|
|
How to Start a Floral Design Business
or Open a Flower Shop
1 - 2 - 3
"Flowers are Popular for Almost Any Occasion; Get Creative and have a Booming Business." Bookmark This Page
The floral business can be very profitable simply because you have holidays and events all year long that involve flowers. Yet, if you don't have the funds or desire to open a flower shop, but still like working with floral arrangements and have a creative flair, you have options. You even can work from home!
To get started, you'll need the items used to create your arrangements and a few basic tools. If you make deliveries, you'll need a vehicle. Office supplies and computer equipment are all start-up costs you need to consider when launching your floral business. You can always start from home and open a flower shop later.
People need floral arrangements for holidays, birthdays and special events like weddings and graduations - but don't forget longer-term contracts with churches, hotels, restaurants and other businesses who need flowers delivered or arranged on a regular basis. Besides a consistent monthly income, it can be a simple way of showcasing your designs to more prospective flower buyers.
How to Start Your Own Flower Shop
You don't need to spend hundreds of dollars to learn to be a florist. A good way to get started with your own business is to have an expert in floral design field draw up a blueprint for you to follow, so you know exactly what to do step-by-step.
That's what Professional Florist Alisa Gordaneer has done. She has over 20 years of experience and has helped several other florists succeed with their businesses.
See what you get >>
- Essential skills: how to teach yourself floral design and set up a business plan
- Step-by-step how to create stylish flower arrangements
- A list of tools, equipment and supplies you'll need and where to get them
- Managing your floral design business and day-to-day operations
- Marketing your business, including hospitals, government, funeral homes, corporations, hotels and restaurants - plus - how to set up floral displays and promote sales
- Free Samples Included: price lists, invoices, contracts, proposals, order forms and more
- Download Now: Start a Floral Design Business
rated by customers
- Get this too >> Free Report: 21 Plants that are Easy to Grow & Sell Like Crazy!
Starting a Floral Shop Business Checklist:
- Obtain the necessary business licenses. Check with your local government office to find out which licenses and permits you need for your floral business and how to apply.
- If you plan to operate your flower shop business out of your home, check with your local government office about zoning ordinances and possible land use restrictions
- Set up a business bank account with your local bank. Make sure that the bank is FDIC is insured. It is important to keep your floral business and personal finances separate, and often your banker can help with small business loans or financing.
- Arrange a meeting with an accountant to discuss tax strategies and ways to maximize your business tax deductions. You can get referrals from other business owners you know or sometimes your banker.
- File your fictitious business name with the county clerk, or if you want to form a corporation, find out how to incorporate your business
- Meet with an insurance agent to discuss insurance you may need for your flower business. The IIABA (Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America) is a good place to start. You can also get free quotes online for business insurance
- Set up your business phone system. Whether you use a toll-free 800 phone number, a multi-line phone system, VoIP or simply add an additional phone number to your existing service, you'll want a designated line to establish a professional business image.
- Order business cards. One of the cheapest ways I know of to advertise a business. See how you can design your own professional business cards online, plus simple tips for increasing your sales >> Free Business Cards
- Get a website. Save money by creating your own website with simple online design programs, or outsource the job to an affordable website designer. Whether you sell flower products online - or you use a website to display information about your floral design services, it's important to take advantage of this low-cost marketing resource that can help you get more customers.
- Need Clients for your floral business? Don't worry! Marketing Expert David Frey shows you how. I used his advice to get my own clients Click Here to subscribe to his free newsletter or find out more about his step-by-step customer-getting system.
Other Floral Business Plans:If you want to know how to organize and plan your business, using a professional business plan "template" is the easiest way to get started. Here are some other plant-related businesses that may interest you:
- Download >> Garden Nursery Business Plan
- Download >> Gardening Business Plan
- Download >> Herb Gardening Business Guide
Flower Shop Business Resources to Save You Money:
Hire Help the Easy Way:
Easily find a team of experts to help you build your business - virtually. Save money in overhead costs, get work done more quickly and eliminate payroll hassles.
oDesk makes outsourcing easy and affordable so you can grow your business faster. Get a Free Tour, Post a Job
- Website Designers and Software Developers
- Marketers, Salespeople and Telemarketers
- Accounting and Bookkeeping Assistants
- People to handle Customer Service and Administrative Tasks
29 Ways to Get More Clients for Your Floral Business
Take the guesswork out of finding customers by picking up the best marketing guide I've found. You'll find out free and extremely low cost ways to attract new clients to your business with very little effort - saving you tons of money.
