🌼 Spring is here and Cairo is in full bloom. In celebration of the season, we caught up with Karim Harouny, the CEO of Mashtal, Egypt’s first and largest online garden center. From a small team working out of a studio in Garden City to a robust operation with 44 employees, Mashtal has grown organically by listening to its community. Harouny discusses the evolution of his “dream project,” the challenges of scaling in a fluctuating economy, and how AI is helping his team work smarter.

EnterpriseAM: Mashtal was launched in 2017, but you’ve described it as a project 15 years in the making — what was the original spark?

Karim Harouny: Mashtal was designed to be the one-stop shop I wished existed — a place where novice and professional gardeners alike could get the tools, the media, and, most importantly, the knowledge they need. While working in corporate jobs and launching a couple of other businesses, Mashtal was always my dream once I got all my moneymaking businesses out of the way. Things didn’t turn out exactly as planned, so one day I decided to just go for it and do what I love.

E: Did you study horticulture before starting Mashtal?

KH: Not formally, but I am permaculture certified, and plants are in my DNA. My grandfather owned a farm in Lebanon, my family in Egypt has land in Mansouria, and I’ve spent considerable time in both places. I also liked to spend weekends visiting nurseries in the outskirts of Cairo, and while the plants were beautiful, the experience was lacking. There was no information, no guidance on care, and no easy way to choose what worked for a specific space.

E: You’ve transitioned from a purely e-commerce model to a multifaceted business. What does Mashtal look like today?

KH: We’ve grown into four main units. There’s the e-commerce store, which offers Egypt’s largest online catalog of indoor and outdoor plants. Then we have our projects department, handling residential and commercial landscaping from design to implementation. There’s maintenance, where we provide after-sales care for everything from indoor plants to large outdoor gardens. We even have a “plant hotel” service for our B2B clients in places like Sahel — we pick up their plants at the end of the season and return them when they reopen. Finally, we host seasonal activities like workshops and lectures led by renowned botanists on topics like Pharaonic gardens or bonsai plants.

E: Scaling a business often comes with growing pains. What were some of the “textbook mistakes” you’ve encountered?

KH: Some are painfully obvious in hindsight — like hiring a top-tier accountant before you actually take off. No matter how good you think you are at Excel, it’s never enough for a growing business. Another major challenge was the ERP system. Implementing a robust system while the business is moving at full speed is incredibly difficult, but having that data-driven visibility is essential if you want to grow.

E: How has the current economic uncertainty impacted your operations?

KH: We are dealing with constant fluctuations in the price of raw materials, like imported peat moss and essentials like fuel for our delivery fleet. Suppliers often won't preemptively update us on price changes, so we have a team member whose job is literally to contact them daily to check for adjustments. Despite this, spring remains our peak season, and business on the consumer side remains steady as people look to de-stress through greenery.

E: You mentioned being excited about AI. How is a gardening business using AI tools?

KH: We use technology to help people get off technology. For us, AI is about efficiency. When you’re handling more than 40 customer inquiries a day, AI reduces a seven-minute task to seconds. We’re also using it for landscape design. Instead of spending hours on a complex CAD file, we can quickly generate renders to give a customer a look and feel of a project. It allows us to get immediate feedback before we dive into the technical details. I think it’s transformative when it comes to customer service.

E: Are you seeing a shift in how Egyptians approach gardening? Is it becoming more of a hobby and not something that you hire a gardener to do?

KH: Slowly, yes, but it’s still not the norm. We are, however, seeing customers who are much more knowledgeable about plants. I always tell people that if you want a garden to thrive, you have to get involved. I spend about an hour every Friday morning caring for my plants: dusting leaves, checking for nutrient deficiencies, and watering. It’s like pampering yourself — plants need that same level of care.

E: What’s the most common misconception that we have about plants?

KH: If I give it more water, it’ll be okay. Nine out of 10 times, if a plant dies, the culprit is overwatering. People also forget that they have to feed their plants. So nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are your basics.

E: For a novice living in a Cairo apartment with just a small balcony, what is the one “hard to kill” plant you recommend?

KH: For a balcony, I’d suggest the be-still (thevetia). It has beautiful green leaves and yellow or orange flowers from spring through autumn, and it’s incredibly hardy in our climate. For indoors, my favorite is the bamboo palm. It’s lush, resilient, and handles indirect light well. It grows fairly fast and can take a bit of “abuse” if you’re still learning the ropes.

E: What is the long-term vision for Mashtal?

KH: The goal is to move into physical retail — creating experiential spaces where people can spend an entire afternoon. We also want to grow our content on social media and the publishing side, perhaps even moving into offline coffee-table books or publications about landscaping in Egypt.