Rules and Boundaries for Your Floral Business

What guidelines do you follow in your business?

As a floral business grows and matures, certain boundaries and rules are required to maintain a profit and feel proud of the work you do.

Saying “yes” to every request is not feasible in a small business, so how do you decide when to say “no”?

Oftentimes, we learn through circumstance and bad experiences, but rules and boundaries provide a path for success and clear expectations.

First, let me clarify the difference between a boundary and a rule:

A boundary is something that you do to hold yourself accountable, however, a rule is something that you expect others to do.

Photo from The Floralpreneur® Workshop 2023 by Isora Lithgow Creations.

When you establish a rule in your business, it’s up to you to communicate that rule to customers.

This communication happens on your website, in-person conversations and e-mail correspondence as well.

How can your customers follow the rules if you don’t explain what they are?

The same is true for establishing your own boundaries!

Hold yourself accountable by setting a boundary and make it a new guideline in your process.

For example, here are a few questions you can ask to help set boundaries as a business owner:

What is your minimum order? How much do you require to go out the door with an arrangement and turn a profit?
What are your operating hours? When are you closed, away from your desk, or on vacation?
What is your profit goal so you can pay yourself and all of your business expenses?

Here are some rules your business could establish:

When final payment on a wedding or event is due and what happens if payment is late.
Whether your delivery driver leaves flowers if no one is home or calls ahead to arrange a delivery time.
Refusing to send “secret admirer” or other “anonymous sender” enclosure cards for the recipients’ safety.

Photo from The Floralpreneur® Workshop 2025 by Isora Lithgow Creations.

The boundaries you set in your business may differ from others and that’s OK.

In fact, it’s a good thing to be different!

Here’s a boundary in my home-studio business:

I stopped doing Valentine’s Day flowers about 20 years ago.

Now, this may sound bonkers bananas based on the traditional retail florist model, but there are a few really good reasons why I don’t do Valentine’s Day and most of them are related to the freezing cold temperatures and snowy conditions in Vermont!

My garage studio is unheated so I have to bring flowers up and down the stairs of my basement to work.
Every single arrangement has to be wrapped in plastic to protect from the winter cold. This is time consuming and a hassle!
There are sometimes many inches of snow the week of Valentine’s Day here in New England and I’d always worry about deliveries.

After a few years of soliciting Valentine’s Day orders, I decided this holiday hustle wasn’t for me! There are flower shops that can do this work and I can send people to them. And this gives me time to focus on the things I do better than Valentine’s Day flowers!

Now, here’s an example of a rule in my business:

Final payment is due at least 3 weeks in advance of any event so that I can order flowers. If payment is not received, flowers will not be ordered.

I communicate this rule upfront when clients are booking so there’s no confusion.
I reiterate the terms before the due date to help guide the clients.

If you want to see exactly how I explain the rules in my business, you’ll find them inside my Wedding Templates here! Including my E-mail Templates, Wedding Workflow, Proposal and Contract for Florists!

We learn by doing in business, but you don’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to client communication and healthy boundaries and rules. That’s why I created these templates for florists to make it easier!

If you need any help from here, let me know.

Upcoming Workshops:

You can join me for a free training this month in the Marathon Mindset Summit Feb. 23-24th!

Meet me at the Wisconsin and Upper Michigan Florist Association Annual Convention March 20-22nd!

Come to Vermont for the 2026 Floralpreneur® Workshop, April 19-21st! Seats are extremely limited.

And if you’d like to inquire about individual coaching calls, click here for details and we can set up a time to talk.

Keep doing beautiful work!

xo. -Alison Ellis

By Alison Ellis

How To Book A Wedding

Consultations and sales skills are crucial areas of the floral design business that can take some time to figure out.

The first thing I learned in my business was how to price flowers, but the next most important part of my business success that I had to work on was booking new clients (even though my business was brand new!) and closing sales (without feeling too pushy or salesy).

I trained in several flower shops in my teens and early 20’s so I developed some sales skills along the way, but the truth is that most of the shops I worked in did not do weddings.

In fact, my first wedding experience presented itself in 2001 and I can tell you that I was hooked right away!

After 24 years, I still love the details and precision of wedding work.

