Each of us comes the very moment when we have to make a choice on the topic of earnings. Today we will consider the option of flower business, and how to deal with it. It should be noted that the smallest store will cost approximately $ 1,000 (65,000 rubles). But where to start a flower business from scratch and how to do it?
Where to begin
So how to open a flower business from scratch (a store, a pavilion or a page on social networks)?
First you need capital to invest in the flower business, suppliers and sales (the most important basis, before opening a store, do not miss this topic). You need to choose a promising suitable place where they will buy flowers. For the beginning of the flower business, business districts are more suitable, the payback of goods depends on the place, which should be a walk-through, crowded, in a residential area.
So, if you want to do flower business in the future or present time, you need to think about the room (it will be yours or rented, and for what fee, do not forget to calculate the tariffs for payment for light and heating, as well as whether there is water and drain in the room )
Equipment
The second question of where to start a business (flower shop) will be the layout of the goods. Much depends on it, mainly your sale and demand for your product. Therefore, think about the racks on which flowers will be sold. It is important that the room is light, clean and there is an assortment of goods at an adequate price. It must maintain an aesthetic appearance.
Take care of the equipment for the store. For all this, you need furniture, you can buy it at special points of sale. Or make it to order on the advice of an interior designer. For greater storage of delicate beautiful flowers, you need special refrigerators, or ordinary large ones, as in a supermarket for storing food.
Where to sell
Everyone says: "I want my little flower business." But not everyone understands how to find the best place to trade. After all, this is the key to success in business.
We give for example several options for premises.
Market Pavilion
Such points can be seen near crossings, metro stations, transport stops in the market itself (bazaar) or in a shopping center. A small pavilion can also be profitable if located in the right place.
Flower boutique
Or call it a salon or a boutique. Everything should be beautiful here, close to ideal. Design room, beautiful floral arrangements made by masters of floristry, competent staff who know how to communicate with customers are important. An approximate amount of $ 9,000 (590 thousand rubles) is needed for such a salon. Corporate clients, decoration of halls and banquets are important here. All this will provide a good profit from customers. This is an exclusive luxury product in expensive packaging. The room should be surrounded by boutiques, expensive shops and shopping centers. Their audience is wealthy wealthy people who can afford such a luxury. Although you can insure yourself and open a small shop in the pavilion for sales and sales as a backup option in the sales turnover.
Online flower shop
Now this is an actual option for those who are thinking how to start a flower business with minimal investment. It is very convenient in case of shortage and saving your time. You can buy and sell without leaving your home. The costs of online shopping are the smallest. But here is an important point - the order must be delivered to the customer. Or the customer himself will pick up the goods. And this option is suitable if you are the owner of a regular store, and online sales is an option for additional income. You can deliver flowers in your area.
So where to start a flower business at home? To do this, create your account on Instagram or Facebook. To do this, you need beautiful presentable photos of your work, preferably on a SLR camera. Photos should be clear, not blurry. Make an idea in some style, show a video with a comment, introduce buyers to your work, let them appreciate it. Create customer reviews for trust. Treasure your reputation in the market. If you are not buying flowers yet, but selling your own, show how you grow them, show a photo, how to grow and care for flowers. To a greater extent, this is the work of a blogger. Communicate with customers, listen to comments. For delivery you need a person who knows the area well, quickly and efficiently delivers the result of your work to the customer. You can create a site and maintain it.
Flower shop
You can open a flower shop business on the first floors of shopping centers, in business districts, and shopping centers. We need a trading platform, as well as equipment and an assortment of goods. This option is not as demanding as a boutique. Here the assortment can be expanded with various trifles. Here you can sell potted plants, souvenirs, ceramics, gifts, cards, soil. The profit of such a store is not so dependent on sales of flower sales. Due to the large assortment, it will provide regular customers, and the business will be more stable.
A specialist is needed for such a business, and this personnel issue is very important, since the plants must be properly looked after for high-quality storage and a long time for sales. This question is more acute in relation to the clothing or food market, or other business, since the goods have a shelf life.
What to direct your work to
In order for the client to come to you for the second time, you need a specialist to create a designer bouquet, thematic compositions, or creative compositions on different topics: birthday, wedding, hall decoration, christening, decor for a photo zone, corporate parties, decorating a wedding table with fresh flowers, making boutonnieres with fresh flowers and so on. Your imagination and responsibility are important here.
