Real Flower Business

Education and Business Training for Floral Designers.

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10 Things I Did To Grow My Floral Business

flower business, learn to be a florist, floral design, florist education, flower school

It’s a snowy January and I’ve officially booked up my calendar for my 2019 wedding season. It feels kinda rock ‘n roll to realize I’m entering my 18th season in business! I’ve worked really hard over the years to build up my floral design business and it’s all been completely worth it.

Part of why my hard work has paid off is due to the fact that I’ve been really focused on what I want from my business and how I want my business to fit into my life. (Having a successful business isn’t just about making money or “being busy”; it’s about creating happiness and fulfillment, too.)

I’ve done a lot of things to grow my business, but I thought it would be helpful to narrow down the top 10 things that had the biggest impact on my business success and my overall happiness factor, too. [Read more…]

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Why you don’t want to book every customer

When you’re the boss in your business, you don’t want to book every customer! You only want to book the right customers.

When I was first starting out in my business, I thought the goal was to book every client….no matter what!

  • Lower the price on a few things to meet the budget?… Sure.
  • Meet at a super inconvenient time for me?… You bet!
  • Schedule a second call to go over “all the things” before you decide to work with me? Um, OK!

Whatever reassurance a customer needed to be persuaded that I was the right florist for the job, that’s what I’d do!

But over time, with experience and concerted efforts to understand who my ideal customers actually are, I’ve come to realize that I don’t want to book every customer!….not by a long shot.

Who’s “the right customer”?…

Well, it’s someone who doesn’t need to be convinced that I’m the right choice because she can already feel that I’m the right choice from the preliminary experience she had with my company and my brand (via my website and e-mail communication).

By tapping into who my clients really are and what they really care about, I’m able to reach them on a deeper level and develop a level of trust before we even speak and that means that “the right clients” get to “yes” more easily.

I’ve learned to let go of the clients who aren’t an easy fit. I only want to book the right customers for me.

I’ve streamlined my proposal process so that I’m not “giving away too many details”, yet I still provide enough detail that a client can trust that we’re on the same page…

And I clearly communicate the steps in our booking process, so neither one of us invests too much time before we’ve decided we’re a good match.

I share exactly how I’ve perfected this process over the past 16 years in my templates for florists!

My downloadable pdfs, How To Write Proposals That Sell  and Wedding Workflow show you how to spend less time before booking a client and how to lay out the steps for clients from the initial inquiry to post-wedding day follow-up! Combine them with my E-Mail Templates and Wedding Contract, you’ll have my entire communication package, plus you’ll save $30 off when you buy all 5 templates here.

real flower business, courses for florists, business coaching for florists

“Alison’s email templates are an absolute life saver!

The email templates have taken off so much stress…just copy + paste, tweak a bit to customize with your own personality, and hit send. Client responses to the email templates I’ve used have been positive…the message is clear, and the tone is professional + kind. Absolutely worth the price in time saved!!” -Bethany

It takes a lot of work to learn how to speak directly to the heart of your ideal clients.

It may not happen over night, but with time and practice, the booking process starts to take shape and you’ll be able to prequalify clients before investing too much time.

You can find all my downloadable pdfs here!

Keep doing beautiful work!

With love from me to you,

Alison

P.S. If you have questions for me, don’t hesitate to drop me a line right here: floralartvt@gmail.com 

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Reaching Your Potential As A Florist

Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?

-Danielle LaPorte (from The Fire Starter Sessions)

In The Fire Starter Sessions, Danielle LaPorte writes, “Invest in your second nature.” She goes on to talk about “the acorn theory”; the idea that we’re all “born with a soul that shapes our destiny–that our full potential already lives within us.”

The theory was first published by James Hillman. He explains it like this:

The acorn theory expresses that unique something that we carry into the world, that is particular to us, which is connected to our “daimon”.

(The Greek word, daimon, can be considered your “inner voice”. The Roman word was genius, and the Christian word is guardian angel.)

To quote Hillman, “They are all a little bit different, yet each expresses something that you are, that you have, that is not the same as the personality you think you are.”

In other words, we must make our way through the layers of soil and compost and debris until the conditions are right and we’re ready to grow to our true potential.

Because you were born an acorn…with everything it takes to become a huge oak right inside you. And it’s been there all along.

It does take time to perfect your processes and meet (or exceed) your goals and make enough money to quit your “other job“….and the time it takes to streamline, perfect and practice can feel pretty dark some days.

We’re going to spend some time in the dark before we can burst into the light!

So this post is for the late bloomers–the floralpreneurs who’ve lived a first life before pursuing a floral dream or falling into flowers as a side-hustle…

And it’s for the determined–the florists who try and try and then, try again, because there are always more layers to break through in this work to get to the light….

The florists who’ve worked slinging stems in someone else’s flower shop for a decade or two, and are finally branching out on their own….

The newly retired, newly single, new moms, new grandmas, new floristry students, basement Betty’s….

This one is for you….wherever you are on your floral journey….

I’m honored to be on this journey with you.

 

real flower business, online education for florists

Whether you’re a newly aspiring floral designer or a seasoned pro, I hope you’ll take advantage of some of my free resources, as well as my pdfs and online courses for florists.

Here’s an e-mail I received recently:

“Every email you send or post you make I find myself nodding my head and saying “yes…. yup… great advice… totally agree… that’s me… she’s spot on…”
You see, I’m one of your “seasoned” Floralpreneurs. July 1 marked the 24th anniversary of [my business]. I started slowly and have built my business thoughtfully and sustainably. All the things you teach are a confirmation to me that I’ve been doing it right! (that and having my biz sustain me and now my family for the past couple decades.) Your reminder that COGS should be no more than 30% has me tightening up a little bit. (I was just under 30% for 2017 and also for this year so far… but sometimes there’s that one wedding that sneaks over. I’m even more vigilant now thanks to you!)
I admire your floral business AND your Real Flower Business….Thanks for doing what you do! I look forward to connecting with you and participating in your group.“

Remember you don’t have to buy anything from me to be a floralpreneur! Join us over in my free Facebook group HERE!

