I’d like to start by saying that you’ll need a piece of paper and a pen to take notes. What you’re about to read is a detailed guide on how to start a flower business from a digital marketer’s perspective specialised in the floral industry.
How do you set yourself for success as a florist? What is the magic recipe? What’s the secret to being booked every other weekend? Those wedding florists seem to be so successful, what’s their secret strategy? Are they that unique?
You may even say to yourself: “How can I succeed just like them? I need to copy their exact marketing process.” The truth is their success story should be used as an inspiration and nothing more. I’m writing this article today to make you realise that you can get to where you want to be without walking in someone else’s footsteps. You don’t need to be like them to achieve great results as a florist. Your path is unique, your story is uniquely yours. Now, enough with the good words. Use this guide as a blueprint for your own success, apply what makes sense to you and dismiss the steps you’ve already tackled. You don’t have to follow this particular order but if you’re a beginner, I’d highly suggest you do so.
This article was designed for anyone desiring to start a flower business, someone who’s never sold a bouquet in their entire life and who has no clue on how this industry works. Like many other industries, floristry requires skills but you don’t need to go to university to get a Master’s degree. You can still join a floristry school if you’d rather follow the academic way of learning. Otherwise, it’s totally possible to learn about floral design through courses and workshops.
Without further ado, here are 10 steps to properly start your flower business.
Consider starting your florist adventure as a side hustle
I released an article earlier about being a florist as a hobby. Make sure you read that post first. Of course if you’re already familiar with floral design and you have an idea of your perfect business, feel free to skip this section.
Did you know that many florists typically start their journey as a side income gig? If you didn’t know, now you know. Florists can rely on word of mouth in the beginning. No need for fancy Instagram ads when you can just talk about your small business anywhere you go in town. This old school strategy requires certain social skills though because you’ll have to promote yourself in real life, not online, behind a screen. If you’ve never arranged a bouquet before, you’ll have to start as a hobby. Learn the basics and try charging when it makes sense for you to do so. Make sure you read this blog entry to have a timeline in mind.
You won’t risk much, financially speaking, if you don’t go full time straight away. Keep your full time job and see how you handle the ups and downs of being a florist during weekends. You need to be aware of the workload, the client management process, the back and forth emails, the early morning errands to source your flowers, etc.
Use this time to know your numbers. Adjust your pricing along the way. It’s important to make a good profit if you want to stay in business. Improve your delivery method, save for a vehicle perhaps. Stay small and take care of your early loyal customers the best way you can. Shower them with love because they’ll help you build your local authority.
You can go full time when you have enough saved for the major upfront costs and you’re making enough to sustain yourself. Yes, it’s that simple.
Do researches and find inspiration first
No matter how you start, whether you practice in your free time or you’re trying to make ends meet by selling flowers online, it’s extremely important to follow the trends. Follow your favorite florists on social media. Get in touch with them, ask them for advice if needed. Make sure you spend time on Pinterest to see other florist’s creations. This is the time to explore new possibilities. Create a board and save your favorite arrangements.
Attend their Instagram lives. They usually share tips for beginners. Instead of aimlessly scrolling on social media, use your precious time to learn from others.
Follow training and attend workshops
One of my first articles on this blog was about leveraging training and workshops. I’m going to be honest with you here. Yes, you’ll have to spend money on training. You’ll never build enough confidence to charge thousands without some sort of knowledge. Some people call it imposter syndrome but Alex Hormozi said that the lack of confidence comes from lack of experience. You may not agree with me (and him) on this one but I had to share it. There’s no perfect time to start acquiring knowledge but better late than never. And you can keep learning as you’re growing your business. I’ve specifically talked about 2 ladies in that article and it’s not a partnership whatsoever. It’s not even an affiliate link. Just my genuine appreciation about their work.
Learn about floral marketing
Remind me to write about this topic later on, okay? Just drop me a message on Instagram.
I’ve already said it previously but the way you market clothing (or jewellery or anything else to be honest) will be different than marketing your flower business. The closest comparison would be selling food. Food and flowers are both perishable goods. You gotta be careful with your selling technique. I can’t possibly talk about all the different tips in this section but here’s what you need to know in a nutshell.
Identify your target market, price for profits (it’s absolutely fine to think of profit first), market and sell where your customers are most likely looking for your products and services. Need an example?
1.You’re a wedding florist looking for 2025 brides. Let me tell you that they’re probably spending their launch break looking for wedding flowers palette on Pinterest. So where should you market and sell? On Pinterest.
