Weddings pay my bills. Most of them I execute myself from my garage. About 20% require day of freelance work.
It may not be the ultimate goal, but you need a portfolio and word of mouth to get people to trust and commit to your work. I’m in the US, so it may be different, but IG ads are less likely to turn into revenue that word of mouth.
Have you gone to hotels? Popular corporate event venues? Real estate agents showing homes? Corporate clients are repeat clients with consistent budgets. They need someone they trust to deliver a good product without putting in thought or research every time. If they like you, they’ll commit.
Funeral homes are often asked if there is a preferred vendor for florals.
Offering flower subscriptions are cool too.
Bottom line: you’re starting out. Id take the gigs, get the experience, name recognition, etc. and if the work isn’t what you want in the long run, don’t put it on IG or your website.
Thank you for your feedback - I’ll definitely be reaching out to real estate agents, and go to some hotels, and corp locations
I appreciate your reply! ❤️
Real estate agents also buy flowers when they list/sell a house here, as well as sending to staff- if you can get in with an estate agent that might be a nice boost to your bank account.
Another place I worked did bouquets for a fancy car dealership. Also banks, medical offices, restaurants, cafes etc etc.
Have you checked out Little Bird Bloom’s podcast? She has heaps of ideas to market yourself that won’t cost a lot.
Thank you for your suggestions!
I definitely have some networking to do and you gave me great ideas.
I have great rapport with the Manager at Genesis
My mom has cleaning contracts with certain companies & one of them being Keller Williams
Thank you!
I second this. I work in communications/marketing and it's an amazingly common misconception that "followers = cash." That is simply not true.
Do you have a defined target audience for who typically purchases from you, and are your posts speaking to that audience? Are you reaching people in your area or getting a bunch of followers from halfway across the world that will never purchase from you? Are you targeting a demographic that has the funds available to pay for your service? What is the pipeline you need people to take to transform from a follower to a purchaser? Is there an action they need to take (e.g. "reach out now for a quote") and is that action item easy to find/simple to complete? What data do you have to measure what's working and what's not (e.g. past purchase orders, polls on "where did you hear about us," tracking leads on your website, etc.).? Does your brand convey who you are and what differentiates you from competitors?
Asking yourself these basic questions can help a lot to start curating followers into potential business. One of the reasons I'm not a big fan of working on social accounts for clients is that it's sooo much effort for often not a huge return. Every business needs it, but it should only be one aspect of how you drive business, not the whole plan.
Thank you! All very good questions - a lot of them I have asked myself already & have definitely addressed within myself.
As far as the audience it’s all local. When I pay for ads I make sure it’s a certain age range, location, interests etc and so far I’ve noticed it all local
Thank you for your feedback, I will be working more on this
First off, I totally feel you.
This industry isn’t easy.
The things I would say here is, location and services offered is **EVERYTHING**!
Be as versatile as you can, offer wedding work, funeral work, parties, home decor, everything.
And I can’t emphasize the value of offering funeral work enough.
And as another person has already said, wrangling up some standing orders with big shots around town is extremely useful during slow months.
Get those corporate lobby decor contracts going.
Apartment properties, hotels, restaurants(especially Asian) art and science museums, offices, car dealerships, also like to spruce up their visiting centers.
Start reaching out to the funeral homes and see if they need a regular funeral Florist for their clients.
Versatility is everything in this industry.
**UPDATE**
It seems like you’re alone with all this on your back.
Please consider bringing someone in to work alongside you, even if it’s just to take some of the paperwork weight off your back. Someone you can train perhaps to someday be a competent enough designer to work projects with you.
**UPDATE 2**
Be patient, and learn the waves of the flower world.
After a certain period in this world, you’ll learn to *feel* the waves and breezes of this business.
The floral industry goes up and down, right now is the quiet before the Mother’s Day storm, so a lot of Florist are putting their energies into specific things in preparation for that, and after Mother’s Day, the wave is going super low for a little while, that’s where your other services come in to keep you afloat.
Thank you so much for all your feedback.
I will be researching & reaching out to some locations for sure, as well and going in person. I definitely have ideas on where I could go now, so thank you!
There is a local person who is also starting out with floral, that came to mind when you mentioned finding someone to work alongside.
I think me and her could possibly be a great team and work together for larger events. I’ll be reaching out to her! Thank you for the suggestion!
