CLEVELAND — Dyanne Singleton loves arranging flowers, knows how to bake and was already a businesswoman with a tax prep service, LTC Virtual Solutions.
So, it wasn't a stretch for her to open JDL Treat & Flower Shoppe in Old Brooklyn.
"I had decided at the beginning of the year that I was going to open up this shop," she says.
And then surprise!
“Here we go with the pandemic,” she explained. “So, we actually opened in August."
That still could have worked. I mean, everyone loves flowers and food.
"We sell chocolate covered strawberries, and then small pastries. Think of Edible Arrangements, everything that they sell,” she told us.
But more affordable.
"Yes. More affordable than them. And it's local. It's all sourced locally. So, it all comes from here and it's all our own creations," she said.
The original business model was to have a café where the community could come to socialize. Obviously, that’s on hold. But the pandemic doesn't mean that they can't survive.
In fact, Mike Nunez, Chief Communications Officer with Incfile, a company that helps brings business ideas to fruition, says, “It's never been easier to reach hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people. And, it's never been easier to start a business online and get something up there.”
You don't even have to sell a product. If you're good at something, the internet is your money maker.
“Whether you're good at woodworking, pottery, painting, drawings, you can do online courses,” he explains. “Maybe you can make a video for that, upload it to YouTube, and after you get a certain number of views, YouTube can actually even share some of the revenue that they make from that video with you as well.”
Dyanne didn't make videos, but shifted her focus to curbside and online, partnering with 1-800 Flowers to expand her reach. She pushes her products on social media and turned to her neighbors for support.
"We've kind of created a community of, ‘hey, go down the street, go look at this person if you're looking for this or that’. So it's that word of mouth," she explained.
Right now she's able to cover her bills. But suggests that anyone going into business now needs to be flexible with so much changing
“I think we're all learning that there's several different ways that we can get the same thing, accomplished,” she said.
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