Episode #461
Vinestops Update - It's Live!
Today I'm talking with Jim at Vinestops . This episode is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company . https://www.homesteadliving.com/subscribe/ref/41/ https://homesteadliving.com/the-old-fashioned-on-purpose-planner/ref/41/ www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead If you'd like to support me in growing this podcast, like, share, subscribe or leave a comment. Or just buy me a coffee https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes 00:00 You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. This episode is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company, where creativity and community grow hand in hand. Just like a thriving garden or a well-loved homestead, the best things are built with care, purpose, and heart. Through thoughtful design, storytelling, and handcrafted goods, they're helping people celebrate a simpler or meaningful way of living. Learn more at Greenbush Twins & Company. 00:28 Today I'm talking with Jim at Vinestops in New York in America. Good morning, Jim. How are you? Morning. How are you? I'm good. I don't know why I did that. I don't think there's New York anywhere but America, but whatever. It's okay. How is the weather there today? It's beautiful. Clear blue skies and it's not muggy, which is really awesome. Yeah. think maybe, hopefully, dare I say it, we've turned the corner. Maybe. 00:56 It was, it was brutal. My tomatoes got decimated from the Sephora leaf spot. And we get that when you have that a lot of rain and a lot of like mugginess and it was just like the worst conditions for it. So it's a little disappointing. Yeah. We lucked out. Our tomatoes are coming in hand over fist right now for the next couple of weeks. And it's been amazing because we didn't have very good luck last year or the year before. 01:23 The weather in Minnesota this morning is sunny. There's a very, very light breeze. Like you can just hear a little bit of a hiss through the leaves, but that's it. And it's 68 degrees and the high for today is only supposed to be 78. So I am tickled with the weather we're having currently. That's like ideal weather for me. Mid 70s, I'm there all day long. Yeah. It's been gorgeous the last few days and 01:49 The one creature on my property that is most thankful is my dog. She had such a hard time with that heat wave that we had. And she's been so much more comfortable the last week or so. Oh, that's great. I always love it when the animals aren't stressed out, right? Yeah, she was so sad, Jim. She kept laying on the tiles on the bathroom floor. And every time I would go in the bathroom, she'd look at me like... 02:16 can you fix it mom please and no I can't fix it I don't know how I'm sorry. So you and I spoke in September last year about this project called Vine Stops and you couldn't tell me you couldn't tell me a whole lot about it because it was in the works. So do you want to tell me what it is and give me an update. Yeah. So you know we talked about my farm stand and my farm and having the issues that lot of 02:46 of farm stand owners and vendors have, which is like, how do we get people to our farm stands, especially with people that are out there, like way out there when they don't have a lot of traffic. And so we came up, I came up with this idea about Vine Stops. Originally it was to, to make pre-built farm stands to sell in big box dealers, like Home Depot and Lowe's and Tractor Supply. 03:14 And I ended up getting a patent on a farm stand I developed. And then what happened was we really, we kind of transitioned it more to a platform to be able to find farm stands and vendors. And it's not nothing new, right? There's a lot of apps out there that, you know, you can pay five to $50 a month and be able to get a platform to sell your, you know, your show your 03:44 your farm stand or your or your if you're a home baker or vendor. But that's not what I wanted to do. I didn't want to just throw together another app that, just, you know, people like us pay have to pay for a lot of money for and then there's nothing behind it. Right. I truly wanted to create an ecosystem that brings everybody together. But a company that is face face forward, meaning 04:13 You know, I want our company to be there with the users, not just kind of have them pay a monthly fee. then, you know, we're, we're on an island somewhere running a business from our laptop, you know? Um, and so the fine stops since I talked to you last has, has blossomed. It's so incredibly, uh, you know, I'm excited. We, we thought we were just going to be farm stands. 