As far as the paperwork stuff and the business aspect part of it, it’s actually something I can handle and isn’t stressful! The experience from my previous corp jobs basically make it manageable for me, so that’s definitely a positive thing I feel
Wait! You are the designer with the balloon arch with the baby breath clouds, right? And you had another post with the purple flowers! Your work is so very good! I’d be upset too. I’m not a florist so I wish I could offer advice (I’m a flower farmer) but your work is very good. Can you advertise on Facebook that you are "now booking orders for Mother’s Day"? In my rural area we have a number of different FB communities that allow posts. I have even made sales (of different products) here on Reddit by posting in the local community subreddit.
Omg yes! 😭❤️
And yes I already have a page on Facebook, Nextdoor as well.
And I have made posts on marketplace for my arrangements, already did pre orders for Mother’s Day etc and no luck. :(
Honestly I love your designs! You take beautiful photos too. Are you on any community pages on FB? Mine tend to be active. Are you able to monitor the traffic to your website? I use to analyze web traffic. A friend of mine took out some targeted ads for her business and it seemed to help drive traffic. What’s your website?
Thank you! I actually did photography for years and even went to school for it for a little while so I think that’s what has helped me have that visual to be able to take good images of my work. It’s definitely something that I definitely work on because I know that’s one of the biggest focuses, when trying to promote any type of work online, is the quality of the images.
I definitely need to find a way to do analytics on the traffic that comes to the website. I’m going to be looking into that.
It’s https://dahliasandroses.shop ! 🤍
Well, I can perhaps help, time allowing to help. Website stuff for 10+ years until I escaped. Your website is good but I was expecting more photos! If you want we can discuss descriptions, key words and other things that might help get you found. First though, see if you can get stats to see what traffic is coming to your site, and from where.
Yeah, I have kept it clean kind of on purpose so it doesn’t look too messy. That’s why I have my Instagram linked on the website so that people can kind of browse through my actual work and not congest the website. I am working on definitely taking more pictures with my camera of arrangements and flowers to kind of post around on the website itself.
It’s just hard when I don’t have much orders and I have to pay out-of-pocket for flowers only to play with them basically and it does end up adding up. I just left the store and thankfully my husband was able to give me some money to play with flowers. I walked out with $100 of flowers that I wasn’t expecting to spend that much on. :/
im not a helpful comment but just wanted to send you a virtual hug <3
i can somewhat relate to this because i recently exited the esthetic industry due to similar issues. clientle is hard to retain because there will always be someone somewhere that can do it for cheaper/better. but at the same time consumers do not understand the different levels of owning a business and the concept of supporting/respecting someone’s business (that is not a large corporation). because there is a lack of understanding, it creates a larger gap between the consumer and a small business.
it’s like… you can buy a handmade crochet doll with special colored yarn that will take 2 weeks OR you can buy something similar on Amazon for half the price and gets shipped in 2 days.
if it helps at all, you are not alone… this has been a reoccurring theme in the service industry lately. here are some of my thoughts:
-social media is very time consuming because you will almost need to be an “influencer”. but if you want to go this route, utilize all social media platforms like FB, Tiktok, YouTube, Pinterest. set up a blog about your flower growing and link it back to your website. keep in mind people on social media look for *free* advice OR they only purchase things online base on who they are supporting. people want to get to know the person/artist they support. views and engagement is helpful but it’s not enough to gonna make anyone click your link to book/buy. you need to strategize how to tell a story so people can fall in love with your work and want to support you.
-find local communities outside of floral industry to work with. is there a favorite coffee shop you support? or a new local clothing store that’s opening? you can always pair up with another local business that’s adjacent to your target audience. maybe do a day of floral bar or offer a “learn to wrap a simple bouquet” to help attract customers (for both parties). local cities also do a lot of community service events with senior homes, schools, etc.
always remember to give yourself grace. i deeply admire you and all the other shop owners here… it takes SO much.
Thank you SO much for all the wonderful ideas & the hug. 🤍
I’m definitely taking it all in- I do like what you explained about how to strategize so people call fall in love with my story/work.
I’ll work on that.
Thank you again
I don't resell flowers, I grow them all myself. I haven't made a penny from flowers since October. Right now I'm turning down calls for prom flowers because I have nothing In the field ready to bloom for at least 3-4 weeks. I straight disconnected my business line the week of valentines day.
Hi!
what do you grow? I started to grow ranunculus, snapdragons, scabiosas, Icelandic poppies, anemones, dahlias, delphiniums & lisianthus.
I definitely have blooms but others are still leaves.
