Steven Dyme’s journey started when he was in college, selling flowers on street corners in Chicago.

The Beginning

At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Steven met Andrew, who came from a family of florist and flower resellers in Boston. When there was an excess of flowers, instead of letting them die, Andrew and his friends would sell them outside graduation ceremonies, which there were many of in the area given Boston’s high concentration of educational institutions.

So with this idea in mind, when Steven went home to Wilmette, Illinois for the summer after freshman year and was looking for a way to pay for school, he made a deal with Andrew and his dad to buy three thousands dollars worth of flowers on credit and good faith.

With half his parents’ garage tarped up with two air conditioning units and three thousand dollars worth of flowers, and a few moments of questioning what exactly he had gotten himself into, Steven and his friends starting looking for graduations ceremonies in the area to sell their flowers at.

“We were idiots who didn’t know what we were doing and hopefully that’s relatable to some extent”

That summer resulted in a large amount of tickets from the Chicago Police for showing up uninvited at graduations, but it also showed the potential for Steven to turn his summer business into a full time job.

New Shift

Partially inspired by working with Supplies for Dreams, Steven pivoted his business into a more socially conscious one. Initially, it meant that for every flower they sold, they donated a backpack to a child through a collaboration with Supplies for Dreams. They also started partnering with universities and high schools through the Chicagoland area with and sharing their profits with the institutions.

Steven was also focused on the design of the flowers in addition to the socially conscious aspect of the brand. As he told the Chicago Tribune, “Nobody brags about their 1-800-Flowers bouquet”. He saw an opportunity for to create a brand people felt pride in purchasing and displaying on social media, building brand loyalty. Everything was reimagined: the packaging of flowers, how they were displayed, how they were delivered; no more UPS cardboard boxes with water pouches, but hand delivered bouquets using bikes and bungee cords. All this on top of the positive feelings customers experience knowing that 25% of the profits from the flowers go directly to local charities.

Just like every other part of the business, the team at Flowers for Dreams spends a great deal of time and effort in determining which charities get the company’s support. Every year, the team hosts a pitch night for charities in which every full-time member gets an equal say in which charities the company should support in the upcoming year. Team members have a close personal connection to the charities they pitch, creating a strong, common goal for the company to work towards every month.

Investors

Not every business starts with the intention of acquiring customers, instead focusing on funding or acquisition as the long term goal. Customers was always first for Steven. Even if it may have been partially due to Steven not knowing raising money was even an option in the beginning, Steven’s focus has always been on providing the best experience, both to the customer and the community at large. When Steven did take on his first investor, it was a long term customer who understood the business and what it stood for. In general, Steven hasn’t needed to focus on raising large amounts of money, instead focusing on acquiring customers.

Future Growth

Instead of being much bigger Steven if focusing on how his business can be much better. Some of the areas he is focused on include controlling more of their own process, such as owning their own flower farms enabling even better quality for their customers. Steven is also focused and continuing to give back to the community, such as the recent partnership with the Cook County Jail’s urban farming initiative.

With over $250,000 donated to date, it’s clear that Steven’s Flowers for Dreams is an incredible success and a positive force for change in the community.

Images Sources:

“https://www.flowersfordreams.com”

“https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cook-county-jail-flower-garden_us_55c917cbe4b0f73b20ba69c4”

“https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD930ZCpxlo”

“https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh6mP1lgeCq/?hl=en&taken-by=flowersfordreams”

“https://www.instagram.com/p/BbKILL1geKp/?hl=en&taken-by=flowersfordreams”

“http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/originals/ct-flowers-for-dreams-bsi-20150601-story.html”