Schmidt was the son of a tobacco manufacturer. He was born in Sopron (Hungary) and worked briefly in Vienna and later in Laibach, Ljubljana (present day Slovenia). In Vienna he worked for Count Herberstein and then became a businessman in 1809. He served in the coalition wars and left as a non-commissioned officer in 1812 to work in Weißbrunn. In 1815 he went on a business trip to Ljubljana where he was offered a manager position, which he took up. He started his own business in October 1819 selling dyes and seeds. The business grew, helped by the Congress of Laibach in 1821, and he soon acquired real estate and began to study the flora and fauna of Carniola.