Inspiring young enterprises: The Garden of Rosero

Developing a business and managing it on an ongoing basis is a totalizing and exhausting experience that builds on the skills acquired over years.

Here we want to introduce you to the story of Andrea Pinneri and Carlotta Stella, two young agricultural entrepreneurs who represent, in our opinion, an outstanding example of passion and commitment to their work.

Diligence and devotion (as well as artistic and aesthetic creativity) definitely seem to be the forte of these nature enthusiasts.

Together they manage a field of colorful striped tulips among the hills of Turin. Wonderful flowers bloom each spring, and people can pick their own for a fee.

This is not the only activity possible in the camp: in addition to the collection, other projects are also organized, some designed especially for younger children (such as decorating Halloween pumpkins, or writing a little letter for Santa Claus complete with a snack and house gift).

How an out-of-the-box enterprise was born

During some walks in the hills of Turin, the boys noticed a stretch of uncultivated land that would be perfect for an expanse of flowers. They opted for a tulip harvesting field, taking inspiration from realities that had sprung up in Italy in previous years. In fact, in northern Italy (but not only) many of these collection fields have sprung up, such as Tulipani italiani, Tulipani in Sardegna, Il Giardino di Lu', Tulipania, the Tuliparty in Turin, and many flower farms that also cultivate and open up to self-harvesting.

Carlotta and Andrea's passion for flowers, which can be clearly felt, did not come about suddenly, however: the former has always been passionate about plants, flowers, and the vegetable garden, while the latter grew up in the family business, a floriculture business, and is a gardener by trade.

Nothing comes about by accident, and skills are not invented out of thin air when deciding to do business. They must be prior and solid.

The project began with the study and subdivision of the land for different crops (tulips, pumpkins and sunflowers). Then, the work was activated: from fencing with electric wire to finding the material and ordering the bulbs, which were then planted by hand after studying how to structure the rows.

A job that required, and requires, constant study and ideation, challenging creativity and problem solving on an ongoing basis. As well as being demanding and stressful, especially psychologically.

The worry that everything would fall apart, according to Andrea and Carlotta, was there until the opening, especially on the weather side. Just before the camp opened, there was a hailstorm in the area. It threatened to ruin everything.

Of course, there were other difficulties due to good news as well. How to handle the exceptional turnout of customers, and thus the organization. The number of visitors went beyond their own expectations.

In any case, Andrea and Carlotta always tried to devote attention to every single person who came to their camp, even when the volume of work was significant. We believe that this attitude of service, even with an indiscriminate flow of clients, is one of the keys to success in entrepreneurship.

"Although we have no certainties, we decided to throw ourselves into this adventure because it is a life project for us and we will build it little by little."

What about the marketing side?

They really did the best they could: they focused on offline and online advertising (to learn about the various types of marketing, take a look here: https://www.deepmarketing.it/approfondimenti/tipologie-marketing/ ).

The first method, in their case, was distributing flyers in the area, and putting up billboards. The second, posts on Facebook and Instagram pages. They brought as many updates from the field as possible.

"The time invested by posting content on social has paid off, and we've seen the numbers grow significantly."

Scalable business models (growing without encountering internal resource constraints), which are so fashionable especially online, are still not in the interests of these two entrepreneurs.

They don't want "everything and now," but something that represents them, in line with their way of life and philosophy.

Through diligence and a sense of responsibility, as well as passion, the results have come. And they have brought with them great joy and contentment.

Yes, in part it was thanks to marketing. But we should not delude ourselves too much: it would not have been possible if there was little substance behind it.

And offering a great service or product to the community is often among the first desires of those who open a business.

A business like Carlotta and Andrea's works because there is so much passion and commitment behind it, as well as honesty and transparency (as can be seen in the Garden's social profiles).

Generally, marketing for farms is still essential to achieve the desired success and efficiency.

Determining your product and target market is crucial. Using digital strategies can increase organic site traffic, improve search engine rankings and generate leads (contacts) more efficiently.

Farms can also make use of social media to successfully engage customers, potential and otherwise (as Carlotta and Andrea successfully did).

Thebest approach depends on the specific needs of the company, but could include marketing the list of products and services with special offers and discounts.

Access to the field

You can find Andrea and Carlotta on Rosero Street in Pino Torinese, between the hamlet of Tetti Rosero and Ciattalina Street.

Unfortunately, being an agricultural field, they do not have a civic number, but they have no problem being found.

They are open on Saturdays and Sundays from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., on Mondays and Tuesdays by appointment from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and on Fridays from 3 p.m. onwards (also by appointment).

Reservations are also welcome on weekends to facilitate parking.

Entrance fees

Admission is free for children up to the age of 12 and the disabled.

Tickets to enter the camp cost 4 euros and include the collection of two tulips, 4.50 for those who also want to take home bulbs.

Each extra flower costs 1 euro, with the bulb 1.50.

Let's talk about dedication

We wondered how Andrea and Carlotta manage such a demanding job, which requires great presence, with the new projects they create all the time. A job in some ways similar, yet so different, than ours at Deep Marketing.

Their response was as follows:

"We manage it one step at a time, based on what requires priority, studying and planning everything down to the smallest detail, dividing tasks and collaborating together."

We believe that collaboration is really the key. It manages to ensure that experiences are passed on, especially from the most experienced to the youngest. But also that everyone joins forces to collaborate and create something new.

Andrea and Carlotta in our opinion can be a great example for many people, especially young entrepreneurs. Their way of doing business and spirit of sacrifice can inspire so many.

The toil of the terrain can be a metaphor for life, which is certainly not downhill.

And speaking of first-time entrepreneurs (with healthy ideas, often discouraged): Carlotta and Andrea's advice to them is to pursue and work toward their goals with passion, commitment and skill, putting their hearts into it. So many have enjoyed their work and indeed, their own expectations have been exceeded.

Rural entrepreneurship

Let's broaden the view. Young people are returning to work in the fields.

Only agricultural enterprises are growing in our country, among those led by those under 35. Over ten years they have grown by 1 percent, while the total of the others is at -13 percent

Usually this is not "old-style" farming. Work in the fields has changed a lot, although this is not a rule that applies to all farms.

Marketing and communications, as we have seen, are also increasingly using digital tools. They also help to track conversions (i.e., specific, previously defined measurable actions that are important to one's business).

But technology does not only help in this. So-called "AgriTech" companies often monitor crops with drones, which can even provide specifications on soils.

The purposes of these enterprises are not always conventional: there is the establishment of agri-nurseries, educational farms, projects for the differently abled. Not to mention social reintegration.

Between farms producing sustainable and in some cases even organic cosmetics, innovations allow production without harming the environment and healthier food.

This is thanks to young and passionate agrarian entrepreneurs. As well as of the opportunities that the world of agriculture holds for young people.

Some data

In the period when Covid hit hardest, employment in agriculture was 11,000 more than in the past decade. A big difference with other sectors: -14% employment in food service; -3.7% among store or wholesale salespeople; -4.2% among blue-collar workers.

This sector, contrary to what one might suspect, knows no crisis in a technological age such as ours. New technologies, as we have seen, are being harnessed precisely to improve it-always with an eye to the human and social needs of customers.

Also through creativity and interest in the area.