Franchise

FNP Franchise Success Story- Kolkata

Franchise Success Story- Puja Singhania

Apart from the flourishing online business, Ferns N Petals is also a popular name in the field of the franchise business. We have more than 330 flower and cake franchise outlets PAN India. The reason for our success is our franchise model. We provide all the training & technical support to the partner for them to build their retail outlet. It is an amazing platform to start your own business. In continuation to our series “Franchise Success Story”, today we present to you the story of Puja Singhania who has been technically involved with Ferns N Petals since 2007. But she became a Franchise owner in 2016. Within these 3 years, she has achieved a lot in her business. Learn more about her in her exclusive interview below:

Q: How long have you been associated with Ferns N Petals franchise business?
Puja: I have been associated with FNP since 2007 as a non-FNP vendor. But I took up a franchise of FNP in 2016 and FNP Cakes in 2018.

Q: Have you always wanted to be a businesswoman?
Puja: (With excitement in voice) Oh Yes, I always dreamt about doing something on my own and be independent.

Q: Before starting this franchise business, what else have you done?
Puja: I was pursuing my graduation, CA, and later MBA. I have my own brand “Heart 2 Heart” which is a B2B online business. I also have a website www.flowergiftsvalley.com and a retail flower store Anant florist.

Q: How did you come to know about FNP or who introduced you to FNP Franchise business?
Puja: I received a call from Mr. L.D. Sharma from India Times (who taught me about online business) and thus through India Times I got to know about Ferns N Petals. Later I received a call from Mr. Saurav Sahni on 2nd February 2007. He asked me to serve for online order for Kolkata being a non-FNP partner. Then in 2016, Pawan Gadia Sir called me and asked me to take a franchise of FNP.

Q: How much did you actually invest in this business?
Puja: I have paid franchise fees of 1 lac for flowers and to prepare my interiors. I invested 1 lac more to fill the first stock. For cakes, I invested 5 lac (3 lac as franchise fees and 2 lac for interiors). Then for the kitchen, I paid 18 lac in total (15 lac for interior and equipment and 3 lac for first fill stock). Now for personalized gifting (started in 2019), I invested 1 lac including the first stock.

Q: How long did it take you to recover the investment?
Puja: FNP is an immensely popular brand and that’s why I didn’t take much time to recover the cost. In a year only, I recovered my investment for flowers while for cakes, I will take another year to recover. By the next year, I will also recover the initial investment for personalized gifting.

Q: Give a rough image of your current profit or income. Is that what you expected?
Puja: I can say that at least 18 lac is the approximate profit on a yearly basis. And in the upcoming days, I am expecting this number to increase only.

Q: What kind of support did you receive from Ferns N Petals?
Puja: I have received all kind of support from Ferns N Petals – be it the manpower, solution to day to day challenges, advanced technology, or smooth payment.

Q: Did the training provided by FNP help you in dealing with day to day challenges at work?
Puja: Yes, absolutely. The training provided at the time of taking franchisee is really helpful. It helped a lot in knowing how to maintain the balance sheet in real terms, track monthly profit and loss accounts, enhance the customer database, and maintaining a relationship with the customer so that he returns to us for his gifting needs.

Q: How long do you spend in your shop?
Puja: I come to my shop at 8 A.M. and stay till 1 P.M. Then I come here again at 1 P.M. and stay till 11 P.M.

Q: How has your life changed with this franchise business?
Puja: I have learned a lot from this franchise business and in this last three years I have evolved more as a confident person. I am more positive in today’s date and the power to connect with people has also enhanced. I have learned that customer handling is an art and with each passing day, it is just improving.

Q: Where do you see yourself in the coming 5 years?
Puja: My target is to have a mini FNP in Kolkata in the next 5 years. I want to have more outlets here and serve people with different varieties of the artistic arrangement of exotic flowers.

Q: Share one of the happiest moments that you or your team have experienced while serving a customer
Puja: I vividly remember an incident when I personally went to deliver a gift to an old couple staying in New Town, Kolkata. Their son stays abroad and has sent a gift to his old parents. I handed the gift box and was about to leave saying Goodbye. But the old man asked me to stay for a few minutes as there is no one to clap while the cake is being cut. His wife is in bed rest who can only see and hear but cannot react. I was speechless at that moment. So, I stayed there for some time and the old man shared a moment of his happiness with me. That day, I actually realized we “deliver emotions”. We make a lifetime bond with a customer. I can thus never forget this day of my life that still motivates me to deliver the best at my work.

Q: Share one of the weirdest demands that any customer has ever made to you
Puja: Once a group of youngsters came and asked for an arrangement of flowers with condoms along with an adult cake for the first night of the couple. Seriously, this is the weirdest demand I have ever heard.

Q: Define Success in a sentence
Puja: I really idolize Mr. Pawan Gadia and for me, success means “Pawan Gadia”. Working hard and making your work your passion is the key to become successful in life actually.

Q: What would be your advice to those people who want to take up the FNP franchise model of business?
Puja: My piece of advice to the upcoming franchise owners would be – keep a check on your profit and loss regularly and work really harder than yesterday. One thing is for sure – you will become more skilled and organized with this business.

Click here to know more about the Kolkata store.

Find a list of all FNP retail franchisees PAN India Here

 

About the author

Shruti Sood

Shruti is crazy about F.R.I.E.N.D.S & that is the first thing she tells everyone she meets! In a parallel universe, she is a passionate writer! She loves to research about various things and make her write-ups informative. She is a marketing professional by day and wears many other hats during the rest of the day! She loves to travel, paint, write poems, play music, and watch memes!

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