To purchase better seeds and equipment, you must be at higher levels. Each time you make a successful transaction, you will earn some experience points. You can get more experience by completing the tasks displayed on the chalkboard.
Free items
When you greet a customer use the option to share a tea with them for free. Sometimes the customer then will increase how much tea they want and how much they will pay for it. Also if a customer is asking for too much tea, they will sometimes agree to a lower amount.
Gangs
After reaching level 3, gang members will randomly appear to extort money. Make sure to always have $1,000 in order to pay them. If you are unable to pay, they will steal all your money and tea.
Growing
Better types of seeds give more tea when harvested, but require more time to grow. Balance your crow with both slower and faster growing seeds to make sure you will always have a steady supply of tea available for sale.
Watering
At the beginning, you will be short on money because of the need to purchase seeds and water to keep a steady growth rate. When your tea plants are watered, the growing timer begins to count down. Plants can hold up to 100% water, and you get about 10 seconds for every 10% of water. When a plant is nearly done, do not waste any water by watering it past 40%.