Staff
And most importantly, where to start the flower business - you need a seller. This is a specialist for quality advice on products for customers. To improve the seller’s qualifications, he needs to be sent to floristry courses (but this option also needs to be taken into account in the store’s budget, can you afford such generosity). For such work, you need a florist designer, and better with experience. The seller must understand the product, must be able to communicate with the customer, correctly present the goods, and be able to sell - the most important part in the business. Usually, an interest rate is used for the sales effect as an incentive, that is, a percentage of the sales (5, 10, 15 percent) will go to the seller’s salary, so the seller will be interested in effective sales.
You also need a manager in the store, a courier for delivery, if necessary, a driver, you need a person who will keep accounts.
Range
You need to think about the assortment of goods, where to store and ensure the temperature regime of the room. The flowers themselves are fragile, much less cut, and stored at the right temperature for 20 days. During this period, you need to have time to purchase the goods, deliver them correctly so as not to damage, and most importantly, implement the buyer.
Therefore, do not hesitate, do not delay the process, otherwise throw away your investments and it will end in a banal loss.
Competent procurement and its assortment are important for a business (it minimizes costs for damaged goods).
What flowers to choose
Wholesale and large suppliers offer goods from local manufacturers, so from abroad: Holland, Colombia, Ecuador, America. Flowers and planes are delivered.
Roses, beautiful designer bouquets with dried fruits, dried flowers, custom-made compositions (also a rose is an expensive product, brought by trucks, in wet packaging: in special buckets, which makes it better and longer to store like other flowers) will be relevant.
Flowers do not stand for a long time and are rejected many times.
Also relevant are flowers such as carnations, chrysanthemums, tulips, you can add potted plants and their accessories to this assortment, you can add souvenirs, gift sets, postcards.
Do you need flowerpots
After you know how to start the flower business and what flowers to use, you should consider other items for sale. It would also be possible to add indoor plants (flowerpots) to the assortment, and means for caring for them: nutrient fluids, watering bowls, sub-cellars, beautiful decorative pots for interior decoration and various figures in the form of a gnome, hedgehog, etc., which are put in flowerpot for decoration.
You need to remember the holidays that raise the demand for flowers: beloved Valentine's Day (Valentine's Day), September 1, February 14, March 8 - it's just a flower boom.
In order not to go broke, you need to work hard, do not count on instant success. And who really does not like flowers created by flower fairies?
Remember that business success depends on the result of work in your entire team. You should have a good idea with your own twist. Find an individual approach to each client.
Pros and cons
This business is always risky, but with the right approach can make a profit.
Advantages of the business: large investments are not needed to get started. To open a small pavilion, you need about 7-8 thousand dollars (459 - 525 thousand rubles). Also in this business you need to do a large margin of 100-150 percent. This percentage is due to the risk of investments, since the flowers are very fragile, and if you miss something, you can burn out.
After all, flowers are short-lived goods. Flowers wither, dry, freeze.
You also need to pay attention to the season of sale of goods.
Indeed, from the amount of sales paid rent, salary, communal apartment, taxes and other expenses.
In this business, a reliable supplier is important, because the holidays are once a year, and for the holidays you need to deliver the goods urgently and all at once. And the supplier should not let you down, otherwise your money and your reputation in the market among customers will be lost.
The sales area of the store should be about 8-11 square meters. m. Here you need to take into account the monthly fee for the requirements of the premises: heating, light, water, sewer, if any, rent.
We need furniture, shelving will cost about $ 200 (13 thousand rubles), chairs (3-4 pieces), an office table (1-2 pieces), vases, special stands, wrapping materials.
For staff: 2-3 sellers, accountant, administrator, cleaner.
It is very important not to forget about such a nuance as a utility room. Do not forget about the workplace for the florist to make compositions, pack beautiful bouquets. Do not forget about the various tools for work that cost money: gift wrapping bags, gift boxes, wrapping paper, scissors, nutrient care liquids, soil for plant transplants.
