By Slava Riumin. Business blogs can be found at https://neploho.agency. I also run the blog “Fell, Got Up” at https://t.me/ruminblog.
The text is published with the permission of the author.
The original text is here.

I burned out as a programmer and turned my hobby into a business. Now I make 37 million a year selling on marketplaces.

I’m 42 years old, and like many IT professionals, I completely burned out by the age of 35. In gardening groups, I became friends with a chemist, and in December 2021, we decided to start producing fertilizers and soil for houseplants.

I didn’t start the trend of selling “crap” on marketplaces, but as an experienced gardener, I decided to take it literally and produce fertilisers instead of manure.

Although sometimes after marketplace tariff updates, there's a temptation to literally deliver manure to the pickup points.

I’ll tell you how to obtain the product using a concrete mixer, a drill, and Uralhim, why Ozon steals measuring spoons, what unpleasant condition Leroy Merlin imposes on manufacturers, why the Chinese don’t want to deal with powders, and how much my production earns and spends.

Usually, home gardening is perceived as a “hobby for old-timers,” with simple cacti or violets.

…

Everyone remembers the semi-alive greens in schools on shelves and windowsills.

In reality, the indoor plant market is worth billions. The cost of rare or trendy varieties of philodendrons, monsteras, alocasias can range from 20,000 to 50,000 rubles. And this is a common occurrence.

Professional fertilizers and soil are required for their cultivation. It’s another gigantic market where billions of rubles are involved. Today, let’s talk about it.

…

In the photo, a variegated Melanochrisum is growing.

If you know the difference between a Monstera and a fern, give a like, and share in the comments which plants accompany you!

DISCLAIMER: The article was written by the author of the blog “Fell, Got Up” based on an interview with the founder of a fertilizer production company, who chose to remain anonymous to preserve relationships with technology giants and retail chains.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
   .
2. Business in Fertilizers from Scratch, Without Loans, Credits, or Government Support
   .
3. Revenue of Fertilizer and Soil Production
   .
4. Expenses of Fertilizer and Soil Production
   .
5. Profit Potential in Soil and Fertilizer Production

Business in Fertilisers from Scratch, Without Loans, Credits, or Government Support

For the initial purchase of ingredients, my partner and I each contributed 5,000 ₽, and we sold that batch through a VK group of fellow gardeners. Gradually, sales grew, and we first moved into a basement, then eventually to a full production facility.

The process of making our fertilizers looks like this:

1. Develop the formula – we reverse-engineer it using the Chinese method

We take an Indonesian or well-known American fertilizer and perform reverse engineering using the Chinese method.

That means we examine the ingredients listed on the label and ask the seller about the proportions from the perspective of experienced gardeners. Next, we study scientific patents to adjust the proportions. These patents describe the effects of various concentrations of essential ingredients on plants and are, by the way, freely accessible.

This way, we create our own product copy at 30% less cost than the original.

…

The Chinese approach involves taking a well-known product, reproducing it exactly, and then adding your own innovations.

2. Mix the necessary components

In the basement, we mixed the components using a concrete mixer and a drill with attachments.

At the production facility, we use powder mixers instead of concrete mixers, specifically “drunken barrel” mixers (2 units at 84.5 gallons each).

It turns out the classics were wrong when they said a concrete mixer only mixes concrete. It does an excellent job mixing soil and fertilisers too.

3. Package the fertilizers into bags and jars

In the basement, we used a chair, a scoop, and a bucket for this.

At the production facility: you load the mixture into an automatic packer, the machine fills it into jars and seals them. Labels are applied using a third machine.

Automatic packer - 700,000 ₽

Packaging machine - 350,000 ₽

We manually add measured scoops and pack them into sturdy bags with marketplace labeling (if required).

…

1. Primary raw materials: agricultural and fine chemicals.
   .
2. Grind the components into a powdered form.
   .
3. Mix the components according to the recipes into homogeneous blends.
   
   In the photo – the process of fertilizer production. Our fertilizer is half mineral (agrochemicals) and half organic: vitamins, amino acids, phytohormones (fine chemicals).

…

1. We package the fertiliser into PET jars of various sizes.
   .
2. We pack them into crates, palletize, and send them to warehouses or wholesale.

In the photo, packaging of fertilisers.

Similarly with soils: you load the mixture into the packaging line, the machine fills it into bags and seals them. Then you manually apply the label and pack them into boxes.

Packaging line - 950,000 ₽

We manually apply the labels and pack them into boxes.

According to wholesalers’ standards, we have a small volume. Printing houses reluctantly produce 5,000 labels, and if they do, it’s at 10 ₽ per label. But if you order a million labels, they come out to 1 ruble each. Therefore, we print the labels both in the basement and now on a printer, laminate them, cut them with a cutter, and stick them on self-adhesive paper.

…

1. We mix according to recipes. We add anti-fungal additives.
   .
2. Primary raw materials, divided into fractions: zeolites, bark, lava, and others.
   .
3. We pack them into bags, apply labels.
   .
4. We pack them into crates, palletize, and send them to warehouses or wholesale.

The process of soil production

4. We test the resulting mixture.

When introducing a new formula, we first test it on our own plants, then we pass it to a focus group – several familiar gardeners with a variety of plants and families (25 people). We give a trial jar to the laboratory. Then friendly nurseries test it on a mass scale of plants. If everything is fine, the product is launched into production (+ certification).

…

Some succulents have bloomed, while others have acquired beautiful colors, which means we can launch the fertiliser for sale.

At the start of our developments, there are often blatant failures. Complaints about hygroscopicity, clumping, powder hardening, burst packaging, and so on. Fortunately, customers provide feedback and advice – ultimately, we address the shortcomings and move forward.

In total, the estimates for the launch looked like this:

…

1. Concrete mixer
   .
2. Drill with attachments
   .
3. Buckets
   .
4. Shovels
   .
   Total: 200,000 rubles

Basement

…

Production estimate:

Soils:

1. 82.5 gallons mixer. Externally similar to a concrete mixer, but more powerful. 80,000 rubles.
   .
2. Automatic packer for packaging and sealing the mixture in bags. 950,000 rubles.
   .
3. Stone crusher for grinding components to the required fraction. 70,000 rubles.

