The Madgician S01E10 | Nurturing Success: Growing a Business from Seed to Bloom, with Tjaša Jarc, founder of Džungla Plants

We’re back with Ep.10 of The Madgician Podcast! This time around, we’ve had the chance to speak with Tjaša Jarc, founder of Džungla Plants, a leading Slovenian shop for trendy indoor plants. We talked about first-year challenges, adapting to economic downturns, lessons learned, overcoming the fear of launching a business, and a lot more. 

"The best advice I got before starting Džungla was to stop pushing. A guy once told me, 'I built my first company after having my third child and building a house—not exactly ideal timing. But I knew it was the right time.' He told me to relax, keep exploring options, but let go of the pressure that something must happen. And once I did that, Džungla came to life just a month later. Now, I always remind myself: the key is to enjoy building, to stay focused on the purpose behind it, and to let things unfold naturally, without stressing over every detail." - Tjaša Jarc

Tune in for the full episode on Spotify:

About Tjaša Jarc

After four years living abroad in places like Bali, Berlin, and Melbourne, and gaining valuable life and work experiences, Tjaša Jarc recently returned to her home country, Slovenia. With a background in advertising and PR, she started her career in agencies such as Studio Mi and Pristop while studying communication sciences. After a four-month break in Bali, Tjaša moved to Berlin, where she helped manage one of the city’s main coworking spaces, Ahoy Berlin.

Two years later, she relocated to Australia, where she set up operations for the Blockchain Centre in Melbourne and opened its new premises. She also launched and managed Melbourne’s first blockchain incubator. Back in Slovenia, Tjaša has spent most of her time running operations for Silicon Gardens, a Slovenian founders-for-founders investment fund, and managing Kyuriosity Hub. During the first wave of the pandemic, she launched Džungla, an e-store for indoor plants, which has since become her main focus.

What you’ll learn by listening

• First-year challenges in entrepreneurship & tips to overcome them 
• Adapting to economic hurdles in real time
• Replicable marketing tips for any business
• Mistakes made & lessons learned in entrepreneurship 
• Listening to customer demands: why & how it shapes your business

• Overcoming the fear of launching a new business

Podcast transcription

 My name is Georgiana. I've been an entrepreneur in digital marketing since 2014. And recently I started creating custom high heels. This podcast is with women entrepreneurs who work their magic day after day at home and at work. I'll be interviewing them in order to find out useful tips and tricks that can help you start or scale your business. Stay tuned. So happy to see you today, Tjaša . Welcome on the Magician podcast. I'm Georgiana, as you all know, this is a podcast with and for women entrepreneur, entrepreneurs, actually by a woman entrepreneur. And today I'm talking to someone that I met recently, but that I admire a lot. She's doing amazing things.

She's a fantastic entrepreneur and I can't wait for her to tell us about her journey, sorry, Tjaša Jarc , is that your family name? Please tell us a little bit about how you got to be a plant entrepreneur. I find that [00:01:00] fascinating, honestly.

Tjaša Jarc: I was not really planning or planting this. So yeah, it all started during the first wave of COVID when we were all inside in our houses and wanted to make it As comfy and green as possible. So I was driving to one of the nurseries to buy some plants and it was like cursing in my head, like why there isn't an online shop in Slovenia where I can buy a plants and okay.

There it was. Like, I knew immediately this is it because I wanted to build something on my own for quite a while. And yes this was it. I called my friend who is actually really plant lover and plant collector.

Yeah, in two months our web shop was out. 

Georgiana: Wow, I find this fantastic and Dzungla Plants is now not only in Slovenia, you will tell us about it in just a little while, but I'm curious, you used to work in PR before that, correct?

Tjaša Jarc: Yes, advertising and mainly I was also managing co working. Okay. 

Georgiana: And when did you decide to only work on your own business? When did you know the time was right? For quitting the regular job and doing the entrepreneurship a hundred percent? 

