25-year-old helps his parents' flower business bloom
He saw his parents' flower business decline to just single-digit sales a day.
And they were resigned to turning their seven-year-old Windflower Florist at Loyang Point to a gift shop after the mall was renovated.
But Mr Stanley Tan, 25, refused to believe that it was the end of the road for the shop.
The mass communication diploma holder told TNP: "In secondary school, I was already selling roses in a pushcart.
"When I went on to polytechnic, I took roses in a cart to sell as well."
He saw potential in the business. After completing his national service 2½ years ago, he persuaded his parents to let him take over the business.
The timing was right - a new wave of bespoke florists had just taken over traditional florists in the market.
But the learning curve was steep. "I've never really done flowers before.
"But I am bullheaded. I plunged straight into it. I had many quarrels with my mum on the design aspect," Mr Tan said, adding that his mother had taught him the basics of floral arrangement.
He often referred to Instagram for inspiration from established florists.
EVERYDAY BOUQUETS
"I visited the flower nursery to understand the flowers and talked to the suppliers to build a relationship.
"Because my direction for the business is to make everyday bouquets, I needed to understand what flowers are available all-year round," he said.
With the help of his army buddy turned business partner Charles Wong, Mr Tan gave Windflower Florist a facelift - an online presence, rustic arrangements and creative marketing efforts.
His efforts finally bore fruit when sales started to pick up.
Today, besides the Loyang Point shop, Windflower Florist has an office space and a team of eight. Just in everyday bouquets alone, there is a 1,000 per cent increase in daily sales, said Mr Tan.
His parents, who now man the shop space, are pleasantly surprised by the flourishing business but also tired out by the volume of orders.
"We have to stay up for three days and three nights, crafting the bouquets to make sure they go out. That is quite new to them," said Mr Tan.
Now, he is looking at diversifying the business to stay relevant.
"Flowers are just a medium to branch out to many other things, like styling and the lifestyle industry," he said.
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