My Mum had a chain of 5 shops when I was growing up. She was one busy lady, and from the time I could walk I was surrounded by flowers. I even helped out with my first wedding when I was about 10 years old!
When I finished school, I went on to study Mechanical Engineering and gained a B.A. in English and Maths. When I finished University, I fell into a few sales jobs, but I couldn’t settle and didn’t entirely enjoy what I was doing.
Inevitably, the pull of the floristry world was just too strong and in 2004 I decided to open my own shop, Balla Florists. The business has gone from strength to strength, and we are now a multi award-winning florist in the heart of Co. Mayo.
Up until March 2020 when the Pandemic hit, my role in the business was focused on management and wedding and events. Things have now changed with the loss of wedding work, and I now focus on the retail side of my business. I’m once again chief designer and loving life.
Strelitzia is something that I’ve toyed with for quite a few years now. I’ve looked into the system a couple of times but the business got in the way and I was just too busy. At least I thought I was too busy – I now know that you can never be too busy to implement Strelitzia!
When we came out of the second lockdown, I found the time to properly set Strelitzia up in my business, with the help of Louise who now manages my counter area. I cannot live without it now!
Every part of Strelitzia is brilliant, but especially the day-to-day order-taking and delivery feature. Deliveries have become a super important part of the business over the past year. With each lockdown we have got busier and busier with deliveries.
Christmas 2020 was my first peak using Strelitzia. It was absolutely brilliant – the difference to previous peaks was enormous. I would say that I saved 3 full working days as I didn’t have to have a separate order book for deliveries, collections, drivers, florists, descriptions – the list goes on! It was truly fantastic.
The level of support that I get from the Strelitzia team is great. I couldn’t do without Amy! I simply give her a ring or pop her an email and as soon as she’s free she helps me with my query.
If there’s any florists out there who are unsure of Strelitzia, give it every chance you can. I promise, you will never look back. Make the time for a demo and you’ll realise it’s so easy to use, and it will be invaluable to you going forwards.
Covid-19 completely depleted my extremely busy wedding business but our retail has really blossomed. I now concentrate on Strelitzia, utilizing areas like the marketing reports to generate orders. I have excellent delivery drivers and an amazing full-time counter employee who organises me. Generally, the past year has helped me become more focused and I now realise where I’m needed most. My plans for the future include focussing the business more online, but who knows?
The last thing I’d like to to say is thanks a million to the Strelitzia team. I LOVE Strelitzia. It took me a few runs, but it’s honestly the best thing I’ve ever spent on my business.
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