Tjaša Jarc: When I was already like in kindergarten, I like, I knew. That I want to be I knew exactly how I want to dress when I will be older and like that I want to be a boss, babe. Yeah. And I always imagined myself in pencil skirts. However, I do not wear them now but yeah, I'm like, I'm owning my own business. It was just a matter of time. Like my twenties I [00:03:00] spent abroad.

I really want to gain as much experiences as possible. And once I came back, I was like, okay, now it's the time. So. At the start I was a bit, how to say, when you are stiff about the idea that this must happen. So it was quite a challenge just to, to relax about the idea, just to believe that it's gonna happen what it meant to happen. So this was first thing that I needed to do. And just I think two months after this, like Džungla happened. It was yeah, it was it was quite a process because, sometimes you're, okay, now I'm ready. I'm ready. I want to do this.

It's time. It's time. And then you're trying and nothing really seems right. And then I think the best thing in this kind of moments is just to. To cut it and just to leave [00:04:00] it and believe that it's going to happen what it's meant to happen. And yeah it worked that way. 

Georgiana: It always does. And I know from my own experience that sometimes even after years of being inside the business, things are still not going right. And you still need patience for them to get better. And of course any business is hard in the beginning. Some are always busy. And hard and difficult. But I'm wondering what was the hardest part for you with Džungla during the first year? Was it overwhelming? Was it complicated? What kept you alive? 

Tjaša Jarc: I started with Džungla because I knew at that time it's the market, it is the right moment for the market. So the market was already grown enough. So people were already buying plants online, but from abroad. And on the other side, there was no [00:05:00] one yet doing this really in Slovenia.

So I knew this is the right moment and everyone was at home. This was hype. And, um, we were really trying to be like, to make it happen as soon as possible, to catch this wagon. And this is something that really helped us in the first year to grow to grow fast enough. So we can do things more relaxed.

In a relaxed way. And also we can already start building a team. So it was not everything on us, on me and my co founders. So this is something that really helped. 

Georgiana: And do you guys have a lot of competitors now, a few years later? 

Yeah, they were like popping up all the time. They still are, but like we are working all the time, like to stay first [00:06:00] here, like in this market.

And for now things go, things are going good. So I don't, I think you had, cause I was reading your questions before the, there is. that there was some like really tough part of the business, but really it wasn't because I was thinking why I believe that when I started this business, I was like, okay, this is not a sprint.

This is like run on the long distance, a marathon. So I need to take things in a relaxed way, easy and with a normal speed. Yeah. So I think this is something that it really helped me and the entire company. The things were moving all the time, but not with some big hiccups.

Georgiana

Okay. How much [00:07:00] did it help you to have a co founder from the beginning? 

Tjaša Jarc: Yeah, this for sure. This is something we have, so we have ownership 50, 50. So this is usually the most challenging way of doing ownership. So I, I believe a hundred percent having a co founder. This is, this was like the best decision because I really, we can really split the work, but not just the work, also the drive and the energy and the support.

But also it's a lot of work that we keep our relationship as good as possible. We also work with like psychologist and a mentor. And just to keep things between us as good as possible. 

Georgiana: You know what they say about co founders? They're a blessing and a curse at the same time. And I think that's [00:08:00] true, actually.

I think you need a lot of patience and mastery to be able to make use and to have a proper relationship with that person. Along the years, because what works in the beginning sometimes doesn't work in five or six years time. 

Tjaša Jarc: Yeah, that's true. It's also very important to have very similar values.

Yeah. And similar goals. So definitely this is something that help us to be aligned as much as possible. And also, but on the other side, we are also very different. What is also challenging, like it's challenging us all the time to be more humble, to be more patient, to be more accept acceptable accepting.

Georgiana: Okay. And since you didn't have a major hurdle, right? You cannot think of one right [00:09:00] now. Can you tell me a little bit about how it felt like for you to actually go to new markets you were telling me a week ago that you guys are going to the Czech Republic, that's right. 

Tjaša Jarc: Yeah.

So there, it's not like there were, there wasn't a big, hurdle, but they were like all the time, small challenges that you are trying to solve all the time, especially because the market market was so was changing rapidly, at the start first year, it was, everything was just like, bam, like everyone was inside, everyone was shopping online.