Respected Small Business Marketing Expert David Frey shows you how to implement these strategies right away, for immediate profit. Find out how >> The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Resource
Get Free PublicityYou can write one yourself for free and send it to your local newspaper and ever submit it online for free. Your story can be picked up by several sources and published for free.
Your press release doesn't have to be long or complex. Keep it under one page and provide newsworthy information about your upcoming event. If you can, create intrigue and curiosity and encourage your reader to take action - whether it be to purchase an event ticket or find out more information.
Wholesale Floral Equipment and Supplies:
How to Choose the Perfect Place for Your Flower Shop BusinessA flower shop is the perfect place for flower and flower arrangement marketing and those who work here - florists, flower artisans or flower designers - can offer you qualified and useful pieces about flowers and carrying them.
To choose the best place for your expectant flower shop business, we give some advices for you to follow, if want to.
Flower Shop
The most important for a flower shop business to be a profitable one is the place as a position, like we said before, (it has to be a main road or a free trade zone, however a place in front of which are passing a lot of people, who can visit and admire your flower shop and maybe buy a flower, or a bouquet or a flower arrangement) and as a functional space, because the florist need the appropriate conditions to make high quality things.
A functional flower shop space has to be well proportioned, a corporate from doorway, shop window, selling space, working space, storehouse, social rooms. Our opinion is that you have not to dispense with one of those spaces. When you visit a possible space, you need to mind and distribute it in accordance with material conditions.
The doorway and the shop window are the strongest points for a business, especially for a flower shop. The doorway includes the exterior wall, the doors and the outdoor advertising elements. People has to admire and hold back the doorway, it has to inspire them hospitability and quality. Thus a looker can become a visitor and maybe a client. On the sign board you have to write "FLOWER SHOP" and the name of course, that has to be short, in evidence, noticeable and easy to hold back.
Put the coming door behind the shop window, so this one can take the entire image.
The shop window is a must, letting the light to come in and its arrangement is very important for the visitors to enjoy and want the same decoration at their places too. A beautiful shop window reflects the neatness, subtlety, imagination, professionalism of the florist.
Tricks and advices for you to create the decorations for the shop window:
Aura Surcel is a Romanian floral designer with many ideas of natural decorations, freelance writer of nature, flowers and plants, traditional treatments and of the flower shop business. She also loves nature, flowers and to make floral arrangements. | For more information, visit http://www.flowersgrowing.com
- The looker must have a general vision on the shop window
- Put the flowers you want to sell quickly under the client's eyes, on the same level.
- The shop window has to be a small exhibition of numerous types of flower that there are inside.
- The flower arrangements have to be fresh that you can sell if someone wants.
- Don't associate the natural with artificial flowers. That is a "not to do!".
- Don't you prefer the artificial flower for its resistance, decorate the shop window only with natural flowers. Consider that it's an investment for your flower shop to be noted. As we said before, the flower shop business needs time and money to be on top.
- Create a point of much interest, with color contrast (a yellow flower, like freesia or daffodil in center of a lot of violet, represented by iris) or best color combination (a joyful flower arrangement made by yellow, green, orange roses).
- Choose a theme of decoration than find and use the elements that compose it (freshness can suggest even a fruits and flowers combination arrangement; the spring will be recomposed with lilac, peony, daffodil; for autumn, choose to present a dry flowers, leafs and nuts arrangement).
- Put your imagination to the proof to create the most sophisticated flower arrangement for the shop window. That is a step for you to select yours clients.
- Illuminate it. For the flowers to maintain the natural colors, is important the light to be warm. You have to avoid the white and cold nuances of the light.
Buying a Flower Shop? Serious Considerations
You've always liked flowers and you think the idea of turning emotions into floral expressions sounds like tremendous fun. You are between careers and have been investigating business opportunities in your community.
Yesterday, while perusing the real estate magazine in your county, you notice that the family owned, downtown flower shop is for sale. The ad says it's a turnkey operation. This is your lucky day. Or is it?
Let's look before we leap, OK? Here are some factors to consider:
What is the current state of health of this business?
You should be able to see the financial records and consult professional help if needed.
