Today, The Daily Blooms is an online florist selling fresh and preserved flowers in Singapore doing over S$500,000 a year in sales, with same-day delivery across the island and even its own logistics company.
But husband-and-wife founders Josie and Arwin never trained as florists. They had never run a business. When they started, they did not even have a plan for how the flowers would reach their customers. The Daily Blooms began one night, as they lay in bed talking about starting something together.
The Night Two Bankers Registered a Business They Had No Plan For
Before The Daily Blooms, Josie and Arwin were both working in banking. Josie was in tech. Arwin worked in credit, the side of the bank that deals with lending.
Neither had any background in flowers. But they lived near a wholesale flower shop, and the idea kept coming back to them. Selling flowers seemed like fun, and an “easy way” to earn some extra cash on the side.
One night, the conversation turned to what starting a flower delivery business together might look like. And the more they talked, the more they realised that if they waited until they had everything figured out, they would end up putting off the idea forever.
So they officially registered The Daily Blooms with ACRA before they could change their minds.
“Once we registered the business, we would have committed ourselves to something. It would be harder for us to just back out or keep putting it off.”
It was, Josie and Arwin admit, an impulsive decision. They now had a registered business, a flower store down the road, and no real idea what to do next.
“Looking back, we were quite naive about how much work actually goes into running a business. But perhaps that was also a good thing. If we had known all the challenges we would eventually face, we might have thought twice about starting!”
Arwin’s Mum, a $50,000 Van and Flowers After Office Hours
At the start, The Daily Blooms was just a side hustle. Josie and Arwin kept their full-time jobs and their salaries paid the bills, so the business never had to.
That took the pressure off. It let them treat The Daily Blooms almost like an experiment. They were not trying to build an empire overnight. They just wanted a small slice of the florist market.
But every new order still felt like a big deal.
“We still remember how excited we would get whenever a new order came in.”
The excitement came with nerves. Would the customer like the flowers? Would everything go smoothly? Would the person receiving them be happy?
They did not have a proper delivery operation yet. So Arwin’s mum stepped in and delivered some of their earliest orders herself.
Then the timing worked in their favour.
The COVID-19 pandemic hit Singapore. For many businesses, the pandemic was a crisis. But for a flower delivery business, it was the opposite. People could not visit the ones they loved, so they sent flowers instead.
As orders grew, Josie and Arwin bought their first van for around S$50,000 all-in. Vehicle prices were attractive at the time, and having their own van gave them more flexibility with deliveries.
Somewhere along the way, the experiment stopped feeling like an experiment.
“As orders started picking up, we realised there was a genuine opportunity to build something more substantial.”
So they did what they had once only talked about in bed. They left their jobs and went all in on The Daily Blooms. But growth was about to expose a problem they had never planned for.
When Arwin’s Mum Stopped Doing Flower Deliveries
In the early days, every bouquet was delivered by someone who cared about it as much as they did. But as orders grew, one van was no longer enough.
The Daily Blooms offers same-day delivery. For example, an order placed by 8:30am may need to be delivered between 9am and 2pm on the same day. On a busy morning, that could mean bouquets heading to the north, east and west of Singapore, all within the same few hours.
No single van could be everywhere at once.
So more and more deliveries went to external couriers.
And that is where things started going wrong.
Flowers arrived damaged. Some went to the wrong address. Some arrived late.
For most products, a late delivery is an inconvenience. For flowers, it can mean the moment is gone. A birthday bouquet that arrives the day after. An apology that shows up crushed. An anniversary surprise that never quite feels like a surprise.
“Imagine spending time choosing the perfect bouquet for someone, only for it to arrive damaged or after the occasion has passed.”
What made it worse was that it was out of their hands. Once the flowers left The Daily Blooms, they had no real control over what happened next.
They tried different delivery providers and eventually found couriers who could handle their orders more regularly. It helped. But as the business kept growing, it was not enough.
They could select the freshest flowers, design a beautiful arrangement and give every customer great service.
And the last mile could still undo all of it.
“No matter how beautiful our flowers were, if we couldn’t get them to the recipient properly, we weren’t doing our job.”
Why The Daily Blooms Started Its Own Delivery Company
The person delivering the flowers is often the only person from The Daily Blooms that the recipient ever meets.
It was Arwin’s parents who helped them see this. Delivery was not just another operational task. It was one of the most important parts of the entire customer experience.
“We could do everything right, from selecting fresh flowers to creating a beautiful arrangement and providing good customer service. But if the delivery went wrong, that would be what the customer remembered.”
So instead of relying entirely on external providers, Josie and Arwin decided to take control of their logistics themselves.
That decision became Koko Delivery, their own logistics business.
Koko worked with regular drivers, and planned routes around their customers’ flower delivery schedules. With their own operation, The Daily Blooms could set clearer expectations and deliver on time, almost every single time.
Then something they never expected happened. Other businesses started asking Koko to deliver for them too. Cakes, chocolates and other gifts.
What began as a fix for their own problem had become a business in its own right.
It also changed how Josie and Arwin saw The Daily Blooms.
“We realised that we’re not just selling flowers. We are responsible for the entire gifting experience.”
Today, that thinking shapes everything they do, from how their bouquets are designed to how easy it is to order, and how carefully each one reaches the door.
The Lesson Josie and Arwin Carry
When The Daily Blooms first crossed S$500,000 in sales, it felt surreal.
They remembered starting out with full-time jobs, getting nervous over every single order, and Arwin’s mum helping with deliveries. And now they had a real business, with hundreds of customers who trusted them every week.
But the milestone they have come to value just as much is not financial.
In the early days, everything revolved around the two of them. Today, they have a team that takes ownership, handles responsibilities on its own, and keeps getting better.
“The financial milestones are exciting, of course, but building something sustainable with good people around us is what makes us feel that we’re truly making progress.”
Building the business together has also taught them a lot as a couple. Josie is drawn to the brand, the products and the customer experience. Arwin is drawn to operations, efficiency and making things scale. Those differences once meant learning how to make decisions together, work through disagreements, and support each other through stressful periods. Now they are what help them make better decisions.
The Daily Blooms is now on track to cross S$1 million in annual sales. But their ambition is bigger than a number. They want it to be the first name people in Singapore think of when they want to show someone they care, and eventually a gifting brand that goes well beyond flowers.
“Sometimes it’s difficult to find the right words to say thank you, I’m sorry, I miss you or I’m thinking of you. A simple bouquet can communicate those feelings in a very meaningful way.” If you’re looking for flower delivery in Singapore, you can browse their bouquets and gifts on The Daily Blooms’ official website.
As for anyone sitting on an idea of their own, perhaps still working a full-time job like they once were, Josie and Arwin’s advice is simple.
“Just start, but be prepared to learn a lot along the way. You don’t need to have everything figured out before starting a business. There are certain things you can only learn by actually doing them.”