So these things were just going crazy. And then the second year, the physical stores opened again, and you can see. How the online sales dumb get, yeah, dumb. And, um, it was also, [00:10:00] yeah, it was on the other side advertising money was just going to the sky. So it was really challenging on the marketing side, like the next year.

And then year after this, we had this. Nature catastrophe, like the floods in Slovenia, and there was before this was a war in the Ukraine. Then people again, get very stiff and then all these macroeconomics happening. So this is something that you're just like, like riding the wave all the time.

Yeah, and I don't know like it's for me first time like owning a business like this I know I don't know if this was like even before Like in the previous year so crazy, but like in the past these four years Yeah, it's really each year. It's something new happening on the market 

Georgiana: and each year we hear of New [00:11:00] economic hurdles and new economic downturns and the crisis came last year, but now people are telling me, Oh, wait until you see 2025 because automotive in Germany is taking a plunge to the head.

So I don't know. I just prefer not to think about it. 

Tjaša Jarc: Yeah. I don't watch news. Yeah. Cause I realize if I'm watching news too much, like all the time fair and just not be really relaxed, but yeah, I wouldn't say it's a good effect on the business. 

Georgiana: because if you have a bit of money that you intended to use, and I don't know, influencer marketing or event organizing, you don't want to do it.

Because you're afraid you don't want to lose your money because look what's coming. So yeah, it's a complicated market, but I asked this question to all of the guests because marketing is super important for small businesses, right? And then identifying exactly who your target buyer is, who [00:12:00] is your customer niche, where they are located, what do they like, why do they buy from you?

What is useful marketing advice? That you could give us that can be replicated for other businesses, let's say. 

Tjaša Jarc: I would say it's a lot of testing, like we started four years ago, like we thought like our customer base are like plant lovers and plant collectors and so on. And we had only rare plants.

We said we never gonna have a Monstera because every, in every shopping center, you can buy Monstera and so on. However, People started asking for it and we just tried and put it in a shop and it was sold out in a day or two. So it's okay okay, people are not buying just rare plants.

People just trust in us. That's why they're buying here. It's I would in the end, I would just say a lot of [00:13:00] testings testing because you can can assume something from the NLE analytics, what really happens in the end. And, and also the The marketing nowadays, like performance marketing on Google, on Facebook, you don't really need to put a certain target audience anymore there.

They have their own. Yes. And they do it instead of you. So I think this question is not so maybe even so much important. You just need to Try different things and see what what works. 

Georgiana: It's funny in a way, because what you told me previously, like the mistake that you made in presuming that your clients are going to be like you.

plant collectors. I think all entrepreneurs make this mistake. I started out the shoe brand by creating a shoe that I liked, like a [00:14:00] fuchsia satin heel that was high, too high, that I really liked. And I still think it looks amazing. And we still loan it to actresses and actors to various events worldwide.

But most of the clients were asking for lower heels and the classical colors. So then I thought, okay, good. That's very useful input, but I, and I listened to it. We're still, we're now in the process of producing different models and different sizes for the heels. I think you get arrogant in the beginning, you think that you know what your client wants.

And you think, okay, if I think like this for sure many likewise. Like minded women are going to think the same and they're going to purchase the product because they're going to like it as much as I do. But this never happened or it happens, but in a very small amount. 

Tjaša Jarc: The good thing about having a co founder a lot of times is also this, that they see from the different perspective.

Nowadays we don't even fight anymore. What are we going to do? We just. [00:15:00] try. 

Georgiana: Yeah. 

Tjaša Jarc: We're like, if we don't agree with something, we are just, okay, let's just try and see. And now we 

Georgiana: have the experience of working together, fine tuning each other. Yeah. I think this is really useful. How do you, at this moment, after four years, okay, you have already some traction on the website and on the, in the business per se, how do you still make sure that you listen to the customer's voice? How do you stay in touch with your customer? 

Tjaša Jarc: Oh, Instagram in our case is just awesome for this.

