VALDOSTA — Being an entrepreneur isn’t always easy and everyone does it a little differently. Some open online stores, while others open brick-and-mortar storefronts.

Some go all in and invest their lives into a new venture, while others start a new business as something to do on the side. Regardless of the type, entrepreneurs help drive the local economy.

Bruce Sumner, owner of Zant’s Flower Shop, grew up in the flower shop.

Zant’s was started sometime in the 1960s, Sumner said. His parents bought the business in 1966.

“My father was a funeral director and had experience in the floral industry,” Sumner said. “He kept the name Zant’s when he bought the store.”

A self-proclaimed flower child, Sumner was born in 1967, a year after his parents purchased the store.

Growing up he would help with minor things around the store, but the day he turned 16, Sumner started delivering flowers.

His father still owned a funeral home at the time, and Sumner would often help with both businesses.

“I would wake up and get dressed and work a funeral in the morning, then I would go home and change and deliver flowers in the afternoon,” he said.

While getting his degree in business management from Valdosta State University, Sumner stepped away from the family business and worked as an assistant manager at Walmart for nine months.

Sumner eventually came back and became the assistant store manager.

“Back then, we had another manager and he worked there for 26 years,” he said. “He eventually left to open his own shop and I stepped up.”

Sumner’s father fell ill in 2009, so Sumner stepped up again and took lead of the store during his father’s absence. After 2008, his father passed the business down to him.

Having been in the business for so long, Sumner said the floral industry has changed a lot.

As a child the business would use the Greyhound Bus system to transport flowers from Miami, Fla.

Now, Sumner has access to wholesale businesses in Omega, Tallahassee, Fla., and Jacksonville, Fla.

“They’ll come everyday if we called them,” he said.

Sumner suggested that new business owners be flexible with the world around them.

“You have to watch the trends and pick a business you want to do and stick to it,” he said. “You can’t do everything for everyone.”

Zant’s Flower Shop, 2164 N. Ashley St., is open 9 a.m-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m.-noon Saturday. For more information, (229) 242-3574 or visit www.zantsflowershop.com.

Jason Smith is a reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be contacted at 229-244-3400 ext.1257.