Innovation in the Floral Industry is Possible! Interview with Sahid Nahim Founder of New Bloom Solutions

Episode 113: Vonda and Lori are joined by Sahid Nahim, founder of New Bloom Solutions. We discovered that Flower Clique and New Bloom Solutions have several core goals in common, and at the top of the list are the desire to innovate and move the floral industry forward. Transparency and connectivity are key words that both embrace as they work with different aspects of the industry. Listen in an hear a bit of what New Bloom Solutions is all about and a few services that might be a great opportunity for you.

Don't miss the Interview with Vonda and Sahid on February 17th and available on The Bloom Show on YouTube.

New Bloom Solutions
Flower Clique
Flower Clique Prep Schools

Sponsored by:
Flower Clique
Flower Clique Prep School
Real Life Retail Florist

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:06

And it's not always about the transaction. Your customer is the means to a beginning and you are the means to a beginning to your customers. So if you all work together, skies are the limit.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Welcome to the business and pleasure of flowers. We're your hosts, Vonda LaFever and Lori Wilson.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

And we believe that business and fun are a perfect combination. Kind of like us, Vonda.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

Lori, I'm really excited. We have a special guest with us today. We do. I love when we have new guests. So we briefly met at the Society of American Florist Convention in Orlando. And then actually I scheduled an appointment with Sahid because I was like, I want to know more about what New Bloom Solutions is all about. So we connected and had a great conversation. And I said, you know what? We need to get Sahid on the podcast to let our listeners know what he does because he's he's kind of like us, I think.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Oh well, tell us what you do, Sahid. It's nice to see you again, by the way.

SPEAKER_02 1:17

Nice to see you as well. And Vonda, nice to see you, and thank you for having me on the show. And I have to say, I love how both of you work and your energy is amazing. We just spoke for a couple minutes now, and it was just amazing. We had to be disciplined and move on, but thank you so much for your time. And it's a pleasure to be here. My name is Saeed Naheem. I'm the owner and CEO and founder of New Bloom Solutions, and I'm partnered with Above All Flowers. And we are a solution innovative-driven um agency, and also you could say in a way, a media company that we try to connect the florist and every sector in the flower industry together through news, through information. And then we try to present and represent um brands that are innovative and find solutions, like florography, for example. So we try to introduce these really cool tools that help flora sell more flowers on and wholesalers and farms and everybody else in between.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

So tell us a little bit about your story. How did you get started? Like how long have you been in the industry? How did you get started? What is that journey?

SPEAKER_02 2:20

So I was actually selling purses for many years. Um I was in marketing and I was also working for high-end fashion with um Hermes and Carolina Herrera, and and I did sales for them. And then after a little while, I a little burnt out of selling uh really expensive purses, where I found uh an ad on the paper, and it was um a flower salesperson executive for Esmeralda Farms. And I still remember when I was a kid going around with my mom because she used to do design at our home and having you know baby's breath or status and thinking as a kid, man, look at the value of status. It just lasts forever. And and I remember that. So I I applied for the position and I was hired, and then I worked for them for about eight years, seven to eight years. I was a the um trainer, I was a sales trainer, and then I moved on to uh Royal Flowers, which I worked there for about five to six years. Okay, and then you know, if you want the whole story of how I got to this place, sure, yeah, continue on. So the whole story of how I got uh got to this destination of New Bloom Solutions and and became being an advocate for innovation and connection throughout the industry was through my 15 years of tenure of doing sales, I was more of a consultant than I was a salesperson. I was trying to understand what wholesalers needed, what floors needed. I found a lot of mentors as well that would talk, you know, you're talking 100 phone calls a day, so you're really just getting in there. And I also started seeing the books coming, urban STEM coming, global roles doing their thing, flower muse, 50 flowers. So you see all these companies coming up. So I realized that e-commerce was gonna knock on our door and social media. So I started learning about them, designing websites and also taking on um little passion projects like New York Flower Market, for example. I run that as a passion project in Instagram. So I started speaking to my customers and giving them these tips. Hey, do you have an Instagram? No, I don't. Let me open it for you. Let's get together and open it. And it was pro bono, it was just testing the waters, helping them redesign their websites, and the sales started increasing. Their loyalty started increasing, their business started getting stronger. That's when I had a you could say Epiphany saying, Okay, if I'm gonna do a transaction as a B2B, we need to support the entire business model for our customer and at least connect them to services and solutions or education and information so that they're having a strong business model. So it's less about the transaction and it's more about the partnership and collaboration and efforts together to grow both businesses. After a panic attack or two at work, I I decided to um jump ship. Um, I'm a cancer survivor when I was 23 years old, so that made me realize that life is short and health is very fragile. So jump and do things that mean something to you. So I jump ship, and for the last three years, I've been, you know, that that voice on the bullhorn saying we need innovation and also bringing the innovation, and we also support startups. So if there's a startup out there, we want to help them through our channels and our audiences.

