Brooklyn business brings nature to small spaces with terrariums

Terrart NYC’s low-maintenance, easy-care terrariums — miniature gardens housed in decorative glass containers — bring a touch of nature to the smallest of living spaces, even tiny New York City apartments.

Charly Uzcategui started the Brooklyn-based business in 2019 using the art of terrarium design he learned from his parents in Caracas, Venezuela. His parents have been making and selling terrariums there since 1984.

“I grew up surrounded by plants in Venezuela,” says Uzcategui, who worked full time as a geoscience engineer before founding Terrart NYC. “It was an interesting transition moving from working for someone else to running my own business. It has been challenging at times, but I’m so happy I took this chance on myself.”

Today, Uzcategui sells his terrariums both online and at pop-up markets in the New York metro area. Terrart NYC is a winner of a 2023 Citizens Small Business Community Champion Award, which recognizes entrepreneurs who are improving their community.

Uzcategui recently shared how he found a unique selling point for his product, the importance of surrounding yourself with the right people, and how a multichannel marketing strategy is helping his business thrive.

Many people in New York City live in apartments and have busy schedules. From working in his family business, Uzcategui knows that closed terrariums are ideal for New Yorker’s lifestyle. Unlike open terrariums — which need direct sunlight and watering every two weeks to thrive — closed terrariums can flourish with indirect light and only need to be opened for minimal care once a month.

“Terrariums are an ideal way for people living in a small space to bring a bit of nature into their homes,” he says.

When Uzcategui started developing Terrart NYC, his first step was testing which types of plants would work best in closed terrariums. Then he had to find nurseries that could provide the plants and moss in the sizes he needs.

For the terrarium containers, Uzcategui sourced recycled materials such as jars, beakers, and liquor bottles. The low climate impact of his entire endeavor is important to him and appealing to his customers. “Using recycled glass reduces our carbon footprint and makes our products more sustainable, which is also a great selling point for many customers,” he notes. “Unlike cut flowers, which will die and get thrown away in a few days, terrariums that are cared for properly are a gift that can last for years.”

He has been recognized for his planet-friendly habits by the business community too. Terrart NYC was a 2021 winner of the Queens Economic Development Corporation’s StartUP! competition for its efforts to promote sustainability.

Bottom line: Differentiating your product or service, based on what matters to you and what the market wants, sets you apart from the competition. Slight modifications to your product or service that make it different and uniquely appealing will support strong revenue and customer loyalty. If you are differentiated currently, be sure to emphasize what makes your offering unique and appealing to potential customers.

Uzcategui started his business making the terrariums in his home while he was still working full time as an engineer. After two years, he made the leap to running Terrart NYC full time and rented his current studio space to scale the business.

Because he had been making terrariums in his family business since the age of seven, Uzcategui knew how to create his product. But there were other aspects of running a business with which he needed help. For example, marketing through social media and Terrart NYC’s website became imperative when the pandemic started. He turned to his sister Yuvey Uzcategui, who had experience with social media to sharpen the business’s presence on Facebook and Instagram.

“She highlights new offerings with photos and reels that are often set against the backdrop of New York’s skyline and landmarks,” Uzcategui says of his sister, who also helps oversee manufacturing, logistics, operations, and terrarium design. “These help us generate attention and showcase the beauty of what we offer.”

To help manage the back end of the business, he partnered with Tim Chu, a quality assurance engineer with a degree in business administration who serves as Terrart NYC’s business manager. Chu created a business plan for the company and helps Uzcategui navigate areas such as managing cash flow and adjusting prices. Henger Ydrogo also works with the team overseeing data analysis.

“No one anticipated the challenges brought on by the last few years,” Uzcategui notes. “Inflation has made it necessary for us to adjust our pricing several times to keep up with rising costs and make sure we can pay all our suppliers on time, as well as keep up with taxes, rent, and other obligations.”

Bottom line: Entrepreneurs are known for their independence, but no one needs to go it alone. Look for people whose experience and skill sets complement your own. Lean on people in your professional network for advice too. The most resilient businesses have a wide range of support, including business bankers and CPAs, who can help you identify opportunities for financing and other tools for maintaining cash flow to meet obligations and grow.

Terrart NYC participated in 29 pop-up markets in 2022 in the New York City area, including Makers Market Urbanspace at Manhattan’s Bryant Park, FAD Market, and Dumbo’s Empire Stores in Brooklyn. “These markets are a great way to connect with customers and generate business especially around the winter holidays,” he says, noting, “People get to see the terrariums up close, and we can explain how easy they are to maintain.”

When the lockdowns happened in 2020 and in-person markets were no longer possible, Uzcategui shifted to more online marketing. His multichannel sales and marketing approach now includes pop-up markets, workshops, social media, and his website, which now accounts for 12% of Terrart NYC’s business. Relationships with partner companies are an important part of his revenue generation.

Terrart NYC sells terrariums through five partner sites in New York, including the New York Botanical Garden. Uzcategui connects with customers by offering workshops where people can build their own terrariums. The workshops are promoted through the online platform ClassBento, which advertises the events in exchange for a commission. He also does workshops with students at community schools to teach kids about the importance of nature.

With the Citizens Small Business Community Champion Award, Uzcategui plans to increase Terrart NYC’s product offerings and introduce a terrarium kit that will be sold online and shipped anywhere in the country. “Because the finished terrariums are fragile, we can only currently sell in the New York metro area,” he says. “Creating a shippable kit would give us the ability to greatly increase the reach of our business.”

Eventually, he would like to move to a bigger space, both for more storage and to open a physical storefront so people could come in and browse.

“Diversification is so important for ensuring that you can reach a wide range of customers,” he says. “It gives you more opportunity to generate both revenue and visibility for your business.”

Bottom line: Using many channels for marketing can help you connect with a broad base of customers, meet them where they are in terms of shopping preferences, and expand to new markets. In addition to broadening your reach, a multichannel approach to marketing and sales diversifies your customer base to protect you against dips in revenue. With a variety of types of buyers, you can address a drop in revenue with one type of customer by increasing your sales efforts to another to smooth and maintain a more consistent level of company sales.

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