Floral Service
What will I be doing ?
There are nearly 50,000 floral services in the U.S. How can you operate a home business in what is traditionally a retail storefront enterprise ? You can offer supporting services. For example, your home based floral business may arrange or deliver flowers for florist shops. Or you may grow them at your home, selling them wholesale to the shops or to floral wholesalers. Or you may produce products sold through florist shops such as vases, dry-flower arrangements or trim products.
What will I need to start ?
To successfully start a floral service you’ll need to know your products, whatever they may be. You may specialize in potted geraniums or in holiday arrangements. Whatever your specialty, you must know much more about it than your customers. The more you know, the more you will profit.
You will also need skills, resources and equipment. If you’re a flower arranger, you ‘ll need related skills, flowers to arrange and a work area. If you offer delivery services, you’ll need to have a vehicle, a safe driving record, a knowledge of the city and be avaailable for quick deliveries.
Who will my customers be ?
Customers for your floral service will include individuals (funerals, weddings) businesses, churches and other groups. Some home-based floral services specialize in a type of product or customer. One successful service provided floral arrangements for local churches on a contract basis. Each week featured a new arrangement. Because the arrangements at all customer churches were the same, she was able to buy in quantity at the nearby floral wholesale market. She bought on saturday morning, arranged all day Saturday and delivered early Sunday morning.
Defining the customers of your floral service will depend on what you sell.
How much should I charge ?
Floral service typically establish an hourly rate of $25 to $60, but price by the arrangement. Others use multipliers such as four-times-wholesale. Others, especially floral services that are starting out, price slightly lower than competitors in order to develop business.
For more information on prcing floral services, read my book, Upstart Guide to Owning and Managing a Florist Service (Upstart Publishing).
How much will I make ?
Your florist service will require 10 to 30 percent of your time for marketing, depending on what you provide and to whom you sell. That means 70 to 90 percent of the time you devote to your business is billable. You’ll probably need more marketing time as you begin, but may eventually spend less as your reputation grows.
Overhead costs vary greatly depending on the type of product or service your provide. If you’re producing arrangements on your kitchen table, overhead will probably be low. Including taxes, it ma be as low as 20 percent. However, if you need a shop or delivery equipment, overhead may take 40 to 50 percent of every dollar you make. Even so, a full-time home-based floral service can earn $30,000 or more each year. Some do even better.
How can I get started ?
To start your business, first learn your trade. If you are selling your arrangement skills, attend a floral trade shool or read up on these skills and get a job in the industry. Keep an eye out for opportinities in the industry where you would like to serve others-and make money from home.
The SIC code for floral services is 5992-01
From the book of Dan Ramsey, Title : 101 Best Home Businesses, CAREER PRESS, 3 Tice Road, P.O. Box 687, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417, 1-800-CAREER-1, 201-848-0310 (NJ and outside U.S.), FAX : 201-848-1727
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