FLORIST GET TOGETHER
Findings
DEAR FLORIST,
First off, we would like to thank you for coming to one of the florist get togethers.
During these weeks, we have taken the first steps to unifying our industry, discussing the floristry trade and the business side of it. We recognise ourselves in
the stories of our peers, and gain inspiration and understanding from how other
florists manage their shop/studio.
This PDF is a collection of findings that were discussed during the meetings,
from florists throughout the UK, from Edinburgh to Exeter!
Next year, we will continue to do these meetings. They will be in a slightly different format, based on your feedback.
We hope these findings are useful to you, and we of course hope to see you
next year to continue this tendence of discussing and sharing our beautiful
stories and valuable knowledge!
Best regards,
The British Florist Association, Florismart and partners.
ADVERTISING &
MARKETING
In the meetings you exchanged ideas on what you do to market/advertise your business.
Below we have captured some of the ideas that came out.
1. Word of Mouth
A great number of florists agreed that this is one of the most powerful marketing tools
when you have a small business. There are different groups that fall under word of mouth:
Customers: In the meetings many of you said your (loyal) customers are getting you new
business. You see great value in providing quality service, as you notice it works on getting customers to come back, as well as talk about you.
Wonderful example #1
One of you gave out free silk flowers, whenever a neighbour had to take a bouquet
delivery because the customer was not at home. She attached her business card on the
flower, and notices it really works as the neighbour tells everyone in her surroundings
about this nice gesture.
Other businesses: Other local shops, hotels, or event locations could be your ticket to
driving new business. A great number of you collaborate with local businesses such as
hairdressers, interior shops, and hotels.
Wonderful example #2
One of you has done multiple collaborations with local shops in her area. She for example
offers giftcards for a massage on her webshop, when people buy a rose bouquet. Another
florist lives in a large city, and works together with an interior shop, displaying some of her
bouquets there with her business card next to it.
Online fans: Our online networks are growing. Social media is becoming more important
for attaining new customers. Online fans who share your pictures regularly are indirectly
helping you reach a new customer base. Make sure you know who your online fan base is,
and don’t be shy to ask them to share some of your posts eveyr once in a while.
ADVERTISING &
MARKETING
2. Branding
Becoming recognisable as a business was found to be very important. Most if not all of
you use branding materials such as stickers, pens, personalised ribbons, sorry you were
not home notes, to achieve brand consistency as you feel this is essential for succes.
3. Shop front / Window display / Van
Considered as hugely important, as your shop front and display gets people inside and
your van drives around town (hopefully) with your business name and logo on it. Many
of you agreed that the van needs to be in good condition and kept clean. Sign writing is
essential. The shop front is something you can do loads on to get customers in; one florist
has a huge mural on the outside of his shop; so physical space to put something on the
pavement is not always necessary.
Wonderful example #3
Instead of having a seasonal window display one florist stated that she does not have any
window display. Instead she has put her working counter in front of the window, where she
and her staff create bouquets. People respond to the movement happening behind the
window, and take a peek inside.
4. Online
Most of you agree that having a good, responsive website is essential. Many of you however do admit that the pictures need an update. Note that your website is your business
card to customers, and it should show them a recent update of your portfolio / bouquet
offers. Many of you could do with a class on SEO, hitting that top rank on Google.
Our advice: Make sure you are a BFA member, and make your ‘profile’ on the BFA ‘find a
florist’ as complete as you can. We have so many consumers visit this search engine every month, it is bound to bring you more business.
SOCIAL MEDIA
The discussions on this table were very much alive, as the majority of you use social
media as a tool to bring in more business. However, a significant amount felt they lack
knowledge about ‘how’ to use social media. Below we will discuss each social media
platform and what it is good for separately.
1. Facebook
By far the most used medium by florists to reach their audience. Facebook is primarily
used as a sales tool, and/or to gather a loyal fan base. Most of you keep your fan base
updated on your daily pursuits, and share your work to evoke interest. The majority agrees
that sharing = caring = key :)
Some useful tips provided by you
- Produce more video content, especially your younger fans respond better to short videos. You can download free apps in which you can edit your videos very easily.
- Make your Facebook posts personal, people like seeing the face behind those bouquets.
- Link your Social Media to your website, make use of the show now button on your FB
page.
- Consider the timing of your posts, test a few posts at different timings and measure when
engagement is highest.
- Pets always work in pictures.. If you want to increase your likes.
2. Instagram
This medium is used less than Facebook, but is on the rise. Particularly wedding and
event florists have found ways to get new business by maintaining an active instagram
account. Many of you would like to, but have doubts about your photography skills.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Some useful tips provided by you
- A few florists have figured out how to attract brides-to-be; by sharing their wedding work
and hastagging the venue in it.
- Florist instagrammers also use it as a networking tool.
- Consider that corporate contracts may very well come from the recruiter looking at your
instagram page. A few florists noted that they saw a company started following them and
in a few days they got an e-mail from that same company making an inquiry.
- Use #hashtags! If you are looking for popular hashtags, f.e. type in: ‘popular hashtags
plants’ and you will get a list of popular hashtags you can use.
3. Pinterest, Snapchat & YouTube
These social media platforms were less popular in use, however some of you have found
value in it. For example:
Pinterest is widely used to create inspiration boards for when you want to re-decorate your
window display, for wedding work, event work etc. Many of you use Pinterest to work with
brides-to-be.
