FLORIST: Alex Gardner

Alex Gardner and his wife had often thought about buying a business, but they jumped in head first when the right opportunity presented itself, even though it was ahead of schedule.

Alex explains: “Initially we were going to wait, but Sue had started a course in floristry and then an opportunity to buy a florist came up. It was literally around the corner from our home, so we took it.”

Alex, 37, started browsing the internet trying to get an idea of what was out there. As subscribers of BusinessesForSale.com’s email alerts, the perfect opportunity was delivered right to their inbox.

“BusinessesForSale.com is a really good site,” he says. “We signed up for the email alerts and the speed at which you can buy things is phenomenal. The alerts meant we were first in the queue.”

"A bit blind"

Sometimes in business, things move quicker than expected and timescales have to be changed.

“My wife was still in the middle of her two-year floristry course but when we found this business we knew it was perfect. We decided to take the plunge anyway.”

They eventually negotiated a price of £30k all in, including the goodwill, stock, van and lease on the shop.

Alex admits that the suddenness of their decision meant they went into the process “a bit blind”. They also found it hard to get the right advice.

“Having said that, I am an accountant so I deal with the professional side of things for a lot of businesses all the time, and that certainly helped. The only advice we sought was from our solicitor for the actual transfer of the business.”

Brokers and estate agents often get a bad press, but Alex has nothing but good things to say about the sale agents employed in this case.

“They were really helpful, without doubt. They produced a guide which helped enormously.”

Getting a fair price for a business is always one of the hardest things about the buying process. And despite Alex’s accountancy background, it took a lot of effort to get right.

“We looked at other florists around the country and what prices they were going for, and we talked to the agent too. Because of my day job I’m used to figures, but now I know how much goes into a business to achieve good results.”

Potential

The price took account of the knowledge and experience of eight existing members of staff.

“They are mainly part-time [delivery van] drivers,” Alex explains. “My wife is the manager. She does the creative and I do the admin.”

Although there is a website, Alex and his wife don’t yet sell through it. This is just one of the many reasons the business has potential.

They’re also considering buying another shop, and this is clearly more than a vague ambition.

“We were really close to buying another business a couple of miles away. For financial reasons we decided not to go ahead. In the future, if we do expand, we might go into the city on a high street lease — but at the moment we’re only considering our options.”

12-hour day

In theory, Alex has stayed on part-time as a qualified accountant, but he admits that running a business is “all consuming".

"When you’re an employee you just do your job and go home,” he says. “Our professional and family lives have gone out the window. We’re open six days a week and both my wife and I work in the shop.

"Because of my other commitments I nearly always work a 12-hour day. We certainly couldn’t have done this if we had children.”

However, the hard work is showing dividends.

“The business is currently doing very well,” he says. “We were lucky in that it was already established when we took it over, and it is still flourishing. Our enthusiasm is definitely helping.”

Initially, the couple struggled with a problem often encountered by business buyers: winning over the existing staff.

“When there’s a change of ownership there is uncertainty. As a rule people don’t like change, and it has probably taken us until now [seven months later] to build up good relationships.”

A good old knees-up always helps (especially in reserved Britain). “We had a great Christmas party, which helped a lot. Until then they had never been on a Christmas do and I think that going out to a posh restaurant helped boost morale.”

Other things the couple have done to motivate the staff include manicure days, small gifts and summer parties.

Nevertheless, Alex and his wife still find staffing a challenge.

“Organising cover, holidays and keeping staff motivated — these are things we both struggle with. The really bad days are when things go wrong, when the van breaks down or the fridge doesn’t work, and you are the only one who picks up the pieces. When our van driver is stuck in the middle of nowhere, I have to go and pick him up.”

It’s not easy, and Alex is keen to emphasise this point to any would-be florists and entrepreneurs in general.

“You do need to consider the long term when the novelty has worn off,” he cautions. “You will have to do this job day in, day out — it’s not something you can just walk away or resign from.

"There’s so much to deal with, so you need to be on top of it all. If you miss a deadline, you will be the one who suffers.”

Despite the onerous workload, however, Alex is enthusiastic: “Running a business is miles better than working for someone else. We certainly haven’t regretted it.”