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CZ Grain
March 2024
Chariton Area Chamber/Main Street is proud to feature one of our local contributing businesses in the monthly Small Business Spotlight.
This month, we are featuring CZ GRAIN owned and operated by John & Leslie Curran. We get their take on owning and operating their very own E-commerce store and why they decided to do it!
Click on CZ GRAIN- To watch their company video!
What is your job title and role?
We are John & Leslie Curran, owners & operators of CZ GRAIN.
How long have you been in business in Chariton/Lucas County?
We have been cattle and grain farming in the area for many years. In 2017 we started selling plants and nautral products online under the name CZ Grain.
Describe your business
CZ GRAIN is an e-commerce business specializing in live plants, seeds, crafting out of natural products, dog chews, trees, vegetable plants, indoor plants, exotic birds, eggs &, etc. We package and ship our product worldwide from our fullifument center located in rural Russell. Orders are printed each morning with shipping labels and our amazing staff of around 30 employees fulfill those orders every weekday. FedEx and UPS pick up the orders in the afternoon and we bring all USPS order to the post office in Chariton every afternoon. It is a team effort ever day that we would not be able to do without our great staff.
Why do you do what you do?
We do what we do because we love and enjoy it. We saw an opportunity in 2017 to build an e-commerece business focused on high quality-commerce customer service an unique and natural products.
Was there a specific moment or realization where you made the decision to start your own business?
In 2017, we bought some plants on Amazon and they came in the mail damaged and the seller was unhelpful. We decided at that moment we could offer customers a better product and customer experience by sending a top-quality product and having the mindset of the customer is #1.
What are your biggest challenges as a business owner?
Some of our biggest challenges have been learning about E-commerce, intellectual property, technology changes, and platform changes. It's been fun to face the challenges of the ever-changing e-commerce ecosystem provides. Also, the constant growth and changes we are constantly implementing in our fulfillment centers and deciding what makes us most efficient and effective.
What are your biggest rewards?
Our biggest rewards are the satisfied customers and happy employees. This business really is about the people.
What inspires you to keep at it each day?
Our family and employees inspire us each day to continue to build this business into something that can last more than just this generation.
Why did you choose Chariton for your business?
We chose this community because our land and farm are located here and our children go to school here. We also really like the community and there is an excellent pool of hard-working employees to work with.
What will people get from your business that they won't get anywhere else?
We are the only seller on the platforms offering some of our products. We also offer great customer service ensuring the customer is always right.
Learn more about CZ Grain at:
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