Meet the Veteran Who Earns Thousands by Harvesting a Common Weed

David Powers is a man who’s constantly thinking about good business ideas.

Through his work as a coach, podcast host, and author, Powers devotes much of his life to helping other people enjoy self employment and financial freedom. He's all about discovering a popular or needed product and putting one's own spin on it...and has the success story to prove it.

Turning Weeds into Wonder

As the author of Streams of Income—and host of a podcast with the same name—it only makes sense that Powers would, indeed, have multiple streams of income. And he does: books, media, coaching, consulting, rentals, and a farm that sells a rather unexpected product.

“I’d always wanted to have a big garden to grow as much of my own food as possible,” said Powers. “Now I have the land where I can grow more than what will sustain me and we can sell [crops].”

Powers took a winding road to his current life as a farmer and advisor. After serving in the military and working for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, he finally got the farm of his dreams five years ago.

And it was at that point that the Powers family discovered kudzu.

Kudzu is a vine that's native to many parts of Asia and some of the Pacific islands, but incredibly invasive elsewhere—including the southern United States. There, it takes over years, farm fields, and trees while killing other plants in the process.

"You can practically sit in a chair and watch it grow, it comes up that fast," said Powers. "And it grows as much under the ground as it does above it. So whatever you see, it's double that."

At first, Powers, his wife, and their five kids took the typical approach to discovering a fast-growing, plant-killing weed on one's property: eradicate it. They tried cutting, burning, and digging it up, but the kudzu kept on coming back.

Once Powers realized the kudzu was going to win this battle, he started to think of ways to turn the situation into something that could support, not hurt, his farm.

“I had a friend that sold grapevines for wreaths,” said Powers. “And I thought, this is a vine—will people buy this for wreaths?”

After a lot of research, and the creation of an Etsy storefront, Powers listed his first batch of kudzu vine for sale.

While customers were interested in dried, decorative kudzu vines, it turned out that the demand for wreath-making supplies wasn't quite as high as the Powers family had hoped. But they weren't daunted.

"I thought, maybe I should try selling the roots," said Powers. "That one took off...the roots have been the huge seller...and they're easier to collect than the vine, as well."

Today, the once-invasive weed is now the Powers’ most profitable crop.

"The first $1000 month from a weed was a big moment because I know so many farmers that are growing traditional things...and they have trouble making that much sometimes," said Powers.

Taking Inspiration from the Unexpected

Turning something considered to be a nuisance, or garbage, and creating a stream of income from it is an approach that shapes not only Powers' farm, but his consulting business as well.

"With my consulting, I try to help other parents escape W2 jobs and become their own bosses so they can control schedules and be with their kids. So I explore a lot of things that I don't do," said Powers. "I research it enough to realize okay, I myself don't need to do this but I know somebody who does.”

Powers regularly turns to the Exploding Topics newsletter when researching his ideas or searching for inspiration. It’s become a regular part of Powers’ brainstorming process to support his own businesses, his clients, and even the local shops he supports in his hometown.

"Sometimes I'll have an idea and it feels like something I really need to do. But like a lot of people, I talk myself out of it if I'm not careful," said Powers. "And then I'll see something pop up on the newsletter and think okay, that's something everybody's done, and it's sold out. How can I tweak it just a tiny bit?"

This approach to finding and tweaking a trend is something that Powers encourages other aspiring and established entrepreneurs to do, too.

"If the market seems crowded, if nothing else, it proves there is a market out there. You can differentiate a little bit and get that next big idea," he said.

Inspiring Entrepreneurship in Others

While Powers' consulting clients come from a range of backgrounds, his career in the military and law enforcement makes him uniquely suited to helping other veterans make the most out of their transition to civilian life.

“In the military, we were constantly in leadership training. It doesn’t even matter if you had a bad leader at some point—you were constantly getting the training and were just exposed to it,” said Powers. “The military runs on logistics and order…no matter what job [a veteran] did in the military, that will help them in civilian life. There is no reason why somebody can’t come out of the military and dive straight into entrepreneurial life in the same job they did or adapt it to something else.”

But whether someone's a military veteran or not, Powers is confident that successful entrepreneurship is possible with the right tools and mindset—though a highly prolific, if unexpected, crop doesn't hurt, either!

"Business wise, it's important to have multiple streams of income," said Powers. "Don't have so many streams that you can't manage them, but have multiple avenues to sell whatever you're doing. And work yourself to a position where you can dictate your own schedule as much as possible, because you don't want to miss your kids' sports games, the dance recitals...date nights with your spouse, whatever it is that's going on in your life. You don't want to miss that all for work because nobody's going to remember a lot of the work years later, but those relationships will stay."

It's this commitment to his family--and his love for helping others--that keeps Powers moving forward, coming up with new ideas, and turning the unexpected into new streams of income.