04:40 vendors and farmers markets, kind of a management platform. We ended up turning it into just a true ecosystem where we have home bakers and food trucks accounts now that have features that were specifically designed based off of feedback from the users. And that's the best part about VineStops is we're having meetings with the users and saying, what do you like? What do you don't like? 05:09 what do want to see? And we're making it for them in the system. So, Vistops has truly kind of developed into this whole ecosystem of being able to find farm stands, vendors, farmers markets, food trucks, events, and even more. And we're continuously growing. So, it's fun, it's exciting, and we're meeting great people. And the best part about it is 05:36 we're accomplishing what I want to do, which was create a company that helps farm stands and home bakers and vendors be found, but also doing it alongside with them as one, as a farm stand owner. 05:53 Very nice. And it's been accomplished in, well, under a year because we're not even at September of 2026 yet. Yeah. We're humming along. And, you know, we haven't even started advertising. We're doing no advertising whatsoever. Everybody that's joining the site is word of mouth. And it's also like finding us on Facebook or 06:22 you know, comments or, you know, people saying, Hey, check out Vine Stops, you know, and that's the way we wanted it now for a little bit because we, still are learning. And I think the feedback from people that operate farm stands and the home bakers and, and, uh, farmers markets, uh, is, is very important for us to kind of tailor products, uh, that really, uh, fits their needs, not create a product and tell them what it is. 06:51 And then they have to pay for it, if that makes any sense. And our goal is to be no cost, low cost. I would love to continue to build out VineStops where the users aren't paying for it. And the money that VineStops makes comes from other sources that doesn't make somebody baking out of their house pass along 7 to 8 % user fees to the customer. 07:20 you know, because that's what some of these platforms do. And it's a lot of money when you're paying a couple of dollars for a cookie or, or, you know, a muffin already. And then all of sudden you have to pay almost 8 % user fees on top of that transaction. Yeah. Yep. And I feel like I harp on this constantly, but with the cost of inflation on everything right now, it's getting harder and harder. It is. 07:48 And there's, know, and we can do a whole nother show on this other topic because over the last three or four months, especially now that AI has become like ingrained in everything, my team has identified probably 10 to 15 new farm stand, farmer's market apps that are getting pumped into the, the, 08:17 social media world, you know, as having tens of thousands of users and people on these platforms. And they're tricking people because what happens is, you know, this app was just kind of thrown together with AI, right? And then it gets pumped on social media as a farm stand, farmers market app that has, you know, 10,000, 30,000 users on the system worldwide. And then it 08:47 tells you, hey, know, free trial for seven days and you're paying 10, $20 a month after that. And then when you get on it, there's truly actually no users. And, you know, I started learning a lot this year about the whole tech world and, and, um, AI and, and what's called API's in, and how they kind of connect with different sites. And all they're really doing is they're taking an app, they're throwing a platform together. They're connecting it to Google and to other. 09:15 platforms that kind of collect where these farm stands are or farmers markets are and then showing it on their platform like they're users but they're actually not users. It's just collecting data from other platforms. And so as a farm stand owner, I'm like, oh my God, I'm going to join this platform. I'm going to pay $10 a month and look at all the users and people around here. But you get there and it's like, you start clicking on it and then 09:43 You realize they're not users. I'm just clicking on what's already on Google. so I feel bad. I feel bad because in our journey and talking to some single moms and home bakers and people really struggling to get this off the ground, it's sad to see them fall for these quick pumps of AI tech companies and platforms out there just to grab. 10:11 money from them without offering really truly what they think they're getting. So that's why we're doing this slow. We're not. And that's why we don't. We're trying to keep this low cost, no cost, because I don't want to do that. I want to build a platform that truly is a platform of users and truly is a community of people and that we can actually help people save money and make more money by not charging them what the fees are that are out there. 