How to Start Your Own Floral Design Business

Floral arrangements and delivery service is in demand year round. I guess you could say they are seasonal products for all seasons. This makes floral design a profitable business to get into. Yet, if you don\'t have the funds or desire to open a shop, but still like working with plants and have a creative flair, you have options. You even can work out of your home! For example, you could offer a floral arranging service for flower shops, grow the flowers at home selling to stores or produce and sell floral arrangement accessories such as vases, cards or other trimmings. If you decide not to have a storefront, you may be able to cheaply lease outdoor space in a popular downtown area with lots of traffic. You can also work from home. With a delivery service, you can easily operate out of your house with a vehicle. To get started, you\'ll need the items used to create your arrangements and a few basic tools.
With events and holidays happening throughout the year, the opportunities to make money are all around you. You can work with individuals to provide arrangements for holidays, birthdays, special events like weddings and graduations, etc. In addition, you can look for longer-term contracts with churches, hotels, restaurants and other businesses who need flowers delivered or arranged on a regular basis. These clients can provide a more stable and consistent income flow. It\'s also an easy way to showcase your designs to other prospective flower-buyers (for free!).
As a floral designer, you can charge a certain hourly rate, and also have established prices for certain arrangements or orders that clients place. What you charge will depend on how much you pay for your wholesale supplies and also what other flower shops are charging, so you can stay competitive with the market yet still remain profitable.
Finding customers: Whether you are working from home or out of a shop, start with people who know and trust you. Offer special discounts for free flowers in exchange for referrals, and you\'ll be surprised at how your prospect list will grow. If you really want to make a statement, create mini-arrangements and deliver them free-of-charge to local businesses you think could be interested your service (i.e. wedding planners, funeral homes, party supply stores). Attach a business card with a simple brochure of your services and rates. Make sure you include a coupon or special introductory price to have them like you even more. Don\'t forget the advertising opportunities you have in the yellow pages, local newspapers and radio stations
Donating a flower arrangement for a large event is another inexpensive way to get your business name out there - in front of lots of people. Submitting a press release is a great example - the media will promote you for free if you send them a great news story about your business. This could be as simple is having your friend write a review about your 'Store Opening' and sending it to your local paper.
So how do you actually start your floral business?
1. Learn your business. If you don\'t have experience arranging flowers, get some! Take a flower arranging class, learn about plants - you want to know a lot more about your product than your customer does. Get an inexpensive start-up guide on how to start a floral business or interview a floral designer or flower shop owner who can give you helpful advice.
2. Find out who your customers are. Who is buying flowers in your community - and what for? What extra service can you provide that they are not already getting, and how much is it worth to your potential customers (what are they willing to pay)? What are other flower shops charging for their designs? As long as you offer more value (i.e. unique products, faster service, weekend or evening hours, etc), you don\'t necessarily need the lowest price to gain market share.
3. Find out which licenses or permits you need from your local government office. Talk with an accountant, insurance agent and banker (you can get referrals from other local business owners or friends) to get helpful tips on financing, tax issues, insurance and business management that will save you time, money and hassles in the long run.
Get Started!
Owning a floral business can be very rewarding. Working directly with customers will help you learn the ropes faster and grow your company. Use your creativity to offer a truly unique service that you really enjoy - after all, it\'s YOUR business.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/entrepreneurship-articles/how-to-start-your-own-floral-design-business-989839.html
About the Author
Sue Barrett has been the Director of Business Solutions at Home Business Center, Inc. for over 10 years. Specializing in small and home business issues, she can provide quality insight and reputable resources for those wanting to start, manage and grow their own home-based businesses. Find out more about how to start your own Floral Design Business or Flower Shop

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Boosting Your Business When the Economy is Slow

When the economy is slow and you need to boost business, it is the little things that can make the biggest difference for your flower shop. Little effects geared toward making it easier for your customers to shop at your store. In a slow economy competition is fierce. Give customers a little more attention and ease of shopping your flower shop and they will appreciate it and keep coming back. Little things definitely will increase the value of your reputation.

Have you ever sat outside a store, forced to wait for the next 5 or 10 minutes until the store unlocks the door? You know the employees are right there and they could let you in. They are on the clock already getting paid, what are they waiting for? A magical time? They wait until straight up at 9:00, or whatever the magical time is, then unlock the door. Already animosity has set in and how is that customer going to have a positive shopping experience? Have a 10 minute rule. Open your business 10 minutes before scheduled opening time and close 10 minutes after your scheduled closing time. Your employees will be answering the phones and have the doors opened 10 minutes before your floral shop is scheduled to open. The doors will remain open and the phones will still be answered 10 minutes after scheduled closing time. As a customer and a shopper, how many times would this have helped you? Many, I am guessing. Great tip for success, that will make customers very pleased. The next time they need a floral product, your flower shop will be remembered. It will be a small, extra expense for your shop, but the additional orders and goodwill you will receive will worth the effort.

In times when money is tight, you and your flower shop are still trying to make a buck. When a customer comes in to order flowers, do not sell them the cheapest arrangement you can find just because they are on a budget. This could be insulting to your customer. Offer them 3 different choices; a sort of price range if you will. If you offer your floral customer a choice of price ranges they will most often take the middle price. Therefore, you have not sold them the cheapest costing product. You have already made more money than you would have on the sell. Furthermore, your customer felt like he/she had options, and they selected the option that did not appear to make them feel like the cheapest, leading them to feel better about the whole sale. By giving the customer several selections, it subtly directed them away from the least expensive purchase. Everyone wins!!

What about your customer satisfaction policy. Have you reviewed it lately? Maybe you should. Happy customers are vital to a business in a slow economy. It means their limited dollars will get spent in your flower shop when the need arises, versus the shop down the street or the supermarket. You definitely do not want to steer your customers to the grocery store for flowers!! So develop an iron-clad satisfaction policy. Make it hassle-free, to the point, and the customer is always right. If you have been in business for a long time, or plan to be, sooner or later you may have a customer satisfaction problem. If you want to keep that customer you need to quickly turn their dissatisfaction into a gratified patron.

This is where you can set yourself apart from your competitors. Now would be the time to show that you are willing to do whatever it takes to make a contented customer. You also want to express to them that they are valuable to you and you will keep them at all costs. Adjustments to the client’s negative problem will actually become a positive, because you will have displayed your shop’s creative ability to solve problems and hopefully create goodwill. This will actually strengthen customer loyalty and increase spending. A hassle-free satisfaction policy can add monies to your bottom line. Whatever the problem, fix it quickly, at all expense!!

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