We started with $15 and very little sleep...
We all start somewhere and everyone has a story. Some are far more adventurous, painful, challenging and endearing than others but important all the same. Our story started with one very lonely but good looking Monstera sitting on a cold warehouse floor at 3am one morning. It was $15.
Approximately 20 months ago Bosque was nothing more than a plant sale on the side of the road (see photo above for the proof) We were hoping to raise funds for a logo, we wanted to create a flower subscription box. We weren’t florists but Soph had an eye for it and I was keen to sink my teeth into another business idea - even if it was flowers. We were working full-time in our time consuming jobs and spending all of our money on wine, food and the finer things in life (that means we probably wasted our money and can’t tell you where it went). Anyhow, we got our logo hand drawn by a Spanish artist and it was absolutely perfect in every way, our brand was coming to life and it was extremely exciting. As time went on we realised there was a big market for indoor plants on the Facebook Marketplace so we continued to repot plants on our tiny apartment kitchen floor, store over 50 plants in the spare bedroom, lounge and bathroom and kept selling to fund the flower box business.
It worked! Eventually we got boxes printed, paper printed, a website developed and in November 2017 we launched Bosque. We made 9 flower box sales that month, a majority of those were our friends but we were stoked, a sale is a sale.
In December we experienced a slight increase, we sold around 13 flower boxes. We soon realised the initial demand for indoor plants wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon and before long it was out with the flowers and in with the plants. We experienced what entrepreneurial folk call a “pivot”. Our business model was changing and things were starting to take a different direction. By mid 2018 Bosque was a Melbourne Indoor Plant Delivery Service and we were hitting about 60 to 70 sales a month. Soph and I were still working full-time and it goes without saying it was bloody tough. Working all day and coming home to hours of making up orders and 2am trips to collect plants was taking it’s toll. We have argued, spilt copious amounts of soil, smashed pots and talked about letting Bosque go but these conversations would always end up in discussions about how we could grow the business. We were insanely addicted so a couple of months later we launched East Coast Shipping, now shipping to QLD, NSW, VIC, ACT and SA.
We now come close to the second birthday of our Bosque baby and it is a proud moment for us as we look back on the achievements and learnings that the last 20 months have entailed. We are now hitting 200 plus orders a month and have had customers in 23 countries purchase gifts for their loved ones in Australia. We are extremely grateful to each and every person who has visited our online store and left an impression, yes even just looking means the world to us.
Furthermore, we have also expanded the Bosque team as our Head Office opens in Brisbane mid July and we introduce our fellow Bosque Explorer Caroline. When you meet someone who has the same passion and drive for your business it is hard to ignore. We are very excited to take this next step and want to thank you for helping us achieve the many milestones. We hope you continue on the future journey of Bosque.
Coll x
PS - It just goes to show how far $15 can take you.