2014 was a significant year to Pyper and Rusty Davis. It was not only the year that they welcomed baby Bradley to the world, but it was also the time when they forged another lasting relationship together: their business.
2014 was a significant year to Pyper and Rusty Davis. It was not only the year that they welcomed baby Bradley to the world, but it was also the time when they forged another lasting relationship together: their business.
In a recent interview, Pyper and Rusty talked about how it all came to be and the struggles that led to their success. It all started when Pyper had a surprise baby shower. Everything went down well and Christie, a close friend,
later divulged that they opted to use balloons as they were unable to find great flower arrangements at a reasonable price. They had thus chosen to find other decorations as they felt that flower vendors were a little too
costly. Christie did not give much thought to her statements at the time, but little did she know that her words had left a mark on Pyper who then focused on researching the floral business.
Pyper had worked on a farm as a young girl, and she had grown to love flowers, so much so that she made Rusty promise to bring her a bouquet each first day of the month once they got married. She had no idea how much he had
been sinking into his pocket to keep her promise alive until she came across the prices.
Pyper: "My first thought was that this man must truly love me to keep up with this costly demand."
This realization only made her more focused on her dream, and she sought to find vendors with friendly prices, only to realize that they lived far from their home. Undeterred, she visited several flower farms, and after doing
more research as to what she would make after selling the flowers, she roped in her husband. Rusty was at the time working in real estate, and he thought about the idea for a while.
Rusty: "I was a bit hesitant, seeing as we had just had a baby who needed us to be stable financially. It felt risky, but I couldn’t help but realize that this was an opportunity. It was about breaking even for me at first, but I fell in love with the business as we researched more and more."
The naming part of the business was easy for them. The two took the first two letters of Pyper’s name and combined it with the first three letters of Rusty’s name, thus Pyrus.
Rusty: Our friends had been calling us Pyrus for as long as we could remember, and it felt right to go into business as the team we’ve always been. At some point, we could bring Brad in, but for now, we remain as Pyrus.
With the savings they had in the bank, they set out to start a business.
Pyper: It was slow at first, and we had a handful of customers in the first few months. The price was right so we couldn’t get why we didn’t have enough clients. It later occurred to us that we needed to diversify. At the time, we were only handling birthday parties.
They started working on other events as Rusty got his workmates to get arrangements for their open houses. Slowly, the business picked up, and they set up an office in town. It was not long before they brought in people to
help them in handling the daily tasks. Through market research, they were able to narrow down to five key areas in the business: weddings, corporate events, social events, special milestones, and funerals. Thanks to this
range of services, they were able to attract more customers, and they hired a few more florists to help with the job. The duo believes that it all comes down to the way that they treat their clients.
Rusty: When a client walks in through those doors, they want a friendly face and a person who is willing to sit down and listen. If we don’t offer them our time, then we are failing, and it is these interactions that make all the difference.
Rusty later left his real estate job in late 2017 to take on more responsibilities at the agency, and he has not looked back ever since. And Pyper is happy to be working with her life partner, stating that he brings creativity
to the table. It is clear that they have yet more milestones to achieve in this partnership as they bring people’s visions to life.