Know-How Exchange : Other

Dear wintagegirl1974,

Flower shop? Great idea. But let's stop and think for a few minutes, time in which we catch our breathe and jot down a few notes. The first question you need to answer is "How you will succeed where others have (or appear to have) floundered?"

I'm not trying to shoot down your balloon here, I'm simply urging caution, planning, and strategy BEFORE you take steps that might cost you time, money, and months of frustration.

The two shops you saw open and close, find out who owned them
anD TALK to them BEFORE you do anything else. This is essential
due diligence on your part. Don't "think" they had too much overhead, take the time to find out SPECIFICS and don't be at all shy about asking to see proof of earnings, expenses, profit, and loss. You need to know what it is you're getting yourself involved with BEFORE you invest time and money.

Second, talk to prospective customers. Do the locals in this small town actually BUY flowers? Seems like an idiotic question but if no one's buying, of if they're buying (i.e SPENDING money on something else) while you're selling something no one's interested in, you'll be sitting around twiddling your thumbs and losing money.

Just because YOU want to sell flowers it does NOT mean that people in this specific location want to BUY flowers. Might this be the reason the last two outfits went toes upward? Could be. But if you don't know, do NOT make the mistake of thinking it'll all be just dandy because it won't be. You must KNOW for sure.

A case in point: I'm your bank manager and you come to me and ask to borrow, oh, I don't know: $25,000. My first questions to you had better be met with smart, thoroughly researched answers or your butt will be out the door.

With me? The questions you really need to think about are (or could be):

Who will you sell to?
What will they buy?
What dollar amounts per transaction will you need?
How will you bring buyers back to spend with you again?
What else will you sell as well as flowers?
What radius will you deliver to?

Kristie, the more prepared you are the higher your chances are
of success. The less effort you put in the less return you might expect.

To pull this off you need to figure out a business plan: what you'll offer, who you'll offer it to, what your expenses will be, what your cash flow might look like, and so on. Basically, where you're going how you're going to get there and which roads you'll travel along.

Then you need to look at getting appropriate, relevant, significant messages out to specific buyers who are interested enough to buy from you rather than someone else, and that will buy from your as repeat customers.

Pretty simplistic but essential elements. I hope this helps.
Good luck to you Kristie.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

One if the easiest ways to learn is by doing. Use the SBA template for a business plan.

https://web.sba.gov/busplantemplate/BizPlanStart.cfm

It will force you to ask yourself a lot of questions you never thought of.

Michael

Hi Karen,

Gary's info is great. I would also add a few points....

-what did the former florists do to market their business? Did they expect to get found or did they engage in Inbound Marketing?

-were the pricepoints of the former florist effective? were they inline with what the community expected to pay?

-could people easily make orders to deliver arrangements as gifts? (via a website?)

-did the former florist have a marketing plan to build relationships with previous buyers?

-were the arrangements what the community wanted? were they too boring...too original?

-was it easy to find the florist via a web search? Oh yes....we look to Google for everything now don't we? If you don't have a website that is search engine optimized...that could spell trouble

-business-wise, any successful small business owner will tell you that cash flow is key. many businesses fall on hard times because they didn't have a good enough plan to keep cash flow high.

I used to be a business banker. You need to make sure you have a credit line....but you also need to make sure you have a good rate on what you pay for credit/debit processing fees and the fees you must pay for checks and cash deposits. And as far as checks...you should make sure you have a service to verify them and cash immediately. Unfortunately people write lots of bogus checks and that could be expensive for you.

You also make sure you have a means to add value - why people should buy from you and not someone else. As a florist...I think that might include making sure you purchase high quality flowers, educate the public to that, and make sure they know how to make their arrangements last as long as possible.

You also might want to think of marketing segments. I would suggest you don't just rely on individuals. Create a plan to sell flowers for events (weddings, funerals (sorry), engagements, charity events), regular business deliveries, and even weekly or monthly programs for consumers.

You also want to think about how to get repeat business or referrals. Maybe offer a discount for Refer-A-Friend, Create discounted monthly or weekly arrangement programs, i.e. if you sign up now you get X% discount. Get a 10% discount for paying cash. Get Free delivery on your first order.

Definitely spend a lot of time analyzing what your actual costs will be. List out everything...flowers, vases, packaging, office supplies, delivery costs (vehicle cost, gas, maintenance, insurance)...be as thorough as possible.

Also, while building your business plan, consider whether things are "must haves for launch" v. "would be nice" - you can phase in some things overtime to minimize start-up costs if they are not critical to getting off the ground.

Good Luck! and feel free to contact me with any further specific questions.


K

If you want to test the waters - don't rent a building, rent a parking space and bring a truck or station wagon to the location and let people come to you. With a cell phone, a cell modem, and a nearby spigot you have the basics for your business. You'll also need a business license, but you can meet people face to face and learn what they like and cut out most of the overhead.