A Flourishing Business in Georgia
Mariam Kobalia, Mari’s Flowers – Georgia
Mariam Kobalia is a 25-year-old entrepreneur from Georgia. She was 22 years old, married, with a small child and living at her parents’ house when she decided to start her flower shop “Mari’s Flowers” and the two greenhouses where she grows flowers. At that time, she participated in a training course for women in Anaklia, in which, she was asked to come up with a project in agriculture.
In 2019, Mariam got into a school for young entrepreneurs and received more funding which helped her buy seedlings, a drip irrigation system and other supplies. At first, she faced some difficulties, because she didn’t have any experience working in a large greenhouse, pricing flowers and caring for roses, which have a lot of diseases that need to be treated. Gradually she met people who had greenhouses, started going to flower shops and gained some knowledge through practice. The key was to be goal-oriented and participating in business trainings helped her to build contacts with people. She did an ILO’s SIYB training where she learnt specially about the marketing and advertising side of the business. It was the most important thing for her to learn. She was also taught about accounting, pricing, how to manage finances and how to produce.
The flower shop has been a family business so far. Mostly, it is Mariam’s father who helps her. In the morning she cuts the flowers in the greenhouse and when she is in the shop her father looks after the greenhouses. Her mother also helps her with the cutting and her husband helps with deliveries. On a good day, their sales revenue is USD 160 to 200. She sells roses and flowers from other local greenhouses and has many online orders. The plan is to set up two more greenhouses soon. In five years, Mariam wants to employ a salesperson in the shop and have some other shops in Zugdidi. She wants to have branded shops and the goal is to make “Mari’s Flowers” a famous brand.
Flowers is a shop in the center of the village of Darcheli, in Georgia
When you write a project proposal you have to calculate everything and really think everything through. I already had a metal structure for a greenhouse at home, which would mean I would need less money to make it operational, and this worked to my advantage. With this first project proposal, I received a small grant and bought the plastic sheeting to cover the greenhouse.."
Mariam
The flower shop has been a family business so far. Mostly, it is Mariam’s father who helps her. In the morning she cuts the flowers in the greenhouse and when she is in the shop her father looks after the greenhouses. Her mother also helps her with the cutting and her husband helps with deliveries. On a good day, their sales revenue is USD 160 to 200. She sells roses and flowers from other local greenhouses and has many online orders. The plan is to set up two more greenhouses soon. In five years, Mariam wants to employ a salesperson in the shop and have some other shops in Zugdidi. She wants to have branded shops and the goal is to make “Mari’s Flowers” a famous brand.