SPEAKER_01 5:23

I love that. I mean, if Lori and I are just looking, going, wow, you know, how there are certain people who have the same goal in mind, and that is to help the florist, whether it's a wholesaler, whoever is in this industry, succeed. It's all about the success of other people. And sometimes we see people struggling, and you're like, yeah, there's an easier way. And that's what you're all about, right? It's like, this is not the way you need to do it. You know, maybe somebody told you to do it this way so many years ago, but now, gosh, listen, just let me let me show you something that can be done. And it sounds like that's what you're doing in every avenue or every segment of the floral industry.

SPEAKER_02 6:06

Yes. And and again, our passion is because we have created uh a strong media channel and a strong subscriber list that even our competitors, if they have something smart to say, we're sharing it.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Yeah, that's how we feel too.

SPEAKER_02 6:19

Yeah, we're not afraid. We we want that information. If we even see a free event that's happening or a great event, I want to make sure that everybody knows about that event because it's only going to strengthen our industry. I always quote Alejandro Perez from Comet Sales. Um, he said, let's not fight over our piece of pie, let's grow the pie bigger. Therefore, our piece of pie will be bigger. So that's the way that I envision the flower industry is that if we just grow it bigger and we all work together, we won't have to fight over the small little gerb stems. You know, like we're not fighting, we're working together.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

What was going through my mind at as you were saying that, if if I was a up-and-coming florist, or in my mind, I'm an up-and-coming florist, like we were talking, where I'm kind of winging it and I don't have a system in place. What would be the first conversation you and I would have? Okay. So let's say somebody said, Hey, you need to go check them out, and I reach out to you. What's your first step in how to know if we can if you can help me or not?

SPEAKER_02 7:24

So with floors, we we're more of a media channel where we're we're communicating information to them. And then we're also representing cool brands, BloomyPro, Speaking Roses, um, things like that, that we're through our audience, we're putting them in front of them and saying, look, check these things out that could help you.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Oh, so you're helping them with resources.

SPEAKER_02 7:42

With resources, yes.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

So in our case, then what we need to do is connect with you. And so you know that we're going to be creating a new course for a startup florist, right? So then we would need to say to Sahid, hey, if you get a call from a new florist, here's some a resource that would be really great for them. And so those, you're the connector. You are a major connector.

SPEAKER_02 8:03

That's what it is in general, is connecting them to resources, information, services, innovations. I have consulted because what I've found that because of my experience with distributors and with wholesalers, you have florists that want to hear the truth. They want to understand why I am not getting my white roses last year, the way I think it was November. And they'll call me. I do something very affordable, we'll sit down for an hour, and they can just ask me all the questions and they get the facts. So I'm not sugarcoating anything because there is a lack of trust in some cases with florists and their wholesalers, wholesalers with farms and distributors. And I've had a relationship for many years. Oh, the farms are doing this. No, it's not really happening that way. And I have no real uh motive to cover someone's tracks, right? I've my motive is really to clear the air so that everybody knows that there's so many moving parts, and we have to work together and you have to trust, and you have to give a little to take a little and gain a little. But when it comes to floors, we really don't do services for them. We connect them to the service around them. And then if they need a consulting one-on-one, we'll do that as well.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

