I recently took on another weekend project that combined my love for tinkering with my mom's budding indoor plant business. While her business is still in its early stages, she's enthusiastic and already investing strategically in inventory and supplies.
When she approached me about establishing an online presence, I wanted to create something that would be both functional and incredibly easy for her to maintain. Sure, I did set up a Google My Business / Maps profile to ensure local visibility. This was the first step.
But a proper website takes that crucial step further. Even for a small or home-based business, a dedicated website is a powerful signal to potential customers.
the challenge
My mom isn't particularly app-savvy beyond scrolling through social media, checking WhatsApp, or using Google Sheets for simple data entry. Yet she needed a way to showcase her plant inventory on a dedicated website, complete with:
- Plant names and images
- product descriptions
- Care instructions for customers
- Current stock information
- Pricing information
And most importantly, she needed to be able to update this information herself without calling me or my brother every time she sold a plant or added new inventory.
Bonus: Gemini is now capable of interacting directly with Google Sheets, updating product descriptions and care instructions will be incredibly easy for her.
the solution: google sheets as a CMS
- Created a structured Google Sheet with clear headers for all the necessary information
- Built a responsive website using Next.js that pulls data directly from the Sheet
- Added some simple instructions in og Sheet so my mom knows exactly which cells to modify
I did hit a small roadblock initially when trying to load images from Google Sheets. The image URLs weren't rendering properly in my Next.js application. After a quick Google search, I found the solution that works best for our use-case.
Now, if she wants to update the website, all she has to do is edit the Google Sheet and not worry about anything else.
That was fun.
I've also brewed a micro-utility for general use. It's unrelated to this project, but I'm excited to share it in the coming days.