""One is greenhouse growing specialty tender plants like poinsetta." Not true. There is precious little money in a poinsettia crop" I know, I was surprised to learn they were doing this too. They must have found a higher paying market for them- maybe interior landscaping? I don't know more details, just that they are keeping that part of the business but looking to sell the retail store. They are growing other crops as well though, again, I don't have all the details. I dont' agree with the same comment about lily market, at least not daylily. The data I've seen is that there are perhaps 5 companies that are in the $10-20M annual revenue and literally hundreds below that. There are also quite a number in the $1-5M range. The majority are 58k varieties registered to date) for collectors and hobbyists. New intros are in the $100-400 range per single fan. Then the prices drop year by year until they range from $20-$4 for 2 fans on older cultivars that are still highly collected. Also, I agree that quality is a big concern and this limits the types of plants that are doing well. They tend to be sturdy plants that either go dormant or that are strong enough to tolerate digging, root cleaning, shipping well. There are state regulations on shipping that impact how they must be packaged and treated. Similar situation with Iris and Hosta. "I think this is a very important aspect of staying solvent and profitable in this industry. You have to really, really know your production costs and plot them against the returns. You cannot be all things to all people, and you need to define where your market with the highest return lays and not be sentimental about what isn't paying its way." Absolutely, I could not agree more! And you are correct, owning land is a major factor. In fact it also is a major barrier to those companies who are trying to sell their business because their land value is so high that they have a huge asking price for the business and it's tough to find buyers in that high range for a business that isn't turning enough profit to cover huge property loans. nwnatural, There are several Iris growers in my area which started me looking at this type of business. They aren't often "dig your own" as much as buyer walks the display bed and chooses what they want, then the owners or their workers dig the order from the increase beds. In the case of iris the order is usually held then dug & shipped in the fall once the plants have gone dormant. I've done a lot of internet research into what the companies are offering. I also use the ResearchUSA small business database available through my local library. That database allows you to search privately held companies by name, location, SIC codes and will give ballpark revenue along with some other details of the business. It's hard to tell how current the data is and there are many more companies in existence that have not made it into the database but it's a good place to get rough idea of a market and target business. I've added to that some interviews with insiders. Much more research to do before I would jump in though.

Look, opportunity write a resume have everyone, but employers are looking for great candidates. And to take an interview with a good company, you need an informative and serious CV. There isn't free, but I think they're better for writing and forchecking resumes and resumeble review. I had troubles with my resume, and they helped me to improve my document. Employers always estimate good writing resume.

So many of you have been helpful to me over the years here, I thought I'd join in. BS in Music Education from University of Illinois back in the 70s. DH also graduated from there; same year. We followed his career from the start, but I always found a job as a High School or Middle School Choral Director. Once DS and DD came along, I switched to Elementary School (fewer after school commitments) and that's where I stayed for awhile. We moved to NC when DD #2 was born and that's when I decided to take a break from teaching and stayed home, enjoying the time with them and the chance to decorate, of course! I went back to teaching full time when DD #2 was 5, and she came to school with me every day. Those were great years....hard but I'd never trade the experience. Once she moved on to middle school our financial situation changed and I no longer needed to work full time. I decided once again to stay at home, the last year all three kids were still at home with us. I still teach occasionally, filling in for a maternity leave now and then, and subbing for music teachers when they need someone. But I love the freedom I have now to pursue other interests. I was a voice major but never had the time to practice while I was teaching full time. Now I study with a great teacher and sing professionally with a couple of vocal ensembles, along with church gigs. DH and I are empty nesters but still in the same house we bought 25 years ago. It has seen its share of change and has served us well. Our needs continue to change, as we now look for ways to accommodate our growing family (both daughters have recently married) in the years ahead. Thanks all for your wonderful advice and for sharing so many of your stories!

One day in LA (my only time there), within the span of about 2 hours, we saw Sean Hayes in a diner. I stood 2' away from him while I waited for the (single, unisex) rest room -- DH was in there and when he opened the door I pushed him back in, closed the door, and said much too loudly I'm sure, "OMG you'll never believe who's right outside this door!" I was a babbling idiot. Then we walked down the street to a Starbucks. My DS, who was probably 18 at the time, was standing in line for the rest room behind the musician Ryan Adams. Maybe two months before this, we had taken DS with us to a Ryan Adams concert in Boston, so he recognized him right away. When Ryan came out of the men's room and handed DS the key, DS chatted with him for a few minutes. Ryan was really nice to him. I was outside and knew nothing until DS2 came out to tell me what was happening. I ran in, again like a big idiot, and stood watching while Ryan got a straw for his iced coffee, then I went back outside to wait for him, fully intending to ask him for a photo, but he escaped out the back door. So sad. THEN, in the next store we visited, we saw "Janice" -- Chandler's girlfriend from Friends. This may have been the best day of my life. I am a total dork about celebrities (in case you can't tell). I love, love the singer Lori McKenna. Maybe no one here has heard of her but she is local from MA and does a lot of performing and song writing in Nashville as well. We have seen her in concert probably 12 times. She plays a couple times a year at a very small concert venue in the Boston area, and we always go. The first time I spoke to her it was because we, and our friends, were among the last to leave and Lori came out from backstage to get her guitar. My friend asked if she would take a pic with me, and she did, and we chatted for a minute. The second time I met her, it was at the same concert venue, and I had brought a CD for her to sign. After the show, I managed to be standing right in front of a door she was coming out of, and I asked her to sign my CD. She said 'yes, but a bunch of people are about to come out of there (the concert area), so come with me' -- she grabbed my hand and brought me backstage. She signed my CD, then had her DH take a bunch of pics of us. She was super nice.