Don’t Buy Her Flowers

When Cherubs met the founder Steph Douglas, from thoughtful gifting company Don’t Buy Her Flowers we were blown away by how she came up with the concept and set up this wonderful business. It just goes to show that anything is possible with a little perseverance.

Tell Us About Don’t Buy Her Flowers –how did the idea come about?

When I had my first baby 12 years ago, I was inundated with beautiful, well-meant bouquets from friends and colleagues. I was feeling massively overwhelmed and sore and flowers kept arriving, and it struck me as a really bizarre gift – to give someone who is doing more caring than they’ve ever done in their life another thing to care for. Our gifts are all about offering the recipient some encouragement to take a bit of time for themselves, something thoughtful, and that is still core to our brand.

How has the brand developed over the years?

Very quickly our customers told us that they wanted to send our gifts for other occasions than new mums – when someone is having a difficult time, for bereavement and miscarriage, as well as for men and kids. Birthday is actually now our number one ‘reason’ so our market is considerably bigger than the one we started with. We’ve also seen a massive growth in Corporate gifting, with businesses wanting to connect with employees and clients at a time when it’s become more difficult because of hybrid working and not physically being in the same place. The core still remains the same though – customers create bespoke gifts and each package is beautifully wrapped with their message handwritten. Thoughtfulness remains our focus, whether that’s in the products and packaging, how we speak with customers, and how we treat each other in the warehouse.

What are some of your highlights from running the business?

Oooh! I think the team is up there – one of my brothers is our Ops Director, two of my oldest friends are in the team plus an old colleague who has become a good friend. I love building a team and while lots of people say you shouldn’t work with friends and family, I absolutely trust them and they’re not just employees, they are in this with me. They want Don’t Buy Her Flowers to succeed and that means so much. I would say that and then of course our customers and recipients – when you meet someone and they say “oh my god, I received one of your boxes and it was so thoughtful” – that is music to my ears.

What have the low points taught you?

That you have to be resilient to run a business, and that the people around you also need to believe in what you’re doing. When times are difficult – which a lot of retail businesses are seeing at the moment – you can’t wait and hope for things to improve, you need to diversify. We have started doing fulfilment for other small businesses – people who want to take their business to the next stage but feel nervous to outsource the fulfilment. I’ve been there and we have all the skills and crucially the care to do a brilliant job. That and corporate gifting has been our focus, as more and more businesses recognise they need to connect with their employees and customers. Basically, you learn more from the low points!

You’ve done some great collaborations –can you tell us more about those?

We’re working with some awesome charities. Stand Up To Cancer was a big one that started in 2016. We’ve also worked with a number of people who had been or were going through cancer, including Dame Deb James (Bowel Babe), to select products that helped or would have helped them, and they each put together their own selections. Jen at the baby-loss charity Teddy’s Wish approached us a few years ago about creating packages for recently bereaved parents. I think the key is that we’re not saying we’re experts in every occasion – it makes more sense to work with credible charities and individuals who have lived experience of things and as supporters of DBHF, they think that what we do could offer comfort to people that they’re helping too.

You’re really honest about the highs and lows of running a business alongside having three kids and all the other things life throws at us – is it important for you to show it as it is?

Yes – I don’t think it helps anyone to pretend that it’s a breeze. I started a blog before I started the business and I wrote very honestly about motherhood and relationships and really that has just continued. I now have the Don’t Buy Her Flowers Podcast, which is an extension of that. It helps connect with customers and builds a community around the brand.

What tips have you got for anyone wanting to start their own business?

Be really clear on what it is you do, look around to view the competition but don’t let it sink you. The quicker you can get your business live, the sooner you’ll know what your customers think and want. You’re never going to start with the perfect product or service, but as a small business you can be agile so get going, listen to your customers, and evolve.

Website: dontbuyherflowers.com

What do you wish you’d known when you first started out?

That running a business has an emotional and mental undertaking to it that I had no idea about! I can work hard – I’ve always worked hard – but your connection with a business and the responsibility can feel very personal, so it definitely requires some work on resilience and the ability to compartmentalise.