Lisa Hayden's Floral eKiosk was the winner of the Best Idea Concept Stage category at the 2003 Yellow Pages Business Ideas Grants in Australia.
Lisa Hayden’s Floral eKiosk was the winner of the Best Idea Concept Stage category at the 2003 Yellow Pages Business Ideas Grants in Australia. It could gross more than $50 million in sales in five years, but Hayden, 31, plans to give one-third of the profits away.
The eKiosk allows qualified florists to sell their products 24 hours a day. Customers can purchase arrangements from a vending machine or arrange for flowers to be sent anywhere in the world via touch-screen technology. Hayden plans to launch the product as “Flowers all Hours” in April next year.
“God has blessed me,” says Hayden, a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Wahroonga. “But I don’t need that much money. I’d rather put it toward a worthy cause”.
She plans to give 30 percent of the net profits back to the Adventist Church—20 percent for training church members to share their faith and 10 percent as tithe.
Hayden receives a bi-weekly income from the federal government’s New Enterprise Incentive Scheme. She is living in the nurses’ residence at Sydney Adventist Hospital to save money.
“I’m currently doing part-time temporary work because I need to give full-time attention to setting up the business,” Hayden says.
Judges of the Business Ideas Grants selected Hayden and two others from 24 finalists in three categories. They announced their decision at a ceremony in Melbourne Sept. 3. Hayden will receive $50,000 for winning, plus $15,000 worth of advertising and $5000 worth of training and development support.
The grants—organized by Sensis, an advertising and media company—are to encourage, recognize and reward small businesses and individual entrepreneurs. The company received more than 1,100 entries this year.