What is the reputation of this business in the community?
If there are negative feelings about the business in the community, you need to consider a name change and making a big show of the change in management. Factor in the cost of a face-lift on the facade of the physical facility.
What assets are included in the selling price?
If you are buying the building, equipment, coolers and inventory, you need to carefully assess the age, condition and viability of these items. For example, there may be $10,000 worth of inventory in the store, and the seller may be able to document the value by showing invoices.
However, if the inventory is shop worn, out of date or not in keeping with your business plan, the value of that inventory to you may be quite a bit lower than that $10,000.
Are you also buying the Accounts Receivables as an asset? If so, you should do some serious research into the exact state of these accounts. Many traditional florists have struggled with house accounts. They have extended credit as a matter of tradition, rather than good business sense and have found themselves in extreme cash flow trouble.
What liabilities are you buying?
You'll need to be very clear about any debt or bills you will be taking over. Be sure that you hire professional help to outline any such debt in your sales agreement. Because of seasonality of the flower business and the existence of house accounts, many retail florists have difficulty with cash flow; you should avoid any situation where you will be paying bills run up by the previous owner.
Also, you should take time to consult with the Wholesalers that you will be buying from. Discuss your payment terms and lay the groundwork for a healthy business relationship with a reputable Wholesaler or two.
What about the business name?
If the name of the business is valuable in your market, you probably won't want to change the name of the business. In any case, consider a clause in the bill of sale limiting the use of the name by the previous owner in the future. This can be very sticky in the case of an owner's own name, for example "Smith Florist".
Will you need to hire all new staff?
It's an extreme analogy, but think about the difficulties in open adoptions between birth and adoptive parents. Everyone has their own style and it can be difficult to accept change or let go of something you have worked very hard to build.
That being said, many valued staff members at successful florists have weathered the change in ownership of their place of employment. Do make every effort to retain good people. Just be sure to be clear about your expectations so that the separation can be as painless as possible should that become necessary.
What is the correct timing?
Take the holidays into account when you plan your purchase of a flower shop. Valentine's day is the single largest day, but Christmas is more of a marathon. Mother's Day, weddings, proms, graduations and anniversaries team up to make the spring months a nice busy time. Depending upon your market, the summer can be a difficult time to make ends meet.
Ideally, you'd take over a shop with enough time to get your feet wet before a holiday, but not with so much down time that your funds dry up before you can get going.
What other opportunities exist, and at what cost?
Here's the acid test. Take the time to sort out the options. Let's work on the assumption that you WILL own a flower shop in the next year. Take a big sheet of paper and draw a line down the center. At the top of the left column, write "Buy and Existing Flower Shop". In the Right column, write "Open a New Flower Shop".
Now draw a line through the middle of the paper, so you have a top and bottom. The top is for pros and the bottom is for cons. Fill in the grid with as many items as you can figure.
Ask your trusted business friends and floral professionals for help. You'll be considering such items as the finances and the marketing plan of your business. When you have completed this exercise, you should have two things. One is a good tool to help you make a decision. The second is the beginnings of a business plan.
Whatever your decision, a business plan is essential. It is your roadmap for success and will be necessary for a business loan. It is worth the extra time at the onset of this journey to compare the options and make the best decision you can.
About the Author Karen Marinelli is a Floral Industry Professional with nineteen years of experience in the academic, retail and wholesale sectors of the industry. She believes the common goal should be to sell more flowers to more people, more often. For information on How to Open a Flower Shop, visit http://openaflowershop.com. To order flowers online, visit http://send-flowers-online.ws.
More Articles:
- 8 Basic Flower Arrangements
- Tricks to Make Your Arrangements Last Longer
- Tools of the Trade
- Pre-Arranging Treatment & Tips
- How do I Arrange Flowers Underwater
- How to Photograph Flowers
Florist Associations
Retail Florist Association
The Retail Florist Association is a non-profit association helping independent floral retailers generate more business within their local markets.
Wholesale Florist and Florist Supplier Association
WF&FSA is a dynamic business organization uniquely positioned to provide their members with the information, services and support they need to remain competitive in today's constantly changing market.
Independent Florists' Association
IFA is a florist-owned association dedicated to improving the profitability of retail florists.
Copyright 1997- Home Business Center, Inc.
How to Start a Home Business
privacy policy