Like we are like posting questions, questionnaires, forms all the time, and just trying to get the feedback. It's yeah, it's an amazing tool and we just try to use it as much as possible. It's really great. And also just really observing observing [00:16:00] the attitude and actions of the people in the physical store and questions and but what is, I think what.

makes a challenge. What when you are growing is that you as an owner, you are not in touch with with customers so much anymore. So which really trying to build this or have these processes where still information comes to us. So all the time reminding especially people who are working in the shop, in the physical store to give us feedback to let us know what they are asking for And to be also to them to be as much as possible to participate in some decisions.

Georgiana: And one more question regarding things that you did right and things that you didn't do so right. You answered it along the way, but still I'm going to ask it anyway. [00:17:00] Was there a moment, When you realized that this is something you're doing right, you and your co founder, and this gave you the confidence to move forward and also replicate the thing that was good for you.

Tjaša Jarc: There there's, I know as soon as I got this idea, what, when I was driving in a car, there was a music on the radio, it was Bon Jovi, it is now or never, you're not going to live forever. So it's okay, that's a sign. And I really felt it in my heart. It's a love on a first sight, it, so it's this is it, I want to try it.

I feel this is it. And then. I remember when we received first money, so the first plant was purchased and we were holding this cash, like 25 euros in our hands. I also made a video [00:18:00] of this and it's Yes, this is it. Okay, it's happening. And then it's, this is like what you are like all the time, like doing, like challenging something.

And if you see people are buying it, people like it, it's yes, that's the right way. That's the right way. That's the right way. So it goes all the time. Like every day when you are checking the sales, it's I would say it's like a in casino or something or stocks, That was a good decision.

That was not so good decision. That was amazing decision. Yes. Yes. We put cause our business is very specific. Each week we have new stock and like 30 percent of the plants each week in our store our plans we never had before in our store. So it's like also when we are ordering, this is all the time process of guessing.

Are they going to like it? No. And it's so funny when like for some [00:19:00] of the plans, I'm like, sure, this is so boring, but then people just crazy. So it's a really funny process. We are still doing the ordering of the plans. We are still doing me and co founder and it's each week takes one or two hours.

Just of debating this or that, or this or that, or this, and why this, and why not this, and so on. 

Georgiana: It's very nice. And I know what you're talking about, because it's happened to us as well. That some shoe models that we weren't very particularly in love with, worked better than the ones that we liked.

Like I was saying, the customer is king in the end, and they know best, and you have to listen and then react to it. 

Tjaša Jarc: People in the end still love like just classic colors, just like classic plants, but then and also you have different sorts of plants. You have plants. [00:20:00] That they gonna really sell good and then you have plans that gonna track attract people to maybe open a web store or see the advertisements and so on.

So you need to use all of these segments. Of course. Really drive, to really drive the sale sales. 

Georgiana: And then I'm sure you got a lot of advice. Along the way, people are very keen on giving advice all the time, and some of it is good, some of it is not as good. I'm wondering, is there a good piece of advice that you will receive at some point?

Speaker 2: The piece of advice that really helped me, it was like on the start before Džungla happened, like this was this time where I was like, I'm ready now I have to have a company. What should I do? Where should I go? What's the first but I didn't know yet [00:21:00] what this should be.

So what my company should be about. And there was some guy who said to me he was like, look when I was building my first company, it happened like after my third child was born and I was building a house. So not really ideal moment, but it was, and I, but I knew this is it. And you go, so you cannot push it.

You can, you should just relax about it. Still keep exploring the options but let it go. Let go this idea that something must to happen. And as soon as I managed to do this. It happened, so Jungla happened like a month or two after this, I think so. Okay. So this, I, and I, this is something I still [00:22:00] try to work and have in mind all the time, like not pushing things.

And also have a really certain idea why you are doing what you're doing. What's the purpose behind because less for example, my purpose is I really enjoy building stuff, growing things, and I really enjoy doing this. And as long as I enjoy in this, whatever it's going to happen with the company, it's going to be all right.