From that very first wedding I became obsessed with the delivery and set-up schedule so we can make everything come together in perfect timing.

And I can still remember learning how to make my very first classic spiral bouquet!

What I discovered is that the steps that come before all of the design and delivery work require some more expertise and guidance.

The fact is consultations and sales take practice!

When you lead a consultation, what do you even ask?

When it’s time to write a wedding proposal or quote, what should that really look like? How much detail do you share?

I know that when I was starting my own business I certainly had zero confidence about leading clients through the sales process.

I was winging it and embracing the “fake it ’til you make it” mentality!

The good news is that all of the above can be learned and over the next several years I figured it out!

And one day, a florist friend suggested that I should share my steps, my exact wording and my booking process by selling templates and I got to work on my Wedding Templates for Florists! You can grab them now and put them to work in your business today!

The Wedding Templates Bundle includes:

5 Steps To Book Weddings More Quickly

How To Write Proposals That Sell

Contract for Florists

Wedding Workflow: 16 Steps to Client Management

E-mail Templates for Florists

And Bonus lessons!

Get Wedding Templates Here!

Naturally, I learned through trial and error.

I can still remember the first time I had a consultation on my own and how I bravely acted like I’d done this before…no big deal! But in reality, it was a big deal and that was just the start of hundreds of consultations to come.

I learned something after every consultation I conducted, but it took years before I truly felt comfortable taking the lead in a consultation.

And after the consultation…

When it came to writing proposals, I got some bad advice early on that I quickly learned to ignore!

Running a business means overcoming doubts and other obstacles on a near constant basis.

Even after decades in business, there’s more to learn, improve and refine on your business path.

Because trends come and go, and our customers are always evolving so we must evolve, too!

No matter how long you’ve been in business, if you’d like a shortcut for proposals, contracts, the most frequent email communications with clients and every step to follow to book wedding clients, you’ll find a bundle of my Wedding Templates Here!

Even if you just pick up 1 great tip or strategy to help book a new client, these templates are worth their weight in gold.

Need more help? Any questions for me? Reach out anytime! info[at]realflowerbusiness.com

By Alison Ellis

End of Year Business Tips

Every year in business is a learning year.

As the winds are often changing in terms of marketing, client buying styles and design trends, it’s an important part of your job to keep up and keep moving onto the next right step to reach your goals!

Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee that one good year will lead to continued success.

Which is why you need to stay engaged and focus on the next right steps in your floral business!

After 24 seasons as a wedding florist, I’ve had ups and downs in my business, but there’s no denying that things have been feeling a bit more down than many of us have experienced before.

Instead of pacing the floor or letting the sudden influx of price conscious clients get me down, I’ve learned through many years of practice that I can actually DO something to change the current trajectory of my business.

It takes some personal reflection, accountability and determination, but it’s worth the effort to find direction and feel confident in your actions!

As the year rapidly comes to a close, here’s what I’m doing in my own small business:

#1. Running the numbers.

I’m looking at all of my expenses to decide where I need to cut back and how much more I want to spend before the end of the tax year.

Sometimes, spending money in your business is a good thing after all–for tax purposes, for educational purposes, etc.

I’m also looking ahead and future-casting my cash flow based on 2026 bookings so far.

It can be as simple as asking:

Are you able to pay your expenses for the next 6-12 months with your current savings?
What’s the estimated profit margin on the sales you already have booked?
What will it take to to fill the gap between where you are and where you want to be?

#2. Putting my best foot forward.

When I get an inquiry from a wedding planner or a new client, I’m focusing on what will serve them best and adapting my service to accommodate their requests wherever possible.

This might mean writing a quote without gatekeeping (for example, not setting a firm minimum before a consultation) to help customers experience the value I provide before deciding if we’re a good match.

If budget is the #1 deciding factor, so be it–perhaps we are not a good match.

But if clients need a little more time and attention to help get to a “yes”, the least we can do is find a way to meet them part-way where possible!

#3. Marketing with a strategy.

This is a perpetual part of my process, but I’m re-examining all of the branding and marketing efforts in my businesses.

From how much money I’m spending on advertising, to the areas where I’ve slacked and fallen short, it’s the perfect time to improve my marketing strategy because they are always a work in progress.