Fertilisers:

1. Powder mixer similar to a “drunken barrel” (2 units). 640,000 rubles
   .
2. Dosing-packaging machine for packaging powder into PET jars. 700,000 rubles
   .
3. Capper for lids, also a dater, also a labeler. 350,000 rubles
   .
4. Mills for fine grinding of components (2 units). 60,000 rubles

Total equipment cost: 2,850,000 rubles

Production

The main problem in the production of fertilizers and soils is dust and dirt. It’s not like laboratory coats and clean offices. When mixing powders, dust rises, some of it is captured by the exhaust system, and some settles on all surfaces.

…

The same problem exists with soils: peat, stones, zeolites – almost every component generates dust.

Therefore, throughout the entire cycle, workers wear masks and special clothing. Afterwards, thorough cleaning and washing of all surfaces and equipment are mandatory.

…

Visually, it looks like this.

Revenue from the production of fertilisers and soils

As you can imagine, December 2022 was the perfect time to start replacing Western products with domestic alternatives. Some competitors disappeared. Due to sanctions and disrupted supply chains, Western original competitors became more expensive, while our product became 2-2.5 times cheaper, leading to significant growth.

Soils and mineral-organic fertilizers are purchased by everyone who imports, collects, propagates, grows, or resells houseplants, including expensive exotics and super-expensive new varieties.

The monthly revenue by channel is averaged over the last three months.

Marketplaces (WB and Ozon) – 1,410,000 ₽

Problems with marketplaces – items are thrown around, and components are stolen.

As a result, a customer might receive just a bag instead of a bag with fertiliser, or only a jar instead of a jar with a measuring spoon. However, in defence of marketplaces, it should be noted that sometimes buyers steal the measuring spoons and then refuse the purchase.

Warehouses have sealing machines that help reseal the product when the spoon has already been stolen. I don't know why this happens; maybe they use them for their meals.

…

User chose to hide their details: “This is the second product I’ve purchased, but there’s no measuring spoon again.”

Stolen again.

Retail – 190,000 ₽

We sell through a VK group to small towns where there are no Ozon or WB points. In Moscow, customers either pick up their orders or have them delivered by a courier. One person processes orders, and when they’re unavailable due to personal matters, we handle inquiries ourselves.

…

When the gardeners are satisfied, they send their horticultural successes.

Wholesale sales – 600,000 ₽

Nurseries buy wholesale. They nurture imported plants, acquire microclones from Taiwan, and sell them at x10 prices in Russia. To ensure good plant survival, they purchase specific soils and fertilisers.

Group orders – 850,000 ₽

In the most remote regions (Sakhalin, Kamchatka, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Transbaikal, etc.), it’s cheaper for gardeners to pool their resources and order a large batch. The organizer of such a purchase receives a 30% discount on the entire batch (this is their earnings), and in exchange, they advertise for us.

Leroy Merlin and chains – 0 ₽

To enter Leroy Merlin, an unpleasant condition must be met. The price at Leroy Merlin must be lower than the market price. For example, if fertilizer costs 1,000 ₽ in a VK group, 1,200 ₽ on a marketplace, it should be priced at 900 ₽ in Leroy Merlin. At this selling price, they want to buy fertilizers for 450 ₽ because the French markup is 100% of the purchase price. This is 250 ₽ cheaper than our usual wholesale price (our wholesale price is 700 ₽).

So instead of earning 700 ₽, I’ll only get 450 ₽, and this price doesn’t guarantee sales volume, especially since you’re competing with well-known brands on the shelves. Big players like PhosAgro or Uralchem are pushing through huge batches via chains.

In other words, to sell at Leroy Merlin, you yourself must promote the brand through advertising, just like with brands like Head & Shoulders, which were recognized on the shelf thanks to advertising. Otherwise, it’s just like on marketplaces, but with less favorable conditions for me.

Therefore, it's currently more profitable to collaborate with Ozon and WB than with Leroy Merlin.

Resellers – 0 ₽

Periodically, there are those willing to become dealers, and twice we even agreed.

For a reseller to make a profit, they sold at double the purchase price, meaning they bought for 700 ₽ and sold for 1,400 ₽. With such a price, they couldn’t compete with us (we sell for 1,200 on marketplaces). Selling wholesale for less is not interesting for us. And if we start raising retail prices, we reduce demand. It’s beneficial for us to keep prices below the market; then people come to us rather than to the Dutch.

Distributors were relevant before the era of marketplaces: you produce in Moscow, and customers are in Kamchatka. Postage is expensive, and then you need a dealer. They will bring in a wholesale load and resell it at retail there.

But now, with marketplaces everywhere, anyone in the countryside can order directly, and dealer intermediaries are no longer needed. And if we sell to resellers to trade on marketplaces, we have to give them a price of 250-300 ₽ because on marketplaces, the price from the purchase must be increased by three times for the math to work out. And for us, as manufacturers, it’s absolutely unprofitable to sell at such a price, let alone breed competitors.

…

Leroy Merlin and resellers – zero.

Ozon – 580,000.00 rubles

Wildberries – 830,000.00 rubles

Retail – 190,000.00 rubles

Wholesale – 600,000.00 rubles

Collective orders – 850,000.00 rubles

Total: 3,050,000.00 rubles

Production expenses for fertilizers and soils

Expenses calculated based on a turnover of 3,050,000 ₽.

Suppliers (ingredients and packaging) – 610,000 ₽

In nature, organic substances are generated by mold, bacteria—everything that exists in the soil. That’s why it’s not necessary to heavily fertilize plants in the field; minerals suffice—nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium—and the rest will come from nature. However, for potted indoor plants, nothing naturally comes to the pot, so besides mineral fertilizers, organic additives (fine chemistry) are included—vitamins, amino acids, phytohormones, sugars, and so on.

We source mineral fertilizers in Russia. We traditionally have many fields, so mineral fertilizers are abundant here. Russia also accounts for 16% of global exports in this sector. Previously, we bought from resellers, which was twice as expensive, but with a small volume, we couldn’t deal with major suppliers like PhosAgro and Uralchem, as they only deal with orders of at least 1 ton.

