Student Greeting Card Company Hopes To See Sales Bloom

Second In A Series

It is an idea designed to give joy not just once but twice in a sustainable fashion. That is how Avery Seman president of Seed You Later describes the company she and five other students set up as part of their Entrepreneurship 30 class at Vanier Collegiate.

The underlying goal of the company is to provide a product - locally designed greeting cards - which not only give a hidden secondary gift but also does so in an environmentally sustainable manner, Seman said.

“The main focus of our entire company is sustainability and being environmentally friendly. We don’t want to do anything to harm the environment. Our whole goal is to not be involved like other companies with plastics or anything like that,” she said.

To achieve this what Seed You Later has decided to design and market are locally designed seasonal greeting cards which once they are received by the sender can literally be planted into the soil where they will bloom into wild flowers.

“Our slogan is “the gift that keeps on growing” . We see it as you get this Christmas card and itself is a gift and greeting and then you get these wild flowers like a week or two later,” she said.

In order to accomplish this the cards themselves are made with special plantable paper that is infused with a selection of wild flower seeds which can be planted either in a pot indoors or in the Spring outside in the garden. Plantable paper breaks down in the soil and provides nutrients to the wildflower seeds.

The product is designed to allow the recipient to keep the card and place it for example on a refrigerator door with a magnet or elsewhere for display and then later literally plant it instead of tossing it into the trash.

“We created a product where you give the Christmas card but you also get to seeds to plant in the end.”

The cards are not just one type of wildflower but the group is offering a variety of different varieties.

“We have one specifically designed to encourage pollinator bees to attract bees and other pollinators (to your yard),” Seman said.

SEE RELATED Beyond Your Backyard - Save Our Bees

“We are definitely trying to source locally (wild flowers indigenous to the area). We are trying to source local businesses to find seeds for it. But we are also trying to source flowers that are from the area.”

Asked why the group chose flowers as the underlying gift Seman said it was something the group saw as being more

“We wanted something that would make (them smile). We didn’t really want to give them a potato or a carrot…we found the seeds we thought that are the most beautiful, colorful and a wonderful Spring treat.

Seman said she had seen plantable paper used for other products but she had never seen it used for holiday and Christmas cards so the business’s product she feels is a unique one.

“That is why we did this. We wanted to make environmentally friendly Holiday cards…I have seen it for business cards and things like that before.”

Although they have not spoken to any local retailers about carrying their cards in local stores it is something they will be doing very soon to get their cards into stores to increase sales opportunities.

Although they are students and their initial sales were in that market the group did market research before launching their products and have targeted the 30 - 50 year old age range market as the primary buyers of their product.

Their on-line market research included not only what type of interest there was but also what their target market would like to see in way of designs and what the target market was willing to pay for the final product.

“Market information was actually done before we decided on the final product.”

The group has an already established on-line presence to increase their sales opportunities. The on-line presence includes social media, a website as well as a store on Shopify. They may be contacted by e-mail at seedyoulater21@gmail.com.

The company’s Facebook page is Seed You Later and may be accessed by clicking here.

As part of their Entrepreneurship 30 class Seman said the group had learnt a lot in the class including accessing the base products, market research and financing.

“We learnt a million things in this and I expect we are going to be learning a million more (things),” she said.

Seman said at the present time she was likely not headed into starting a retail business but was considering a legal future as a lawyer where she could make use of what she learnt in the class as a basis for setting up her own legal firm in later life.

First in the Series - Entrepreneurship 30 Is Not Just About Taking Care Of Business

MJ Independent is writing a series of stories surrounding the Entrepreneurship 30 class taught at Vanier Collegiate. This is the second in that series - more are coming.