Shop Talk is a weekly column featuring locally owned and operated businesses. This week, we talk to Barry Karlin, co-owner of Sviba floral decorating company.
How long have you lived in the area?
22 years. We have a small farm here (in East Meredith).
Tell me about your business:
Sviba decorators is a full concept design company that handles anything from private social to corporate functions. We’re also used as event planners. We’re trying to get New York City people up here to use venues. We find them the venue, caterer, photographer and, of course, flowers.
A bride will change her mind, a mother will change her mind. Weddings can go on and on and on. Once you think you have a design down pat, we take you window shopping. I take pictures of flowers, branches, greens and e-mail them to you and go, “This is kind of what’s available.” Then we discuss motif and colors. And after months of talking, we design an idea, a sample. And then we discuss it over the phone or online. It’s all very anal, but the clients like us for that. We order flowers 11 days before the event, if allowed, and then we prep the flowers.
There’s a technical aspect of floral design that some people just don’t understand. We just don’t work with flowers. We work with many different mediums.
Describe a typical day in your business:
People will hire us six to 12 months in advance for a wedding. Corporate work can be anywhere from 5 days before the event.
How did you get started in this line of work?
I was running private dining rooms at a Wall Street brokerage, and then I burnt out after 13 years of doing fine-food catering. Cathy (my wife) was a floral designer in the city. I told her that she should go into business herself. My wife shanghaied me into it. I would work with her on weekends. I would spend 10 days working with food and beverage and would come home and hear her say, “Oh, can you help me with this or with that?”
I’ve always been in design, and have always been good with large-scale design. After doing this for a year, working seven days a week, we sat down, made a life decision and went into business together, and I became her slave.
Where do you see this business in five years?
What we’re trying to do is in conjunction with the Catskills. We’re a part of that movement to bring people here. If I just wanted to make money, I’d stay in New York City. My heart is first and foremost with the Plum Tree (an event venue in South Kortright), but if they don’t like the Plum Tree, I will get them to see every venue in our area. That is our goal. It’s not about making more money. I want the Catskills to be the picturesque place for people to get married. There is no reason for our area not to be booked solid. While I’m still living and breathing, I want to do something. There are real professionals up here who are waiting and willing to do events.
What is the most challenging part of what you do?
I would have to say between the physical aspect and the business aspect, you’d think it would be delivering. I think the strenuous part is dealing with the client in the beginning _ the sales. It’s all about getting people to spend their money with you versus somebody else.
The most enjoyable?
Oh, the creativity. It’s the day of the event when they look at you like you’re a god. They can be mean to you all year long and then the day of, they say, “Oh my God, you’re phenomenal.” So, it’s patience, patience and patience.
What have you learned from your work?
People are very needy, and you must have a tremendous amount of patience. Anybody can be very good at what you do and you can be good at anything. It’s about people skills and taking care of your client.
What are some advantages as well as drawbacks of doing business in this area?
The economy unfortunately is a very hard wall to bounce up against. People don’t have a lot of money here. If you’re going to attack a certain market, you’re going to put yourself in a situation where you’re not going to be working a lot. You have to be very versatile, and want to work with people to work in Delaware County, especially because of the recession. Everything is based on the recession. The hardest thing is pleasing one’s budget. It’s easy to make beautiful things and do a good job, but it’s very hard to do it with a limited budget.
What sets you apart from your competitors?
The difference between us and a flower shop is that we order specifically what you want from the growers and prep the flowers for a whole week, which includes the design time before delivery and set-up. We only deal with fresh flora or plants, or fauna, whatever the plan entails. If it’s a corporate job, they usually know exactly what they want. People hire us for our style and our personalized touch.
I think we’re more rounded. We’re more metropolitan. We’ve been fronted with other people’s skill sets, and you have to compete with all these abilities, so your imagination has to be really, really broad if you’re going to make a difference. It’s your ability to have an imagination and make it physically so. That’s what sets us apart from your average florist. We are true artists. We don’t think by the numbers, like “step one, step two, step three.”
What advice would you give to someone trying to enter your field of work?
Like any other trade, they have to apprentice for at least two years and do whatever it is they’re told to do. It’s all about watching and listening, and then your own talents, if you have any, come out. You either have the skills or you don’t, but you have to learn certain things like how to cut flowers and how to handle flowers.
Shop Talk interviews are conducted by Cassandra Miller. To reach Miller, e-mail cmiller@thedailystar.com. For more information about Shop Talk, call Emily F. Popek at 432-1000, ext. 217.
