Chicago-based startup Flowers For Dreams started when a couple of high school friends began selling flowers at graduation ceremonies in 2010. In 2012, the company expanded its purpose. For every bouquet sold, they donated a backpack with a year’s worth of school supplies to a Chicago Public Schools student in need. Today, Flowers For Dreams is using that same concept, on an even larger scale.
After gaining knowledge about the not-so-pretty sides of the flower industry, Flowers For Dreams set out to become the alternative to the overpriced flower delivery service — a company that makes flowers more inspiring and accessible. Unique organic bouquets sourced from local farmers are designed to order and made by hand, wrapped in burlap, and delivered by bike messenger, with prices starting at $35.
The company donates 25 percent of its profits to a variety of local charities each month. Since inception, they have donated more than $194,000 dollars to Chicago charities with no plans to stop anytime soon. The company has grown to a staff of 25, with offices in Chicago and now Milwaukee, WI. They’ve also added a flower truck to the mix (Chicago’s first flower truck in decades).
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The Flowers For Dreams Team. (pictured above)
When Steven Dyme, CEO, and Joseph Dickstein, COO, started this venture, they had no idea the business would grow to what it is today. The company reached about $3 million in revenue in 2016, according to Dyme, and beyond selling single bouquets, almost half their business includes creating florals for weddings and events. The team is especially excited to build up their new Milwaukee business this year.
“The $200,000 donation mark seemed far out of reach just a few short years ago. I remember thinking about how many tens of thousands of bouquets we’d need to sell to even come close. Sure enough, we’re almost there,” Dyme says. “While we’ve grown a lot this past year, and seen our team grow, our impact has broadened in more ways than just money. And personally, it’s what I’m most proud of.”
Flowers For Dreams prides itself on helping the community in more ways than just writing checks to charities.
“We provide job training for female refugees, workshops for the developmentally disabled, hand out flowers to disadvantaged elderly, recycle flowers for those recovering in hospitals, and much more. We even got the first flower truck in Chicago and launched a bridal magazine that is distributed free throughout the city,” Dyme says.
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Bouquets start at $35 and can be ordered on the Flowers For Dreams website or purchasing from their flower truck.
The company donates to all different kinds of charities and once a year they allow organizations to submit their non-profit business as a contender.
“We really like to encompass all different kinds of charities: poverty, education, nutrition, adoptions for pets. Everyone has got something that is really is meaningful to them, so we want to make sure that we’re touching all these different bases,” says Flowers For Dreams Director of Business Development Michael Zucker.
“Every October we release a form to the public and these nonprofits fill it out. Then we compile all this data and distribute it throughout the company. Each person in the company votes for their 12 favorite charities and we have a dinner where everyone gets to pick their three favorite charities and pitch it to the rest of the team.”
Find more about the work Flower For Dreams is doing and the charities they’ve partnered with on their 2016 Impact Report.
“We plan to bring Flowers for Dreams to other cities and build a bigger community of beyond profit companies in Illinois and throughout the country,” Dyme says.
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Flowers For Dreams worked hard to launch Chicago’s first flower truck in decades.
The ultimate dream for this company would be to have an urban farm in Chicago, Zucker says.
“We’re laying the groundwork now, and it will definitely take some time, but we’d love to own our own Flowers for Dreams urban farm where we can manage and source even more locally, and create more jobs.”
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