Do you remember the beginning of the pandemic, when many of us were rediscovering hobbies, maybe trying to turn them into a side hustle? Well, Justin Lepley found a way to grow his passion for plants into a thriving business - all starting out of a stand in front of his house!
Read on to learn more about how Justin built this business, and how he grew it with the help of 23 investors, who lended Lepley and Co. $16,200 on Honeycomb Credit!
Big dreams rooted in Ohio
Not going to lie to you, this story almost seems straight out of a Hallmark movie. Justin actually is a lawyer, receiving his Juris Doctorate from Case Western Reserve School of Law, and when he graduated, he was looking for something creative to do, so he started a blog about plant care.
In May 2020, Justin and his fiancee Curtis launched his plant stand with a simple card table, picket fence, and a whole lot of plants, right outside his home. A few months later, he opened his first brick-and-mortar location. A few months after that, he opened his second location! Then, a year after that, he renovated and opened Lepley and Co’s third location. “It just sort of escalated from there,” he says, “from here to three, and soon to be more locations.”
Lepley and Co. is growing like a weed!
Today, Lepley and Co. has three locations and a thriving online store. They sell houseplants, boutique items, and are also a full-service florist. They also feature all local artisans in their stores. In November 2021, Lepley and Co. launched a Honeycomb investment offering to help grow the business.
The rapid growth of Lepley and Co. meant a bit of a cash crunch - it happens to a lot of small businesses. When they’re growing super fast, many business owners like Justin put a lot of debt on high-interest credit cards. That’s not a slight or anything on their business knowledge or ability - it’s just a fact of life, especially since it’s often so hard for small businesses to get bank loans at lower interest rates.
“Our goal with the Honeycomb offering is really just to make the day-to-day more comfortable,” said Justin. “With exponential growth, it’s really exciting but it takes a lot more resources. It takes more staff, more inventory. This Honeycomb offering will help us to be more sustainable going forward, allowing us to take care of our staff, catch our breath, before we leap forward into our next vision and plans.”
Anyway, Justin was looking to refinance some of that high-interest debt, as well as put down payments down for some floral delivery vans and free up some Cash On Hand to have between expenses and receipt of Accounts Receivable (which can take up to 60 days to receive in the floral industry). So, he looked to Honeycomb Credit to help him raise the money!
Justin’s Honeycomb investment offering ended up raising $16,400 from 23 investors. Much like how you repot a plant when it gets a bit too big, this influx of cash provided Lepley and Co. with enough growing room to be comfortable as they continue to grow their business!
Whatever stage of growth your business is in, Honeycomb can help!
As you can see, Honeycomb loans don’t have to be for big, auspicious projects (though we love those). Sometimes, a local business just needs a chance to catch their breath after a big growth spurt. If you’ve got inventory you need to purchase or high-interest debt you’d like to get control of, let us know! We can work with you to make sure you get the best possible terms for whatever stage of your business’s growth you’re in. Learn more about Honeycomb by filling out the form below!