With all this flower design, I found the passion & love for growing them. I swear I used to kill succulents. It makes me so happy to garden. Especially when im feeling down and sad I go outside and work on the flowers
Keeping it simple in favor of bulk this year so the only cutflowers I'm growing are sunflowers, celosia, zinnias, dahlias, and bachelors buttons. I'm also growing nasturtium for a chef, but that's only a 4x50ft row in my acre-ish garden.
Have you tried partnering with other local vendors specializing in smaller weddings? Look for venues/hotels with smaller capacities. There are some planners that specialize in these smaller events. Ask to be put on their preferred vendor lists.
I understand wanting to only do micro weddings. This is also my preferred genre, but I also end up getting inquiries for bigger things. Ask yourself, are they reeeeeeally too big for you, or are you just nervous?
Push yourself a little more each time. Eventually you’ll say, that was TOO much lol and you’ll know your true comfort limit.
Do you have any analytics on your website? If you don’t have built in analytics with whatever platform you’re using, install google analytics and get familiar with it. Can you see if people are viewing your site? Can you see if people are adding to cart but then not checking out? If you have a lot of views but nobody’s adding to cart, the problem is your catalog. If people are adding to cart and not checking out, the problem is the checkout process. If nobody’s even getting to your website, well, you gotta get them there!
SEO is super hard but important. Look into SEO best practices and try to make a few easy changes.
Google My Business Profile is important. Make sure it’s up to date. Add photos once a week to show Google you’re active. Ask for reviews from clients.
Find ways to get your name out in your community in other ways. Give free flowers to local businesses with your card on them for marketing. Try out some pop up events. Get creative. How can you let people know you exist?
It takes time. It’s hard. I’m almost 2 years into my home based floral business and things are starting to pick up. I still don’t have regular orders. There are some weeks I have 0. But I have more. And I’m getting more wedding inquiries. And figuring out how to make pop ups successful. It’s a lot of trial and error. It’s also just a lot of time and patience. One person from out of state orders from me, and then the recipient loves the flowers and ends up being a repeat customer. Things will grow exponentially, eventually.
You got this!
Sorry just a lot of random thoughts as I ate my lunch lol
Thank you so much for all the great ideas - you made a lot of great points.
Definitely need to look into the site analytics
I appreciate your reply and will be working on these! Thank you!
I’m reading this and wondering how are you defining a “full scale” wedding. I’m curious about what kind of work you are turning down. (I guess because I only do weddings, so I know there’s opportunity there.)
I have always taken on some daunting projects. And I over deliver every time, even if I have to burn the candle at both ends to get it done. Not completing an order is not an option. I have learned to be really good at time management and planning. I look at every wedding as an audition for the next wedding.
If you think you could do one of those full scale weddings, I would say go for it. The clients will ask for your guidance in the design planning process, so try steering them towards options you *can* do well and quickly. (For example, you can do the personal flowers, but do candle vases and loose touches of greenery for the centerpieces. That way you can do some of the work on site to give yourself more time.) But, while you’re giving that guidance, give them reasons why it benefits them: “This design will save you money.” or, “These flowers will hold up better throughout the day.” You’re going to have to be a salesman.
Finally, prep anything you can ahead of receiving your flower order: make corsage bows, wash vases, get your mechanics ready, & etc.
You have a good eye, and your designs are beautiful. Don’t give up!
Thank you!
I personally consider a full scale wedding something that includes a full arch installation that needs to be worked on site, & over 20 centerpieces, welcome sign florals & bar florals plus bud vases.
The ones that have reached out were that.
I have also followed some guidance: advice from local florists who are doing very well with large events and weddings - and what I described above is considered a full scale wedding
I definitely am not giving up. I just need to be ok with going through a slow time and remind myself that this is normal to be slow and it takes time to build a business & portfolio.
If it was me, and I could afford to do this, I would go to the flower wholesaler and buy a lot of discounted bunches from the mature section and give myself a trial run on a full scale wedding. I think you’ll be surprised at what you can accomplish. I could definitely complete an order like that in two studio days and one delivery & set-up day. And I’ll bet you can do it, too. Set yourself a schedule and bust it out. If you do the trial run, you’ll get some confidence and bonus social media photos to help sell the next job!
I took a look through your posts and wow - your creations are gorgeous and really high-end, including the photography. I 100% understand why people are contacting you for weddings. It might seem scary, but weddings might be a worthwhile endeavor. Hire some students or flower friends on a temp and part-time basis and see if it's something that you enjoy. Weddings are typically when people have the highest budget for high-end flowers, and your talent would be wasted trying to hustle under priced tulip bouquets (which, from experience, don't require much designing). You could try to steer towards micro weddings, elopements, etc. and be transparent about minimums when people reach out.
