Short answer: Yes of course, you can run a florist business from home. This article would
be meaningless if it was that easy so I’m going to give you practical steps to launch your florist business.
First things first, you have to determine the type of services you’d like to provide. Then you’ll be able to create a budget for your launch based on your business model.
Table of contents
1/What are you going to sell and how are you going to deliver it?
A florist can specialise in different services. Not all florists are running an online flower shop. As a matter of fact, many floral designers are only using social media to promote their businesses.
Running a flower business from home depends on your products. How are you going to manage your inventory? Where are you going to source your flowers? From a wholesaler or from the nearest flower farm?
Florists who are working from home are typically offering:
custom arrangements for anniversary, get well bouquets, baby showers, etc
sympathy flowers,
wedding flowers,
flower subscriptions,
luxury flower boxes and gifts,
any type of daily arrangements,
and special events and holidays bouquets (Valentine’s day, Mother’s day, etc).
Make sure you’ve identified the arrangements appealing to you before setting aside a budget for your flower business.
For obvious logistic reasons, it’s better to have a small room in your home dedicated to your new endeavour. Cutting flowers and wrapping bouquets in your kitchen table is quickly going to get messy and a clean workspace is absolutely essential for maximum productivity. I’ll share more about the tools you'll need in the 3rd section of this article.
If you don’t plan on doing consultations with clients for weddings for example, then operating from home would be perfect for you.
It’s totally doable to design custom arrangements for all occasions from home. All of the offers mentioned above don’t require a shop as long as you can store fresh flowers somewhere in your house. In other words, you need a cool space to store your inventory. Start small in the beginning.
On the other hand, event floral designs and corporate flowers may require a more professional setting like a boutique or a studio. The thing is your customer ordering a bouquet for Valentine’s day will never know that you’ve designed it at home.
But a company or a small business reaching out to you for corporate or event flowers may ask you for a meeting. In this case, it would be recommended to have an office or something. At the end of the day, you’re the only one who knows how you’d love to operate in your business. Be creative and invite them for a lunch business meeting if you can’t afford to rent at the moment.
2/The pros and cons of working from home
The pros of working from home
Number one would be the initial capital investment. Not having to rent will allow you to spend more on other aspects of launching your business. You can allocate more resources to marketing, tools and supplies, workshops and training, etc.
Starting with an in-home studio can also force you to build self-discipline and improve your time management skills because you’ll have to prioritise tasks. Let’s say, you’re used to spend time binging Netflix the entire Saturday afternoon and suddenly, because you have to sell your inventory, you’ll most likely stop watching your show and promote online.
Another interesting fact is that many people struggle to separate fun time from work time and you could totally fall into that category. But remember that those small business owners are selling products that can last for months which won’t be your case my dear friend. Seeing the fresh flowers in the cooler would prompt you to do something about it. You won’t just sit around hoping to get sales.
I also believe that making good profit would be easier because of less fees and charges. The brick and mortar florist would always have their rent in mind. Whether they had a good or a bad month, they can’t really escape the bill.
The cons of working from home
If you’re living alone with your pet then you’re lucky to have all the personal space for your activity. Living with a partner, having small kids or even teenagers can somehow have an impact on your floral business.
Working on your special bouquet in the kitchen table while your teenage son is having his afternoon snack and watching the TV loud enough for you to hear every line, will probably be distracting. It’s like working remote for a company. You need to be alone and work with no disturbing noises to be able to focus well.
The next con is related to one of the pro above. I guess this one is more about a good life balance thing. You can easily get tired by constantly having to sell out your inventory at the expense of some good family time together. Find a balance between when to work and when to relax. We all need to rest during weekends. Give yourself a break but don’t forget your small business.
And I don’t know about you but there are certain flowers with a strong smell that I really can’t stand at all. Perhaps, do researches about each plant before bringing them home. Your loved ones may have some sort of allergy that you weren’t aware of before. Store your fresh flowers in a cooler or a small fridge to avoid any unnecessary reactions.
3/The tools and supplies you’ll need to get started
This isn’t an exhaustive list but it covers the basics. You’ll need:
a table,
some floral tapes and adhesives,
clippers,
wire cutters and scissors,
a knife,
ribbons,
buckets, vases and containers,
waterproof flower wrapping paper,
a notebook or a planner,
a flower cooler or a small flower fridge
and even a delivery vehicle for big projects like weddings, sympathy flowers, etc
You don’t need to get those items in a particular order. Compare different online stores’ prices or just go to the nearest mall and buy them. Fell free to add some branded items like cute packagings and cards with your logo. But do you really need a logo as a new florist? Click the link to find out and earn how to choose your branding colors at the same time.
Now that you know all the equipment needed to run a flower business from home, time to talk about how long you could/should operate this way.
To be honest with you, you should consider turning a room into a studio if you desire to work from home for a few years. Think of a corner in your garage or an unused guest room.
4/When should you consider having a studio?
Probably when you’re financially ready for the shift. Save as much as you can and invest the money back into the business to accelerate the transition. Working from home for a decade shouldn’t be the goal. I don’t think it’s sustainable long-term.
The more experienced and more popular you’ll become in your community, the quicker it will be for you to have your own studio.
Start looking for a place way before you move there. In order to set a budget, you’ll need to have an idea of your ideal studio in mind. How small is too small, how big is too big, would you need a parking spot for your vehicle, how far is it from home, etc.
Do your researches as soon as you start making profit. You can even go as far as visiting a place or two. The next step consists in saving a portion of your monthly revenue. Celebrate small milestones to keep you on track and don't forget to reward yourself when you finally hit your desired outcome.
To conclude, yes it’s totally possible to run a florist business from home. Get your tools and supplies ready and start following fellow florists on social media for a glimpse of your new routine.
And when you've created your profile, be sure to read and learn about the best ways to promote flowers on social media. And if you believe that you need a website to run your flower business, then feel free to read these articles:
See you there, take care!
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