Started business with 9 thousand taka, now annual sales are 12 crores

In addition to flowers, fruits and vegetables on the balconies and roofs of homes, various species of plants are becoming one of the accessories for the beautification of offices and restaurants in Dhaka city. Social, cultural and political events are also dominated by green. Due to this interest in greening among the city people, the nursery business is increasing. The business is also becoming popular through online.

Skyflora is one of the most popular names in the online nursery business in the country at the moment. All the materials from the trees for gardening are available on the website of this organization, created by young entrepreneur Sajid Khan. They help in gardening in different districts including Dhaka. So far Skyflora has done over 31,000 rooftop gardens and balcony gardens. Organic fertilizer is being produced in Skyflora's own factory by understanding the needs of plants. Skyflora is also producing eco-friendly geo bags. Skyflora also offers training on various topics related to trees and gardening. 47 employees are currently working in the company.

Sajid Khan, the founder of the company, said, "We have been working for greening for a long time. During the Corona period, the demand for roof gardens increased among the people of the city. At that time we helped to build 2000 roof gardens in about 30 districts including Dhaka. We not only make gardens, but also provide all the services needed for garden care.'

Skyflora has set up its own fertilizer factory at Trimohani in Kushtia last year to provide quality service to customers. There, organic fertilizer is produced by insects called 'African Black Soldier Fly'. Every month, one and a half hundred farmers are collecting this fertilizer produced in an environmentally friendly manner and using it in their own crop fields. This fertilizer is being used every month in about 6,000 gardens in the country.

Sajid Khan said that this fertilizer has gained the trust of individual users as it is very effective for soil quality and plant growth. Skyflora has set up seven nurseries with customers in mind. They have done 550 landscape works taking into account the customer's needs and the city's climate.

Starting at Rs.9 thousand

Sajid Khan started Skyflora in 2015 with only 9 thousand rupees. He said, "My parents used to garden at home when I was a child. He had the opportunity to visit different nurseries for gardening. Back then nursery meant something huge. Soil, trees, fertilizers and more! Not all plants were available in all nurseries. I used to think, if everything was available in one place. There are also many risks of taking care of plants. Keeping these issues in mind, I try to do something while studying at the university.

In the beginning, Sajid Khan tried to spread the plants from Mirpur to Dhaka. He said, 'We started working online through a Facebook page. Abir Ahmed of Mirpur purchased the first tree from us by contacting us online from our Facebook page. In the beginning there was a purchase order for three plants. We collect trees with great interest at that time. After that I worked for many buyers starting from tree supply to garden management. In the beginning, we started thinking about the matter when a few garden plants died due to customer's carelessness. Later we expand gardening services.

There are about 18,000 nurseries, big and small, across the country. According to the Bangladesh Nursery Owners Association, thousands of crores of rupees have been invested in this sector. If you go to the nursery, you have the opportunity to buy a tree. As a result, in response to the question of how the issue of connecting technology in the nursery business came to mind, Sajid Khan said, 'Though there are many nurseries locally in the country, there was no big technology-based platform. Online platforms for books, food or many other products have received good response among people. As a result, something new can be done with trees, we take the initiative to sell various garden materials including trees online.

Business is growing

Government is giving incentives to make people interested in greening. All city corporation and municipal house owners get 10 percent rebate on holding tax if they have roof gardens. Due to this, the demand for trees is increasing at the upazila level as well as in big cities. Sajid Khan said, "The gardening style of the middle class people of Bangladesh is one, and the gardening needs of the upper class are different. On the other hand, the popularity of greening and rooftop farming is increasing at the corporate level. We are thinking of the entire plantation as a sector.

Sajid Khan also said, 'We have left the opportunity to solve any customer's problem within 24 hours. And if someone wants to know and learn about planting or gardening, in that case, we have provided an opportunity to know virtually 24 hours through social media.

This is how Skyflora's business is growing. Sajid Khan said, in the beginning of 2015, their annual sales were 50 thousand to 1 lakh taka. Now they are selling products and services worth 10-12 crore rupees.