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It's safe to assume that actor Benjamin Alves will give girlfriend Chelsea Robato flowers to celebrate Valentine's Day on February 14.

Even he admitted that owning a flower shop business makes such a gesture a given.

What is not certain though is how they would celebrate the occasion considering their work schedules and social restrictions for health reasons due to COVID-19.

Benjamin, of course, is busy with lock-in tapings for GMA's upcoming romantic-comedy series, Owe My Love.

Joining Benjamin in the show - which will premiere on February 15 - are Lovi Poe, Aiai Delas Alas, Ryan Eigenmann, Jelai Andres, and Nova Villa, among others.

The 31-year-old actor, however, hinted that he already has something in mind to do for the special day.

“Hopefully she'll be surprised. I don't know, let's see” Benjamin smilingly told GMANetwork.com.

Seeing opportunity

It was August last year when Benjamin co-founded House of Roses with Chelsea.

The timing of the online business's opening couldn't have been more off.

With the pandemic ranging and big and small businesses closing shop, starting a new venture sounds more of a death wish than anything else.

But for Benjamin, the challenging economic climate presented opportunities - something that he was willing to grab without hesitation.

“I think the need to create something was there kasi you're stagnant for a few months taping-wise,” he said.

“We found that there's a market for it. Even if we're in this situation, there's still a market for it.”

Plunging into the business was not done on a whim, however. This means that planning and forecasting were carried out before House of Roses came into fruition.

“We forecast that Valentine's is gonna come around and we still might be in this situation so there's still a need or a longing to connect loved ones, to send a message to them, and to make them feel appreciated and loved,” explained Benjamin.

He added, “We found that we can work around it as tight as the economy is now.”

House of Roses takes pride in its Ecuadorian roses which are more plump and full compared to other types of roses.

Did Benjamin had prior experience in running a business?

“No, actually, I never had any money to start a business,” he laughed.

“But again, it comes with that need to create something. Siguro as far as flowers, my mom used to work wholesale distribution of flowers in Guam. I don't know if it came from that.”

Benjamin continued, “Timing din, e. The opportunity came that we can partner up with somebody that has a background on this locally and who will be able to source us really good, quality roses so it was hard to pass up.”

He also understood the advantage of tapping celebrity friends to help create word of mouth to promote a venture.

Just some of the stars who gamely supported House of Roses are Chynna Ortaleza, Michelle Dee, Will Dasovich, and Alodia Gosiengfiao, Carla Abellana, and Solenn Heussaff.

“I realize that we're very blessed to be able to start a company and have that help which normally would cost us thousands of pesos in marketing.

“I'm very grateful to my fellow Kapuso artists who are more than willing to help us on that end.”

Meanwhile, take a look at other celebrity businesses that were launched during the pandemic: