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Is Owning A Flower Shop Profitable? Avoid These ...

Author: wenzhang1

Sep. 02, 2024

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Is Owning A Flower Shop Profitable? Avoid These ...

There were 3 flower shops for sale in Austin when I decided to buy a flower shop back in . And when it came time to look under the hood of those businesses, I was shocked! 

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The sellers did everything possible to put lipstick on the pigs, but two out of three of the flower shops I considered buying were not profitable at all. 

The third flower shop was profitable. It had a great team, a loyal base of customers, and it was in an ideal location. I knew I had to become its next owner. Verbena Floral Design is the flower shop I bought and ran for over 12 years! And I am proud to say it was highly profitable every single year that I owned it. 
Now when I look back 18 years later, I can clearly see what separated these three flower shops and what made one flower shop profitable and the other two profit-less! 

Now when I tell people I was a flower shop owner, people frequently ask me &#;Is owning a flower shop profitable?&#; And like most things in life the answer depends more on the people behind the business than the business itself. 

Let&#;s dig a bit deeper into small business profitability and the factors that drive success.

Are flower shops profitable? 

Here&#;s the short answer. Flower shops are profitable when the owners and managers make smart business decisions that drive revenue, control costs, and yield advantageous results. In fact, this goes for any type of business. 

Flower shop owners who are profitable typically have 3 important things. 

Good product-market fit
A sound pricing strategy
Smart cash-flow management

But if you landed on this post and have gotten this far, I think the question you really want to ask is &#;how can I make my flower shop profitable?&#; because you know it&#;s possible!

The answer lies in learning from other&#;s mistakes. So let&#;s look at a few things that create a strong foundation for a profitable flower shop and a few things that need to be avoided if you want to be profitable in the floral business. 

How Much Do Flower Shops Make a Year?

Most flower shop owners don&#;t want to share how much money they are making each year, but I am happy to share what I made in my flower shop annually. My business revenue was right around $500k and my profit was usually around $85k after all my bills, expenses, and payroll (including myself) were taken out. 

So I know from personal experience that it is possible to make a healthy living and that owning a flower shop is profitable!  And the keys are having a good product-market fit, a sound pricing strategy, and smart cash-flow management. But of these 3 the most important is a sound pricing strategy because without it revenue often falls flat and can be the cause of lots of serious issues in your floral business. 

Do you want to get the scoop on floral design pricing so that you can run a profitable flower shop?

Let&#;s talk pricing! 

Floral design pricing strategy

Being a creative person, you may not love the math involved in running your floral design business. I understand that completely. However, if you want to become a more profitable floral designer, you must make implementing flower math pricing a priority every day. Then you can take it to the next level by avoiding the top 10 floral design profit pitfalls I'll discuss below.

The fundamental structure of floral design pricing is a cost based model. Why use it? It&#;s simple and it works! You&#;ll calculate the total costs it takes to make your product and then add a percentage margin to determine your final retail price.

Your goal is a 70% profit margin on your flowers and hard-goods.

The mark-up on your flowers is typically 3 to 4x your wholesale cost. The mark-up on your hard-goods is usually 2 to 2.5x your cost. The design fee is calculated as a percentage and needs to be in the range of 30 to 50% depending on the complexity of the design.

And what about the other costs of running your business? Rent, , internet, etc.? We&#;ll call that overhead and it&#;s covered by your profit margin.

Of course, these are guidelines and as a small business owner, you must decide what formulas work best for you. Don&#;t undercut yourself.  Be sure to keep these suggested numbers as your starting point.

Turn your hobby into a side hustle

Turn your faux flower hobby into a side hustle &#; and find out if it will work as a business

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Side hustles are a fabulous option. By their very nature, they slot into your life alongside your existing job, so you create the potential to earn extra income. This means you can use your side hustle to monetise your faux flower hobby &#; or if you want to take it further, it can be the first step to test out whether it will work as a fully fledged business.

Benefits of starting a side hustle

When you&#;re keen to turn your hobby into a job, there are loads of benefits to starting out with a side hustle. Here are our top five&#;

  1. A side hustle helps you develop personally and professionally &#; you&#;ll learn a range of business basics such as marketing, supply chains and accounts without needing to be an expert in any of them.
  2. It provides additional income &#; there may be some initial overheads, but once you&#;re up and running you should be able to rely on your side hustle for extra income alongside your day job.
  3. It&#;s less risky than starting a fully fledged business &#; a side hustle gives you space to explore and experiment with your idea without throwing everything you&#;ve got at it.
  4. It complements the other aspects of your life &#; while you may have to give up some things to fit in your side hustle, it doesn&#;t require the same time commitment of a fully fledged startup business.
  5. You can test the waters &#; will you enjoy you faux flowers as much if they're a job or should they stay as a hobby? Running a side hustle gives you a taste to see if you really like it or not.


Signs that it could be time to start a faux flower side hustle

Are people always asking if your latest creation is for sale or wondering where they can buy your flowers? If you&#;ve already been offered money for your creations it shows that there&#;s a clear market for them. This means you have ready-made customers for your side hustle and can hit the ground running.

Another clear sign is that you&#;re already investing money into your hobby. If you&#;ve already forked out the majority of your startup costs (flowers, wire cutters, glue gun, etc), then it makes financial sense to try and recoup some of your investment.


Can your hobby be monetised?

There are endless ways to make money out of faux flowers, but that doesn&#;t mean that every floral creation has legs as a side hustle.

Ask yourself&#;

  • Is there a market?

     Who are your customers, where will you find them and what avenues are there for you to sell your flowers?
  • How much competition is there?

     Research other similar businesses to see where you fit in. If lots of other people are offering the same thing, consider how to tweak your idea to make it stand out.
  • How much do you need to invest?

     Do your calculations before you start? If it&#;s easy to sell a few homemade items with very little financial input, it&#;s a no-brainer.
  • Is there a clear profit margin?

     Work out how much you stand to make from each sale after you take all your expenses into account. If your profit margin is low then you may be better off keeping it as a hobby.
  • Are there easy routes to market? Do you already have a significant social media following? Could you use your network of friends to sell party plan? Offering a commission for a party host to spend on products can be a great way to encourage friends to host a flower party
  • Is there development potential?

     Where else could your idea go in future? If you&#;re selling flower arrangements, could you offer workshops for example? Could you start a small pop-up in your local high street? Even if this may be a long way off, be clear about your ultimate goals further down the line.


Getting the right balance

Running a floral side hustle can be exciting and profitable, but there is a flipside. A hobby can wait until tomorrow, but paying customers won&#;t be so patient. It can be time-consuming and stressful and, for some, this can take the joy out of your passion.

For this reason, it&#;s crucial that you find ways to look after your mental and physical health. Be sure to are able to prioritise your tasks, allocate yourself time off and know how to recognise the signs of burnout. Remember to walk before you run. Slow and steady can win the race if you are sure of your direction and commitment.


Good luck!

And remember the team at Decoflora want you to succeed! If we can help you with advice drop us a line via our contact page. If we can we will do our best to share our knowledge and expertise with you.

For more information, please visit Artificial Gypsophila Manufacturer.


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