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JUST THREE YEARS after uprooting to Australia, Anna Grant was moving home to Dublin to establish a business with her in-laws.
Grant, 38, and her now husband, Eamonn, first moved to Melbourne when she was in her early 20s. In her owns words, “Just to do something different.”
The pair both got decent jobs, however after a while Eamonn started feeling the pull home. His mother, Mary, had run a small flower supply business from her home since the 90s.
Things were starting to take off and his father, Michael, had to help out. Eamonn liked the idea of moving home to make a serious go of the business with his parents. Anna decided to go along for the ride.
“Of course I had (misgivings), it would’ve been strange for me not to,” she tells Fora. “I was leaving Australia and my friends, but it was with Eamonn. I was planning to start a life with him and that was part of his character.
“When he works on his career he’s passionate about what he does, and his passion grew to be my passion.”
The two took a long trip back from Australia. In Italy, Eamonn proposed and Anna said yes. By 2006, the pair were back in Ireland and Anna later became Anna Grant.
The two husband-and-wife teams all had different areas to specialise in, with Grant focusing on marketing and logistics.
The Dubliner had worked in public relations since leaving college in 2001, and set about trying to get attention for the new company, Flowers Made Easy.
“Michael managed the finance, Eamonn was on the tech and business development side of things and Mary has 30 years expertise in the flower business,” she says.
“I brought PR and an awareness of how to get the brand out there. My strengths would be from an organisational point of view. We have hundreds of orders that go out every single day. There’s a lot of planning that goes into it, and I manage that.”
The business grew quickly in its early days and soon moved out of Mary’s house and into an industrial unit in Sandyford.
Moving on
It started off as an online portal for people to buy flowers: customers would shop on the website and have their flowers delivered.
When things started to take off, however, the company moved into wholesale. Grant says that big flower suppliers in countries like the Netherlands will only deal with businesses that buy big and often.
When Flowers Made Easy became more trusted, the company looked at ways of branching out. The Dublin firm started allowing other businesses, such as florists, to buy wholesale deliveries through its website.
Flowers Made Easy either bought the flowers in itself and sold them onto other businesses, or got a cut of the sales when it enabled companies to buy direct from its suppliers.
Even though the firm had to weather the recession, it managed to expand slowly during the lean years and grew to employ about 10 people, including family members.
Anna and Eamonn had their first child in 2011. Soon after, Eamonn left the business to work as head of online for AA Roadwatch.
“It was a good time for him to do his own thing,” Grant says. “His strengths were in growing ideas, and we were happy that the business was at a stage where the three of us were confident that we could continue to grow it.”
Asked if it was hard on her when Eamonn left the business, Grant says: “No, the timing was good and I think it helped me and Mary, it made us tighter.
“I worked closely with Mary and there’s never been any issues. From the start we wanted to make sure our business relationship didn’t have a ‘mother-in-law, daughter-in-law’ type thing to it. We’ve got on very well.”
“I still went home and talked about work, it’s not as if (Eamonn) didn’t hear me talking about it. And I was settled in the business by then, it wasn’t as if he left a year after.”
Different businesses
The business has continued to grow, with Grant and Mary now handling most of the day-to-day operations. It currently employs about 15 staff including full and part-time workers and has annual sales of around €1 million.
Flowers Made Easy has several different operations. The main one is its online portal, through which average punters buy flowers and bouquets for themselves or as gifts.
The wholesale trade is the other main arm of the business, however the company also does wedding flowers and holds classes for people who are looking to retrain and get involved in the botanical industry. It recently opened a retail outlet in Foxrock.
“We have our supplier in Holland. We buy in flowers and do deliveries, we have our own drivers who deliver to the whole of the Dublin area,” Grant says.
“If it’s outside of that then we send it by courier and make sure that the customer has it the next day.
“We are profitable, thank goodness, and hopefully in 2018 we will consolidate all our brands more. There are many different businesses within the flower business, we need to communicate that better.”
Customers
The vast majority of the company’s business is in Ireland. While it makes some sales abroad, they are mostly for products such as materials used to build a bouquet.
“We use a network of florists internationally to fulfill orders abroad,” Grant says. “We deliver to Dingle, the Skellig islands, anywhere. Being able to deliver throughout the country by the next day has been invaluable.
“(For wholesale) florists are our main customer base, although we also have hotels, events companies, cake companies, etc.”
Although it acts as a supplier for many of them, florists are also the company’s greatest competition.
“We believe what makes us different is our style and freshness,” Grant says. “From a price point of view, we have a price point for everyone’s budget and we can make something tailored to how much you want to spend.”