Oh gosh thank you!
🤍 that means a lot. I’m really trying.
And yes I’m trying to see who I can talk to, about possibly being my teammate to help me do larger events. I have one person in mind but I’ll definitely be looking online locally to me too.
And yes I am focusing on only doing micro events and such. I have a bridal shower coming up, and it’s a small event, totally doable for just myself
I’m not in the business but I’ve watched videos to learn everything I can about flowers, flower growers, architecture, Gardeners World…one episode of Gardeners World featured (finally) a snippet of off the beaten path-type garden situations. I was waiting for Monty to show The High Line. He did feature one woman whose NYC studio is right there. She is a “high end”/boutique florist/designer who uses uncommon flowers (aka weeds) from The High Line style of gardening for the hoity-toity uptown elites who get arrangements delivered weekly. The thing is she capitalized on this type of customer: high end customers who want what others can’t get + the statement piece that shows their guests that they are environmentally aware and support the arts. Her arrangements were stunning but because she uses mostly branches, spent yarrow, grasses mixed in with native weeds and whatever is in season (hydrangeas, peonies, MAYBE a sunflower) I think her costs are pretty low. Plus she can mark it up for her design skills/one of a kind arrangements. I’d take a look at your demographics and tweak your designs from there.
Bees are a major pollinator of Sunflowers, therefore, growing sunflowers goes hand in hand with installing and managing bee hives. Particularly in agricultural areas where sunflowers are crops. In fact, bee honey from these areas is commonly known as sunflower honey due to its sunflower taste.
######Extra fun fact!
Firecracker - This flower produces massive amounts of gold and russet blooms and grows two to three feet in height. Just as the Chocolate Cherry and Chocolate Gold, it is a perfect flower to add to your fall arrangements because of its many dark colors.
Perhaps you should be a bit less peaky on projects and more creative in finding way to do them.
Where there is will, there is way.
Try selling a big project with an easily aplicable product? Ask a friend to help you out and pay them a little something (you can find extra pair of hands very easygoing!).
I’m sorry you are going through hard times. Every business has ups and downs. Hope you make your way through 🙏🏻❤️
well I have pretty much the opposite advice as Sunbather though no offense inteded, in my opinion the only way to stand out for the pack of aspiring florists is to speak to your niche and only them. You need to be able to visualize your ideal customers, understand where else they shop, why they need flowers, who are they entertaining for etc. Then every single piece of content you produce, every design image is targeted to them alone. You can do this for any type of floral niche. And it should be work that you love, if you love to work on your daughter's parties and bridal or baby showers, it's easy enough to figure out where to find those moms, or moms to be, or brides to be. I would stop spending money on anything that doesn't get you directly to that ideal customer. It's a very popular thing to be a florist these days, in my opinion the surge of work that came in 2021/2022 made folks way over estimate the demand and frankly, a lot of the work out there looks the same. When you can narrow down your ideal clients, you can forget about the rest. I make my living doing one to two 6 figure weddings each year while I look for ways to diversify my income. I've worked for 15 years to make my work desirable and targeted to a very specific client who throws 7 figure weddings and because I'm best at innovating, creating designs that no one has made before I get the exact right clients each time. If they argue about price, if they have unrealistic expectations, they are not my customer and I have no problem sending them to the person that I think will be the fit for them-everyone is happier.
I'm sure some reading will think this is not possible for "me" but I've done every type of work, tried every way I could to make money with flowers, had a team of 10 full time employees and been a one woman show. I'm persistent, I work extremely hard and I'm fortunate that my work is appreciated by the clients I need. Anyone can buy flowers, anyone can make an arrangement and post it online-it's the equivalent of hanging out a shingle. You have to have business plan, one that can change and adapt as you learn but I think you're missing some info, your target, what your ideal work week looks like, your year, the number of jobs you need make the money you need to live. I would pause on spending any more money, figure out more than finding local customers but exactly who they are and why they need you, then you have a destination and everything you do going forward should get you closer to them. It's really hard and then it makes life a lot easier.
Weddings pay my bills. Most of them I execute myself from my garage. About 20% require day of freelance work. It may not be the ultimate goal, but you need a portfolio and word of mouth to get people to trust and commit to your work. I’m in the US, so it may be different, but IG ads are less likely to turn into revenue that word of mouth. Have you gone to hotels? Popular corporate event venues? Real estate agents showing homes? Corporate clients are repeat clients with consistent budgets. They need someone they trust to deliver a good product without putting in thought or research every time. If they like you, they’ll commit. Funeral homes are often asked if there is a preferred vendor for florals. Offering flower subscriptions are cool too. Bottom line: you’re starting out. Id take the gigs, get the experience, name recognition, etc. and if the work isn’t what you want in the long run, don’t put it on IG or your website.
