Jardissimo By Anne Osterrieth

Where does Jardissimo come from?

Many years ago, I had a daydream: to promote the gardening and horticultural know-how of Belgium by landscaping the A411 highway, using its verges as professional showcases and leading tourists to gardens to be visited. This highway would be known as the “Garden Highway of Europe”.

Today, Internet is the world’s highway system and I still have a passion for plants and gardening. Could the dream be transformed into a reality?

I noticed that most “jardinage” inquiries on the Net coming from Belgium ended on the pages of large French companies and did not benefit to our own growers. On the press side, gardening magazines and books did not really jump to the digital age. Finding on-line complete and independent information was still frustrating. So I decided to focus on the creation of an on-line practical guide for garden lovers targeted to the mid-upper market segment in Belgium and France.

What are Jardissimo’s activities?

Jardissimo responds to customer demand: timely advice, concise information, natural gardening, ease of care for maximum results, environmental responsibility and also adaptability to small urban spaces as well as large gardens. It also informs on current trends and gardening events in order to feed inspiration.

According to readers, what makes Jardissimo so pleasant is its ease of use, thhigh quality of its pictures, the airy and high grade presentation, its immediate retrieval of information and the wow effect of it content.(Picture on the right)

Where is Jardissimo today?

Current plan is to move to a full CMS platform and to social network animation, which will allow customers to participate more fully: ask questions, share their know-how and experience, give cooking recipes of garden produce, post videos and photos. Growers and landscapers participation is currently under investigation. Enlarging the team is a priority. Official launch is planned by middle of the year. Jardissimo is also attracted attention from the media such as Régional IT and L’Heureux Nouveau and it is very grateful for having been put into the spotlight by those media.

Influence of the Microsoft Innovation Center Brussels for Jardissimo:

The Boostcamp session of MIC Brussels has helped me to better understand the evolution of the digital world, the different business models it creates, as well as the two way dialog with the customers. Boostcamp has been a wonderful surge of energy and creativity. Practical no nonsense advice received from Boostcamp coach Leo Exter or the ABE, MIC Brussels and Company experts is really valuable; it feeds your work and it changes your strategy. I came in with one business idea and got out with a really different project and the tools to adapt again if necessary.

Earning the MIC Brussels Boostcamp II experts’ prize was a real boost for the project.

“My advice for other founders: work hard, talk as much as possible to potential customers for feedback on your ideas and be ready to change your project. Setting up a good project team is quite an art and a task to be started as soon as possible.” (Anne Osterrieth)

Check www.jardissimo.org or contact me at [email protected] or 0498.14.66.11