If you had a pretty comfy job in Google, would you have willingly up and left to form a startup? Steve Feiner believes it’s all worth it — so he went ahead and dived headfirst into the sweet-smelling floral industry and founded A Better Florist, a new online store for all your flower delivery needs.
No longer will you worry about gaudily arranged bouquets — the startup is poising itself as an online florist that achieves maximum aesthetic optimisation, affordability and convenience. Founded only recently in April, they’re leveraging the best in data analytics and are always improving the customer buying experience; after all Feiner did work in Google.
With a guaranteed (free) delivery by 180 minutes of purchase, A Better Florist promises the freshest flowers sourced directly from Cameron Highlands, arranged by a professional florist to ensure optimum dazzle-levels and long-lasting freshness. As if that’s not enough, the finishing touches include a bespoke-crafted presentation box that’ll both protect and reflect the minimal simplicity of the product inside.
So how did Feiner manage to helm such ambitious startup in such a short time? We caught up with the tech wizard turned floral enchanter to find out more about his unorthodox venture.
Hi Steve! Tell us more about yourself and how you came to be in Singapore.
When I was working at Google in San Francisco in their Global Business Strategy team I was offered a position in Singapore. I love tackling new opportunities and challenges so I said yes on the spot and moved two weeks later. Now two years into my Singapore life I have to say — I love it here more and more every day.
From a pretty comfy job in Google to becoming a florist — that’s a pretty huge leap of faith. What pushed you to establish A Better Florist?
One thing I learned at Google is this — to make a dent in the universe you have to go big. And taking the leap from employee to entrepreneur is the one of the best ways to accomplish this. I spotted a market gap when I was ordering flowers for my girlfriend, spending hours on the net, shelling out twice as much as I had planned and in the end the flowers arrived a day late, barely lasting through the weekend. From that moment on I was hooked. Having worked with startups before I knew it would be a rollercoaster ride of hard work, but I’m the kind of person who does whatever it takes to solve the problem at hand.
What exactly is A Better Florist, and how does it benefit folks?
The flower industry hasn’t changed in 30 years. Because there are only 4 other importers in Singapore, florists buy from wholesellers passing through 4-6 middle men to get blooms that are 10 days old at best. Not only are they not fresh, their price is highly inflated and nobody has made the order process easy using the power of modern technology.
A Better Florist changes all this. We believe ordering flowers should be beautiful, affordable and effortless. We source our flowers straight from our Cameron Highlands farm so your blooms last twice as long, cut out all the middlemen to give you a price you love and let you order in just a few clicks with our easy web experience.
Simply pick your favourite from our 4 curated bouquets, whether roses, sunflowers or a handcrafted mix, lock in FREE same-day delivery and we even cover your GST.
In that case, what makes A Better Florist different from the bouquet of existing online florist stores?
They’re fresh, fast and fabulously priced. What would cost you close to $100 dollars online, take you an hour to find and leave you worried if they’d arrive on time is now available at your fingertips for $60 each with guaranteed 2 hour delivery.
What knowledge and skills did you bring to the table from your past experiences in other big companies?
Prior to joining the entrepreneur ranks, I learned how to acquire customers heading business development for a Medical Technology start-up, build a solid business strategy while consulting for Fortune 500 companies and use data to optimize each aspect of the business, from marketing to inventory management, as Google’s Analytic’s lead. But being an entrepreneur carries a lot of new learning experiences, especially in recruiting, team leadership and fundraising.
In the past 5 months alone I’ve assembled a team of engineers, flower pros and operations leads, learnt more than I ever thought about website development, became an expert at assembling bouquets, built relationships with farmers in the Cameron Highlands and pitched at countless startup events. And that’s just the beginning.
Awesome. So what’s next for A Better Florist?
With our team focused on growth, we’re closing our fundraising round to expand our operations in Singapore and are looking to KL as our next market to explore. And because every day is a crazy ride, I wake up every day excited to kick off knowing I get to do what I love: Help people spread happiness with flowers.
Stay updated on A Better Florist on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.
Photos: A Better Florist Facebook page
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