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog today.

Keep doing beautiful work!

With love from me to you,

Alison

 

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5 Tips for Dealing with Stamina and Burnout

A floralpreneur wrote to say, “My business is growing, but I feel like I’m drowning….”

Sound familiar? Yeah, I hear ya. But if you LOVE working with flowers and creating wedding designs and making dreams come true…..well, stress comes with the territory.

Today’s video is in response to a burning question I received: How do you handle stamina and burnout?

Short answer: The struggle is real!

real flower business, floral designers, online courses for florists, floral industry

Every florist who puts their heart and soul into their work MUST confront the stressful-side of this business.

Do you struggle with burnout and stress in your business?

Ever wonder, “how long can I keep up this pace?“

Busy is great, but too busy is NOT always great.

 

Click to watch a replay of my live chat from my Facebook group:

Note: About 28 minutes into this live chat I share some details about my $15,000 weekend…..was it worth it?

The pressure can be scary and you’re not imagining the extreme pressure involved in being a florist.

Your stress level often relates to your resources.

You may not have enough work space, or enough help, or enough work!…..

We must be willing to adapt. It takes a special kind of person to handle the responsibility of making floral dreams come true every weekend and some people are not cut out for the stress.

BUT if you’re willing to “do what it takes” you can succeed. You set the goals for your biz.

I started my floral design business out of necessity. I lost my job and knew I had to find my own work from that point on.

This may be “one of your professions” or it may be your only profession, like me!….I’m a florist for life.

Profitable, successful, happy, loving my business…those are my goals.

If your business is making you miserable, something’s got to change!

5 Tips to combat stress and burnout:

  1. Stop comparing. Don’t get jealous.
  2. Plan better. What are the steps you need to take.
  3. Set expectations for the client so it’s clear what the relation ship; when have you delivered what you promised?
  4. Follow through. Meet expectations. That’s your job. Stamina is related to the follow though. You’ve gotta love it enough to always follow through. Making enough money helps to justify the stress level by the way! You’re getting paid for everything leading up to the wedding day, too, not just the flowers!
  5. Have faith. “Faith is experiential.” The more experience, the easier it is to wade through the stress and burnout of uncertainty.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by stress, especially when you’re newer to the biz….

But stress and overwhelm isn’t reserved for “newbies”….even experienced florists feel the weight.

When the calendar’s not booked, it’s stressful!

If you can draw upon experience, you can maintain faith–

not blind faith–faith with a plan.

How can you make space for more stamina?

I don’t want to burnout.

I’m in this for life!

So I work on making space….

 

There’s an ebb and flow in business and in life.

Sometimes we need to schedule and plan for some slower time.

The rush and adrenaline and thrill of delivering a bridal bouquet and putting it in the hands of a happy client, that’s what it’s all about!

Happy clients make for happy florists….and vice versa. Don’t let burnout get in your way. Make space so you can enjoy your business & your life.

Thanks for reading and taking some time to watch!

xo. -Alison

P.S. My templates and courses are all designed to help you reduce your stress and uncertainty.

A post shared by Alison Ellis (@floralartvt) on

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There’s no such thing as a small wedding

After 16 years of running a solo-business venture I can say with certainty that there’s no such thing as a “small wedding”. Allow me elaborate….

Yes, there are “large weddings” and “crazy huge weddings” and “regular weddings” and there are weddings that are “not huge”, but small?…..now, “small” is something that’s hard to come by as a florist.

There’s a certain amount of work that goes into the planning process, even for a “small wedding”, which is virtually identical to the investment of time, creativity, mental space and administrative tasks as required for weddings 2-3x their size.

I hear floralpreneurs say “this is ‘just an order for bouquets’….why is this order turning into so much trouble?!…why does this client want to meet with me again?”….and believe me, I get it! If it’s a small-er order, florists sometimes feel that the client should just relax already!….because we do work that’s WAY more elaborate than this…..we’ve got you covered!

But there’s one very important flaw in this thinking; it requires that the client already trusts you.

It presumes that the client values you and your time and your art.

Even a very small wedding is a really big deal to the client…and as a florist it’s your job to give the same level of time and attention that you promise to all your customers if you’re going to build a consistent brand experience.

If a smaller gig gets a different service agreement, then define it. Let the client know the steps so they can work with you with ease. “If your wedding falls below our minimum we…..” (fill in the blank)

Do you require pick-up if they don’t meet your minimum? Do you only meet once? Meet twice? Include a mock-up? No mock-up, no delivery, no meeting? What are your rules? There’s no right answer. You choose the answer that jives with your brand.

What sort of customer service do you provide? What promises do you make to your customers? What’s not included?

If I promise personalized customer service (which I do), then I can’t offer sub-par service to clients who spend “only a small amount” on an event. I can’t say, “I provide outstanding customer service, unless you fall below X-amount in which case the service level decreases….” that’s not how I roll. That’s not what my brand is about.

As it turns out, even a “small wedding order” requires the same base-level of detail and professionalism as a larger one. If the clients were good enough to book, they’re good enough to wow.

Charge what you’re worth and even your smaller gigs can be worth your time & effort!

Keep doing beautiful work!

With love from me to you,

Alison

Need some pricing tips?

Check out my FREE course, 4 Pricing Mistakes Florists Make (click here to get it!).

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