As for fine chemistry—vitamins, phytohormones, amino acids—we get them from China; they simply aren’t produced here. The Chinese trick is to dilute everything with maltodextrin, a derivative of white starch. As a result, you get a vitamin where half of the bag is maltodextrin. However, maltodextrin isn’t a problem in our business; in such cases, we can just use double the diluted component.

To avoid being deceived in China, you can find a buyer. These are specially trained individuals who speak both Russian and Chinese.

…

Through the website 1688, buyers purchase what you need, verify it, and send it to Russia.

An isolated issue in our niche is that no one wants to deal with powders. Customs scrutinise powders carefully.

…

You never know what you’ve mixed in there.

Your shipment from China can either be transported by auto as a consolidated cargo or in a maritime container, and you pay $1.5-2 per kilogram. That’s why we’re trying to transition to working with Russian wholesalers. They buy in bulk from China and distribute in Russia. It’s cheaper for them because large wholesalers fill a whole container with their goods, and the delivery cost per kilogram is only a few cents.

But we’ve had problems with other countries as well. For example, last year we ordered 20 tons of volcanic lava from Armenia for our soil. We expected stones sized 3-5 mm, but we received a truckload of lava sized 4-8 cm. We had to buy a crusher.

The 610,000 for suppliers is the total amount of purchases for the year divided by 12. We don’t calculate the cost for each item like large factories do because inflation has hit, and everything has gone up in price. The dollar has increased, Chinese components have become more expensive, etc. We just use a simple Excel sheet. I think 90% of accounting is the ability to input data, you can even do it in a very convenient accounting service, you just need to be diligent and enter the numbers. For now, it’s enough for us.

…

Self-employed – 342,000 ₽

We are located in an industrial zone (food industry, metal rolling), and nearby there is a workers’ settlement where many are interested in part-time work. We have a WhatsApp group with 8 people who work for us regularly. We set a project, for example, on Fri, Sat, Sun, the task is to produce, package, and pack 4,000 units of product. And whoever is available comes – usually 3-4 people.

Currently, we pay 1,000 ₽ per hour, and from this amount, the person pays taxes themselves. When we paid 500 ₽/hour, there was a high turnover, people could earn more easily as couriers.

If there are any issues, for example, if we prepared components for 4,000 jars, but we are told that only 3,500 jars were produced, we start checking the surveillance camera recordings.

Once we found out that a bag containing one of the components had been spilled, swept up, and simply thrown away.

People tend to stick to this job because they like the pay rate, so there are few problems.

…

We don’t prohibit the guys from taking fertilizers for their own flowers; they take one jar once every six months, which doesn’t make us poorer. Besides, fertilizers are not stolen willingly in general.

The main value of our company is the formulation, the secrets that cannot be shared with anyone. Therefore, when we invite employees, we prepare the components in such a way that they do not understand the composition; otherwise, this formulation will quickly leak from us. Our task is to prepare the bags, mix the fine chemicals into the primary mixtures. And we show the employees which bags to use to get the final product. These bags are already not labeled with what is what, and visually, you cannot guess.

Marketplaces – 496,800 rubles

At a turnover of 580,000 rubles, Ozon consumes 214,600 rubles (37%).

At a turnover of 830,000 rubles, Wildberries consumes 282,200 rubles (34%).

Tariffs are constantly changing, but for now, the margin allows it. We don’t buy premium, we don’t promote, we don’t monitor competitors, we don’t participate in promotions, and we don’t create colorful cards. Traffic on marketplaces is purely organic, through word of mouth – people search either by brand, product name, or through direct links.

…

To find us, you either need to know the exact name or click on the “Next” button. Currently, we are at the 250th position.

I think if we start advertising, we’ll end up giving away the remaining profits to the marketplaces. Additionally, we’ll have to produce more, deal with a lot of disloyal customers, and face many complaints. In essence, we’ll be producing more, earning less, and essentially working for the marketplaces.

…

Review: “Maxim: Pros – happy plants. Cons – none.”

Certification (spread over the year + government registration) – 100,000 ₽

In Russia, certification for fertilizers and pesticides is complicated, and everything remains from Soviet times, tailored to large enterprises. The agro-industry is state-owned, and it is not profitable for it to allow small companies into this sector, so they do not change the requirements, and they are very stringent.

To register mineral fertilisers, you need to pay 3 million for one position.

Exactly, for our 17 positions, we would have to pay 50 million. We wouldn't make that much income in 10 years.

Got it, since our fertilizers are not purely mineral but organic-mineral, with half minerals and half organic components, we don’t need to go through the Ministry of Agriculture and register with Rosreestr. Instead, we just need to obtain a declaration of conformity to GOST standards. This is a simpler process, and the certification for each product costs around 100,000 ₽ including testing. We have 17 products, and we periodically certify new ones, so I’ve budgeted 100,000 ₽ per month for certification expenses.

Advertising – 0 ₽

Group on VK, a few giveaways – and that’s it. We don’t run contextual ads, don’t attend exhibitions, and don’t engage in barter in exchange for praises about our products. We haven’t been working on the design of the group and cards for a long time – “it’s good enough as it is”.

Everything that promotes us at the moment is free word-of-mouth. There are plenty of groups and chats among plant enthusiasts – that’s where all this magic happens every day without breaks on weekends.

…

Review: “Pros: I love this stimulator. Plants grow roots superbly, quickly, and adapt painlessly.”

I believe that the best advertisement is recommendations from those who use the product, are satisfied with it, and share their emotions and impressions with others. And the overall estimate looks like this:

…

1. Taxes (7% of revenue) 213,500.00 rubles
2. Cost of goods (materials plus packaging) 610,000.00 rubles
3. Rent (plus utilities plus cleaning) 100,000.00 rubles
4. Equipment and depreciation 150,000.00 rubles
5. Certification (spread over the year plus government registration) 100,000.00 rubles
6. Payroll for order processing and assembly (3 employees) 150,000.00 rubles
7. Ozon commissions (37%) 282,200.00 rubles
8. Logistics (pallets and boxes, stretch wrap, and delivery to the marketplace) 50,000.00 rubles
9. Unforeseen expenses 40,000.00 rubles
10. Accumulated balance (reserve fund, 5%) 152,500.00 rubles
    

Total: 2,304,800.00 rubles

The total expenditure on turnover of 3,050,000 ₽ amounted to 2,304,800 ₽.

