Fleuriste: Quit your job and follow your dreams.
This boring but sometimes motivational piece of advice is often repeated when you feel lost in your current job and wish to get some inspirational blogs to cheer yourself up.
Will it be realistic if I quit my job just to follow my passion and dream?
After graduating from university, you‘ve got a high-paying job, and you thought this is a job that you wanted. But after 2 years, 5 years, or even 10 years, you feel lost and wonder whether your work even matters at all. Y
ou are sitting up the hours in the office, 9+ hours wasted per day. You give a third of your day to something you don’t really enjoy and doesn’t fulfill you.
That was Joan’s experience working as a banker for one of the biggest banks in Singapore. She is always keenly interested in floristry. Finally, she decided to make an end to this puzzled and quit her high-paying job to live the life she really wanted.
Decision-making moment.
Back in 2014, I was working in banking, although the working life is super busy, and I still arrange my free time to attend floral arrangement workshops.
Because I’ve always had a keen interest in floristry and have been visiting the wholesalers to do up my own arrangements for my home.
After receiving very encouraging responses from friends and acquaintances who started asking me to do bouquets & events, I founded Fleuriste in 2015 as my part-time career.
I very much enjoyed that moment and after getting considerable results, I told myself: “It’s now or never !” so I decided to quit my banking job and went full time in 2016.
“No one knows what they’re doing when they start out, you can make tons of plans, but be prepared to throw them all out when things start happening and taking off.”
— Joan Chua, Founder of Fleuriste
digital transformation
digital transformation
The beginning is always the hardest.
At the beginning of the startup journey, our customers were mostly coming from acquaintances of mine and word of mouth.
The florist market is really huge out there, from the couple, weddings to events and any occasions will need bouquet services. We wish to let our brand reach more potential customers.
Being a completely unknown brand, plus we invested all of our savings on shop renting and materials, we did not have an extra budget for marketing to build our brand.
Bitter, Sour, and Sweet.
We started our social media presence from scratch. We actively shared our projects & bouquets photos. Although the number of followers on social media is getting higher, still yet unable to achieve our goal, we think we should do more than that.
So, we decided to reach out to many local brands to do collaborations, and also did product sponsorship for many influencers which ultimately helped us grow our social media presence rapidly.
Soon after, we create our own floral arrangement courses, to provide guidance to those who have the same passion as us on bouquet design and share tips on how to care for the flowers at home.
> Learn more about Fleuriste’s bouquet services and courses here
> Check out Fleuriste’s latest bouquet design here
The journey of digital transformation.
Online e-commerce platforms also stand a very significant role in my business. This is the efficient channel for taking in orders and managing inventory, particularly during peak periods like Valentine’s Day & Mother’s Day.
Currently, social media platforms played a huge part in growing my business, on the other hand, website provided us with an efficient and cost-effective way to manage demand and orders.
While in my digital transformation journey, Exabytes provided me a stable platform for hosting my website – no downtime, as downtime means loss of income for me.
Will you regret the decision you made in 2016?
Although my day-to-day schedule is very packed (from handling inquiries, preparing orders, to arrange the delivery), which is busier than my banking job, I thank myself for making the right decision in 2016.
I really love what I do now and I am happier as I can spend more time with my loved ones now.
Start living your dream now.
Sometimes we make the process more complicated than we need to. We will never make a journey of a thousand miles by fretting about how long it will take or how hard it will be. — Joseph B. Wirthlin
Whether your dream in life is a trip up north to see the northern lights, a bike tour around the Island, getting yourself a pet, building a successful startup, or any other else. Take up the paper, write down the plan, and execute it.
We are not here to encourage you to quit your current high-paying job. Instead, we encourage you to be brave to pursue what you really love. Don’t make your only one life full of regret. This is your time, this is your life!
The success of Exabytes is built on the success of the clients it serves. “Success” connotes several meanings to everyone.
What we hope to achieve through these stories that make up “OurStartupJourney” is to inspire aspiring entrepreneurs, business owners, and individuals to pursue their big ideas regardless of obstacles and challenges.
If you wish to share how you have contributed to the bettering of others online, we will be glad to share your story. Get in touch with us now.
