1. Tell us more about yourself?
My name is Ms Palesa Sekati. I am a young woman who is passionate about love, soccer and being a good human being. I am also the owner of an online floral boutique called Amor Flowers, which has been in operation since 04 April 2016.
2. Why did I choose to start a flower business?
Having received flowers on occasion, I realized that their aesthetic remained the same and that over the years, nothing had changed in so far as the design and overall appeal of the arrangements. With a burning desire to have a complete experience when receiving flowers, I considered how I could start a business that was all encompassing of a beautiful product, innovative packaging and a brilliantly designed service that would make for a delightful customer experience. The answer to these problems was the birth of Amor Flowers.
3. What is the meaning behind Amor Flowers?
‘Amor’ is taken from the Spanish dictionary for the word ‘love. I am a proud and very passionate supporter of Spanish footballing club FC Barcelona. I am teaching myself Spanish so that when I go to Barcelona, I can communicate with my team. I therefore named my business as an ode of my love for the team.
4. What are some of the highlights and challenges that you face in your business?
We are truly humbled with all the different occasions that our flowers have been used in. With that said, we have been fortunate enough to have our flowers as part of wedding engagements, the celebration of baby births and many more. Our highlights are the special moments and celebrations of love in which our brand is present.
Some of our challenges include a lack of funding as this dampens our prospects of real growth and product/service expansion. We also have found it challenging to acquire new business from some of the corporate giants as they are unwilling to diversify their already trusted supplier base. We have however made great strides with amazing corporates who have entrusted us to serve as their preferred florist and we look forward to acquiring new clients in 2018.
5. Why did you choose social media to market the business and how is that working for you?
Our marketing strategy is a simple one. We focused on building a great product and designing an excellent service, all the while leaving the work to speak for itself. People have taken to our story because we aim to sell a feeling. Amor Flowers is a story about love. Each bouquet from our boxed arrangements is aptly named after a woman (fictional and non-fictional) who has made an impact on my life. That is our story. We live in a time where people crave the ‘more’ element and in our brand, they have found a feeling that they can relate too. With each social media post, we aim to tell a story and with that, have found our following to increase with each passing day.
6. For people who love flowers but don’t know how to take care of them, take them through the right method of taking care of these delicate plants.
Cut flowers are not as fussy as people imagine. We suggest that our flowers are kept in a cool, room temperature environment with little to none direct sunlight. Changing the water every three to four days is necessary as well as cutting an approximate 3cm diagonal piece of the bottom of each stem with each water change.
There is a misconception that all roses are scented, and that special care is required to prolong the scent. This is untrue as many of the local roses are not heavily scented in comparison to imported roses.
7. What does the future hold for Amor Flowers and Palesa the business woman?
We are looking to expand our business to include a lifestyle offering. It is our aim to successfully compete in the luxury market, so we are building our brand to eventually have a seat at the big table. We also look forward to expanding our geographical reach to have our service available across South Africa particularly Nelspruit which has a steady growth in high net worth individuals as well as Durban and Cape Town.
On a personal front; I look forward to increasing my business acumen to be able to build a stronger business as well expand my business profile.
8. How do people get in touch with you?
Everything you need to know regarding our business is on our site www.amorflowers.co.za. Alternatively you can email us on [email protected].