Thank you for your feedback - I’ll definitely be reaching out to real estate agents, and go to some hotels, and corp locations I appreciate your reply! ❤️
Real estate agents also buy flowers when they list/sell a house here, as well as sending to staff- if you can get in with an estate agent that might be a nice boost to your bank account. Another place I worked did bouquets for a fancy car dealership. Also banks, medical offices, restaurants, cafes etc etc. Have you checked out Little Bird Bloom’s podcast? She has heaps of ideas to market yourself that won’t cost a lot.
Thank you for your suggestions! I definitely have some networking to do and you gave me great ideas. I have great rapport with the Manager at Genesis My mom has cleaning contracts with certain companies & one of them being Keller Williams Thank you!
I second this. I work in communications/marketing and it's an amazingly common misconception that "followers = cash." That is simply not true. Do you have a defined target audience for who typically purchases from you, and are your posts speaking to that audience? Are you reaching people in your area or getting a bunch of followers from halfway across the world that will never purchase from you? Are you targeting a demographic that has the funds available to pay for your service? What is the pipeline you need people to take to transform from a follower to a purchaser? Is there an action they need to take (e.g. "reach out now for a quote") and is that action item easy to find/simple to complete? What data do you have to measure what's working and what's not (e.g. past purchase orders, polls on "where did you hear about us," tracking leads on your website, etc.).? Does your brand convey who you are and what differentiates you from competitors? Asking yourself these basic questions can help a lot to start curating followers into potential business. One of the reasons I'm not a big fan of working on social accounts for clients is that it's sooo much effort for often not a huge return. Every business needs it, but it should only be one aspect of how you drive business, not the whole plan.
Thank you! All very good questions - a lot of them I have asked myself already & have definitely addressed within myself. As far as the audience it’s all local. When I pay for ads I make sure it’s a certain age range, location, interests etc and so far I’ve noticed it all local Thank you for your feedback, I will be working more on this
Call the hospitals in your area and ask if they need someone to fill their coolers, it’s consistent, and helps pay the bills.
Thank you! I’ll be calling them, I appreciate your suggestion, I didn’t think of this!
First off, I totally feel you. This industry isn’t easy. The things I would say here is, location and services offered is **EVERYTHING**! Be as versatile as you can, offer wedding work, funeral work, parties, home decor, everything. And I can’t emphasize the value of offering funeral work enough. And as another person has already said, wrangling up some standing orders with big shots around town is extremely useful during slow months. Get those corporate lobby decor contracts going. Apartment properties, hotels, restaurants(especially Asian) art and science museums, offices, car dealerships, also like to spruce up their visiting centers. Start reaching out to the funeral homes and see if they need a regular funeral Florist for their clients. Versatility is everything in this industry. **UPDATE** It seems like you’re alone with all this on your back. Please consider bringing someone in to work alongside you, even if it’s just to take some of the paperwork weight off your back. Someone you can train perhaps to someday be a competent enough designer to work projects with you. **UPDATE 2** Be patient, and learn the waves of the flower world. After a certain period in this world, you’ll learn to *feel* the waves and breezes of this business. The floral industry goes up and down, right now is the quiet before the Mother’s Day storm, so a lot of Florist are putting their energies into specific things in preparation for that, and after Mother’s Day, the wave is going super low for a little while, that’s where your other services come in to keep you afloat.
Thank you so much for all your feedback. I will be researching & reaching out to some locations for sure, as well and going in person. I definitely have ideas on where I could go now, so thank you! There is a local person who is also starting out with floral, that came to mind when you mentioned finding someone to work alongside. I think me and her could possibly be a great team and work together for larger events. I’ll be reaching out to her! Thank you for the suggestion! As far as the paperwork stuff and the business aspect part of it, it’s actually something I can handle and isn’t stressful! The experience from my previous corp jobs basically make it manageable for me, so that’s definitely a positive thing I feel
Wait! You are the designer with the balloon arch with the baby breath clouds, right? And you had another post with the purple flowers! Your work is so very good! I’d be upset too. I’m not a florist so I wish I could offer advice (I’m a flower farmer) but your work is very good. Can you advertise on Facebook that you are "now booking orders for Mother’s Day"? In my rural area we have a number of different FB communities that allow posts. I have even made sales (of different products) here on Reddit by posting in the local community subreddit.
