The #1 topic florists tell me they struggle with is pricing!
So this week, I invited floralpreneurs to submit pricing questions for my Price Talk Live Chat and if you missed the livestream in my Facebook group today, check out a replay here:
Why Florists Cannot Compete On Price
Have you ever been pressured to lower your prices in order to book a job?
Today, a floralpreneur® in my Facebook group shared that a client slashed her prices in half and re-sent the new pricing back to the florist!…..needless to say, the comments on that one made for some good reading!
As a business owner and floral artist, it’s important to recognize that you don’t want every customer. You want the customers that want YOU…and are willing to pay your for your work!
Business guru and genius marketer, Seth Godin, talks about Competing On Price as a “race to the bottom”. As Mr. Godin puts it, what do you do when you win?…ie. when you’ve succeeded and you’re “at the bottom”!
The idea of “winning” based on undercutting, is a misconception. You cannot “win” if the only reason someone picked you is because you’re cheap-er.
The real reason you don’t want to compete on price….
A florist cannot lower prices and exceed expectations at the same time!….not unless you’re giving up your profit margin.
And if you’re going to sustain your business, you must respect your profit margin.
I don’t want to win at the game of “cheapness”.
I want to win at the game of quality work and amazing customer service.
Click to watch this quick video, “Why you cannot compete on price”:
In today’s video I mention my Flower Math course.
Learn About Flower Math!
What is your goal?…
Do you want to be the cheapest?
Or do you want to be better than the cheapest?
I hope you’ll choose option #2 above!
Don’t compete on price!…so you can keep doing beautiful work!
With love from me to you,
Alison
P.S. If you want to find out more about my Flower Math course, which is designed to help florists price with confidence and maximize profit margins, click here for details on the course!
More FREE Tips from the Blog:
You down with O.P.P? (Other People’s Proposals) Click HERE to read.
How much should florists charge for rentals? Click HERE to read.
What do florists charge for delivery?
What should florists charge for delivery & set-up?
As the creator of Flower Math, The Florist’s Guide To Pricing & Profitability, this is one the questions I hear often.
Click below to watch: Price Talk Live! A replay from my Facebook group On Delivery & Set-up Fees!
Now, on weddings and events you might call it “delivery” or “day of labor” or even a “set-up fee”…..
I call it the “Delivery & Set-up fee” and it includes my time from the minute I start to load my van to the minute I’m done unloading it after an event.
Your time is valuable and you should be paid for delivery and set-up in addition to what you charge for flowers, supplies and your design fee!
What should florists consider when setting a delivery fee?
A delivery fee can be:
- related to the radius from your flower shop
- a percentage of the total order
- a starting rate of X with a mileage fee on top
- based on the complexity of the delivery and set up
Delivery is more of a “choose your own adventure” aspect of pricing in your business. Meaning, you have to decide what works for you.
For example:
- Delivery starts at $150
- We don’t leave the door for less than $500 on a Saturday
- We charge 15% of the total order
- How much does it cost per vehicle, per employee, per hour?
- Add a PITA charge=pain in the *ss (you know what!) for holidays, inconvenient locations & overall hassle-factors
People expect to pay for delivery & installation (or set-up).
A delivery fee is different from a design fee.
The design fee is what you charge per design–it pays for your time and expertise in floristry. If you’re not sure what a design fee is, I walk you through it in Flower Math!
Delivery fee pays for your vehicles, labor on site, time spent waiting.
I used to be really nervous to increase my delivery fee. It took me years to realize what I needed to take into account to make it worth my while to deliver.
Click below to watch: Price Talk Live! A replay from my Facebook group On Delivery & Set-up Fees!
In this video I’m fresh off the heels of a Chapel Designer Workshop where I taught at Hope Flower Farm in May. Going to live workshops is invigorating and can leave me vibing for weeks. Connecting with people who share our passion is an amazing gift.
I share a bit about who was at Hope and what we did there in this live chat, but you can skip ahead to the delivery & set-up tips if you fast forward to 4:25 minutes in!
To Sum It Up
I charge based on what it costs to “do this job”….
I calculate this on a per hour basis and also consider the mileage, number of helpers, number of vehicles, whether I have to climb a ladder and whether I have to come back or stay on call to move things between the ceremony & reception.
My delivery fee isn’t related to how much my client spends, it’s based on how much I need to make that entire day work seamlessly so that I meet their expectations and also cover the time I invest.
The bigger the event, the bigger the delivery and set up fee.
Consider the following when determining your delivery rate:
- Some florists charge 10-20% of the total order
- Breakdown is additional (if it’s another trip, that’s separate!)
- Administration fees (to coordinate delivery with other vendors, etc.)
- Conceptualization fees (it takes time to make a set-up plan sometimes)
- Give-up-my-Saturday fee
- Per van cost
- Per employee/hour
- What’s your “replace me fee” (if you’re sick or unable to go to the wedding, what will that cost you?)
Delivery may sound simple, but theres a level of care, expertise and professionalism that comes with this part of the job.
Making money in your business should not be a mystery. Florists must have clarity on pricing in every aspect of their business.
Move forward pricing well, making a profit, and give yourself a pay increase with a small bump in your delivery fee.
Keep doing beautiful work, floralpreneur®!
And, by the way, as I mentioned in the video, you can get the entire Flower Math course today to make sure you’re maximizing your profit margin or see a full list of my courses for florists HERE!
Don’t hesitate to be in touch with any question for me.
With love from me to you,
Alison Ellis
Video notes:
Click here to join me in my Facebook group for future livestreams!
The teacher lineup at Hope included: Holly Chapple, Gregor Lersch, Hitomi Gilliam, Francoise Weeks, Passionflower Sue (Susan McLeary), and I was invited to speak about business (specifically pricing & website stuff!).
It was a honor to be on the roster with these legends and incredible floral pros.
10 Things I Did To Grow My Floral Business
It feels amazing to reach a milestone where I’ve been running my floral design business for over 20 years! I’ve worked really hard over the years to build up my business and I can tell you that it’s all been completely worth it. I still love my job and my customers after all these years.
Part of why my hard work has paid off is due to the fact that I’ve been really focused on intentional planning in business so that I can create 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, and 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.
Here are the top 10 things I’ve done to grow my home-studio floral design business the most: [Read more…]
Pricing For Florists: Flower Math Payment Plans
Flower Math is the Florist’s Guide to Pricing & Profitability.
Did you know that there are 3 payment options for Flower Math?….well, here they are:
- Make 1 payment of $499 and SAVE $100 Off the full retail price! Click HERE.
- Choose 2 interest free payments of $249.50 (Still saving you $100 off retail!). Click HERE.
- Take advantage of the 12 month payment plan at $49 per month Click HERE.
Pick the payment plan that works for you and I’ll see you inside the course!
It’s my belief that every florist should turn a profit in their business, which is why I designed this course in the first place a little over 3 years ago! Read more about Flower Math here.
With love from me to you,
Alison
