| Community Futures
Meridian Region
Meridian helps Floral Impressions Bloom
While she's only in her mid-20s, Brett Barber
is living her dream, running her own florist shop. "When
I was a kid I spent a lot of time with my mom in the yard, and
I knew I had a passion for flowers," says Barber. "Having
a flower shop was always a little dream of mine."
Barber's little dream is a 1,500 square foot
store that, besides fresh flowers, offers gourmet foods, candles,
body products, gift ideas and home décor items. Being located
in the Kindersley Mall, Floral Impressions gets a lot of walk-through
traffic and regular customers returning to see what new items
she has, Barber says.
If there was anything nightmarish about the
dream it was the scramble to acquire the store and have it ready
for the Christmas season. Barber began looking at the idea of
purchasing the business in late October, 2006. She opened Floral
Impressions on December first.
"Lots of things were overlooked because
of the rush. If I had it to do over, I would make smaller things
a bigger deal, and make sure they were looked after. I learned
a lot of what not to do next time!" she says.
Besides the short time line, Barber also faced
a challenge in finding financing for her venture. After several
unsuccessful trips to the bank, she approached Meridian Community
Futures Development Corporation for help. Meridian helped her
create a business plan and provided start-up financing.
"Once I got started with Meridian it was
very easy," Barber says. "Knowing this now, I would
go to Meridian first, and I would have got things underway faster."
While Barber was happy in her work before the
opportunity to operate her own business came along, she's proud
to be a business owner, and she loves being able to make decisions
and work hard for herself. "At the end of the day I have
a lot more satisfaction for what I accomplished that day,"
she observes.
That sense of satisfaction hasn't dampened Barber's
entrepreneurial spirit. It shows through when she talks about
the future of Floral Impressions. "I will be using Meridian
in the near future for some creative thinking and new ideas of
business planning. They will be my first choice for help next
time."
Glad to have Glad's Chocolates
Not only is Brett Barber living her dream, she's also helping
a neighbour, Gladys, live hers. Gladys supplies Glad's Chocolates
to Barber's store, which enhances its appeal. "She is well
known, so they do really well," Barber says. "I love
having them because I am helping my store, and also supporting
another small business owner. I've also gained a new friendship
out of it."
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