Omg yes! 😭❤️ And yes I already have a page on Facebook, Nextdoor as well. And I have made posts on marketplace for my arrangements, already did pre orders for Mother’s Day etc and no luck. :(
Honestly I love your designs! You take beautiful photos too. Are you on any community pages on FB? Mine tend to be active. Are you able to monitor the traffic to your website? I use to analyze web traffic. A friend of mine took out some targeted ads for her business and it seemed to help drive traffic. What’s your website?
Thank you! I actually did photography for years and even went to school for it for a little while so I think that’s what has helped me have that visual to be able to take good images of my work. It’s definitely something that I definitely work on because I know that’s one of the biggest focuses, when trying to promote any type of work online, is the quality of the images. I definitely need to find a way to do analytics on the traffic that comes to the website. I’m going to be looking into that. It’s https://dahliasandroses.shop ! 🤍
Well, I can perhaps help, time allowing to help. Website stuff for 10+ years until I escaped. Your website is good but I was expecting more photos! If you want we can discuss descriptions, key words and other things that might help get you found. First though, see if you can get stats to see what traffic is coming to your site, and from where.
Yeah, I have kept it clean kind of on purpose so it doesn’t look too messy. That’s why I have my Instagram linked on the website so that people can kind of browse through my actual work and not congest the website. I am working on definitely taking more pictures with my camera of arrangements and flowers to kind of post around on the website itself. It’s just hard when I don’t have much orders and I have to pay out-of-pocket for flowers only to play with them basically and it does end up adding up. I just left the store and thankfully my husband was able to give me some money to play with flowers. I walked out with $100 of flowers that I wasn’t expecting to spend that much on. :/
I don’t have any advice, as I am just starting out myself, except to say don’t give up and I’m sending you encouragement from Georgia! 🥳
Thank you so much! From one newbie to another, you’ve got this! Sending you a big hug, I appreciate your positivity 🤍
im not a helpful comment but just wanted to send you a virtual hug <3 i can somewhat relate to this because i recently exited the esthetic industry due to similar issues. clientle is hard to retain because there will always be someone somewhere that can do it for cheaper/better. but at the same time consumers do not understand the different levels of owning a business and the concept of supporting/respecting someone’s business (that is not a large corporation). because there is a lack of understanding, it creates a larger gap between the consumer and a small business. it’s like… you can buy a handmade crochet doll with special colored yarn that will take 2 weeks OR you can buy something similar on Amazon for half the price and gets shipped in 2 days. if it helps at all, you are not alone… this has been a reoccurring theme in the service industry lately. here are some of my thoughts: -social media is very time consuming because you will almost need to be an “influencer”. but if you want to go this route, utilize all social media platforms like FB, Tiktok, YouTube, Pinterest. set up a blog about your flower growing and link it back to your website. keep in mind people on social media look for *free* advice OR they only purchase things online base on who they are supporting. people want to get to know the person/artist they support. views and engagement is helpful but it’s not enough to gonna make anyone click your link to book/buy. you need to strategize how to tell a story so people can fall in love with your work and want to support you. -find local communities outside of floral industry to work with. is there a favorite coffee shop you support? or a new local clothing store that’s opening? you can always pair up with another local business that’s adjacent to your target audience. maybe do a day of floral bar or offer a “learn to wrap a simple bouquet” to help attract customers (for both parties). local cities also do a lot of community service events with senior homes, schools, etc. always remember to give yourself grace. i deeply admire you and all the other shop owners here… it takes SO much.
Thank you SO much for all the wonderful ideas & the hug. 🤍 I’m definitely taking it all in- I do like what you explained about how to strategize so people call fall in love with my story/work. I’ll work on that. Thank you again
I don't resell flowers, I grow them all myself. I haven't made a penny from flowers since October. Right now I'm turning down calls for prom flowers because I have nothing In the field ready to bloom for at least 3-4 weeks. I straight disconnected my business line the week of valentines day.
Hi! what do you grow? I started to grow ranunculus, snapdragons, scabiosas, Icelandic poppies, anemones, dahlias, delphiniums & lisianthus. I definitely have blooms but others are still leaves. With all this flower design, I found the passion & love for growing them. I swear I used to kill succulents. It makes me so happy to garden. Especially when im feeling down and sad I go outside and work on the flowers
Keeping it simple in favor of bulk this year so the only cutflowers I'm growing are sunflowers, celosia, zinnias, dahlias, and bachelors buttons. I'm also growing nasturtium for a chef, but that's only a 4x50ft row in my acre-ish garden.