Unified
The company is now looking to become more unified in the new year: Grant wants it to become known for some of the other services it offers, such as wedding flowers, as well as its online deliveries.
“We need to improve brand awareness and make sure that everything is the same brand,” she says. “We also want to grow our business overseas and I would love to (expand the retail offering). We could look at some pop-up shops as well.”
Despite her husband moving on years ago, Grant has no intention of leaving the business.
“I’m happy with what I’m doing, it’s about growing the business and it’s what keeps me happy,” she says.
“Some day in the future I look forward to continuing the brand. Mary and Michael will always be there as a support network, even if they’re not there as much day-to-day eventually.
“(When I came back from Australia) I didn’t look at it that I would join the company and then one day it would be mine. I just enjoy what I do.”
Written by Paul O’Donoghue and posted on Fora.ie
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Career choice and career often turn out to be two different things.
@Brendan O’Brien: When i done my leaving cert in 1999 i got very low points. I was never collage material any way. I done an apprenticeship in fitting and welding. I have worked all over the world building bridges, tunnels and oil and gas refinery’s. Home now and mortgage free at 36. Collage is not the be all to success. Even people who do poorly in school can be successful if they choose the right career.
@Jamie Jj Tobin: fair play to you Jamie – you are right – its not for everyone. but whatever you do, it is important to commit to it and take your opportunities as you seem to have done. good example for many in the next few months…
I know someone who always wanted to be a doctor but didn’t get the points so their parents (very ambitious) persuaded them to aim for teaching, I remember the father telling me “nice secure government job”, I told him if their heart wasn’t in they would regret it. Either way they did a science degree. The second it was done they turned around and used graduate entry to get into medicine.
If you want something bad enough, there is a way.
I work in a supermarket as a checkout supervisor, not the most glamour job in the world but I love it! I meet new people every day, I like to talk alot so that helps :) and I’m a good problem solver, I had good leaving cert results but money for college was a factor but I have to say I love where I am pays the bills let’s me live a decent life and I’m never hungry I could ask for more..
@Conaire DeBhairduin: What are your views on the potential of automation replacing all check outs in supermarkets over the coming years. Is this something that worries you?
@will: boom!
@will: who’ll check the check outs?, who’ll check the check out check out?
@iohanx: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrmMk1Myrxc Nobody apparently!
I was in a terrible place mentally, recently diagnosed and placed on medication, but was told that completing the leaving cert was my best option. I passed everything, did brilliantly in the only subject I cared for, but still not enough points to get into college. I went to further education, it was close and affordable and would give me a taste of what I could be in for from college. I completed the level 5 with a partial due to coming off of the medication and instability, then spent the next 3 years working after I moved up to Dublin. Got work hours reduced and reduced and reduced until I couldn’t afford rent, and had to move back home. Did a level 6 this year with Distinctions in all subjects, now looking to move on to do an English Bachelors at 24 and then go into teaching.
Took me 6 years before I found out what I wanted to do.
@Shannon Mcg: good luck, don’t give up!
My career advise at school was,
“You may as well emigrate, there is nothing here for you.”
So I did, and had a great time before eventually returning.
@Brian McDonnell: I did the same but without having been given any advice. It forced me to become independent at 22 and was a very positive life lesson.
@Brian McDonnell:
how long ago? Just curious, as members of my family were told and did the same in the eighties.
@Denis Moynihan: Yeap….the career choice was work elsewhere or the dole here, so any job would do, from warehouses to offices, building sites to factories. As long as I could pay my way I wasn’t too fussy.
@P.J. Nolan: Late 80′s.
The notion that when you sit your leaving cert is when you should make your career choice is totally outmoded and ridiculous anyway.
@Conor Paddington: the way careers change and jobs change, continuing education is vital. 46 and still don’t know what to do.
My parents supported me in every step I took to get my degree but they always said that the subjects I picked to study at college was my own choice.
@davo gazeley: exactly.
Left school after a not so great leaving cert about 30 years ago, went to UK and became a Telecom Engineer in London – - 5 years later became a Commercial Diver in the Middle east – - 6 years later did a degree in Computers as a mature student and now working in the IT area. My parents did not influence me but they always had my back which is the most important thing and thats what I will try to do with my children. Do your best in the exams but try not to get worked up on it (its hard I know).There are so many avenues you can go down when choosing a career and you will change as it suits. Just be there for the kids when needed with a helping hand and supportive guidance.
