NOTL businesswoman Melissa Achal’s entrepreneurial spirit began over 20 years ago right out of high school.
Selling floral arrangements without a brick-and-mortar operation using a form of retail called drop shipping, she purchased flowers from South America and sent them directly to stores across Canada.
She was breaking ground on a way of business that was a sparingly-known practice during the ’80s and ’90s, but experienced a rise in popularity when the world fully connected to the internet.
Despite the ease that the online path provided and the good amount of success that followed, Achal decided that any further groundbreaking would have to be of the literal kind.
She moved to NOTL in 2009, dropped the business’ original name of Busy Bee Gardens and launched a small lavender-growing operation and retail shop under NEOB Lavender.
NEOB stands for Niagara Essential Oils and Blends.
Today, Achal still owns NEOB Lavender and this year, she’s a double finalist in the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce’s Women in Business Awards.
The farming business, now located at 933 Niagara Stone Rd., has grown from two acres of leased land and 4,000 lavender plants to 12 acres of purchased land, 20,000 plants.
On the retail side, NEOB has grown from a single location in NOTL to five locations in Elora, Stratford and Bracebridge and back to NOTL with two storefronts.
And, the growth continues: A new, 2,000-square-foot large storefront is under construction outside the farm, which will replace NEOB Lavender’s current store — which is 600 square feet — once it opens next spring.
“It is a complete grassroots startup with only sweat equity that has gone into it,” Achal says.
While the business also grows and sells other floral products, focusing on lavender and its byproducts was a choice made almost accidentally.
“We filled the greenhouse with lavender and nothing else,” she says of the beginning.
“So we said, ‘All right, what do we do with lavender now?’”
“We read up on it, we realized all the properties and developed into essentials from there.”
This is when her on-site manufacturing plant came into existence.
Achal started throwing lavender experience parties where she would go to women’s houses and sell her products ranging from creams and body lotions to soaps and even a line of cosmetics.
The interest in her services was so great it helped spawn yet another expansion and an opportunity for her husband to join the business.
“(The parties) helped develop the product line so I said, ‘Robert, you go ahead and quit your job.’”
Her husband quit his job and the pair sold their house and moved into a three-season trailer for two years as the business grew.
“We didn’t have kids at the time, so we only had ourselves to take care of,” she says, noting that the pair now have two children and lodgings that are a little more stable.
“The good news is that we don’t live in the trailer anymore,” she said.
Achal’s work took her from a computer screen and an order sheet to five brick-and-mortar locations and 35 employees.
The Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce has named her a finalist in the Entrepreneurship and Excellence in Hospitality and Tourism award categories.
For Achel, the nominations are enough to be happy about.
“I feel pretty awesome, definitely because all the hard work and dedication we put into the company is now being recognized,” she says, noting the “we” in her statement for her husband.
For the message it sends to women, especially young women thinking about a life in business, Achal has a simple message.
“If you truly believe in what you do, you can make it happen through hard work and dedication.”
Achal will learn if she has won either of the awards at a banquet on Nov. 21 at the Sheraton Fallsview Hotel.