2.You want to sell luxury flowers for proposals. Who’s most likely to benefit from your services? Pretty obvious right? … Men in a relationship who’re looking for a florist just like you! You can run Meta Ads to target that specific audience. Your next step is to learn how to build profitable campaigns on Facebook and Instagram. And if money is an issue, talk about your offers with your network. Share something on your personal facebook page along the lines of: “Hello everyone, hit me up if you’re looking for a florist for your proposals and engagements.”
Define the business model
You need to answer these questions:
“What am I selling? To whom? And how am I gonna reach them?”
Read these 3 articles before answering:
Open the links and pin the tabs. Read them when you’re ready to soak up knowledge because it’s filled with precious strategies to help you win.
Write a business plan
Because I’m selling Wix Site Templates, it’s quite fair to redirect to Wix blog. You can’t find a better article about writing the perfect flower business plan than this one. That in-depth article is a true gem! Wix is one of the best website builders for wedding florists. You can’t go wrong by choosing that platform. And when I say Wix, I’m talking about Wix Studio.
Calculate the initial investment and prepare for upfront costs
I’d say give yourself 6 months to gather enough information about the upfront costs. Focus on the essentials. Custom packaging and flower wrapping may not be necessary at first. No need to have 1000 Instagram followers before your official launch. We tend to think that many people must have heard about us before making the jump but listen dear friend. The entire world doesn’t need to know. You’ll waste hundreds and thousands growing that vanity metric only to realise that 10 people or even less, bought from you the day you launched. Avoid the disappointment and shift your focus from followers to sales.
Your initial investment depends on your business model. Don’t complicate things. Add up all your costs and sow into the future. You desire to launch in 6 months? Divide the total amount by 6 and see how much you need to save each month. I don’t suggest taking a loan for this or even using a credit card. Now some of you might say “but it’s good debt” Can I disagree with you on that?
If you’ve been selling flowers before and you’re now registering an LLC then yes, go ahead. You already know what it takes, to a certain extent at least. Now if it’s your first time and you’re still testing the waters then please, I beg you: take calculated risks.
Register your flower business
Point number 8. We’re almost there. Keep reading my friend.
Registering fees will vary depending on where you live. Check out your state’s regulations. Your legal structure and your business setup should be taken seriously. Learn about taxes and choose the right business license after talking with other florists in your town/city/region. Join forums or Facebook groups and just ask them. The florist influencer on Instagram may not even see your DM request. Don’t blame her though. She’s receiving many requests everyday. And if you don’t feel comfortable enough to interact with strangers online then Google will be your best friend.
Keep in mind that opening a flower shop and selling custom arrangements in your neighbourhood are 2 different things. My personal advice is to go for an LLC. Minimize the risks. Doing business is often glamorised nowadays that we forget the day to day struggles. Read this post for an overview on the best practices to register your flower business.
Set up your website and social media pages
Did you secretly wait for me to talk about social media and websites? I know many people tend to prioritise these 2 aspects over anything else. Fair enough, I suppose. So, when should you build your website and promote your social media pages?
Based on this guide, you should think of your website and profiles after:
selling flowers as a hobby (from word of mouth for example)
finding your floral style (keep refining and improving)
learning the basics and following training
carefully choosing your business model
writing your business plan
calculating the upfront costs
and legally registering your flower business.
You can obviously prepare some sort of prelaunch backed up with a solid strategy. Build a “Coming Soon”page on your website and register your domain name. Create an account on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest. You don’t need to use all of them but … you don’t want anyone to use your brand name, right? That setup will only take you an hour.
Start promoting and track your metrics
First of all, congratulations for sticking till the end!
The last step is all about promotions. Promoting your services is no joke. Don’t take it lightly. One of the reasons why small businesses fail is because of lack of promotion. Or simply because they don’t know how to promote and sell consistently.
The metrics you’ll have to be tracking from day 1 are: your leads, your customers and your sales. Instagram reach and impressions are amazing, yes I know. Your site visitors increasing daily is worth sharing with your partner. The number of people watching your story is definitely a great indicator of interest. Celebrate these milestones!
But if you reach 2000 people on your posts but no one’s reaching out to ask for a wedding quote then your ads aren’t converting well. And my dear, that’s a real issue. I wrote an in-depth article on how to promote flowers on social media if you need help with promotion. Give it a read if you’re interested in learning the best practices to sell on these platforms: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest. My main point here is that you shouldn’t be moved by the wrong metrics. Message me on Instagram @florist.webdesign if you need assistance on this matter.
And that’s a wrap! I know that was long to digest but now you’re ready to start your flower business. I’m available for further insights and don’t forget to read my About page. I’m a Digital Marketer specialising in the floral industry. See you there, take care xo
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