How much can you earn from the production of soils and fertilisers?

In the basement, the variable expenses included rent – 15,000 ₽, ingredient purchase for 700,000 ₽ revenue – about 100,000 ₽. We mixed, packaged, and sold everything with my partner. Since the process was not well-organized, we had about 5-7% returns. But still, out of 700k revenue, we managed to make about 300k profit.

If we look at the average over the last three months, the monthly calculation is as follows:

…

• Revenue: 3,050,000.00 RUB
• Expenses: 2,304,800.00 RUB

Total (for two): 745,200.00 RUB

For 745,200 RUB between the two of us, we each spend about 60 hours per month. I handle the formulations and production, while my partner takes care of finances, procurement, managing non-production staff, and order issues.

Currently, the quarterly growth is around 18-25%, and last year it reached up to 40%. There is virtually no seasonality (unlike the agrochemical market for summer cottages and gardens). The biggest contributors to growth are marketplaces and bulk orders.

In conclusion, I believe it is more sensible to invest in the product rather than advertising. A good product naturally encourages people to advertise for you.

…

Reviews: “Hello everyone! I read a post here that after using Micro Plus, orchids started to bloom. I decided to try it too. And indeed, after just one application, some of my orchids started to bloom (they rarely bloom for me). I recommend it.”

And there’s no better advertisement than that.
Thank you for reading, and please water your plants, not me, in the comments.

Credits

DISCLAIMER: This article was written by the author of the blog “Fell, Got Up” based on an interview with the founder of a fertilizer production company, who chose to remain anonymous to maintain good relationships with technological giants and retail chains.

I run the blog “Fell, Got Up,” featuring stories about real businesses, not just “success stories.”

You’ll read about: how I opened and failed a chain of nightclubs, how to properly glue cardboard to sell it on marketplaces for 50 million rubles a year, how a farmer spent 250 million in a village, why dumpling production is dying in the provinces, why a taxi fleet with 300 drivers and 40 cars is no longer a business, how a techie restored a Soviet camp but fell into a 60 million ruble cash flow gap, and other stories.

I write these articles for my blog, and my team and I also create commercial blogs, such as the blog for MoySklad. If you need content marketing, for example, on Habr or vc.ru, contact Ryumin.

By Slava Riumin. Business blogs can be found at https://neploho.agency. I also run the blog “Fell, Got Up” at https://t.me/ruminblog.
The text is published with the permission of the author.
The original text is here.

In November we wrote about how to “digitize” an apiary and turn it into “bee sharing”. In this article, its author, Artem Zharov, talks about the economics of the project and the change in business model.

https://pchelosharing.ru/
By Artem Zharov Founder and designer of BeeSharing and BeeSharing/Gift

Bees in the hive

Actually, the figure of 40 kopecks per year is not entirely accurate. To begin with, on average, a bee lives for 3-4 weeks, meaning each season sees 4-5 generations of bees working.

The 50,000 bees in a hive is also an average number during the peak cycle of the bee colony’s life. When summer begins, everything is in bloom, and the queen bee produces as many bees as possible.

…

“Only bees are better than honey”

Moreover, not all bees gather honey. Apart from the basic division of bees into the queen, drones (males, needed solely for fertilization), and worker bees, there is also a division based on roles, specifically by age. The bee’s body develops, and along with that development, its functions change. The list is ordered by increasing age:

• Cleaner bees
  .
• Builder bees
  .
• Nurse bees
  .
• Guard bees ‍
  .
• Ventilating bees
  .
• Forager bees (peak of bee development)
  .
• Scout bees
  .
• Water-carrying bees (old age of the bee)

But since all roles are necessary for production, we can calculate on average.

Bees can gather from 30 to 100 kg of honey per season depending on conditions. Obtaining 50+ kg is possible with an industrial approach, collecting nectar from agricultural fields.

This is 108% not our option because, at a minimum, we dislike monofloral honey (gathered from a single crop), and pesticides can easily find their way into honey.

…

Our bees gather around 40 kg, and half of this honey needs to be left for the bees for autumn, winter, and spring. So, we or the hive owners get a yield of 20-23 kg (last season resulted in 21 kg).

Industrial honey

The cost price of industrial honey is 20-40 ₽ per kilogram.

A kilogram of industrial honey in bulk costs 100-250 rubles.

In small wholesale, it goes up to 300 rubles, and at retail directly from the beekeeper, it can be up to 500 rubles.

At fairs, it can reach up to 700 rubles if purchased in 1-2 kg quantities.

In a store, after processing and packaging in a beautiful (or not so beautiful) jar, it can be around 1000-1200 rubles per kilogram.

…

Typical honey packaging is the complete opposite of our vibe.

The cost price of such honey is around 20-40 rubles per kilogram, depending on the arrangement of the apiary, its size, and most importantly, the yield.

All such apiaries use sugar, do not value the life of bee colonies, and do not hesitate to use industrially produced antibiotics, and so on.

…

COG of honey manufacturing.

If a beekeeper sells bee packages and other beekeeping products besides honey, having 500 bee colonies can generate a net income of up to 4 million ₽ per year. Blood money in the honey business.

…

Possible profit in an industrial apiary with 500 bee colonies: 4,000,000 per year.

Homegrown honey and honey from eco-friendly apiaries

Products like these are rarely sold in large wholesale quantities (several tons) because, with minimal sales skills, they can be sold at a good retail price. Also, there are rarely such large apiaries with such an approach.

Average cost price of homegrown honey: 200 ₽ per kilogram.

Summary of indicators and distinctive features:

• Yield: 30 to 50 kg depending on the region.
  .
• More work on the apiary.
  .
• Higher expenses for treatment and prevention.
  .
• No expenses for fuel, as the apiary is stationary.
  .
• Average cost price comes out to around 200 ₽ per kilogram.

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COGS of eco-friendly apiary.

Apiaries that are now joining BeeSharing sell their honey in small wholesale for approximately 600-650 ₽ per kilogram. This often exceeds or equals their retail price. However, unlike retail, they don’t need to deal with:

• Packaging
  .
• Delivery
  .
• Marketing
  .
• Sales

Moreover, this is an expansion of the apiary without additional investments – hive acquisition is covered by us.

