MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE - NO DELIVERIES DURING LOCKDOWN - THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT

When I opened the shop nearly 4 years ago I had no retail business understanding, yes I had 35 years experience working in Severn Trent Water, mostly in Human Resources.  I have a lot of experience with people, helping develop procedures to set parameters, working with leaders to help them give clear direction and set the moral code for the business... I had no idea about running a Flower Shop!  Mmm some would say naïve, some would say brave - my husband would say "You are having a go - fair play".  I didn't know about accounting, margins, promotion/advertising, I still had a lot to learn about floristry - but it was my dream and I had to try.  

One of the first real things I learnt was that I was the one making all the decisions, I had been used to being told what to do - in the main. I first thought that I had to look around and do what other florist shops were doing, make bouquets and designs others made, it did helped me to understand what was happening but in the end I told myself "its your business you are the one that has to live with your decisions - have faith in yourself do what is right for you.  So where is this leading?  With Covid19 I made a really big decision to close the shop, that was a tough one - at that point the government weren't saying that flower shops were non essential, I decided it was the safest thing for my team and my customers - the right decision.  Over the last week or so I have been asking myself how I am going to either keep the business going or what it will look like when it reopens.  One of the ideas was to restart offering flowers on-line now with a non-contact delivery service.  

I could see all the big flower companies like Interflora, Freddies Flowers and many independent florist shops were offering this service.  I have researched and found I can get hold of flowers, either direct from Holland or local growers. The British Florist Association have issued guidance to say you can offer an on-line service. So it is allowed and I'm sure I could make it work as a way of continuing a service to my customers.  Then comes the moral dilemma - should I?  

Yesterday I thought I could for all the reasons above.  This morning I woke up knowing I shouldn't, amazing how you mull things over in your sleep. How can delivering flowers whilst in a lockdown be essential? I know flowers make you smile and help with your well-being but in the scheme of things - is delivering bouquets essential? Also what happens if I have an accident in my van and end up in hospital - is that helping the NHS - no. I know so many florists and other small businesses owners are finding it so very hard to survive and struggling terribly and everyone will do and should do what is exactly what is right for them, making hard decisions that are right for them -  no judgements here and I mean that truly. 

My decision as the business owner of Bluebell Wood Florist is that I will continue to help bereaved families if they need me and I will continue to help couples with rearranging and planning their weddings,  I wont be offering an online bouquet delivery service until we are out of lockdown and I will continue to look at my future options..  This is the right decision for me - and it is my decision. Thank you for your continued support - it really does me a lot.  Stay safe