Aileen McLeod, Inverness, Highlands, Scotland
- Originally from and lives in the Scottish Highlands in the town of Inverness
- Trained self-employed beauty therapist
- Some previous craft experience
- Joined Coco Blooms training in November 2019, started in Feb 2020.
- Enjoys making chocolate bouquets to sell on a part time basis
- Business name: Sweetest Gift
- Facebook and Instagram pages
Coco Blooms (CB) Aileen McLeod (AM)
Interview
CB: From way up there in the Highlands of Scotland –
Aileen, thanks for joining me on this call.
AM: It’s lovely to speak with you, thanks for asking
me to discuss my chocolate bouquet experience which has been enjoyable and worthwhile.
CB: It’s interesting to note that you’ve been
dabbling in crafts for a while and enjoy ‘making things’?
AM: Yes, I find having some time
out for myself and making crafts quite therapeutic. I have done some flower arranging after under taking a course a while ago, so I particularly enjoy the artistic side of making and
creating.
CB: So, did you attempt to make any chocolate
bouquets before you took the Coco Blooms training?
AM: Yes, but I didn't think they were good
enough and knew I could make better quality ones which is I bought the £39 home training manual from Coco Blooms to learn.
CB: Looking at the range and styles of chocolate
bouquets you make, it seems like despite learning remotely from only the manual you really have made great quality bouquets, we're really impressed - well done!
AM: Many thank, that’s good to hear
CB: What’s your background Aileen?
AM: I am a trained beauty therapist but come from an
‘arty’ and creative family. I’ve been interested in crafts for a while and have made various things from time to time including decorations, but only as a hobby.
CB: I assume the Covid situation affected your beauty
therapy self employment?
AM: Yes, very much so. The rules meant
I had to stop taking customers for a few months, but on a positive side this gave me more time to focus on chocolate bouquet gifts and putting more time into it. Up to that point I was making
chocolate bouquets but as a hobby and selling a few here and there which was fine for me anyway.
CM: So, what did you do to step up the
chocolate bouquet work?
AM: Well, my converted garage at home which is where
my beauty salon is suddenly became my chocolate bouquet workshop! So amongst the equipment and treatment table were plenty of chocolate bouquet materials and lots of chocolate!
I started to get some exposure amongst the community
for making quality chocolate bouquets through donating to raffles to support fund raising for a school.
CB: And did that exposure help to sales?
AP: Yes it did and the feedback was excellent. I then
made a range for Fathers Day in June and put them up on my Facebook pages. There is a friendly and helpful business community in Inverness and we tend to support each other where we can. A local taxi
company with a lot of followers shared my posts and I also donated a bouquet by way of a competition for Fathers Day.
CB: How did that promotion go?
AM: I was inundated with enquiries and orders, so
much so I had to turn people away! Since then I have been busy making bouquets for a wide range of occasions and with repeat customers.
CB: What other selling and promotion ideas have you
undertaken?
AM: My Facebook and Instagram page is the main
central focus to guide people to them to see my range and order. But I have worked to promote them through the community e.g. word of my mouth, low cost advertising with local groups and charity
events where people can see them. I have made many for children's parties (often themed) and I do get a lot of referrals and repeat customers ordering.
CB: You seem to really enjoy making them and being
involved in the chocolate gift market?
AP: I do, and what I really like is that you can be
creative as they are so easy to make different types and personalise for different people and occasions. For example, I took a vegan chocolate bouquet order from a customer based
in Australia which I made and delivered locally. I also made a Harry Potter themed bouquet and have made several football themed styles with colours to match the team.
Also, because I’m not dealing with flowers which are
perishable, I can keep materials available to take orders and run my chocolate bouquets as a sideline alongside my beautician job. So it offers me great flexibility.
CB: And what’s the best thing about making and
selling chocolate bouquets?
AM: Without doubt it’s seeing the lovely faces when
the bouquet is delivered all wrapped up with bows - those big smiles!
CB: Now, you’re way up North of the UK how do you get
materials?
AM: Not without any real difficulty to be honest. I
don’t visit any wholesalers as they are too far away so I order everything (except chocolate) online, including the white foam blocks from yourselves (Coco Blooms).
CB: What prices are you charging?
£25 for a basic small sweet bouquet with multi-pack
chocolate bars, going up to £30+ for premium chocolates. I use PayPal to send a payment request and always get paid up front. I don’t deliver outside my town and customers are happy to
collect along with me delivering locally too.
CB: You’re probably missing out on sales outside of
your area. Have you thought about packing and posting them?
AM: I do get enquiries from further afield but at the
moment I don’t send any. I haven’t really looked at that yet.
CB: You run Sweetest Gift part-time so how do you fit
that in alongside your main work?
AM: I tend to wrap and make stems as I go along in
different colours that I know I will need so this helps spread the work out as the bouquet assembly is reasonably quick to do. So often whilst watching TV on some evenings I can do some wrapping and
preparing at the same time!
CB: Yes, that’s what I do too and it helps especially
at peak period like Christmas and Mothers Day. Talking about Christmas, what are your plans for any Christmas special bouquets?
AM: I’m going to make a few Christmas themed
bouquets and put them on my social media pages and then promote them accordingly and see how it goes.
CB: I can say that Christmas is a very busy time and
I get the feeling 2020 will be particularly busy due to more online orders. We have already had several orders (including bulk Chocolate Christmas trees from a company) so I would suggest you get
thinking quickly about bouquet design ideas!
AM: Thanks, I will!
CB: Aileen, it’s been a pleasure talking with you and
thanks for the insight to how you’ve running your part-time chocolate bouquet sideline. Good luck for your continued success with it.
AM: Thanks very much.
Check out Aileen's Sweetest Gift social media pages to see
more of her bouquets.
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