Thus, by selling through BeeSharing, adding a hundred hives results in an increase in the net profit of the existing apiary up to 1.6 million ₽.

…

1.6 million per year. This is an increase in the profit of an eco-apiary of 100 bee families working through bee sharing.

Working independently, without our platform, a beekeeper is forced to handle packaging, delivery, find clients, rent sales points at fairs or markets, advertise on platforms like Avito, maintain a blog…

Even if they sell at double the price, at 1200₽/kg (though discounts are common, especially for purchasing larger quantities like a 3L jar), the net profit comes out to roughly the same 650-700₽. Additionally, instead of staying at home with the kids and relaxing, they have to deal with sales.

…

Our additional values

We have our own apiary, and the figures above are partly based on it.

However, in addition to the apiary, we are developing a platform for beekeepers and a personal hive account for customers. So, in BeeSharing, apart from apiary costs, there are also the following expenses:

Content: It amounts to almost 350k per year, including:

1) A photographer takes photos and videos for photo reports published in the personal account. On average, 2-3 shoots per month.

…

2) A photographer takes photos and videos for photo reports published in the personal account. On average, 2-3 shoots per month.

…

Illustrations and design. It costs 250k per year. We create packaging for honey and related items. In our catalog, there are 50+ design templates, and each hive owner chooses how their yield will look as we approach autumn.

…

Including, we also create custom designs for clients. For example, here is a sketch of a label for the Cinemapicnic apiary of director Maxim Rusanov. The concept was approved on the first attempt:

…

Packaging and dispatch of orders + support — 600K per year. We package honey in St. Petersburg, not in the Krasnodar Krai where the apiary is located. From there, we dispatch parcels to customers using a courier service. Shipments usually reach Moscow within a day, and for St. Petersburg, we often provide same-day delivery.

…
New Year’s gifts for the employees of Pasha Molyanov’s “Let’s Do It” agency

Hosting, services, and such — 50K per year

Office rental — 480K per year. For packaging and for me. I have too many children to work from home

Communication at the apiary — 36K per year and a one-time (hopefully) 100K for equipment.

https://pchelosharing.ru/gift

And also: a discount of 9.99% with the promo code “СКОРО14И23”.

https://pchelosharing.ru/
By Artem Zharov Founder and designer of BeeSharing and BeeSharing/Gift

Andrey Prokhorov

Editor-In-Chief, LaGente.do

aprokhorov@lagente.do

…

Preface: All newborn children come into this world naked and barefoot, devoid of vision, possessions, roles, or skills. These attributes, the trappings of society, are not inherent but rather imposed by the world around them. Scientists believe that during the first four years of life, a child retains its unaltered, core identity, a pure reflection of their authentic self. It is only then, gradually, that this genuine self begins to be replaced by the myriad social roles and expectations necessary for survival in society.

In our photography and reviews, we embark on a quest to unearth and display this real essence of the people we describe. Our mission is to peel away the layers of societal conformity and expectations, revealing the inherent beauty and soul of each individual. Through our lenses and words, we strive to capture not only who a person is but also the environment in which they exist, and the activities that fill their lives.

We invite you, our readers, to join us on this remarkable journey. As we explore not only the Dominican Republic but also the broader world, we seek to shed light on the pure, unadulterated humanity that lies beneath the roles and masks we wear. Our aim is to provide you with an authentic glimpse of the people who call this planet home, transcending borders, social status, conditions, and roles.

Our characters are people from all walks of life, from motorcycle taxi drivers to presidents. We find in everyone their inner essence and beauty, and we are committed to showcasing this beauty regardless of where it may be found. Our readers: living in the Country and outside it, reach or poor, workers, teachers, government officers, doctors and painters, expats and tourists, people of all circumstances and positions of life may find inspiration and connection in these lives and stories by these characters in our articles originating from diverse cultures and backgrounds.

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LaGente.do

By Producer Victor Boyko @http://odadelu.ru/ https://t.me/odadelu

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By Artem Zharov Founder and designer of BeeSharing and BeeSharing/Gift

Artyom Zharov shared his story, and I am publishing the story on his behalf.

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The Path to Beekeeping

I was born in St. Petersburg and spent my childhood there, but every summer, I would go to my grandmother’s village. It was there, at the age of seven, that I learned how to make a campfire, chop wood, and tend to garden beds. The summer of 2006 would have been no different, if not for one change: a computer entered my life. I sat down at it when I was 15 and only emerged five years later. During that time, I had the opportunity to explore the works of Artemy Lebedev, drop out of school in the 10th grade, and completely immerse myself in design.

At my grandmother’s dacha, I’m 18 or 19 years old. “Five-year plan at the computer” was sometimes interrupted by nature and a samovar

No, the years spent in front of a computer didn’t diminish my interest in “life in the great outdoors” or make me forget how to chop wood. Around 2012-2013, I gravitated back towards this lifestyle and became a regular reader of Vladimir Rechev’s blog, “Life in the Trees.” In this blog, a programmer detailed his experience of moving from a St. Petersburg apartment to an eco-settlement a few hours’ drive from Pskov.

I saw a real-life example of how rural life improved a person’s quality of life: providing access to pure water, fresh air, and their own produce. And the daily routine in the countryside! It’s filled with numerous small events and actions that yield instant and tangible results, which can’t be said for office or digital work. For example, if you need water, you go to the spring, fill a bottle, and bring it back to the house.

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As for the place where the apiary would later be established, I ended up there almost by chance. It lacked the conveniences and services that city boys and girls were accustomed to. There was no centralised water supply or gas supply, and electricity came from our own solar panels.

Yes, a lifestyle like that intrigued me, but after leaving St. Petersburg, I initially headed south through cities: first Voronezh, and then Krasnodar. It was almost by chance that I ended up in the place where the apiary would later be established.

With the arrival of our first child, we wanted to be closer to nature, and on Avito, my wife and I found an ad for a peculiar octagonal house with enormous panoramic windows in an eco-settlement located 6 kilometers from the nearest town. There, the conveniences and services that city boys and girls were accustomed to were absent. There was no centralized water supply or gas supply, and electricity came from our own solar panels.

