We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cydney English a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Cydney, appreciate you joining us today. Do you take vacations? Why or why not?
I opened my store in 2006 with my husband, Warren. Our daughter Vivienne was three at the time. Warren and I both grew up in family flower shops. In my family, it was rare that we took family vacations. Maybe once or twice a year for a quick road trip to the beach or mountains. But if a business need came up, my dad would turn the car around and head back to work. I saw the toll that no down time, no break in work, took on my dad, my parents’ marriage and our family. It was tough and it reverberates into adulthood because you don’t hold childhood memories of anything but work.
The first few years of our business it was nearly impossible to take time away. This trend continued and, as in my family situation, really started to take a toll. I realized that I had to start letting go of the reins and finding a way to carve out time away from work. This did not happen overnight but it did happen.
I think the biggest thing that is tough for small business owners and entrepreneurs is finding a way to keep the identity of the business that is such a part of you while not losing yourself. I started to set boundaries on what I would work on and when. I started to identify what I could delegate. I had opened a flower shop because I was a floral design. I learned about pretty early on that my best role as not on the design floor. It was a gradual transition but overtime I created a role that is not dependent on my physical appearance in the store. It does not mean I don’t work. And I work when I am on vacation but I have made a role that allows me to be flexible in where and when I am working. As my husband transitioned to remote work during COVID this was particularly important. That adjustment in my role as an owner made it possible for me to travel more readily.
The three of us love to travel and would do it nonstop if money were no object. We started in earnest in 2014 and set big travel goals. Avid hikers, Warren and I have hiked on five continents and Viv has accompanied us on four. We took a long trip to Madeira and Portugal this past holiday, during one of the busiest times in the flower shop.
When I travel, I find inspiration for my business, my family, my life. Even short trips rejuvenate me. I am working on completing a half marathon in every state. Those quick weekend trips for races are my personal treat. On every trip we take, domestic, international, even a road trip across our state, I visit a flower shop. I’ve now visited a flower shop, market or flower farm on five continents and hope to add two more to that (not sure about colder climes but I’m sure I’ll find something!). This connection to my work while traveling has helped me see flowers in a broader view while also helping me see that flowers are a means of communication in all languages, cultures and traditions.
I would encourage all small business owners, creatives, entrepreneurs to start building an “away” plan for yourself that allows you physical, mental and emotional freedom away from your work. You will be a better business owner and leader, better partner, parent, and friend, and a better you.
Cydney, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am a third generation florist. I grew up in my Granny B’s flower shop and then my parents’. My husband is also a third generation flower shop kid having grown up in his grandmother’s shop and then his mom’s. We opened our own store in 2006 called The English Garden (our last name is English, see what we did there.) Though the business we have today has grown and changed since we started in 2006, the heart of our business is the same-we want to make great flower design affordable and accessible, we practice relentless customer service, we want to build a sustainable, engaging work environment where people are paid an above industry, living wage and we want to pay forward the Main Street values on which we were raised. We focus on flowers building relationships and community. Our store is a rather unorthodox flower shop format. Customers can walk in and mix and mingle with staff and with the flowers. We offer daily delivery throughout Raleigh and the Greater Triangle area. We help people celebrate love and life with our wedding and event services. And for folks who want to learn more about flowers we offer engaging design classes.
The English Garden team is a delightful hodgepodge of industry professionals mixed with talented people from other walks of life including the hospitality, tech and entertainment industries.
Let’s talk M&A – we’d love to hear your about your experience with buying businesses.
In late 2017 we bought a second business, a franchise of a national cleaning company. We ventured down this path because my husband was looking for another revenue stream for our family. He had a lot of friends taking early buyouts from the corporate world and finding a new path in the franchise world. We worked with a franchise recruiter who helped us narrow our search down to a Great Clips salon and a Two Maids cleaning franchise. We bought the latter from the existing franchise owner in Raleigh. The purchase was the easy part. Figuring out how to run the business was the struggle. Even though the recruiter we worked with said we were a match for the industry, we were not. It was difficult to build and retain a team. It was tough to bring the same level of customer service and customer engagement that we knew from the florist industry despite the franchise’s strong structure. It seemed that everything that could go wrong did. Our first manager staged a coup when we had to let her go. It took the police hours to get her off the premises. Another key employee stole a car from a client. We went through four different managers and thirty plus cleaners in our first three years. It was a crazy learning curve that we never conquered but I did figure out how to buy a washer and dryer for the office from Sears from the side of Mount Kilimanjaro during one of our wilder operational adventures. After weathering COVID and keeping the business open amid all the daily ups and downs, we sold to another franchisee selling for well below what we originally paid. We needed to move on professionally and personally from a business sidestep.
Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?
When COVID hit, we were running two businesses, The English Garden and the cleaning franchise I aforementioned. It was such a time of “what ifs” and what the #$%^@$$%# are we going to do. After navigating the ever changing tide of federal, state, county and city decisions on who gets to stay open, who has to close, and so on and so forth, we started to look at how we could deliver flowers when no one wanted to see anyone much less touch anything someone else had touched. But with that concern also came the realization that flowers offered a living, organic connection for people in a time when they couldn’t be together. During COVID with the suspension of all weddings and events (50% of my business), I needed to figure out a way fast to keep my staff employed. There was no guarantee that anyone would receive a PPP boost so we had to get creative. I had always wanted to do a bouquet of the month, subscription type service. I think fresh flowers in a home or office are such a wonderful, inviting touch and I think those flowers should be of great quality and affordable. It felt like the perfect time to launch this. We knew farms and flower vendors who were having to dump/trash fresh product. We had a team committed to working safely and efficiently. And we had customers who wanted to stay connected to friends and loved ones by sending flowers.
We launched our Flower BOM (Bouquet of the Month) during COVID and haven’t looked back. It is far and away our best seller. From it sprang a successful subscription service followed by a plant subscription, our EG POM, and in 2024 we will launch a rose specific POM. We have delivered and shipped our BOM all across NC and the US. During COVID, we would include a roll of toilet paper, paper towels or a mask as an add-on component, sort of for a moment of lightheartedness but also for need. (I was able to tap into my cleaning company resources and buy bulk paper products when the grocery store shelves were bare.)
Our Bouquet of the Month helped us weather the COVID storm but it also helped us form a new bond to our community and find a connection to new customers. It helped us support local and regional farms and wholesalers. And it helped me keep my staff fully employed and in paper products (except for one person who took a leave). In a time of fear, loss and uncertainty, I saw in a new light the healing power that flowers can have.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.englishgardenraleigh.com
- Instagram: @englishgardenraleigh
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EnglishGarden
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/cydney-davis-english-b0b6b814
- Twitter: @flowergirlnc