Dubai, UAE: When 27-year-old Indian expat Jafar Thalakkat began delivering flowers in his spare time, the job was simply a way to earn an extra income to help his family.But as he drove between flower shops and customers across Dubai, he began paying attention. Where do the flowers come from? How are orders received? Which communities tend to buy flowers a lot more? And, most importantly, how some businesses operate entirely online without the expense of a physical shop.The critical details he learnt at his part-time job eventually helped the now 35-year-old Indian expat set up his very own online flower delivery business Fellora Flower Boutique, which he now runs with his three brothers, in Dubai.Learning the value of patienceThalakkat’s journey, though, started a lot earlier, when the 25-year-old decided to join his elder brother in Dubai, in February 2016.Coming from a family of six – with his parents and three brothers – Thalakkat said his father passed away when he was still a teenager.“I used to work as a tourist driver in Kerala, and because we had a lot of tourists coming from the UK and Europe in general, it gave me a chance to learn English,” Thalakkat said.That skill proved critical when his elder brother, Mohammed Rashid, who was already living in the UAE, told him about a recruitment drive for petrol station workers in Dubai.“I secured the interview because I could speak English, and came to Dubai in 2016,” Thalakkat said.His experience as a sales attendant at the petrol station for a little over three years, helped shape the way he approaches work.“The petrol station was actually in the outer parts of the city, so whether it was the summer or the winter, there were always strong weather conditions to deal with as our job was outdoors,” he said.But finding the grit to continue working and learning how to deal with both the physical demands of the job and different customers taught him one of the most valuable lessons in his life – patience.After three years, Thalakkat’s perseverance paid off, when another job offer provided him with shorter working hours and better pay. But he also wanted to bring his wife and child to Dubai, so he started looking for part-time work.“I took a bank loan and bought a second-hand car and we moved into a sharing apartment as a family,” he said.“In my new job, I used to work till 2.30pm, so after that I had the time to pick up a part-time job. My older brother used to work as a part-time delivery rider for flower shops across the city, so when he would go on leave, he would often ask me to fill in for his regular customers,” Thalakkat said.He soon began contacting flower shops himself, finding their numbers online and telling them when he was available to make deliveries after work hours. Soon, shops started contacting him, giving him a growing network of shops and a close view of how the industry operated.After almost a year of making deliveries, Thalakkat said he felt confident enough to start a small operation – something he said was possible only in Dubai.“You have all the licence regulations, which mean that you don’t need a big investment to start a business. The licence costs anywhere between AED 3,000 and AED4,000, and you can start a business online,” he said.“I learnt everything about the flower business that I could and discussed it with my brother. Telling him about how businesses were operating, I asked him, ‘Why can’t we start something like this?’ That was the first stage of our business,” he said.All hands on deckAs the brothers wanted to keep their initial business operation small, they hired just one florist and launched an online delivery service, with a website and Instagram page.The online orders and marketing were handled by Thalakkat, while his older brother handled accounts. The two younger brother were in charge of deliveries and even today – three years after first starting the business – they personally manage the delivery network, which has grown substantially since.Initially, they offered their flower delivery service through platforms like Talabat and Deliveroo. But it was when they moved to the Udora platform (previously Flowwow), which focuses on flower deliveries, that the orders started flooding in.“The platform was quite different from others, as we didn’t just have to accept the requests coming in from customers and deliver it. It required us to first post the picture of the bouquet on the portal, which the customer would then give a thumbs up or thumbs down to. If the customer didn’t like it, we had to reach out to them to ask if they wanted any changes. It could be anything from changing the wrapping paper or tweaking the arrangement,” he said.With the brothers personally committed to making the business succeed, the speed and dedication with which they attended to customers helped them quickly become one of the top-selling flower services on the platform.As the business grew, the brothers decided to set up their first physical shop for Fellora Flower Boutique in 2023.“In just three years, we have secured 22,600 purchases from that app alone and have a consistent rating,” Thalakkat said.This year, they opened a bigger shop in their new 3,400-square-foot warehouse in Dubai Production City, with plans to open more stores across Dubai and expand to other emirates.But even today, while the company now employs 17 staff, the four brothers continue with their hands-on approach, tending to the business with all their time and energy.Thalakkat, for example, taught himself the basics of running online advertisements on Meta and Google, how to run social media campaigns and how to streamline processes for smoother online operations.“Even if we hire a company to help us with the marketing, I am always managing it myself,” he said.His two younger brothers continue to oversee purchasing and supplier management and handle the delivery network, one of the most critical aspects of the operation.“We are all partners, but we work in the shop like staff. We are always here. The flower shop industry is really big, so we keep studying the trends and give suggestions for new designs and new models every day,” he said.“I believe our success comes from the fact that we all are working in our own business full-time.”While on a normal day, that might mean a standard eight-hour shift, on occasions like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and International Women’s Day, Thalakkat said they often work around the clock.“On those days, we have to work 24 hours, because there are so many deliveries,” he said.Where ambition meets actionHaving driven around the whole city for years making flower deliveries has also given Thalakkat and his brothers on-the-ground experience of how quickly they can make the deliveries.The main residential hubs across Dubai can be covered in a matter of minutes, thanks to the city’s road infrastructure. The digital infrastructure, too, is one of the best in the world, allowing customers to connect with businesses easily. The city, Thalakkat says, has played a key role in turning his family’s ambition into a thriving business.‘Dubai-it’ describes the city’s distinctive approach to turning ambitious ideas into reality through speed, precision and excellence — achieving exceptional results in a short period of time. That philosophy has quietly seeped into the way the four brothers run their business, teaching them that the only thing standing between ambition and success is consistent action.“Dubai is home to millions of people like us. Having lived here all these years, I have learnt that if we just work sincerely, we will achieve everything. We can achieve many things because we are living in Dubai under its strong, visionary leadership,” he said.