It’s easy to get lost in a sea of social media “content”, but I don’t create content.

I provide a more valuable service and it’s my job to make sure customers know I’m the best choice for them!

FYI I’ll be walking through exactly how I work on improving my marketing and branding strategies in January in my 4-week program, The Art of Good Business.

You can learn all about it here if you have any interest in joining me! It’s a great program and we do some good work together to kick off the new year!

#4. Planning ahead.

What do I need to do next to reach my business and life goals?

What skills do I need to sharpen?

How can I best be of service in a way that thrills and delights my customers?

What does it really look like to reach the “next level” in my business?

#5. Giving 20% Off Courses & Coaching.

To close out the year, I’m giving floral designers 20% off my courses and coaching until Dec. 31 at 11:59pm EST! Use Code: GIVE20 to SAVE!

In a year that’s been down for so many, it feels like the right thing to do the close the year with 20% off courses over $50 to provide an opportunity to invest in your business, learn something new, and get it before the tax year ends! (Educational Courses are a business expense after all.)

Visit My Course Shop Here!

And if you’re interested in booking a Coaching Call, please note the 20% Offer is limited to 10 due to capacity limits.

Click Here to schedule a call!

I’m here to provide support if you need it, so if you’re growing your floral business or struggling to figure out your next steps, reach out to get in touch!

xo. -Alison Ellis

By Alison Ellis

Show Up For Your Business

How do you show up for your business?

When things are going well, it can be easy to show up with enthusiasm and focus because you know what you need to work on today to get your orders out the door!

When business is slower, or when sales are lower than you projected and uncertainty looms heavy, it’s important to keep showing up for your business.

I say this to you from the bottom of my heart because I know it can be hard to run your business when you’re feeling down and you don’t have enough money coming in.

This can be doubly true for established floral designers, since there’s no rule that your business will always grow or maintain itself year after year. There are in fact, down years in any business sometimes.

And that’s just one of the reasons why running a business isn’t easy (and no one every promised that it would be).

So when you contemplate your next moves, just know that the most important step is to continue to show up!

Showing up will look a little bit different for everybody.

In my floral design business in Vermont, it means I’m bending some boundaries and taking on work I find interesting–even if the orders are a bit smaller.

I just booked a great new client for a wedding in about 6 weeks–that’s not the usual timeline for me, but flowers are a huge priority for the customer and I’m excited for the gig!

I also took a graduation party order this week that’s much smaller than a usual wedding, of course, but then I got a few special prom orders from friends and a former bride from 18 years ago whose son is now in need of a corsage! And that’s a sweet set of sales I hadn’t planned on.

Then today, I got another order for tomorrow and since I’m getting flowers anyway, it’s an easy yes!

The reason I share this is because small sales stack up and so does the good energy you put out there when you keep tending to your work.

So what can you do to show up from here?

When sales are down, how do you keep your energy up? What steps can you take to keep yourself moving forward instead of feeling stuck?

And when business is booming and you’re barely keeping up with the work, how do you stay focused on what matters most so you’re working smarter, not harder?

There’s a lot of self-talk and self-management in business ownership. And yes, you can do this!

If there’s anything specific you’re working on or struggling with in your business, feel free to reach out to get in touch. We can book a call to talk about a good strategy for you! (And if you prefer to work alone, I’ll list a few more options on where to start to show up for your business as additional resources below!)

Just remember that giving up isn’t going to get you closer to your goals, so you might as well show up for your business instead.

xo. -Alison Ellis

Additional Resources:

Update your business plan: Get my Business Plan Jumpstart

Read: Actions to Take When Things Seem Uncertain

Join my Patreon Community for monthly inspiration

Get my Website Bootcamp to improve your first impression with clients

By Alison Ellis

Business Plan for Florists

As we are about to close out the 1st quarter of the year, it’s a good time to take a look at what’s happening in your business so far and look ahead to what’s coming up! So I want to invite you to join me for a quick business plan check-in. Set aside 1 hour and watch now!

Whether you updated your business plan in the last 3 months or you’ve never really had a “plan” at all, this is for you–because you cannot improve what you do not measure. Let’s check in and regroup together.