Liza Roeser, AAF, founder and CEO of Fifty Flowers, is sharing insights at SAF Phoenix 2023 about an operational tool that provides a structured framework and systematic approach to tackle the complexities of running a business.
In the two decades since Liza Roeser, AAF, founded the online wholesaler Fifty Flowers, it has grown to include more than 60 employees in the U.S., Ecuador, Canada and the Philippines, and Roeser’s vision for the business has changed how floral designers get fresh flowers. But in that time, she’s also experienced the challenges unique to being an entrepreneur.
“Being a business owner can be an incredibly lonely journey,” Roeser says. “You lack someone to confide in, someone to be vulnerable with, and someone to openly share the weight of running a business.”
In her search for support and a strategy to take her business to the next level, Roeser discovered the Entrepreneur Operating System (EOS), a tool that has provided a structured framework and systematic approach to tackle the complexities of her business — and take it to the next level.
Roeser will show other business leaders how EOS can help them establish effective goals and base management decisions on data rather than emotions, at SAF Phoenix 2023, the Society of American Florists’ 138th annual convention in Scottsdale, Arizona Sept. 6-9.
A devoted believer and user of the EOS system, Roeser follows the granular aspects of the program with every aspect of her business. It provides clarity, she explains, not only in her role, but also in the role of the people working for her. By adopting prescribed processes that define her company’s unique way of doing business, Roeser says Fifty Flowers has the right team working toward the right goals, operating in a daily culture that leads to growth and stronger profits.
She is confident that other floral businesses, from the smallest retail storefront to larger enterprises, will see the similar benefits.
The need for structure is also helpful as the floral industry is bombarded with change, she says. From keeping up with trends and integrating artificial intelligence to navigating business mergers, it is easy for business owners to become overwhelmed and be spread too thin, Roeser says.
Her educational session, “Operational Tools that Sustain Your Business,” will focus on the tools she’s successfully implemented using EOS, including the use of the Culture Index test to hire the right employees, running highly structured 90-minute weekly meeting, and continuously tracking short-term and long-term goals.
“ takes the guessing game out,” she says.
Sarah Sampson is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.