It is not recommended to save on equipment, equipment is an important part of the work process and the key to success. You may need air conditioning to maintain room temperature. A refrigerator was already recommended for storing cut flowers. Another important detail in the expenditures of your budget is deductions to the tax Pension Fund, various additional deductions. Advertising, attending special courses for continuing education is also important.
Pay attention to the fact that before deciding where to start the flower business, and if you have little experience working in it, you should not invest money immediately in a large room, rent a small one. To begin with, it will be enough. After all, to buy a large batch of flowers is also a risk, there is no way to review each flower for rejection (so that the buds do not wilt, they are intact in their present form, so that the stems are not broken and the flowers look good. Small lots are easier to consider and sort out than large lots of goods.
You need to learn to understand the quality of the goods so as not to take substandard goods, such flowers will fade faster and their shelf life will be shorter.
Due to the short shelf life, it is recommended to start with taking the most popular flowers, such as roses, daisies, lilies and those that are unpretentious in caring for them and more stable. The price also matters, the poor will not buy expensive flowers, and vice versa, the poor person does not need a poor flower.
You also need to consider that a good specialist, namely a florist, is a guarantee of success in the flower business.
Recommendations
Before you understand where to start the flower business, you should listen to what experienced business florists recommend:
- wash your hands after working with flowers (they are treated with different chemistry, of course, this is not always noticeable, but you can go for a snack, touch your face, all this can cause a reaction, for example, an allergy);
- periodically ventilate the room in which you work, smells can cause a headache;
- collect water in tanks and leave overnight to settle various impurities, the water will become softer for flowers, which will ensure shelf life;
- You must have stickers and adhesive paper, tape and markers to write the name of the flowers and notes to send to the client;
- cut flowers only with sharp tools, since the stem otherwise absorbs water poorly;
- bookkeeping: income and expenses, fix everything on paper to understand your expenses and profits; enter the file in Excel, take notes on the phone or a separate notebook, but all expendable figures should be clearly recorded;
- observe the temperature conditions in the room; if you brought flowers in the winter, let them lie down a bit in the package (30-40 minutes), usually they are wrapped in paper so as not to freeze, they must adapt to room temperature, after unpacking, let them lie down for another 10-15 minutes and only after put flowers in water;
- severe temperature drops are harmful for flowers;
- do not stop there, learn, at least periodically, and you will exceed your expectations;
- make gifts: gift wrapping, a small bouquet as a gift, a convenient carrying box, a gift to the client in the form of a discount or free delivery;
- use only fresh flowers; do not try to sell flowers of poor quality;
- give vent to imagination and add non-standard material: viburnum to the bouquet as an element of decor, a bouquet in a pumpkin, experiment and give free rein to your creativity.
Do not make mistakes when creating compositions in floristry. This is observed quite often if there is no professional florist. For example, illiterate sellers make a broken composition, do not think about choosing and arranging the right composition. The lack of shape and contour makes the composition unfinished; do not focus in the center, do everything with a slight offset, at a slight angle; Do not disturb the balance of the composition. Remember that unreliably installed flowers in the bioflora are about 1 cm, set firmly and tightly - about 3 cm, and make sure that the stem is securely placed, that it will not fall out during transportation or installation, that the flower will not fade
Do not expect the business to pay off immediately, after three months or six months. Everything takes time and your perseverance and patience.
Another option, if you are a hardworking person and like to delve into a summer cottage, plant flowers there and sell them at the same time. In cold weather, greenhouses will be needed. If you enjoy the process of caring for flowers and growing them, be a supplier, develop this niche.
It can be either a store or wholesale delivery.
The question is how ready you are and want to develop your skills, floristry - a kind and responsibility. And it’s good to start a business when you have something to offer, when you have work skills, then everything becomes easier. The question is how many flowers your florist can make per day. It takes a lot of time. You can also act as a business partner, occupying a separate niche in which your role is personally, for example, growing and delivering flowers from a flower site. To deliver flowers fresh, only from the garden. This is necessary so that in the morning they cut it off and they were already in the store and preparing for the client. The flowers they buy contain additives to make them stand longer.
Of course, you can buy a ready-made flower business. Reviews about this deal are good. But only if you understand how to manage it.
Positive feedback is also needed for satisfied customers to recommend. Good recommendations are the result of your work. You already know where to start a flower business from scratch and how to do it. Now you can begin decisive action.