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And while we moved into an already constructed house, the “first eco-settlers” had arrived several years earlier, setting up tents in a pristine field with the intention of building something during the summer in order to somehow survive the winter in the mountains.

They were truly different people, even more unconventional than my wife and me: they not only laid the foundation for the eco-settlement but also later taught me openness, kindness, patience, and to some extent, detachment. By the way, my future business partner in BeeSharing turned out to be one of these eco-settlers.

Creating an apiary

I used to dislike honey and knew nothing about bees. I had no honey consumption habits, and I only knew about northern honey with its distinctive taste: robust, sweet, and concentrated. However, when I moved to the south and tried local honeys, I realized that the taste could be different—quite distinct from what I was used to in the Northwestern part of the country. It sparked my desire to get to know bees better and perhaps even start an apiary.

Me and Misha, my future business partner in Bee Sharing, are having fun together.

However, I never started my own apiary because I returned to city life – I moved to Krasnodar. On the other hand, Mikhail Kletsky, one of the eco-settlers, did start one: first with one hive, and then with three more. It was at this point that I felt the call of the forest again. I began spending more time with him, and we became the best of friends.

It was Mikhail who introduced me to beekeeping, taught me how to work with bees and hives. I joined him in working on his small apiary and invested some of my savings into its growth. The first season went quite well: we produced honey for ourselves, our friends, and even sold a bit through Avito. I handled the sales and designed the honey jars, but I quickly grew tired of competing in the homemade honey niche solely based on price or packaging.

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Yes, we sold our homemade honey at a good price (₽1200/kg), but there wasn’t much of it: about 20-25 kilograms from one hive, whereas large producers gathered about 80 kilograms of honey from their migratory apiaries.

Together with Mikhail, my business partner, we realized that without external investments, our apiary would take a very long time to grow to 100 hives. We didn’t want to attract borrowed funds in the form of loans, nor did we want to compromise on the quality of the bees’ lives and the honey they produced. No, we definitely didn’t want to feed the bees sugar to extract more honey during the winter.

There is always work to do in the apiary: it doesn’t happen that you set up a hive and just collect honey.

We wanted to keep everything as it was but find a way to generate growth and money from somewhere. That’s when we realized that only an economic change would allow us to do that. We started looking towards subscription and sharing models. Almost immediately, the idea of “honey futures” emerged: we could attempt to sell what we didn’t have yet. Take money upfront, produce honey, and deliver the product to the customer. We did some quick calculations, estimated what we could sell – beehives and the experience of remote ownership.

The flood of ideas about “honey futures” was so overwhelming that we started drowning in them. Fortunately, we stopped and shifted our focus to discussing a name for the project. Literally, within half a minute, it came to us – “BeeSharing.” I rushed inside, typed the word into a search engine, and checked the availability of the domain. The very first result from Yandex presented me with Oleg Barmin’s project, “My Apiary” – exactly what Mikhail and I had just been discussing while sipping tea by the lake. The same economy, the same model, but launched just a week or two earlier.

That very announcement by Oleg Barmin, who had launched a similar project just a few days earlier.

The initial thought when I saw the existing similar project was to abandon the whole adventure. Everything has already been thought of, why bother with this if we won’t be the first? But within 15 minutes, I realized that other people had already tested our value hypothesis, and we could learn from their findings, value proposition, and current state of affairs.

It turned out that they had even made their first sales! That’s when we understood that although Oleg Barmin had launched a similar project in the mountains of Adygea just a week and a half earlier, we should simply start working on BeeSharing.

We turned towards a new business model and transitioned from selling honey to end consumers to the digital stage, where the product became not only honey in jars but also the remote experience of hive ownership, monitoring it and the bees inhabiting it through a developed digital system and a user's personal dashboard.

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The transformation of our small mountain apiary began. We shifted towards a new business model and transitioned from selling honey to end consumers to the “phygital” stage, where the product became not only honey in jars but also the remote experience of hive ownership, monitoring it and the bees inhabiting it through a developed digital system and a user’s personal dashboard.

We offered people the opportunity to own beehives, pay annual fees to the apiary staff for the maintenance of these bee homes, and receive 20-23 kilograms of honey in jars with designs tailored to their own preferences.

Company growth

I love bees, and that’s why I poured my love for this endeavor, my soul, into BeeSharing. This was unmistakably reflected in the landing page I created in 2021: beyond words and images, you could see the passion and love for beekeeping, rather than just an appeal to buy a hive with honey. The audience picked up on this meaning from the first lines, and Maxim Ilyakhov from “Glavred” expressed admiration for the website, even though he scolded the very idea of selling hives and bees

By the end of 2021, I published the first article about BeeSharing on VC and… discovered new growth opportunities. Although the project seemed very appealing and exciting, I constantly doubted its feasibility and success. I didn’t expect the explosive demand that my article “BeeSharing – honey mining” generated: tens of thousands of views, hundreds of comments, thousands of visits to the website.

We didn’t even have a legal entity by that time, and payments on the website were processed through YooMoney, which was connected as an individual entrepreneur. We constantly hit the payment gateway limits (₽250,000/month), and customers would write to support, saying, “I’m already in a taxi, I need to make a gift, but the payment on the website isn’t going through. Take my money, send me a certificate for a hive!”

The explosive demand not only brought joy but also a lot of work!

I had never experienced such a “success story” before, and it was quite a novelty for me, which was very inspiring. Even the problems with payment gateways turned out to be in our favor: a few customers (who also happened to be investors), trying to pay for the hives, saw the message that the seller’s limit had been reached and thought that we were experiencing wild overbooking with thousands of orders. This further piqued their interest in our project.

Interest in BeeSharing extended beyond VC and the internet; even traditional media outlets got involved! A TASS correspondent managed to catch us right in the middle of the excitement!

All the problems began a month later: Misha, my business partner, died in a winter ice hole. He was my best friend, my brother in a sense. It fell to me to inform his family about the tragedy and raise the global question of what to do next with the apiary and BeeSharing.

