We were lucky to catch up with David Rosado recently and have shared our conversation below.
David, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea
When i decided to open up my floral business in 2008, Statistic showed that in order to open up a business as a florist you would need a minimum of a ten-thousand-dollar investment, this would have covered supplies, refrigeration, minimal marketing and retail space. Even though today those numbers are not ideal or accurate, when i decided to start my business, I didn’t have that kind of financial luxury. Like all teenage dreamers in America college and life’s basic essentials consumed much if not all of my financial resources. I had a home, a garage and the floral design skills. My solution was to market myself as a florist and hope I would have booked enough weddings and gathered enough deposits to come up with the money needed in order to meet the minimum financial requirements for my investment, and so it begins.
Moving forward to the first moth in business, much of my time was dedicated in the logistics of acquiring my business license, learning the law of taxes and let’s not forget finding an accountant. After figuring out the legal elements of the business I immersed myself in a solution to what would be my business identity. Would Rosado Events and Design follow the traditional route of a local mom and pop shop? Would we focus solely on weddings and corporate events? What would be our pricing structure? Many of my fellow florist friends advised I should start with low pricing and work my way up, but something about that concept didn’t sit well with me. As any stubborn teen working his way through life (knowing it all) I compared my competitions pricing in the area and priced accordingly, my solution to that dilemma was to meet in the middle and adjust as needed.
In addition, my first year was a tough year and an extreme learning curve. People tend to sensationalize the words #bossbabe #boss #entrepreneur #businessowner but fail to sensationalize the importance of mental health as a business owner. The ups and downs that come with managing staff, days and months without incoming income, cost of branding and marketing, retaining good staff, learning to let go of control and our favorite uncle Mr. Sam. Our first year did not yield a profit but I soon learned the events taking place that year were normal for first year as a business owner. After my first year in business I dedicated a good amount of time on client targeting and branding. I believe learning client targeting helped us comprehend that the clients we failed to booked were just not a match for us as a client and us for them as a business and that is ok. Soon after our second year it was smooth sailing, we had established our presence in the local event market and flourished as an event industry professional. We took the plunge after our third year and opened up a small boutique in Lakewood, Ohio , marketing funerals floral arrangements and every day florals as well as commercial and hospitality brand standard services.
Equally as important, when the COVID pandemic hit, I was forced to reinvent the business and made the decision to close the brick-and-mortar shop to focus more on an online presence. Although our home base was in Ohio, many of our clients throughout the pandemic were from out of the country like Germany and Canada as well as others states in the USA. This in combination with my love of travel galvanized my decision to go completely online. Most of our client delegation were all done online due to the pandemic, and I made the decision to embrace it. My website was converted into an information gathering platform, consults follow ups were done via skype or phone call and I would travel to client final walkthrough at their venue location to pre finalized their wedding décor details. Soon after I decided to move to Arizona and focus on the west coast market and today the business is thriving.
In conclusion, I would like to say to those in pursuit of entrepreneurship. Times will get tough, never give up and believe in yourself. Waking up every day to work to manifest your passion makes it all worth it.
David, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
To quickly touch bases a bit about myself. I was born in Puerto Rico, raise in multiple states but for ever will call Queens, New York home. In 2004 I moved to Cleveland, Ohio to pursue a career in nursing but figured out after a few internships that a nursing career was not for me. Soon after I developed an interest in botany and while in my studies, I ended up in an internship at a local floral shop called Brunswick Florist. This was my introduction to the floral and event industry. Fast Forward to 2012 and I had gained enough interest and experience to open up Rosado Events and Design.
Rosado Events and Design was founded with a passion for florals and the desired to infuse everyday living with florals. Our motto is ‘ Quality versus Quantity”. We are careful to not over book ourselves as we are passionate about floral event decor management. At Rosado Events we not only provide decor for weddings, galas and corporate events but also provide hotels with florals to enhance their brands standards. We have work with clients such as the Hilton, Renaissance, The Marriot and even provided florals for movies set designs such as With This Ring. In addition, we provide holiday decor services and interior landscaping for commercial and office business settings.
I believe what sets us apart from other florist is our ability to be an online based business. There is not that many florists in the industry that can say that. We have constructed a system that is user friendly, effortless and user friendly. We pride ourselves in being transparent and removing any grey areas. We are always prompt and dedicate to our clients and provide exceptional customer service always going above and beyond.
Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?
Any advice for managing a team?
My advice to anyone managing staff is no one person knows everything, encourage and develop your staff’s communication skill. Implement open communication policies, be relatable and give them the tools that would help them empower themselves to be better not only in the workplace but as individuals. Listen, Listen and Listen. Feedback from your staff is fundamental and reward your staff for their work ethic especially when they go above and beyond for the company. helps build moral. Invest in making the workplace enjoyable and set the ambience with elements that will make them feel productive and want to get out of bed to go to work. When your staff is happy and well taken care of, they will effortlessly take care of you and the business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rosadoevents.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/rosadoevents
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/rosadoevents
- Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/rosado-events-and-design-avondale
- Other: https://www.theknot.com/marketplace/rosado-events-and-design-avondale-az-849128 https://www.zola.com/wedding-vendors/wedding-florists/rosado-events-design https://www.weddingwire.com/biz/arte-de-fiori-cleveland/345ee759f9545982.html
Image Credits
Joy and Ben Photography Galaxie Andrews Photography Tiffany Joy Photography Biran + Joelle photography Kylie Bricker Photography