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Shortly after I publish my June editorial about silk flowers being a good alternative I bumped into a local florist (Dutch) in the car park of Sainsbury’s Richmond. Gabbing as you do, we passed the time of day, I admired his delivery vehicle (a rather fine and very nicely sign written Chrysler Voyager) and he started chatting about my editorials. 

Having blushed at the kind comments he then said that he’d read the piece about silks and after facing up to his loathing of the things decided to give it a go and put a load in the front of his shop. 

The result? An immediate upturn in sales and, perhaps more importantly, a realisation that he’d possibly been missing a trick because of his personal taste and preferences. Obviously I was chuffed that my words had managed to make someone think twice and with such good results but it also shows that sometimes we can’t just do what we like. At the end of the day we are all totally dependent on our customer choosing us over someone or somewhere else. If that means having to dilute/change or add to the mix we offer in ways that may not always sit comfortably then sadly that’s how it’s got to be. Either that or face not being in business at all.