21 Questions with Aarushi Agrawal

By Staff Writers Cecilia Cheng & Fiona Yang

SS: Can you introduce yourself and your business?

AA: My name is Aarushi Agrawal, and my business is Bluma Flowers. We use different materials to create everlasting flowers for people to give at different events.

 

SS: What has been your favorite part of your journey as a creator?

AA: My favorite part is seeing people’s wants being put to life. I’m able to actually create it, and I think it’s really great to see a smile on their face after they get the flowers.

 

SS: Can you describe your previous experience with art?

AA: I’m not that much of an artistic person. I haven’t done much art in the past, so this is a way for me to show my creative side without the traditional painting. It’s a great way to show creative skills. It’s a great way to show that art isn’t just drawing and all these paintings and stuff, but you can do it, you can express creativity in other ways.

 

SS: How did you begin hand crafting bouquets?

AA: I went to Vietnam, and I saw a bunch of different art crafts and stuff, so I was like, ‘Wow, I saw these small businesses creating mini bracelets and some kinds of fake flowers. I really want to start something like this.’ So then after that, I did some research, and I decided that this could be where I put some time and effort. And then I started the business.

 

SS: Did you have any crafting experience beforehand?

AA: No, not really. I watched some YouTube videos and did a bunch of practice, and then after that I was able to put stuff together and then create the business after that.

 

SS: What inspired you to pursue this business?

AA:  I saw all of those small arts crafts, and also with school and everything, it’s really stressful, so sometimes just having something on the side, something where you can put your time and energy, and just have a little bit of fun: I think that was one of the biggest inspirations.

 

SS: Were you inspired by other creators? If so, who?

AA: I wouldn’t really say like other specific creators. It was when I saw all these small businesses, I wanted to pursue my own thing, so I just looked at YouTube, saw different videos, but not a specific creator.

 

SS: Did your business turn out how you first imagined it to be? 

AA: At first, I didn’t imagine people to actually buy it. I haven’t publicized it as much, but I did get a lot of orders, especially around Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day. I made like a couple bouquets, so it was pretty good. It wasn’t really what I expected, but I got a lot of orders, and I do want to continue it in the future and publicize more for all these like more events.

 

SS: What would you describe as the purpose of your business?

AA: I think the purpose is mostly just to make people happy. Oftentime people get flowers, but they end up throwing them away. I think having Bluma Flowers, you have everlasting flowers you can always look at and keep a smile on your face. 

 

SS: What was your greatest achievement with Bluma Flowers?

AA: I think the greatest achievement is learning more about the business world. It’s not always what you expect. Sometimes it’s more difficult to actually get the orders or keep in communication with people and make sure everyone’s really satisfied, so it gave me a lot more knowledge in the entrepreneurship world, which I think was really valuable.

 

SS: What were some of your favorite memories running this business?

AA: Some of my favorite memories are at school, I’ve given flowers to some of my friends. They take photo shoots with it, and they have a lot of fun with it, so I think it’s just really great seeing how much people appreciate it and how much people come back and want more.

 

SS: How much have you made from Bluma Flowers?

AA:  I haven’t done the specific math behind it, but the materials we use are from Amazon, so they’re not super expensive but not super cheap either. They’re pretty good quality. Each bouquet costs around $30. I’ve made around $500 through the business.

 

SS: What is one of the biggest obstacles you faced and how did you overcome it?

AA: One of the biggest obstacles I faced is the time complexity. A lot of times, actually creating it takes a lot of time, especially if I get orders that they want in a day or so, it’s kind of difficult because I’ve spent a lot of time. I think I’ve kind of overcome it by having people do pre-orders, and over time I got better at creating the craft, so it took less time and less effort.

 

SS: How do you balance school and your business?

AA: I use Bluma Flowers as a way to take stress off. Usually over the weekend, when I have a bit of free time, I’m able to do it.

 

SS: What is the most rewarding part about running Bluma Flowers?

AA: The most rewarding part is just seeing that people are really happy to receive the flowers.

 

SS: What are some of your past events or projects you have done?

AA: I haven’t specifically done past events yet, but I’ve just mostly advertised for upcoming events. I’ve done Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and birthdays. I’m planning to do some events in the future. I’ll probably figure that out this summer.

 

SS: What are some goals you have for the MSJ/local community?

AA: Some goals I have are more people buying it. I thought about doing collaborations with school clubs, for example, people do care packages. Hopefully next year we’re able to do those collaborations and see more Bluma Flowers around campus.

 

SS: How do you hope your business helps other people, whether by inspiring others or having another impact?

AA:  I hope it inspires other people to go for stuff. For example, as I said before, I’m not known to be an artist or a really creative person, but I found something that I enjoy doing, so I think people should just know you can go for whatever you want.

 

SS: Outside of flowers, what are some other hobbies you enjoy?

AA: Outside of flowers, I do a lot of different activities. For example, I’m part of the speech and debate team, so I really enjoy doing that. I also enjoy coding and doing different engineering projects.

 

SS: What is some advice you would give to current MSJ students who may consider starting a business in the future?

AA: I think the advice is make a plan before: how [are you] gonna advertise and everything, and just go for it. Just try your best, and then obviously you’re gonna have some failures, but don’t let that stop you, and keep going, and don’t give up.

 

SS: What do you envision for your business in the future?

AA: In the future, I want to have more customers and make sure that I’m able to expand the business more, in sense of, for example, right now I’m creating certain types of flowers, but just learning about how to create different ones, and then being able to create more bigger bouquets that other people like.