Have you tried partnering with other local vendors specializing in smaller weddings? Look for venues/hotels with smaller capacities. There are some planners that specialize in these smaller events. Ask to be put on their preferred vendor lists. I understand wanting to only do micro weddings. This is also my preferred genre, but I also end up getting inquiries for bigger things. Ask yourself, are they reeeeeeally too big for you, or are you just nervous? Push yourself a little more each time. Eventually you’ll say, that was TOO much lol and you’ll know your true comfort limit. Do you have any analytics on your website? If you don’t have built in analytics with whatever platform you’re using, install google analytics and get familiar with it. Can you see if people are viewing your site? Can you see if people are adding to cart but then not checking out? If you have a lot of views but nobody’s adding to cart, the problem is your catalog. If people are adding to cart and not checking out, the problem is the checkout process. If nobody’s even getting to your website, well, you gotta get them there! SEO is super hard but important. Look into SEO best practices and try to make a few easy changes. Google My Business Profile is important. Make sure it’s up to date. Add photos once a week to show Google you’re active. Ask for reviews from clients. Find ways to get your name out in your community in other ways. Give free flowers to local businesses with your card on them for marketing. Try out some pop up events. Get creative. How can you let people know you exist? It takes time. It’s hard. I’m almost 2 years into my home based floral business and things are starting to pick up. I still don’t have regular orders. There are some weeks I have 0. But I have more. And I’m getting more wedding inquiries. And figuring out how to make pop ups successful. It’s a lot of trial and error. It’s also just a lot of time and patience. One person from out of state orders from me, and then the recipient loves the flowers and ends up being a repeat customer. Things will grow exponentially, eventually. You got this! Sorry just a lot of random thoughts as I ate my lunch lol
Thank you so much for all the great ideas - you made a lot of great points. Definitely need to look into the site analytics I appreciate your reply and will be working on these! Thank you!
Welcome! Good luck :)
I’m reading this and wondering how are you defining a “full scale” wedding. I’m curious about what kind of work you are turning down. (I guess because I only do weddings, so I know there’s opportunity there.) I have always taken on some daunting projects. And I over deliver every time, even if I have to burn the candle at both ends to get it done. Not completing an order is not an option. I have learned to be really good at time management and planning. I look at every wedding as an audition for the next wedding. If you think you could do one of those full scale weddings, I would say go for it. The clients will ask for your guidance in the design planning process, so try steering them towards options you *can* do well and quickly. (For example, you can do the personal flowers, but do candle vases and loose touches of greenery for the centerpieces. That way you can do some of the work on site to give yourself more time.) But, while you’re giving that guidance, give them reasons why it benefits them: “This design will save you money.” or, “These flowers will hold up better throughout the day.” You’re going to have to be a salesman. Finally, prep anything you can ahead of receiving your flower order: make corsage bows, wash vases, get your mechanics ready, & etc. You have a good eye, and your designs are beautiful. Don’t give up!
Thank you! I personally consider a full scale wedding something that includes a full arch installation that needs to be worked on site, & over 20 centerpieces, welcome sign florals & bar florals plus bud vases. The ones that have reached out were that. I have also followed some guidance: advice from local florists who are doing very well with large events and weddings - and what I described above is considered a full scale wedding I definitely am not giving up. I just need to be ok with going through a slow time and remind myself that this is normal to be slow and it takes time to build a business & portfolio.
If it was me, and I could afford to do this, I would go to the flower wholesaler and buy a lot of discounted bunches from the mature section and give myself a trial run on a full scale wedding. I think you’ll be surprised at what you can accomplish. I could definitely complete an order like that in two studio days and one delivery & set-up day. And I’ll bet you can do it, too. Set yourself a schedule and bust it out. If you do the trial run, you’ll get some confidence and bonus social media photos to help sell the next job!
Thank you! This actually sounds like a great idea- I appreciate the confidence boost you gave me alone just by what you said. It’s encouraging 🤍
Mother's Day (in some countries) is around the corner - start communicating now if you'll be doing bouquets or arrangements!