Yeah. I still need to keep in mind and be focused that there is a profit that the business goes well. But if I would be too stressed about the money, about everything that's happening, because there is also. So much of so much factors [00:23:00] outside of our of our influence that it drives too much stress on you.

So I really want my aim or my purpose is also to show how the building could be successful business can also be. Relax, like much more relaxed that usually it looks like on the, like in the, that's 

Georgiana: when the best things happen in your personal life, in your professional life. Whenever you're relaxed, that's when you make the best decisions, right?

Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. That's easier 

Speaker: said than done, 

Speaker 2: for 

Speaker: sure. 

Tjaša Jarc: It's good to work, with psychologists and stuff like this. They can really really successfully redo your thinking patterns. Yeah. They 

Georgiana: put things in perspective. Let me see what else I wanted to [00:24:00] ask you. Yeah. What are the next steps for you guys?

What do you have in mind for Džungla ? 

Speaker 2: Yeah, so this year we also opened Czech market for sure. We also, consequently we will also start selling in Slovakia on Slovakian market but mainly at the moment, our main focus is on we are expanding our store in the next month. And we will also start purchasing directly from growers.

Georgiana: Wow. 

Tjaša Jarc: So this is also one big change that's gonna happen. Why is that? Why did you take this decision? This was something you This was something that you wanted to do from the start. You get the best prices in the end because you cut out the distributors, the middlemen. And now finally we are like big enough that we can do this.[00:25:00] 

Georgiana: Is that better for the growers as well? Is it a more sustainable way of conducting the business? 

Tjaša Jarc: No, for the growers it's the same. It's the same. It's you just don't, yeah, pay the middleman. And it, I believe it's also better for us because we have much better insight. We can get much better insight, information.

So on and also I believe offer better value for the customers. 

Speaker: Yeah. 

Speaker 2: Company is always, it's just a game of the quantities. Yeah, I 

Georgiana: know I have the same issue. The shorter the chain of production, the better it is for the customer in the end and also for me. Yeah, 

Speaker 2: for everyone. 

Speaker: Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2: But for this you need yeah, you need quantities. 

Georgiana: Cool. I have one last question. What advice do you have for women who would [00:26:00] like to start their own business but are afraid to for whatever reason?

Speaker 2: Yeah, for the start It's the best thing is to find what you're afraid of. If you cannot like really solve this on your own, there is always great to talk with people, talk with mentors with therapists, like we have this is something, um, you can get help about it.

It's on every corner almost and it's also very important to ask yourself why you want to do this, really get a really good sense, why doing it? Because I know a lot of people, I don't know, for example, my co founder, so she's a plant lover and she was a plant collector, so she really loves plants.

But as. Company was growing like the task that she needed to do. There were [00:27:00] like almost nothing 

Speaker: related, related 

Speaker 2: to clients anymore. It was just like, it's getting to business and people management, ordering and so on. And this was something that was really frustrating for her.

Like she really She really needed to find the right yeah, the right workflow and like also tasks for her. Luckily I'm the one who really loves business, like core of the business. So I can take on me a lot of these kind of tasks. We also have a great team that can really help us and do the rest of the things.

So she can keep things that she likes to do, but this is a lot of time really a privilege when you're building when you're building a company. So this is, [00:28:00] I think this is the main question always. Why you want to, because, if you love plants and want to work with plants, isn't then better to work for a company who is in the plant business and you can actually have a role where you are totally focused only on plants, you know?

So yeah, why exactly? 

Georgiana: This is going to make it into the final cut for sure. Finding your why and doing something about it. Anyway you want. This was super nice. I knew a little bit about your background and I knew about it from the beginning. Who's starting this business? And I see it growing on LinkedIn.

And I'm happy you shared this with our audience. I think it's fantastic. Absolutely. You don't care about the plant business growing every day. So congratulations for this and keep up the good work and good luck with everything. 

Speaker 2: Thank you so much for this. I really enjoy it to catch up with you for sure.[00:29:00] 

Okay. Thank you. Bye bye.