Written by: Shina Tan
Not a single soul in the vicinity.
It was 6 p.m. on a Wednesday. Petrichor filled the air, and the sound of crickets emanated from the damp grass. Industrial buildings cluttered the maze of a street. The “Windflower Florist” signage was dimly lit at the back of the car park. Guarded by a sizeable store gate, there was not an inch to peek into the store. Without a clue about what stood behind the wooden door, a tall burly man appeared.
THE MAN BEHIND IT ALL
Meet Stanley Tan, 30. The second-generation owner of Windflower Florist. Born into a family of florists, his parents owned a cosy neighbourhood flower store at Loyang Point in 1997. When he graduated with a Diploma in Communications and Media Management at Temasek Polytechnic, he knew that taking over his family business was no easy task. Fighting against all odds, Stanley went above and beyond. He transformed his wilting family business into a multi-million-dollar company today.
Figure 1: Stanley Tan, 30, owner of Windflower Florist preparing a bouquet for his client at his work station in Singapore, December 14, 2022.
THE VISION
“I had this idea of taking over the florist. In secondary school, I would rent a pushcart during Valentine’s Day, and then I would try to sell some roses, and make some money as a secondary school kid. I didn’t understand the art of doing flowers.” Stanley laughed in reminiscence.
Figure 2: Stanley Tan draining water out from the water bag at Windflower Florist’s office on December 14, 2022.
Stanley’s vision of Windflower becoming a household name started to become clear when he was completing his polytechnic education. As history repeats itself, he rented a pushcart once again to sell flowers on Valentine’s Day. Only then, everything was sold out within an hour. That was all it took for him to realize that there was, indeed, a business opportunity in floristry.
PUTTING UP A FIGHT
However, Stanley’s family believed otherwise. Stanley’s mother, Teo Woon Yee, 61, explained, “Back then, we didn’t want Stanley to take over the business… We thought that if he pursued university, and took a different route from us, it would be better.”
Even the aunties in the neighbouring stalls of his parents’ business tried to convince them, “Aiya…don’t let your son do flowers.” Ms Teo remembered vividly.
Regardless of his family’s disapproval of him taking over the business, Stanley wanted to challenge that notion.
He wanted to revive his parents’ small business which doubled as their humble abode. It was originally a cubicle-sized store where his parents cooked, watched television, and sold chrysanthemums for temple offerings. It was a simple life, but it was a life of contentment.
With only $800 in the family’s business bank account and $10,000 tied to Stanley’s name, his first purchases were an iMac, two iPads and a Point-Of-Sale machine.
Most would deem his expenditures inefficient. But Stanley had other ideas.
“I went in with the mindset of: I’m going to shake things up. Because things cannot stay the way it is.” Stanley attested.
He wanted to bring the company to the 21st century. Using the knowledge he acquired from his diploma, he relied on social media giants such as Instagram. As he learnt to arrange flowers the modern way, he used chicken-rice papers instead of kraft papers to wrap his bouquets.
Nonetheless, he began to show results and his parents had finally taken faith.
FAMILY FIRST, FLOWERS AFTER
After 8 years of operating the business, Stanley still preserves the morale that family comes first and flowers after.
“At the end of the day, what matters most is family, the family value that we preserve here at Windflower is here to stay.” Stanley peered over at his team.
But he shares that his life is not always a bed of roses.
Disaster struck on Valentine’s Day when Stanley couldn’t get ahold of the deliverymen. They were uncontactable. “The entire stretch of the car park were all our flowers, waiting to be delivered,” Stanley recalled. With the stake of his business in the palm of his hand, Stanley burst opens the doors and instructed his team to call everyone they knew, to come down and help. “I will pay, I will pay!” Stanley laughed as he remembered announcing that.
Eventually, families of Windflower Florist’s staff started rolling in to help with the delivery. It almost seemed as if everyone in town was there. Chaos and havoc wrecked the place, but it was a perfect mess.
The day was saved.
THE LOVE FOR FLOWERS
There’s always an identity crisis, “Am I a florist first or a businessman?” Stanley pondered. Over time, he grew to love the artistry of flowers and concluded that he would chase his vision, and what he loves first. The money will come after.
As opposed to his intimidating demeanour, Stanley is a firm believer that “Flowers are nature’s way of going through life with us. Graduation, first dates, proposal, wedding, even down to our death.” Going through life with different characters, Stanley realized that “what binds us all together is the love of flowers.”
Figure 3: Stanley Tan, assembling a flower bouquet for his client at Windflower Florist’s office, December 14, 2022.
Contrary to the cold and mysterious exterior of Windflower Florist, what lies within was another world. A world of warm familial comfort, and a fiery passion that fueled the place.
Stanley chuckled, “There’s a lot of people who believed in my vision, and I want to make it happen for all of them, and as well for me.”
