Starting a small business is always a financial risk, but it can be especially difficult in the areas of the country that are most expensive to live in. For Alex Redlinger of Red’s Gardening Co., figuring out how to make his boutique gardening maintenance business work in coastal San Diego meant making a plan and sticking to it.

“I looked at the median income in San Diego, I looked at what it took to purchase a home, and how much that would mean I would need to make in a year,” Redlinger said. “This year will be the first year that I’ve hit that number after five years of being in business.”

To hear more of Redlinger’s story, click the audio player above.