Paheja Siririka
WINDHOEK – Are you having an event that requires flowers? Is there ever an event where flowers are not needed? Anna Mushimba has opened By Invite, a baby company that has been in the flower-making industry for over two years. It is a paper flower-making business.
Mushimba is hosting The Windhoek Peony Class on May 11, 2019, at a venue yet to be disclosed.
“I have been receiving many requests to hold classes and teach people how to make flowers from papers,” said Mushimba.
She said classes would cover the types of papers to be used when making flowers, assembling and the shaping of petals plus the basic cutting techniques.
Although she graduated with a computer science degree in India, Mushimba found an alternative route to venture into this type of business because she loves flowers.
“The flowers are easy to make and one thing that I particularly love about paper flowers is they last longer, up to a year if well taken care of,” said Mushimba. According to her, another advantage about this venture is papers are reusable and with environmentalists complaining about certain products scattered all over and posing hazards to animals, “it is good to reuse certain items that are mostly thrown away”, she said.
Mushimba also makes flowers using plastic bags. “The items used in the production of flowers are easily accessible things like papers and flowers. Apart from that they are also cheaper and easy to maintain,” Mushimba explained.
The business is booming. “In the past two years of starting this, I have done work for about 200 companies, including Avani Hotel and Old Mutual,” she said.
Mushimba does weddings too, apart from corporate events.
“Real flowers are not cheap and if you have a low budget, you can approach us and we will be able to help,” she insisted.
Being in the paper flower-making business, Mushimba says: “You have to know what your client wants; and you have to know everything about the product or service you will be offering them,” she advised. “When your client is stuck and doesn’t know what they want, it is your job to give plenty of ideas and options that are available, which essentially means you should be well read and creative at the same time. You have to be unique and bring in something new to the client, depending on what the event is about,” she further advised.
It is an environment for creatives; the process of making the paper flowers is not difficult.
“There is nothing complex about it, all you need is a glue gun and a pair of scissors,” grinned Mushimba.
Additionally, Mushimba cautioned prospective creatives not to bite off more than they can chew. “This is art and creativity, it will take time. Don’t be in it for the money, running a business means understanding there is a problem and need for your product and you are providing a solution. Always have a purpose,” she concluded.