Legal Blog
Inspiring Views from the Bright SideSM
1. What are the goods/services offered by your primary business?
Our company provides wedding flowers and event flowers. We also offer floral design education for professionals. We also own Hope Flower Farm which is a registered bed and breakfast. Here we grow flowers and educate flower enthusiasts. We also teach online to professionals and Holly has her own product line of vases and floral design tools.
2. What did you launch in response to the COVD-19 pandemic?
Before COVID-19, our farm was not open to the public. Due to the pandemic and the cancellation of weddings and events, we opened our farm to the public. The flowers once used for weddings, events, and workshops are now available to the public. We have created unique experiences that make a trip to the farm special, like building large floral installations and encouraging our guests to take family photos in front of impressive flower backdrops. We broadened our horizons and started providing education to the public (nonprofessionals) both in person at the farm and via virtual floral design classes. We now offer direct to the consumer boxes of flowers and are advertising to a broader audience. We also created a subscription-based online community.
3. What steps did you take to develop and promote your new initiative?
We worked with a business strategist to create new ways to showcase our talents and to offer new services. We developed processes and a plan and documented our successes. Mainly we tried new things and found out what was working and what would not work, all while keeping true to our core values.
4. What or who inspired you to undertake this effort?
Our business strategist, team developer Megan Pollard from We Choose Joy helped us to focus on the things we could change and to find the things that filled us up but also were profitable. Our team is also very inspiring; we wanted to make it through this; we worked together and have overcome some unbelievable challenges.
5. What results have you seen so far from this initiative?
We have greater visibility in our community. We now know what areas we enjoy and also what areas we do not want to focus on. We have a larger reach and a broader client base. We have lots of exciting new opportunities.
6. How do you define success for your project?
Our happiness is key, how we impact others is crucial all while being self-sustaining. Money is awesome, but it is not at our core. How much we can influence others and the world of floriculture is what makes us feel successful.
7. What are the biggest challenges for you to meet your goal?
Darn, there goes that money word again. We were producing very high-end events, and our clientele was very influential. The work we are doing currently at the farm does not have the same margin, but our online projects have great potential.
8. How long do you anticipate continuing this effort?
As long as it brings us JOY and until we can make those numbers we need to make. There is a way, and we will find it, this pandemic will not stop our company or define us.
9. What have you learned by undertaking this project?
How committed and genuine we are. That I love my team, my farm, people, and flowers, and my work is not done. I have places to go and more success coming my/our way.
10. How can others learn more about your COVID-19 response efforts?
HollyChapple on Instagram, we are very active on social media.
