For over 20 years, Urban Plant Life has traded on Cork St, Dublin. Sam Smyth started his business more than 30 years ago from his home, then renting out plants for events and shows. However, when the business moved to Cork St it expanded to planting for corporations, embassies, government departments, weddings, movies and other events, as well as creating the garden centre.
What sets your business apart from the competition? The area for one. I'd never been to Cork St, but I was looking for a place and I knew instantly that this was it. It's a very historic area. This used to be a cotton factory. There are old cobble stones, a chimney and a terrace! There's nowhere like it in the city centre. I have always sold indoor plants. I have great connections with a Dutch supplier but when I bought this space I opened the garden centre and started selling outdoor plants, catering for the garden needs of households as well as the corporate and event side. We are the only people doing this kind of thing from a city centre location like this.
What's the best piece of business advice you've received? I worked in KPMG for a while and it taught me that you have to make money. If you don't make money, you're out of business! What's been your biggest mistake? Well, I can sometimes take things too personally. I spend too much time working too! I think a lot of self- employed people are like that.
What is your major success to date? Surviving the last recession was my biggest business challenge so it's probably my biggest success too! I set up a business in a recession in the 1980s with a watering can! So I learned a lot, the main thing being keep your costs down and your sales up. During the recession the corporate business dropped, but we held on to a few businesses, especially the multinationals and embassies. Short-term rentals helped us through the recession, the likes of movies, corporate events, that got us through too. We've done the planting for big weddings. We did Paul McCartney's wedding, Denis O'Brien's and the Smurfits. We've done the Ryder Cup and the Irish Open for the last four years. Big gigs. The event companies come to us, we've developed a great reputation for being able to do the planting at big events now. We've just done Bloom and Taste of Dublin. We also do a lot of businesses with hotels, especially around Christmas time.
Who do you most admire in business and why? Feargal Quinn. I was on Retail Therapy, the RTÉ show with him and he was brilliant. He gave me great advice. He said to me, "You don't have to be the biggest but you have to try to be the best", meaning the service you give. Based on your experience in the downturn are banks in Ireland open for business? When you want money, they won't give it, but now they see my asset base is okay, they want to give me money! But the relationship and communication with banks is difficult now.
What piece of advice would you give the Government to stimulate the economy? Free parking for an hour in city centres. That would be great for businesses on Cork St and lots of areas, or if we had Dublin bikes on Cork St.
What do you see as the short-term future for your business? Well we are getting better known and the business is getting better. We are the only garden centre in the city centre and we have a huge selection of plants! We've been in business so long and we're thriving again. It's a cycle.
What's your business worth and would you sell it? Offers over 100 million for the property! The Baron of Ballsbridge . . . I'd be the King of Cork St!