Sure. You've said two words that are so vital to any business, and especially young businesses like ours, and that is loyalty and trust. That's why people come to you. That's why they come to us, is because, you know, first they have to trust us to know that we're the ones that are a good resource. And then that they're loyal because they come back and they're like, gosh, what Saheed gave me was so good. Let me go back and get more information and find out what my next step for a resource would be. I just think that's awesome. You know, it really is. That's the foundation of a good business is the trust and then the loyalty that brings them back.

SPEAKER_02 9:45

And it's not always about the transaction. No. That's what it is about a partnership, a collaboration. Your customer is just not a means to an end, right? Your customer is the means to a beginning, and you are the means to a beginning to your customer. So if you all work together, skies are the limit. But if you're just looking at them as a transaction and patting their orders, you know, or sending them more flowers than they need, or selling them, you know, your worst flowers because you need to, you have to think of them as an extension to your business. And both ways, too, even if it's a consumer.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

Right. Tell me or us about Bloom's show. I saw that on your website. So do you have like a TV show, or what is that?

SPEAKER_02 10:24

That's close to TV as you get YouTube, right?

SPEAKER_00 10:26

So like right, a lot of people just subscribe to you. Like my boys only have YouTube, they don't have cable.

SPEAKER_02 10:34

Yeah, so and that's that's great because there's great information out there. But again, it's another channel that we've created to create a voice for the flower industry. So we focus on farms, on logistics experts, on e-commerce experts, or you know, we're actually having flower moxie on. And the reason why we do that is so that they learn from these people that have gotten there, right? And also, for example, we had um Armelini and Prime on the same call. We had Chrysal and Florelife on the same call so that there's a unified real message getting out there. And this information I think is super valuable to the florist because they're hearing it from the horse's mouth, you know, and they're hearing it in a unified voice. The Armelini um and Prime, we had other wholesalers sharing it with their customers, and it was a great resource for their customers to take advantage, you know, to for the wholesaler to share with their customers because it was coming from the facts, right? Um, and it really we've had great results with it. We've been nothing but blessed um with people stepping up and sharing their time. It's been a great tool, it's been super rewarding as well to see how many people have been open to joining in and also saying um that that it's helping change the industry or at least add light to the industry. But my goal is to get that information to Florist.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

I loved that you did the prime and the Armelini because everybody hears from their wholesaler. It's a logistics problem. The the trucking companies are doing this, and and they're just thinking it's another excuse. So it was perfect that you did that, and then that they were able to share that because then it's like I we didn't make this up. These are the people who run the shipping companies, you know, the the trucking companies. So that was that was really smart. And you're right, you're getting rid of so many of those myths. It's almost like that old myth buster show, right? It's like the other thing that when you mentioned it just briefly, and then when you and I spoke, I was really um intrigued by someone you sponsor called Speaking Roses. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_02 12:40

So we're exclusive representative for speaking roses, and what speaking roses is, it's a system that allows you to print anything directly on a flat surface flower. So you're getting this one flower, kind of think of it as a greeting card, and now you're putting it a flower that causes emotion. Now you're adding a message or design or art or a picture, skies are the limit, onto this. So you now you're creating a flower with an emotional message, right? So the opportunities of scaling your business and looking into it and either going in the direction of going after added agencies or going in the direction of creating an upsell for your brides or going in the direction of doing corporate accounts or hotel weeklies. Imagine like a W hotel and says your dream comes true on each row's uh, so you're doing 100 or 200 stams a week. So there's so much opportunity of creativity for it for this product. It's been around for many years, but they they put the task on me to bring it into the floral industry and directly to florists because before it was like a $30,000 um franchise fee. Yeah. So I said, that's not gonna work. It ain't gonna work. You know, we need things that are gonna work and that the florists will be successful with it. Um, so it's worked for us, it's done really great. We have many big projects kind of coming up and working, um, but it's a great product that could help sell more flowers, I believe, and cause creativity.

