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Griffin Bloomstein: Owning a family business today isn’t the easiest thing to do. Crazy Daisies in Syracuse first started as a greenhouse in 2007 and added a cafe in 2020. Owner Jennifer Cox says one of the biggest challenges is staffing.
Jennifer Cox: Being understaffed is a huge issue, and the thing is, because we’re a farm business, you have to do the work. So it’s kind of like, we don’t have staff, but that just means everyone here has to work harder, everyone in the family has to work harder. And it takes its toll; it’s not just fun and games.
Bloomstein: One of the fun parts, Cox said, is making relationships within the community.
Cox: We’ve made friends with the people that come, when what we’re doing resonates with the customers that tend to lead to a really nice relationship.
Bloomstein: One of those customers is Syracuse resident Linda McSherry, who has two reasons for supporting a family-owned business like Crazy Daisies.
Linda McSherry: Because it’s best to keep the money here and they do a good job.
Bloomstein: One of Cox’s biggest pleasures is that she spends all day with her family.
Cox: Five of my children work here, and some of their significant others and some of their friends.
Bloomstein: For Cox, the term family business isn’t just a saying, it’s engraved into the values of Crazy Daisies.
Cox: It teaches the kids a lot, hard work, discipline and family and the things that come with it, and supporting each other.
Bloomstein: Griffin Bloomstein, NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) – Crazy Daisies has sold flowers and had its greenhouse open since 2007. Jennifer and Glenn Cox own and operate the business which is now called Crazy Daisies Greenhouse and Garden Cafe.
According to the Cornell College of Business, only 40% of family-owned businesses are successfully passed down to the second generation and 13% reach the third generation. Jennifer and Glenn Cox work alongside five of their children at Crazy Daisies.
“I think it teaches them a lot of hard work, discipline, and family,” said Jennifer Cox.
Crazy Daisies is closed on Mondays, but every other day, it holds events that bring members of the community together. Every Tuesday, Crazy Daisies hosts Canine and Cocktails from 4-8 p.m., where people are encouraged to bring their dogs and browse local pet-themed businesses that attend.
Wednesdays are wine nights, and Thursdays are trivia night at Crazy Daisies. Cox emphasized that retaining patrons and having a large group of regulars is important to keeping business flowing.
“We’ve made friends with the people that come, when what we’re doing resonates with the customers that tend to lead to a really nice relationship,” Cox said.
Similar to a lot of businesses, recruiting people to work has been a struggle.
“Being understaffed is a huge issue, and the thing is, because we’re a farm business, you have to do the work. So it’s kind of like, we don’t have staff, but that just means everyone here has to work harder, everyone in the family has to work harder. And it takes its toll, it’s not just fun and games,” Cox said.