10:42 fabulous and I talked a lot about AI on my other podcast because I started a new one back in January and my co-host has a a bee in her bonnet about AI worse than I do and the problem with AI is that a lot of people over 50 cannot discern what's real and what's AI and it's just sad 11:11 And it just, I said this yesterday, chaps my ass that there's always got to be a bad guy looking for a way to make a cheap and fast buck. listen, I'm not going to lie. You know, we're a tech company. You know, I am a farmer and I am a farmstead owner. You're not building a tech company in this world without utilizing AI somehow. know, buying stocks utilizes AI. We utilize it in a different way. We created a, we created a leaf. 11:41 that's his name. And Leaf is kind of like your plan. It's our platform like helper and why we created him to help. So when when people are on social media saying, am I allowed to set up a farm stand in my in my neighborhood? We want them to be able to just ask Leaf that, hey, Leaf, I live in, you know, Guapiners Falls, New York. What are the laws around setting up a farm stand? And Leaf will help you find them. 12:07 Or, Leaf, find me peaches within 30 miles of my house and Leaf will pull up the farm stands and farmers markets and pull up the peaches that are for sale. So that's how we're utilizing the AI with VineStops. But again, we're not just a total AI company and you're not going to see the people behind it. We are very much going to be front forward and having 12:35 community meetings via Zoom and touch bases with our vendors and even farmers markets. We've set up a VineStops booth at one of the farmers markets and they're like, no way. I was like, yeah, that's one of our goals. We want to actually be out there. We want to sponsor farmers markets. We want to try to get money for them, whether it's for grants. 12:58 Yeah, AI is here, unfortunately, and it's tricking a lot of people, unfortunately, especially the elderly who are not used to it. And it's sad and I hope they figure out a way to manage it a little bit better than they are now. it's unfortunately a runaway train and it's not being managed properly. Well, they let the horse out of the barn too soon is what happened, as it typically does. 13:29 And I am not bad mouthing AI. We've been using AI for years in many ways, shapes and forms. Just not in the ways that people are using it now. So if you're going to use it, use it for good. Be a superhero, use it for good. So I was looking at your website earlier this morning and I saw that you have a calendar feature on there. What is that about? 13:58 Yeah, so you're seeing half of it, which is, you know, I last time I told you I couldn't tell you stuff. So the calendar feature is going to be really awesome. That's going to live throughout the site through all the accounts and especially from a user perspective, what you're looking at, right? So there's a couple of ways of landing on that calendar now. You're going to have your farmers markets. 14:24 your community events. like if my town puts up like a fireworks show on Saturday, they can throw an event up on there. And what's coming, what's built, but we haven't released it yet because we're doing a different part, is that you can now set up mini events for your farm stand or as a home baker especially. And we actually got this idea from a home baker in Virginia. She sat with us for two hours and really went through everything. 14:52 Uh-huh. Bree's Bakery, she, she's, the way she runs her bakery is that she, she sets her, her menu and then everybody has to get the orders in by a certain time. And then she has a specific pickup time at her farm stand that she'll be at for people to pick up their orders. And so what we did was we built vine events, they're called. And so she can create the pickup window as an event. And then when you, when you purchase it from her. 15:23 from her storefront, you can actually click on that event as the pickup window. And for her on the back end, it helps her organize what she needs to bake for that day. But it also can land on the community calendar as like, you know, as an event where, where you can pick up fresh produce or bakery items, but also for farmers markets. if, if Bri decides she's going to be at the farmer's market next week, 15:53 and that farmers market is on five stops, well, Bree can actually put that event, that farmers market as an event in her checkout so people can order it and then tell her they're going to pick it up at the farmers market that day. So there's those are a couple of the uses that we're going to have for that community calendar. But the goal again is no matter where you are on the site, if you're on the Discover tab or 16:22 or whether you're in your consumer profile, that you can go to that community calendar and use the filters. If you want to see what's going on just within 30 miles from you, then you do that and you can see what's going on within 30 miles from you. And then you can click on each day, it'll show you all the events. And we also, I'll give you a sneak peek. You're not gonna see it on there, but it's already done. We're gonna have what's called Vine Clubs. 16:51 And I'm trying to get to see the theme, right? So we created this community within Vine Stops that's not live yet, where let's say I run the Tomato Club of Wappengers Falls and I have a Facebook group and you know, we do our thing. Well now I can put that group on Vine Stops and we're going to have a whole section for people to be able to put their... 