Dare to dream :)
Ok this post is not entirely about floristry, it is more about me on a personal level. If you are reading this, thanks for your interest :)
I was just checking how long have I embark on this journey of pursuing flowers full time and I think its been around 7.5 months :)
I must say that this has to be one of the best decision I have made for myself so far. Although it is really filled with challenges as building a business is not easy, but so many interesting things have happened and I am really grateful to those who try to help me or give me opportunities in one way or another.
In case you are an aspiring florist who is thinking of setting up a flower business, may I ask why do you wish to be a florist? Is it because you love flowers? Because you find it meaningful? Or you think it can earn you big bucks? Or maybe you didn't really think about it too much and decided to be one cos you feel like doing so?
The reason why I ask is because I do have an answer for why I wish to be a florist. As shared in my previous post, I realised that doing flower arrangement is really therapeutic for me. When I was doing my full time job, I realised that although sometimes I have to do some arrangement after a long day at work, instead of feeling more tired, I feel energised after I complete the flower arrangement.
The next reason why I want to be a florist is because I think it is a very meaningful job. Flowers is a constant during the good and bad times. It is something you can send during happy occasion like birthday and anniversaries or during not so great occasion e.g. when your friend is unwell, you send flowers to cheer them up. N I am happy that I can be part of this equation to make someone else happier :) N this made me think that I have done my part to make this world a better place to live in hahah...
However, it is really physically taxing because you do need a lot of stamina to do flowers (especially bulk orders). yet it may not be that rewarding if you look at the monetary aspect of it.
Apart from that, from time to time, while you are trying your best to make the flower business work, there are random business owners or the public, who will approach you for sponsorships when you are still struggling to make your ends meet (this is true story). Of cos you can say no to them :)
While people may think that being a florist looks cool and that we earn a lot from a bouquet, it is not exactly true, especially for florist who are still trying to make a name because usually, we buy flowers in bulk. If you do not have enough orders to use up your flowers, the flowers will be wasted and, yes, you may even suffer a loss.
N building your own business really means that you are on your own. You are the designer, the planner, the logistic person, accounting person, you are everything. Unless you are rich enough to hire a team, then that's a different story altogether haha. N what I have mentioned are just some of the challenges we face.
If you are still reading and you think that you are ok with all the not so rosy stuff I have shared so far, congrats! I think you can try to embark on this journey :) For myself, despite all these, I would still love to be in this journey as long as I can.
The past 7.5 months have been one of the best time of my life. I get to really step out of my comfort zone and enter a whole new world (yes this business world is so new to me). A world of possibilities. A world where the impossibles are made possible :)