Dear Christine:
There's not a whole lot of information here to work with, so here is my
technique:
1) Do you have experience in the florist business? If not, a good way to gain
confidence (and not eliminate current income) is to get a part-time job with a
florist and learn everything you can about it -- take in inventory, price the
displays, make deliveries, do everything.
You'll find out
- a) if you really like the business (because it isn't just doing up
floral arrangements),
- b) how to do all the jobs, and
- c) what your current employer is doing wrong and right.
2) If you do have some experience, one way to go is to start small -- offer
to do an arrangement for your church, for example. Or learn to do something
small, that doesn't cost too much in materials, but that you can get a good
margin for, such as corsages for prom season.
Everyone wants a nice-looking corsage and many florists can't be bothered
to train their people to make them nicely (I have two teenage daughters and
have seen some of the wretched corsages that have been pinned on them for
proms). Yes, teenage girls don't want to "stick out" -- they do want
something that has some resemblance to what their friends are wearing, BUT, if
you can do something a little more special than what is being offered locally
(special ribbons, dyeing services for ribbons to match the dress, something
other than baby's breath in the mix, something for the hair, etc.), then you
have a product with real "legs" in the prom community.
3) Don't try to be all things to everyone. One way to get started is to find
the one thing no one is doing well in your community: Cut flowers at the
farmers market...again, prom corsages...some sort of specialty wedding item
(not big arrangements for the tables or churches)...interesting plants for
Christmas other than the standard.
I have a brother-in-law who made his big break in the florist business
because he spoke Spanish, lived in Tampa, FL, and understood what Cuban-born
people were interested in for funerals (in his case, it was floral blankets
for the caskets) and dining room floral arrangements (no one there puts
flowers in the middle of the table -- they feel it interferes with the
conversation and is rude -- they use large, flat-backed arrangements for the
sideboards). Starting small will allow you to get your foot in the door, gain
a customer base and not expose yourself too much in terms of money. Then, you
can grow from there.