SPEAKER_01 14:02

Yeah, you can where can they find more information on that?

SPEAKER_02 14:05

Is it uh so you you can go to our website and schedule a meeting, or you just could go to speakingroses.com. Okay, and then on the top left corner is a little contact us. There's tons of information, but on the top left corner, there's a contact us, fill out that information, and it'll come directly to us.

SPEAKER_01 14:20

Okay, perfect. I was just really taken in. I'm like, you know, this stuff is really cool, you know, just to get that message on a rose. People who are doing it for Valentine's Day, I'm sure it's blowing up because they can charge a double for a rose, even at the price of the roses are right now. But anyway, just uh I was just in thank you taking in on that one.

SPEAKER_00 14:39

Yeah, I could see that yes, I mean, think about if I received a small bouquet of flowers from my husband and inside a rose, it said, I love you, Lori. I'm like, that would be amazing. Because that's me. My name is in the rose. Like, that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_02 14:57

There's even companies that do um I love you in eight different languages. Oh there's a bouquet of I love you. And the the opportunity that we see is that they they the non-holidays, right? Father's Day is not the best holiday for everybody. So imagine doing this, you know, this six pack of buds are for you, writing that, or or mustaches and tobacco and and and cigars on a flower, right? Or putting a joke on a flower. So there's so much that you can do, but you have to think creatively and think about taking those opportunities.

SPEAKER_00 15:27

Well, and this is I'm sure it's an investment too, you know, it certainly is for any for a business. So the other thing I was looking at your website, I love that um you have a tab called news. I'm a reader, I love blogs, I love anything news oriented, and you have a lot of great free news on here.

SPEAKER_02 15:47

Yeah. So we we focus on news again, it's a little difficult for us, but we focus on news that is pertinent to florist when it comes to e-commerce, social media, things, tips like that, trends. And then also we're trying at the same time cater to wholesalers and distributors and growers because we all need it. They all need it. So the better we all do it, the better the industry goes. Another aspect is that we interview farms. I went to Hawaii and I interviewed someone there, a potillo grower. We interview wholesalers throughout the country. I did a special report, you could say, on San Francisco flower market. So if you really want to get to understand what other people are doing, what the industry does, what people did 20 years, you know, 50 years ago, it's just a great resource to see an insight into the entire flower industry. Uh, and we're gonna do stuff at Wolfsaw. So we also do snippets of the event at Wolfsaw, so you're kind of there. We did something at SAF. So we try to again bring in as much information for everybody. So it gets a little hard, but we try our best.

SPEAKER_01 16:47

Yeah, that's really cool. Is there an area that you feel that you excel more as far as in all these segments of the industry that you're working with, from the retailer, the wholesaler to the grower, you know, farms. Where is it you feel that you find greater satisfaction? Um, is there an area that you enjoy working with more so?

SPEAKER_02 17:10

Obviously, I want to do a picture marketing and say of service, but what's really doing good for us and what I feel a great return because of the change that we still see is the media, is the Bloom Show, is the newsletter. We are seeing changes throughout. You know, we're we're seeing even competitors that were like, yes, you know, come in because we're legitimizing that this industry needs it. So to see that and to have great compliments from great people to interview and say, I saw the change, it helped my business. People that I I would have never planned to be talking to them five years ago or sitting down in an office with them, that has been great personal reward for me. Very satisfying, and seeing that I'm able to just add my my two cents into the industry and give them a voice and allow them to create, and then other services, but that's really the thing that I think that has has really um made it all worth it, really.

