Considering buying a floristry business?
Discussion
My BIL has taken early retirement and he and my sister want to take over an existing high street florists, nowhere in particular in mind at the moment, anywhere in an area south of Birmingham to the south coast, west of London to the west coast.
Any florists or ex-florists here who would like to comment? I think they are ok for money, it's as much a question of having something to do, and my sister has done a lot of semi-pro flower arranging over the years.
Any florists or ex-florists here who would like to comment? I think they are ok for money, it's as much a question of having something to do, and my sister has done a lot of semi-pro flower arranging over the years.
A friend of mine is too. Works bloody hard as well, nearly all weddings.
Saw no point in taking on a shop as she says there are now only two times a year when people buy sufficient volume of flowers to support a shop - Mothers Day and Valentines. Nearly everyone gets flowers outside these times from M&S or Waitrose and she can't afford to compete - you'll be amazed how much flowers cost wholesale.
She therefore rents a small workshop unit, does loads of marketing on social media and gets nearly all her work through that or recommendations.
Saw no point in taking on a shop as she says there are now only two times a year when people buy sufficient volume of flowers to support a shop - Mothers Day and Valentines. Nearly everyone gets flowers outside these times from M&S or Waitrose and she can't afford to compete - you'll be amazed how much flowers cost wholesale.
She therefore rents a small workshop unit, does loads of marketing on social media and gets nearly all her work through that or recommendations.
Shops need to be carefully sited to maximise profitability. Outside of formal occasions as mentioned earlier, they are a discretionary purchase and usually only by those with sufficient disposable income. At a minimum of £40 to get a half decent vase filled, not everyone is privelaged enough, so location is key.
My parents owned/ran a busy florists shop on a high street for around 35 years, and have just sold it recently.
I have well and truly grown up in the flower business!
As others have pointed out, location is key for a florists business, the same as it would be for any high street shop where footfall is important.
The variety of what you stock is important as well. Don't just stick to flowers and plants. If you have space, look at home/interiors stuff as well as greetings cards etc.
Plant rental and maintenance in offices etc is also good to get into if you can.
There's so much to talk about here and I'm typing on a phone!
As others have pointed out, it's hard work, you can be facing 12-14 hour days at peak times of the year (we used to have 4-5 delivery vans operating around Valentine's Day).
The financial rewards can be extremely good if you put the work in. You are looking at a 50-100% mark up on most items, and at busy times of the years the days takings can be into 5 figures.
I have well and truly grown up in the flower business!
As others have pointed out, location is key for a florists business, the same as it would be for any high street shop where footfall is important.
The variety of what you stock is important as well. Don't just stick to flowers and plants. If you have space, look at home/interiors stuff as well as greetings cards etc.
Plant rental and maintenance in offices etc is also good to get into if you can.
There's so much to talk about here and I'm typing on a phone!
As others have pointed out, it's hard work, you can be facing 12-14 hour days at peak times of the year (we used to have 4-5 delivery vans operating around Valentine's Day).
The financial rewards can be extremely good if you put the work in. You are looking at a 50-100% mark up on most items, and at busy times of the years the days takings can be into 5 figures.
Before they go out and buy a shop, is it worth getting a job in a florists for 6 months? For a relatively low investment (i.e. the time), they'd learn the industry and more importantly, find out if they enjoy being a florist.
There's a lot more to running the business than just arranging the flowers. If they find out the business side takes away all the fun, it could turn into a very expensive mistake.
There's a lot more to running the business than just arranging the flowers. If they find out the business side takes away all the fun, it could turn into a very expensive mistake.
I think that is great advice and tbh something which I'd done in the past.
Also, with this talk fo wholesale, it reminded me of a guy who now sells masses of sandwiches wholesales. He started off with a small round and eventually realised that it was too much work for too little money.
Also, with this talk fo wholesale, it reminded me of a guy who now sells masses of sandwiches wholesales. He started off with a small round and eventually realised that it was too much work for too little money.
Did a business plan for one recently but the numbers didn't stack up enough to make it worthwhile. Margins on the flowers are only 40% or so especially if you want to buy good quality to distance yourself a bit from the supermarket quality.
Long hours, weekends, being available to open up for flower deliveries at strange hours of the day etc.
Numbers for this one stacked up with a £20k profit based on one person working in the shop but if you wanted to take any time off or have any help you loose most of that on staff wages.
Lots of additional things you could do to earn more but would mean more hours and carrying more stock: doing evening classes for flower arranging (and then if you get some good students pay them to help out at busy valentines, mothers day, Christmas), do deals with local arts and crafts people to display their work and increase footfall, wedding and gift goods, bedding plants etc.
Two markets where florists have the market to themselves are weddings and funerals. Find out who does the funeral work for the large undertakers in the area (need this as steady income over the quiet periods), for weddings you may need to do deals on kick backs to the large venues in the area to build up your client base.
Long hours, weekends, being available to open up for flower deliveries at strange hours of the day etc.
Numbers for this one stacked up with a £20k profit based on one person working in the shop but if you wanted to take any time off or have any help you loose most of that on staff wages.
Lots of additional things you could do to earn more but would mean more hours and carrying more stock: doing evening classes for flower arranging (and then if you get some good students pay them to help out at busy valentines, mothers day, Christmas), do deals with local arts and crafts people to display their work and increase footfall, wedding and gift goods, bedding plants etc.
Two markets where florists have the market to themselves are weddings and funerals. Find out who does the funeral work for the large undertakers in the area (need this as steady income over the quiet periods), for weddings you may need to do deals on kick backs to the large venues in the area to build up your client base.
Timmy40 said:
My mothers always telling me I should look at setting up some greenhouses and growing flowers for the florist trade. Maybe she has a point.
That's how my mate's Dad started but now, with the internet, most of his sales are direct.http://www.freesiasbypost.com/products/
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