Together with Misha’s family, we decided to continue with the project and involve more people in it. The packaging center, for example, is now located in St. Petersburg, which turned out to be very convenient since up to 90% of our customers are residents of the northern capital and Moscow, and it’s cheaper and faster to ship honey jars from the city on the Neva River than from Kuban. We also brought in more workers for the apiary from our friends who were beekeepers and neighbors in the eco-settlement, and I was able to focus primarily on IT processes and promotion.

Beekeeping in Kuban

Three years ago, BeeSharing was successfully launched with limited resources and a small team, but things are changing now. The reason for this change is not only the growth of the project but also changes in Russian legislation. It’s surprising, but just two years ago, the work of beekeepers was not regulated in our country. The first federal law dedicated to the development of beekeeping came into effect on June 29, 2021. Before that, beekeepers not only didn’t follow any laws but also didn’t pay any taxes

Now, agricultural products are gradually being integrated into the “Honest Mark” system, but honey is not yet included, as it has already happened with dairy products. As for the “Mercury” system, which controls animal products and tracks all movement and laboratory testing, we don’t fall under it.

Our offer is structured in such a way that BeeSharing customers (hive buyers) become full-fledged owners of the bee house, and the honey from their hive is for personal consumption, not for sale. And yes, if a person wishes, they can take their hive at any time because they are the owner, and we are the team that services the bee house and collects honey from it.

Today, we no longer have issues with payment gateways, legal entities, and documents for corporate clients like we did a few years ago.

We did start using “Mercury” recently: we have become a honey supplier for several companies in the HoReCa segment. And yes, today we no longer have issues with payment gateways, legal entities, and documents for working with corporate clients like we did a few years ago. It’s amusing that even with our growth rate, not all laws and market institutions can keep up.

A forest visitor ventured into the hive. Perhaps it was craving some honey?

On the Kuban, where our apiary is located, honey is loved not only by people but also by raccoons (there are no bears here). We would like to insure the hives against these unwanted guests, but insurance agents still lack the expertise to assess and insure beekeepers. There is no ready-made solution where you can submit an insurance application, and an insurer comes to assess it a week later.

Even the local authorities in the Krasnodar region are not particularly interested in beekeepers. They are more inclined to provide grants to enterprises involved in large cattle breeding (cattle) and year-round greenhouses rather than supporting beekeepers in developing their apiaries. However, there are people within the ministry who whisper that they can help for 10% of the grant.

Overall, the Krasnodar region is not the best place for a small agricultural project. Last year, for example, the Kuban region became even less friendly for small farmers: it was excluded from the scope of a new federal law that allows agricultural land to have a plot with a residential building. Across the country, farmers can demarcate a piece of land from their hectares, build a permanent structure on it, and live there—but not in Kuban.

Despite the local laws, thanks to our love for bees and the support of our customers, our enterprise is thriving. This year, we offered additional options for our hives on our apiary: bee scales and real-time cameras. While the camera is self-explanatory and is ordered by every third customer, the situation is quite different with the scales.

The apiary today.

Bee scales are an unexpected tool that shows the total weight of the hive with honey, with bees, and without them. Today, for example, it weighs 25 kilograms, and tomorrow it’s 26. Why keep an eye on this? Well, it’s interesting to observe this in parallel with the weather on the apiary. If it’s rainy today, the bees won’t fly anywhere; they’ll stay in their hives and consume their honey reserves.

If the rain lasts for a whole week, the hive will lose about 4-5 kilograms. But if the weather is excellent outside and the mountain meadows are in bloom with acacia or hawthorn, then the hive will gain a kilogram or more every day. Currently, one out of every ten customers orders scales for their hive, so the desire to watch the bees and the apiary outweighs the interest in the internal processes of the hive for now.

Customers don’t like to look at charts showing changes in hive weight – they prefer videos and photos from the apiary.

Overall, within BeeSharing, we often contemplate gamifying the customer experience of hive ownership, but we haven’t yet found a simple and appealing solution that can be scaled for mass adoption. So, if you have any suggestions for gamifying remote hive management and ownership, feel free to share your ideas.

Bee sharing of tomorrow

Currently, BeeSharing is transforming into a marketplace that directly connects end consumers of honey with its producers (beekeepers). On one hand, I aim to assist beekeepers with digitizing their businesses and selling small batches of honey at a high retail price. On the other hand, I strive to provide consumers with the opportunity to purchase quality homemade products at honey market prices.

These changes are happening gradually and with small steps. Currently, beekeepers who are part of BeeSharing and sell hives with honey directly to end consumers are earning twice as much per kilogram of natural sweetness sold—₽750 instead of the previous ₽350-₽400. This provides more stability and flexibility in managing their hives, allows them to focus more on customer relations, and establish direct connections with buyers to exchange emotions and stories.

Exactly such an offer allows beekeepers to sell small wholesale batches of honey to honey enthusiasts at retail prices.

I truly believe that a beekeeper should focus on beekeeping and do this job well, rather than spending their energy on designing honey jars and looking for retail buyers to sell honey at a good price. This is the pain point of my fellow beekeepers that I’m trying to address with the BeeSharing marketplace. An interesting situation arises with honey sales, to be honest. When you have a small apiary, your homemade honey easily gets distributed among relatives, close friends, and acquaintances.

And it is sold at a high price because it’s a top-quality product. However, when you increase the number of hives, selling honey at a high price becomes increasingly challenging because you start competing for unfamiliar buyers on marketplaces, Avito, and fairs.

Currently, on the BeeSharing marketplace, we only onboard those beekeepers who meet two key criteria: they produce excellent honey and actively manage their social media accounts, meaning they are capable of sharing the beauty of their craft and emotions with their followers. I believe that through direct interaction between beekeepers and honey buyers, we can revive the culture of honey consumption in our country.

Currently, only health-conscious individuals and older people seem to be interested in honey, so there is tremendous growth potential in the market.

For more details about the growth of the apiary, purchases of bee packages and hives of Russian origin, bee diseases, the indifference of the Kuban authorities to beekeepers, and the current transformation of BeeSharing into a digital marketplace, you can listen to the one-and-a-half-hour conversation with Artem Zharov in Episode #1 of the “Ode to Business” podcast.

To listen to the podcast episode “Ода Делу” with Artem Zharov about the growth of Pchelosharing on:

• Apple Podcasts
• Google Podcasts
• Yandex.Music
• Spotify
• YouTube
• other streaming services.

