CELEBRATING FARMGIRL FLOWERS

Sometimes, entrepreneurs get off to a fast start. Other times, it takes a little longer for the right idea to take root.

Christina Stembel took roughly a decade to settle on a business idea and muster the nerve to launch Farmgirl Flowers, a direct-ship florist, from her San Francisco home. Stembel always saw herself as a business owner but wasn’t sure how to start. Unbeknownst to them, she used her friends as an ad hoc focus group to get feedback on her ideas.

She pitched them web platforms. She pitched them clothing companies. She pitched them, and then pitched them more. But nothing was clicking. Finally, while working in the events industry, she saw a real opportunity—flowers.

Waiting for the right idea to bloom paid off. Today, Farmgirl Flowers is thriving, with her team’s flower power growing a base of happy customers all over the country.

“I started this business from my dining room with one table and a shelving unit, and now I’m in a 30,000- square foot warehouse with over 100 team members churning out thousands of bouquets every day,” she said. Fueled with enthusiasm and vision, Stembel seeded her business with $50,000 to start. Gaining momentum took a while, but eventually the business grew and revenue multiplied.

Managing less-than-rosy times

While business is usually flush during flowerfocused holidays like Valentine’s 'ay, business drops off after Mother’s 'ay into a “summer slump.” Such seasonality can cause cash flow issues—a business’s biggest enemy.

But Stembel finds ways to grow her business, even during lean times. In 2018, she used her Capital One Spark card’s cash back rewards to fuel growth. “Last summer we were able to redeem $115,000 in cash back that I used for digital marketing spend,” she says. “We actually had 69 percent year-over-year growth as a direct result of spending it on digital marketing.”

Today, Farmgirl Flowers has blossomed into a $23 million business. With no investors looking over her shoulder, Stembel was recently able to make a strategic decision to slow Farmgirl Flowers’ growth and focus on profitability while building a great company culture.

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Farmgirl hits the road

The company’s growth has also made Stembel a bit of a celebrity. 'uring summer 2019, she made appearances on Fox Business, Yahoo! Finance, CNN and CNBC. She’s even been featured on a Capital One commercial that aired on national television, asking the familiar question “What’s in your wallet?” “Christina’s ability to build a business from scratch and grow it in an organic and authentic way is such an inspiring story to tell,” said -enn Garbach, head of brand and customer marketing for small business card at Capital One.

Garbach knows the story well having moderated a panel with Stembel and some other rock star business owners like Mike Lenard of Takorean and Craig Combs of Wolfe Mountain at Inc.’s recent Fast Growth Tour in San Francisco. Ever the smart marketer, Stembel capitalized on her newfound notoriety, creating the Spark Biz Bouquet, that sold out in two days! With a knack for spotting opportunity, she continues to find ways to spur summer sales.

Celebrating Farmgirl’s success

“We were so impressed to see Farmgirl Flowers named to the 2019 Inc. 5000 list for the second year in a row, another milestone for Christina and her business,” said Garbach. “She is a true industry game changer and I salute her vision to redefine an established industry while having a positive impact on her customer’s lives.”

While financial success has been wonderful for Stembel, the rewards go well beyond. The company’s impact on customers has been most gratifying.

“It feels really amazing to know that something I created with my blood, sweat, and tears literally has brought so much joy to peoples’ lives,” she says. That joy, coupled with Stembel’s resourcefulness and creativity, gives the business a bright outlook.