SPEAKER_00 18:07

So, Sahid, I do have one question, and it's not written down, but it is in my brain. If you don't want to answer it, the phone is round, right? If if you don't want to answer, if you can't answer it, Vonda can edit. So I'll try it. Here we go. As you know, we've been in a pandemic for two years, right? So I am curious what have you felt being as you're talking to a lot of the same people we are as far as florists and this. What have you seen as being the biggest pain point for each person that comes to you what they need help with? Like what is the biggest thing that they don't know that it's a pain point?

SPEAKER_02 18:51

So they don't know they see it, but even I I did a uh a speech with EMC, and it was based on don't let technology pass you by, right? Don't wait till it's too late. If you're listening to a podcast, you're taking advantage of technology.

SPEAKER_00 19:07

True, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:08

Now use it for your use it toward your favor, you know. Yeah, so that that that's something we have seen is that pain point of not knowing it's a pain point and not realizing, or saying, why do I need a website? It hasn't brought me anything. Yeah, because you done it wrong, right?

SPEAKER_00 19:24

Right, right, because you can't order off of it, or because you don't have this, you don't have that, or you did it 10 years ago. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 19:31

And then the other pain point is logistics, but that's the overall. You see, I do a circle, that's the overall for us in our daily lives, and not just ordering from Amazon. Right. So so logistics has been a big issue, and it's a real issue. It's labor, it's um it's just even trucks. We're speaking to a trucking company, large trucking company, they're like six months behind of getting new trucks in. So it just there's so many aspects of it. People are leaving the great resignation, I think.

SPEAKER_00 20:00

Resignation, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:01

So that is happening too. So lay labor, logistics, and not knowing your pain points. I guess that's that's the way to say it.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

Yeah, no, that's good. Yeah, good. You know, it's interesting when you put it all under logistics for the shipping, because you know, you hear people say, Oh, it's hiring, oh, it's I can't get the trucks, oh, I can't get this. So everything is encompassed in you know, that logistics.

SPEAKER_02 20:24

Even even education and logistics issue has been that there's the schools closed, right? Right. They weren't training new drivers, right? Therefore, there wasn't a resource of drivers, so less drivers, more trucks, more expensive. Yeah, yeah. So even that, so it's just there's so many chain reactions that we just kind of don't know the pain points because we don't realize we're we take a lot for granted sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

Oh, yeah, we definitely do. Especially now we can see how much we did take for granted. You look back, right? You look in that rear view mirror and you go, oh man, I wish I would have filled the blank or exactly so all right.

SPEAKER_00 21:03

So I ask everybody a question at the end of the podcast, and there is no right answer. It doesn't have to be about our industry, it can be about a new couch, whatever. But what is inspiring you right now?

SPEAKER_02 21:21

I think I kind of answered it. It is having those compliments from great people, Vonda yourself, being asked to do these things um because there's the change is needed, and I'm saying things and having other people and being the channel for other people to say things, uh it's just having that 1% change or 0.0005% awareness, that is extremely fulfilling for me. Uh, and and seeing that happen and and just be just again being around amazing people that I never thought I would be sit down and have a dinner with, you know, and really seeing the the business grow, but really seeing them grow and their ears perk up when we're talking, and that has truly been important um uh meaningful for me.

SPEAKER_01 22:05

Yeah, just tells that you love people and that you're compassionate and caring and you want only the best for them. And I love that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:14

Thank you very much for saying that. I appreciate that. Thank you. This is see, this is fulfilling.

SPEAKER_01 22:22

For us too. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 22:24

I'm with you. This is our love language, too, just being able to be at a table with other people like that are like-minded, right? And are passionate about the industry, yet peaceful. We do have peace in our problems. Yeah, it just is what it is. So we'd love to have you back sometime. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for listening to our podcast. We hope you enjoyed spending time with us because we enjoy spending time with you. If you did, make sure you hit that subscribe button or add the Business and Pleasure of Flowers to your Google morning routine or your flash briefing on Alexa. We look forward to seeing you next week.

SPEAKER_01 23:05

So please come back and join us and discover how a bit of knowledge and one small change in your mindset can take you to new levels in your life and business.