touch  (a garden centre and landscape planning company) are in full swing now.  The business was launched a month ago and Joanna Gradek is its proud owner. “I am perfectly aware that Szczecin is not a very lively market for landscape designing, and the demand is not yet strong enough here – there simply are too few customers interested in buying such services. That is why I have decided to take a different angle on this matter. Namely, I want to attract customers to the garden centre first in order to show them what gardens may look like, to present them with interesting solutions and in this way, to persuade them to make further investments,“ – says Joanna Gradek.        

The garden centre located at Modra Street is actually a garden in itself.  Customers may feast their eyes on beautifully exposed plants and admire other elements that are on offer, such as: sett stone (parking spaces and passageways are paved in a dozen or so different patterns), several types of lawns, garden furniture and fences, various decorations as well as sprinkler and irrigation systems that can be tested on site. “I designed everything myself to make sure that as many elements can be displayed as possible. As far as plants go, I picked those that naturally grow in our climatic zone to increase the chances that that they would take root and delight my customers in their gardens. The plants are supplied by Polish nurseries.  I cooperate with many producers and contractors, which gives me the possibility to carry out individual orders without the customer’s participation.  If the customer sees something that they like in our centre, my company is able to handle all the tasks associated with the delivery: beginning from the design, through selection and purchase of all elements, down to preparation/ assembly,” - stresses the owner.  

Joanna Gradek graduated from the faculty of Landscape Architecture of West Pomeranian University of Technology.  She intended to study special planning in Warsaw, but when waiting for the faculty to become open to students, she began her internship at the Marshal’s Office. Her work there did not seem to give her a sense of fulfilment, so she decided to roll up her sleeves and make her dreams come true.  By accident, she learned about business training courses organized by the Polish Entrepreneurs’ Foundation.  During one of such courses she heard about “Przystanek Sukces” competition for the best business plan.  

“I took the matter very seriously and prepared my business plan with meticulous care - sometimes I had to work long into the night to finish everything on time.  My efforts paid off though, because I was ranked second and also won the special prize, which was the only financial prize offered in the competition. My primary gain however, was that this achievement strengthened my motivation and belief that what I planned to do made sense and stood a chance of success,”- she recollects.

After this auspicious start there was nothing left to do, but to keep up the momentum. Joanna Gradek decided to use another benefit offered by the Entrepreneurs’ Foundation to set up her own enterprise: a low-interest-bearing loan. In this manner she secured PLN 50 thousand for her project.

Simultaneously she started looking for the appropriate location. In the end, she found the plot at Modra street, but it looked nothing like the garden that exists at that address today.  “There were just trees and bushes there.  I had to have them all cleared and dug up. We moved 11 truckloads of sod from there and brought the same quantity of a new substrate. For a whole year I worked on this site every single day. I personally supervised every detail, I took some very tough decisions but eventually, I made it.  I learned a lot from the experience, for instance to anticipate and prepare for the unexpected,” – she points out.

Unfortunately, she was not able to foresee everything. The lengthy procedures connected with obtaining the loan or the planning permit and the associated procrastination proved to be serious obstacles.  The construction process also lasted much longer than planned, mainly because of the long winter and the problems with finding the appropriate crew of workers.  “I started preparing Zielone Centrum last May.  Frankly speaking, at first I was convinced that most things would be done on the spot and I planned the opening for the spring.    Unfortunately, the reality proved harsher than expected. That is why we have been operational only for a month now. In addition, the expenditures turned out to be twice as high as indicated in my business plan,” – she adds.

Despite the fact that the autumn is not the best of times for launching a garden-related business, Ms. Gradek cannot complain about lack of customers, especially considering that the advertising leaflets were distributed in the neighbourhood only a few days ago.  “The truth is that the location is our great asset. Thousands of cars pass by our centre every day and people are interested to visit the new shops opening along the road. The grapevine takes care of the rest - quite often it happens that customers living in far-away districts visit us and say that they have heard about our centre from their friends,” – she admits.   

Currently, besides the owner, two persons are in the company’s employ – two of Ms. Gradek’s fellow graduates. “For now, we are mainly focused on serving customers and making the sales.   I want us all to be able to have some impact on what is happening in the Centre and what it looks like. That is why the ideas of each of us are put into practice  - in that way I am safe in the belief that my employees treat the Centre as their own and I do not worry that much when I need to leave them alone for a few hours. When it comes to design work, I do the majority of it now, but as the orders keep coming in, these tasks will also be shared among us,” – she promises.  Joanna Gradek’s current aspiration is that Zielone Centrum should be teeming with activity all year round.  “I hope that whole families will be visiting us and will stay as long as possible.  In future I would like to create a special section for kids and conduct nature-related workshops for them.  I want to introduce some innovative products and present novelties that are not yet available in our market. And some day, I would be happy to own two more centres like this one in Szczecin,” – says Joanna Gradek.

KZ