The number of points I got in the leaving decided
My mother was a stripper and my father a debt collecter. I became a priest. They’re still struggling with the shame of it.
Me uncle Paddy. He gave me his old van and a gallon of diesel and said:
‘There you go kid – the world is your oyster’
I never looked back.
No. For most people, only themselves know what they want to do
My parents were very supportive of any choice I was to make. They didn’t inspire the career I would take, but they inspired me to be hard working, ambitious and to do exactly what I wanted and they would support me as much as they could. I couldn’t have asked for better.
No one’s parents should directly influence or choose their child’s career or CAO. It is up to the individual to choose a path they are interested in. Advice can go a long way, but it is ultimately your life and your choice.
TBH I don’t care what career my kids choose. I will be proud of them regardless. Though I did dissuade my daughter from putting nursing and midwifery as her first choices along with help from the guidance counselor. Weighing up pay, working conditions, social life, family life, benefit packages and so on. She has stem subjects at her 5 top options. Nursing and midwifery as last resorts.
@Lily:
So you did influence her decisions
@P.J. Nolan: not really, the guidance counselor did. I told her what i thought but she was adamant to do midwifery that was until the guidance counselor told her the realities of her choice and explored stem subjects. So really it was the guidance counselor who influenced her cao choices. I can’t force her to choose any subjects neither would I want to, it’s her life to live how she pleases. If she dose midwifery I’m sure she will be happy and I’ll still be proud though probably worry if she is eating enough, getting her legally required lunch breaks and so on.
Generally when a parent says one thing, kids do the complete opposite.
Dissuading her was just me pointing out all the bad bits of the job. But she didn’t listen until the guidance counselor advised her not to go for it. The guidance counselor didn’t know my thoughts but I was delighted that we were on the same wavelength and convinced her to do stem subjects. She really did help. Had the guidance counselor told her to stick with nursing I could accept that too.
I have much respect for people in health care. It’s a noble job.
@Lily: Jesus Christ will you go and tell that girl that she can do anything she wants! It doesn’t matter about money and life balance when you love what you do! How dare you influence a young person away from what she is telling you what she wants to do! I work long hours, weekends and not for amazing pay but with great people. I’d prefer my child was a nurse than working in a stable, well paid banking role or many others instead of working among the kindest hard working people around. Give her the approval to change her mind and don’t live through her!
Yeah my Ma was a huge influence ‘Get off your arse and get a job, you lazy shite’ worked wonders.
@Dermot Lane: Same here. Best of luck son and don’t come back was about the jist of it.
Now I have kids I finally understand.
As the first person from my all-girls secondary school to do engineering of any sort in college it’s fair to say I wouldn’t have even considered it if my father hadn’t been an engineer. As he was a computer engineer we always had technology around the house so I had far more experience with computers than anyone else in my school. Heck when my primary school got a photocopier for the first time I was put in charge of it rather than any of the teachers and I was only 10.
I wouldn’t say parents but older sisters and brothers as well as their friends where able to give realistic advice. If you know what you want at 17 I’d almost be worried about you. It’s tough to know at any age.
Parents were supportive of my choices but never told me what I should do. School was useless, they wanted me to follow one of my parents path and do the same degree as one of them and any attempts by both me and my parents to explain that wasn’t what I was interested in fell on deaf years. Just had to grin and bare it with them while doing my own research outside school.
@ztoical: same happened from my guidance counselor. She swore I should be an accountant. Had to have her look at my last maths tests so she could understand how wrong she was.
Yes, I decided at age 17 I would never be a parent, clergyman nor have anything to do with “mental health,” whatever the f. that is…
@Paul Jennings: I take it you’re not working in comedy?
No it was the computer that told me to be a taxidermist or wig maker… Oh the 90s…. coincidentally years later I am now a careers adviser trying to add a bit more thoughtfulness to the process
I think a mistake some make is they choose a course they will enjoy rather than a career they will enjoy. If i was going back to college this is what i would tell myself before i choose a course. Dont do what you will enjoy in college because you will only be in college for 3 to 6 years, whereas you will be working for thirty years.
When I was applying to university in 1989 my father told me not do computer science as it was “played out” things worked out ok but imagine getting into the field almost 30yrs ago. Still bring it up whenever I can
Had shite career guidance teacher but other teachers were much better at proposing options that suited my aptitudes. Parents worked in the hospitality industry – they only wanted me to have a 9-5 job with weekends and bank hols off – never tried to push particular subjects
Ffs, no. No one did. My choice was my choice… I’m not one who would ever be “influenced” by anyone, family member or not…
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