Snapchat doesn’t get much of your attention, though some do see value in it and target
younger customers (15-18) through it.
YouTube is not a popular medium amongst florists when it comes to producing video content yourself. Vlogging is very hot right now, and self-produced content will only increase
in the years to come.
EDUCATION
Education was a big topic at every regional meeting. Most of you see value in education,
and nearly everyone had feedback on things that could be improved in the curriculum.
Below we included some specific courses/areas you would like to see added to the
curriculum.
1. Running a business
Many of you feel that schools should offer more courses that teach students the ins and
outs of running a business. This includes topics such as (online) buying, learning social
media, website maintenance, florist administration software, and so on.
Wonderful example #4
One of you proposed the implementation of a course specifically targeted learning how
to buy flowers online. Lenghts, grades, amounts, searchability and speed would all be
taught. She did stress the fact that this course should also be readily available to florists
that already work in a shop.
2. Work experience
The majority of attendees do not take on apprentices, or feel hesitant to hiring a florist
fresh out of college. Nearly all agree that some sort of education is essential when practicing the trade, but overall the students fresh out of college don’t have enough work
experience. A solution for that would be for schools to introduce internships, raising the 40
hour minimum of work experience.
3 New techniques
Overall schools do their best to keep up with new techniques, and the majority of you think
that regarding floristry skills schools are doing very well in teaching student contemporary
techniques. However, some of you do think there is room for improvement, perhaps more
input/ideas from different types of florists is required to feed back to the schools.
TIME MANAGEMENT
Florists are always working.. we know. Answers to the question ‘do you go on holiday?’
were 80-90% ‘no’. Also, the majority feels hesitant to closing the shop early to spend time
with the family, as they feel the market demands the opposite: staying open longer.
Solutions that came out of the meetings on how to manage your time better are listed below.
1. “Take a holiday, it refreshes your mind and being away of it all will, on a longterm
basis, help your business.”
Why? Because a rested mind is a clear mind. When on holiday you might come up with
innovative ideas to drive your sales. The odd few of you that took the leap and went on holiday did not see any difference in their turnover with regards to years they stayed home.
2. “Take time to work on your business, not in it.”
Why? As a sole trader you are responsible for the growth and prosperity of your business.
If you create time to innovate your business model, keep up with administrations so you
can forecast good/bad months, and work on marketing your shop to the public there is no
doubt this will affect your business for the better.
3. “Train up your staff to an extent that you feel comfortable to leave the shop/studio
for a few days.”
Why? Because, according to the florists that do, being able to leave and not worry about
whether things will go well is a huge stress reliever.
4. “Hiring professionals for the things you cannot do saves time.”
Why? Because you might postpone tackling your website, or your bookkeeping because
you’re dreading the amount of work it brings. Bringing in a professional to do it for you will
save you time. And your time is valuable, so the costs will pay themselves out.
SURVIVE & THRIVE
‘How can you make your business (more) profitable?’ Whoever has the answer to that
question, can come teach entrepreneurship at our next range of regional meetings. In the
meantime, we attempted to unveil a couple of tips to get a grip on your turnover. Many florists had tips that were valuable during the meetings, an equal amount could use the tips.
We’ve selected a few below:
1. Mark-up & price consistency
Determining the right mark-up is essential. It has to do with the area you trade in, the street
you are on, your customer audience, the level of work you put into it and the price of a flower at cost (for you). Some florists mark their flowers up by 3, while others do 2. Be critical
on your product and the value it has, you might be under-charging.
2. Purchasing and overhead costs
Making more profit doesn’t only come from driving sales up. Sometimes you can also cut
down costs in other areas. Smart buying, price comparing is one area: if you pay less for
your flowers the percentage of the sales that go into your profit increase. Look at your
electric bill, your van insurance, and rethink your ‘free delivery’ policy.
3. Determine/ count your work hours
Many of you indicated you did not really count your work hours into a bouquet price.
Being a florist means you have a skill that is worth the money, you are as much a part of
the product as the flowers that you arrange. “You are litterally worth it! (quote by one of the
attendees)”
4. Invest in your business skills
Lots of people would like help / business seminars that teaches them to calculate prices
,overheads and what should be charged as it is not something you learn in college – it is
only touched on.
WHAT COULD THE BFA
DO FOR ME
In the meetings we wanted to get your opinion on what the BFA can do to promote the
floristry trade to the public, what the BFA should provide for florist members, and what the
BFA can do to keep the standards high in our line of work. Below we listed the key topics
and specific actions the BFA should take/is taking.
1 Promoting floristry
- Run campaigns throughout the year promoting floristry on multiple consumer mediums.
- Increase public recognition of the BFA & IoPF logos.
- Go to consumer events like festivals promoting floristry.
- Research consumer market; how does public see florists and what aspects of floristry
are they interested in?
- Get floristry on TV :)
2 For BFA members
- A certificate, stickers, online banners and other materials that the florist can use to
indicate they are a member/acknowledged BFA florists.
- Offer training seminars for using Social Media, maintaining a website, taking good
pictures, and provide content with general tips on running a business.
- Organise/initiate more meetings for florists to be able to build a network.
3 Online
- Employment / jobs vacancies on the BFA Florist website.
- Shop/ business for sale, on the BFA Florist website.
- Build out ‘Find a florist’ with memberships going up.
- Starting up a BFA florist forum
- More information on the website about (British) growers, marketing, education