Card in the Garden is a yard card business that installs messages of happiness on the recipient’s lawn. I love to say messages of happiness because we are so much more than birthdays! We are the modern-day storks and flocks! Sharing birthday messages, birth announcements, congratulations, and overall messages that make the recipient feel special.
I grew up in Audubon, NJ. A very small town that was only one square mile! I was always top in my class with great grades and a love of learning. Like most of my friends, I went off to college after high school, it just was not for me! I’ve always loved to learn, but being the free spirit I am, working with my hands and creating is more of my passion. If I can combine learning new things with creating, I’m in my happy place! While I have had some jobs that I thoroughly enjoyed, I have always been on the lookout for something that could be my very own.
Something I am in control of and have the ability to decide how it is run. As I was driving around one day I saw a yard card sign on someone’s front lawn. I had seen them before, but this time I thought to myself, how do people get into that business, do they make their own signs, do they use a company? How can I get in on this? The next day, while scrolling on Facebook, I came across a small business Saturday post on a group I am part, while checking out the comments, I saw a post about becoming a licensee for Card in the Garden. I could not believe it! I had just been asking myself about this. I guess you get what you put into the Universe, right? I reached out to the Licensors and after doing some research, decided to go for it! I signed on in October and had my first install in November before I even had my inventory! I signed on to be a licensee for my county and had the thought early on to expand down to my hometown of Audubon, where my parents still reside.
While chatting with my sister-in-law about the idea to expand, she said she would be willing to help me expand to her county as well! She would be the home base for the inventory and sort the jobs while we would hire installers to put up the signs. I let the Licensors know of my interest in the two counties and asked if they let me know if anyone else showed interest. Well, I was not ready to get the call in early December that they had someone asking about a license for Mercer County! The opportunity to expand was not something I was ready to pass up, so I jumped and am planning to expand to Mercer County. I was not prepared to take on more territory so quickly, but with the way my business is growing in my current county and with the interest and lack of other companies in Mercer County, I knew this was too good to pass on.
I am a brand new business, I just started in November! While it has been a challenge to find funding, not only because of being so new but because of the lack of small business loans for women, I am determined to push forward! My sister-in-law has noticed multiple requests on community groups for our service and the Card in the Garden website has also brought in some requests as well. After doing some research it seems that there are not enough businesses in the area to supply the demand. So we would love the opportunity to serve the community and spread messages of happiness to all!
I am having such fun with this new business and my determination is sure it succeeds! I have made several appointments with a business consultant to make a plan for my business and put actionable steps in place, to not only survive but thrive as a business. Things like teaming up with like-minded businesses to offer something a little extra to our customers that our competitors don’t to installing signs in the snow and even on Christmas morning are sure to be things that help set my business apart. Customer service is a top priority for me as I have always worked with people in some capacity or another and I am always striving to make my customers happy. With the expansion of the company, I will be able to go from being a single person company to a company that has employees!
We can customize lawn greetings for all of life’s important events such as welcome home, gender reveal, anniversary, good luck, a school event, or celebrating heroes or accomplishments. We can even write a fun message to make your neighbors smile! Our goal is to make the recipient feel loved and create a memory they will never forget! We offer a customizable/creative and exciting way to celebrate any special occasion. We place a personalized greeting of your choice in the front yard for all to see. We utilize oversized letters and pictures to celebrate your very special occasion. Also, our oversized yard card rentals make for great photo-ops!