A guide to being a self employed florist

Introduction

Do you perchance own the greenest of fingers, or are you a purveyor of the most elegant floral styling’s? If so, why not take your talents to the next step and offer your talents independently from home or an adequate workspace. I have spoken to several self employed florists, and have taken the time to collate all the information you need to get started. In this article, I will tell you how much you can expect to earn, how to advertise, some financial frame working and so much more. Before we start however, a quick tip, Don’t Panic! If anything seems a touch to confusing or advanced, that my failing & not yours. If you do feel a little bit lost, drop me a comment and I would be more than happy to help.

How much you can expect to earn

This is obviously the nitty gritty, yet a totally necessary piece of this article. Finding out how much you can expect to earn in any particular niche trade is vital, you must be able to provide a full time income after all. Please bear in mind that these figures are for reference only, your income is totally scalable and dependant on a number of factors.

*After talking to several florists, a few of them were kind enough to recap their figures which have been collated and averaged out here*

1st year (avg): £9,000 net after tax and overheads.
2nd year (avg): £13,500 net after tax and overheads.
3rd year: (avg): £23,000 net after tax and overheads.

As you can see, year one can be rather difficult since visibility is your first hurdle. This is especially true if you choose to work from home or anywhere off the high street. From what I have gathered, year three onwards has a much better outlook since an established client base provides good marketing.

Vocational requirements & qualifications

Most of the business owners I contacted hold little in the way of academic qualifications. Your choices range from a basic NVQ2/3 to a range of city & guild diploma’s. These however seem to be only applicable for younger florists, as the owners tend to be older and trained without academic vocation. The truth is, flare & talent appear to be the bread and butter of every budding florist. If you wish to gain some *stars and stripes* so to speak, here are a few options.

http://www.cityandguilds.com/1176.html
http://www.ukschooloffloristry.com/courses/levels.php

Getting your name out there

Ah yes, marketing! Now once again, do not panic. It’s actually quite easy to gain a foothold on marketing, especially if you are targeting local trade. I will run through step by step options to get your name/brand into the public eye.

Design and branding

As an up and coming professional florist, you want your arrangements to be eye catching and presentation unique. With this being the case, you need an eye catching logo to make your brand and name memorable. Creating a great logo however can be extremely challenging when done solo, and expensive when outsourced. A cheap alternative however is to have talented designers compete for your valuable custom. 99designs is a great site of which I use on a regular basis to outsource design work. You can have a fantastic logo made for £150, and have many to choose from! Of course, if you have a flare for digital art as well as floristry, why not give it a go yourself?

Printing: business cards, flyers and letterheads.

A strong start for any local business, is getting your print work sorted. With your fabulous logo in hand, its time have your brand seen. Business cards, flyers and letterheads are incredibly cheap and a great way to get seen with little fuss. 123print is a lightning fast online printing service that offer a simple upload service to make the process nice and easy. Upload your artwork, pick your stationary and ship it to your door, simple! Don’t take my word for it though, if you would like to shop around then be my guest.

Cost: (based on 123print)

Business cards: 100 cards for £3.95 *could vary slightly with design choice*
Postcard flyers: 50 for £11.95 *could vary slightly with design choice*
Letterheads: 50 for £24.95 *could vary slightly with design choice*

Distribution:

The order of the day here is simple networking. Ask your local shop owners and news agents if they would be gracious enough to put your business card in their window or near the till. There are a few who will get a bit moody or ask for a fee but for the most part, people are kind enough to oblige. On the other hand, you could give your leaflets to a local distributor which normally costs anywhere from £25 - £500 depending on quantity. This is a great strategy to target your local market and generate good income early on.

Target markets

I big part of generating sustainable income, is knowing profitable markets. Catering for elegant weddings alone will only get you so far unless you are a well known name in the industry. Here are some rather profitable markets you may not have considered:

Birthdays
Funerals
Anniversaries
Parties
Dinner parties
Congratulations
Romantic
Thank you bouquets

Don’t limit yourself to one market, many florists fail because they try too hard to be “the name” in the industry. Catering for a more eclectic clientele keeps your options open and may just take your business to a higher level.

Bookkeeping and accounts

To save your desk space from becoming a paperwork bomb-site, its best to computerize your financial records. It’s much easier than you think and can be done completely free of charge. www.openoffice.org offers a free “Microsoft office” alternative which is completely open source and contains a spreadsheet function to keep track of your finances. It is wise however to employ the knowledge and talents of an experienced bookkeeper. You can use an accountant/bookkeeper on a completely ad hoc basis to manage the more complex side of your financial in’s & out’s. A bookkeeper can manage your year-end reports, p60’s, tax returns and so much more. Its worth thinking about and can definitely save time in the long run.

In closing

The first twelve months is always the most challenging, so keep at it and don’t give up. After you have established solid foundations, business will be much easier to manage and maintain. Unfortunately, resources for self employed floristry can be scarce online, however the florists I have met and conversed with locally have been lovely open people who are more than happy to help. If you can’t find what you’re looking for online, why not drop me a comment or drop into to your local florist for a chat?

Being a self employed florist can be challenging, but stick with it and your efforts will be rewarded.

Take care & the very best of luck!

Andy.
www.paidbydesign.com

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