Tips for young entrepreneurs

Tanja Driesen has had her own flower shop for 27 years now: Liesvelds Bindsters in Groot-Ammers.

“It’s difficult to keep a flower shop up and running. Both the rent and flowers are getting more expensive. People are buying fewer flowers for themselves, preferring to buy them as gifts. I've responded to this in my shop: buying and giving a bouquet of flowers should be a gift. I believe in being positive, flowers are here to stay.

I'm also active on Instagram, which really attracts people. I used to place an advert in the local newspaper, but I never really knew who had actually seen it. Instagram is a great free platform to showcase your products. I took a course to learn more about it – after all, I didn't grow up with social media. We florists sometimes lose sight of how wonderful our profession is because we are busy with it every day. But flowers are so beautiful and photogenic!”