We are publishing the stories behind the 2021 eBay for Business Awards winners and the winner of the eBay Young Upstart award was Will Purdom and Botanico.
Will Purdom has been selling plants for as long as he can remember, including throughout college and university. As he was approaching the end of his degree he started thinking about his next steps.
Initially, Will thought he wanted to pursue his passion for plants through being a gardener, but after seeing growing sales for his plants, he decided to take the plunge and focus his energy on his budding business.
And he hasn’t looked back since. Now aged 26 he runs a successful plant business, Botanico, selling on eBay and at garden centres. Will feels that his young age is an advantage to his business as he has a fresh perspective on the industry.
However, it hasn’t all been plain sailing. Brexit has been one of the business’ biggest struggles, due to the increased paperwork and import changes, but Will has overcome every obstacle to keep his business on track.
Botanico offers customers access to interesting plants from across the world, which Will sources and imports. He is currently in talks with the Royal Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh to set up a new charity called ReLeaf. This charity would introduce new and exotic species of plants into cultivations, which would be sold on to customers, with part of the profits returned to the plants’ places of origin to help with rewilding and reforesting programmes.
“I sold plants all through college and university, but it was only once I graduated that I decided to turn it into a full-time business after I saw my plant sales on eBay take off. I’m now 26 and haven’t looked back since. My business offers customers access to a range of plants from all across the world and so we have faced a range of supply and import challenges this year. That’s why I’m thrilled to have won the Young Upstart Award, and look forward to using the funds to kickstart my plant charity and invest more in Botanico.”
– Will Purdom, founder, Botanico