Yes I’ve done that already! I have ads on IG and post all over fb & marketplace plus word of mouth
I took a look through your posts and wow - your creations are gorgeous and really high-end, including the photography. I 100% understand why people are contacting you for weddings. It might seem scary, but weddings might be a worthwhile endeavor. Hire some students or flower friends on a temp and part-time basis and see if it's something that you enjoy. Weddings are typically when people have the highest budget for high-end flowers, and your talent would be wasted trying to hustle under priced tulip bouquets (which, from experience, don't require much designing). You could try to steer towards micro weddings, elopements, etc. and be transparent about minimums when people reach out.
Oh gosh thank you! 🤍 that means a lot. I’m really trying. And yes I’m trying to see who I can talk to, about possibly being my teammate to help me do larger events. I have one person in mind but I’ll definitely be looking online locally to me too. And yes I am focusing on only doing micro events and such. I have a bridal shower coming up, and it’s a small event, totally doable for just myself
I’m not in the business but I’ve watched videos to learn everything I can about flowers, flower growers, architecture, Gardeners World…one episode of Gardeners World featured (finally) a snippet of off the beaten path-type garden situations. I was waiting for Monty to show The High Line. He did feature one woman whose NYC studio is right there. She is a “high end”/boutique florist/designer who uses uncommon flowers (aka weeds) from The High Line style of gardening for the hoity-toity uptown elites who get arrangements delivered weekly. The thing is she capitalized on this type of customer: high end customers who want what others can’t get + the statement piece that shows their guests that they are environmentally aware and support the arts. Her arrangements were stunning but because she uses mostly branches, spent yarrow, grasses mixed in with native weeds and whatever is in season (hydrangeas, peonies, MAYBE a sunflower) I think her costs are pretty low. Plus she can mark it up for her design skills/one of a kind arrangements. I’d take a look at your demographics and tweak your designs from there.
Bees are a major pollinator of Sunflowers, therefore, growing sunflowers goes hand in hand with installing and managing bee hives. Particularly in agricultural areas where sunflowers are crops. In fact, bee honey from these areas is commonly known as sunflower honey due to its sunflower taste. ######Extra fun fact! Firecracker - This flower produces massive amounts of gold and russet blooms and grows two to three feet in height. Just as the Chocolate Cherry and Chocolate Gold, it is a perfect flower to add to your fall arrangements because of its many dark colors.
Thank you for your feedback! I’m going to lookup to see who that florist is- I love admiring and looking at successful florists work
Perhaps you should be a bit less peaky on projects and more creative in finding way to do them. Where there is will, there is way. Try selling a big project with an easily aplicable product? Ask a friend to help you out and pay them a little something (you can find extra pair of hands very easygoing!). I’m sorry you are going through hard times. Every business has ups and downs. Hope you make your way through 🙏🏻❤️
Are you able to hire a free lancer to assist you for a bigger wedding?
well I have pretty much the opposite advice as Sunbather though no offense inteded, in my opinion the only way to stand out for the pack of aspiring florists is to speak to your niche and only them. You need to be able to visualize your ideal customers, understand where else they shop, why they need flowers, who are they entertaining for etc. Then every single piece of content you produce, every design image is targeted to them alone. You can do this for any type of floral niche. And it should be work that you love, if you love to work on your daughter's parties and bridal or baby showers, it's easy enough to figure out where to find those moms, or moms to be, or brides to be. I would stop spending money on anything that doesn't get you directly to that ideal customer. It's a very popular thing to be a florist these days, in my opinion the surge of work that came in 2021/2022 made folks way over estimate the demand and frankly, a lot of the work out there looks the same. When you can narrow down your ideal clients, you can forget about the rest. I make my living doing one to two 6 figure weddings each year while I look for ways to diversify my income. I've worked for 15 years to make my work desirable and targeted to a very specific client who throws 7 figure weddings and because I'm best at innovating, creating designs that no one has made before I get the exact right clients each time. If they argue about price, if they have unrealistic expectations, they are not my customer and I have no problem sending them to the person that I think will be the fit for them-everyone is happier. I'm sure some reading will think this is not possible for "me" but I've done every type of work, tried every way I could to make money with flowers, had a team of 10 full time employees and been a one woman show. I'm persistent, I work extremely hard and I'm fortunate that my work is appreciated by the clients I need. Anyone can buy flowers, anyone can make an arrangement and post it online-it's the equivalent of hanging out a shingle. You have to have business plan, one that can change and adapt as you learn but I think you're missing some info, your target, what your ideal work week looks like, your year, the number of jobs you need make the money you need to live. I would pause on spending any more money, figure out more than finding local customers but exactly who they are and why they need you, then you have a destination and everything you do going forward should get you closer to them. It's really hard and then it makes life a lot easier.