17:20 their clubs on their manager clubs, but also tied into the community calendar. So, and, and in leaf. So, um, you know, I have my, my club in, in, in in vine clubs. And let's say you love tomatoes. You're looking at the community calendar for the, you know, the next two weeks. And, and I have our meeting on there and it says, you know, Oh, look, next Friday. 17:47 The tomato club of Wappeners Falls has got their meeting here. You can click on it and go right to our club page. But also if you use Leaf and said, hey, Leaf, are there any clubs near me or hey, Leaf, I want to join a tomato club, he'll pull up my club and say, there's the tomato club of the Hudson Valley or Wappeners Falls right there. And so that's not on the site live yet. It's built in the background, but you can kind of see 18:17 how over the past year we've morphed from just like a farm stand locator to a true community style organization. And we want to really build a site and a company where people can explore and just get lost and like going through the site and finding other people and other groups and not feeling like they have to go to Facebook for one thing, YouTube for another thing. 18:46 keep on bouncing around and, and, and that's, that's, that's the whole, that's the, that's the vision right there is to get everybody really just utilizing the site as a source of knowledge and community. That is amazing. And that's not what I heard when I talked to you almost a year ago. So this is great. So as you're telling me about all this, for some reason, the library that I went to in a very small town where I grew up, 19:16 is coming to mind. They had a big bulletin board and they had pins and they had they had pieces of paper you could actually just write on and put up if you wanted to. And it had community events in the three or four towns around my town and for my town. And they had, you know, people who wanted to, I don't know, rake leaves or babysit or whatever. And they had 19:42 just all the little community things that you would expect back when the internet didn't exist. And this is what that's what this reminds me of except that it's the internet. So is Vine Stops national? we've got users worldwide already. Okay. Yeah. It's it's it's it's we haven't really tried to dig into why we have some accounts and where we do. Because right now we're just not 20:11 truly worried about where they're coming from or more worried about what they're looking for, what they're, how they're using it, what account, you know, what accounts are being open and really just continuously building the product based off of feedback and my vision, you know, um, I think very, very soon in the next 30 to 60 days, you're going to probably start seeing advertising pushes going out. Cause I think we're, we are at the point, we've been at the point where we could, we could, you know, say, Hey, here's our site. 20:41 join, you know, and here's advertising pushes and, and, know, let's get a lot of people on there using, but boy, we, we truly love the feedback we're getting it. And honestly, we'd rather fix it and, and, and really dial it in and then launch then to launch and then have people disappointed. So we're, we're, we're here. People, people can go on and sign up right now and, and they could be very happy. 21:10 It's certainly not perfect. What we're doing is we're actually taking four or five different products, vendors, management platform, a farm stand, a locator app, a community. We're bringing multiple products into one place. that's not easy to do to where it feels like you're not just looking at five different businesses, that you're truly looking at one organization or one ecosystem. 21:39 So that's the tricky part we're trying to do right now is try to really make it feel like a true ecosystem, not just five different companies in one. Yeah. Integrating all of this is a trick to make it feel user friendly and comfortable. Yeah. Yeah. And we really could use all the feedback we can get. Anybody that's listening that wants to just go on even 22:08 create accounts as test accounts and just tell us we're happy with that. We can always delete them. But you know, it's, it's, uh, that's the thing is we want to know where, where people are getting lost. I'll give you good example. The consumer side of these farm stands and home bakers, we underestimated the, what the consumer wants to see on their end when they're logging in. Cause a lot of them will log in. 22:36 do the transaction, right? A little scan of barcode at the farm stand, do the transaction, it completes, and then it's kind of like done, right? Out of sight, out of mind. Yeah. But we didn't have anything behind that. Like, know, then what? Right? That was like, you know, nobody knew what was next. So that's why we built out the consumer profile more. So when you go to your vine stops,