Learn more about Pchelosharing at pcheloshering.rf.

“Ode to Business” recreates the content format that was regularly published on VC 3-4 years ago, focusing exclusively on the “real sector of the economy” and “growth stories of Russian companies in the words of their founders.” If you miss such content on a regular basis, let us know in the comments. And subscribe to “Ode to Business” on Telegram: announcements of new stories of growth of Russian small and medium-sized enterprises and cards with quotes and facts from conversations with company founders are published there.

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By Producer Victor Boyko @http://odadelu.ru/ https://t.me/odadelu

and

Artem Zharov Founder and designer of BeeSharing and BeeSharing/Gift

Published with the permissions of the authors. The original article is here.

By VOLTS: https://voltsbattery.ru/

The original article is here.

Published with the permission of the author.

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“The electricity has run out”

In some regions of Russia, the wear and tear of electrical equipment is so high that power outages occur several times a day (and sometimes even take on a mass scale). The result for the consumer is burnt household appliances, disrupted plans, and if you work remotely, a loss of access to the necessary ‘here and now’ materials.

Homeowners have a logical request for an environmentally friendly and ergonomic way to protect themselves from such problems. One of the possible solutions is an energy storage system. We installed the VOLTS energy storage system in a two-story country house in the Leningrad region. Let’s go through it all step by step.

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Compact energy storage

Say goodbye to the generator

The customer approached us with a request to permanently forget about power outages and ensure the autonomy of their home. Previously, they used a fuel generator: a rather noisy, fire hazard, and carbon monoxide-emitting device. That experience ended sadly: the exhaust pipe tore, and the room was filled with smoke. Cosmetic repairs had to be made, and simultaneously, a solution to the power issue was sought.

After discussing the optimal solution, we installed seven solar panels and a VOLTS energy storage system for the customer. The total capacity of the solar station is 2100 watts. The 8 kWh energy storage system was installed in the house’s hallway – in terms of size, it can be compared to a classic wall painting. VOLTS is essentially a construction kit that can be customized as desired – for example, the customer currently needs two more modules of 2 kWh each to avoid paying the daytime electricity rate from 21:00 to 23:00, as the nighttime rate is twice as cheap.

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Operating experience

The client’s household members wanted to avoid the need to manually turn the entire system on or off during his absence and monitor parameters to prevent malfunctions. A mobile application came in handy for this purpose, through which the family remotely manages everything – updates the settings of the solar panels, monitors electricity consumption statistics, and tracks the amount of money saved.

During the summer, from 5:00 AM to 9:00 PM, our client uses solar energy, and accordingly, the energy storage system is charged only from the solar panels. Although the level of generation decreases about threefold in the fall and winter, the customer continues to use microgeneration for household needs, just not to its full capacity.

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The solar panels were installed at a 60-degree angle in front of the house’s façade. Our calculations showed that this angle would achieve maximum solar efficiency. The daily electricity generation of the house is approximately 11-13 kWh. When the homeowners are away, and the system continues to generate power, there is unused energy left. The primary factor affecting this is the power of the devices connected to the grid. Without active electricity consumption within a day, there is a surplus of 1-2 kWh.

There is an opportunity to save: even though the homeowner continues to purchase electricity from the grid, they mainly do so at the nighttime rate, accumulating electricity with the energy storage system and consuming it in the first half of the day.

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Energy exchange (or additional capabilities)

Currently, in Russia, using an energy storage system, you can sell surplus electricity back to the grid. However, there isn’t much sense in doing so, as the tariffs are meager. Nevertheless, energy exchange is becoming a global trend. The concept of “microgrids” is gradually gaining traction – the exchange of solar or wind energy with neighbors in conditions where there is no grid infrastructure. To do this, a separate electrical connection needs to be established between houses, which will account for how much energy each participant in the system has contributed and received.

Microgrids are currently one of the potential futures, and everything is moving towards a hybrid format. For example, solar stations are already being integrated into traditional grids, providing autonomy for consumers who simultaneously exchange electricity with their neighbors. It’s possible that in the future, microgrids¹ will be applied in remote regions of the country, such as the north, where extending power grids is not cost-effective. We’ll live and see.

By VOLTS: https://voltsbattery.ru/

The original article is here.

Published with the permission of the author.

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1. (Generated by ChatGPT) A microgrid is a small-scale, localized energy system that can operate independently or in conjunction with the traditional, larger electrical grid. Microgrids are designed to provide electricity to a specific area, such as a community, neighborhood, industrial complex, university campus, or military base. Here are some key points to understand about microgrids:
   
   Localized Energy Generation: Microgrids typically incorporate various sources of local energy generation, which can include solar panels, wind turbines, combined heat and power (CHP) systems, and energy storage like batteries. This diverse mix of energy sources can increase resilience and reliability.
   .
   Energy Management: Microgrids have sophisticated control systems that manage the distribution of electricity within the local network. They can balance energy supply and demand, ensuring a stable and consistent power supply.
   Grid Independence: One of the primary benefits of microgrids is their ability to operate independently from the main grid, known as islanding. During power outages or emergencies, microgrids can continue to provide electricity to the local area, improving resilience.
   Integration with the Main Grid: Microgrids can also be designed to operate in coordination with the main electrical grid. They can supply surplus electricity back to the grid or draw power from it when necessary.
   .
   Efficiency and Environmental Benefits: Microgrids often emphasize energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources, which can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower energy costs for the local community.
   
   Use Cases: Microgrids are deployed in various settings, including urban areas, rural communities, industrial complexes, and military installations. They are particularly valuable in remote regions where extending the main grid infrastructure is costly.
   .
   Grid Resilience: Microgrids enhance the resilience of the local energy supply. They can be essential during natural disasters, extreme weather events, or when the main grid experiences disruptions.
   
   Smart Grid Technology: Many microgrids use smart grid technology and digital control systems to optimize energy use, monitor performance, and respond to changing conditions.
   
   Overall, microgrids offer a flexible and sustainable approach to energy supply and distribution. They are adaptable to local needs, promote clean energy use, and can help ensure a more reliable and resilient power supply, making them an increasingly important part of modern energy infrastructure. ︎