Recently married and keenly aware of just how much fresh flowers can add to a wedding tab, Lauren Bercier started Something Borrowed Blooms in her home in 2015. The Lafayette, Louisiana, rent-and-return company specializes in premium silk wedding flower collections that are on-trend, look real, smell amazing and can save couples more than 70 percent on their wedding flowers.
Since launching, the company has supplied florals for more than 26,000 weddings across the country, and typically provides bouquets, boutonnieres, centerpieces, garlands, crowns and the like to 1,200 weddings every month. Today, the growing company operates out of a 15,000-square-foot warehouse and recently inked a branded partnership deal with David’s Bridal.
The success of Bercier’s business is an example of the entrepreneurial spirit that thrives in Lafayette. According to U.S. Census data, 7.4 percent of adults in Lafayette are self-employed and the city outranks other Southern metros when it comes to the number of small businesses per capita. Additionally, Lafayette was ranked 13th among the 100 most populous U.S. metros with the most entrepreneurs according to Commodity.com.
So, what’s the secret to the region’s start-up savvy?
Part of it, Bercier says, is that Lafayette is committed to fostering a vibrant start-up ecosystem and offers several programs to support entrepreneurs from the idea stage all the way to running a large business.
Read the rest of Brittany Anas article for Livability Media here.