Are You Struggling To Make Money In Your Flower Business?

I’ve got great news – if you answered yes to this question, you’re in exactly the right place.  Yep. You’ve been searching high and low for guidance and support, wanting to learn exactly how to make money in your flower business.

Yep. That was me too. I know first-hand just how secretive this industry is. Everybody loves sharing photos of their finished designs and beautiful work but no one wants to talk about how they actually made it happen.

When I first started my flower business, I searched high and low for support. I signed up for so many workshops and design courses assuming that’s what mattered. I assumed being the best designer was how you built a successful design business.

Turns out, I was wrong.

Of course, when you sign up for a floristry course, you’ll learn about mechanics, colour theory and the principles of design. But none of that matters if you’re not gettin’ any customers.

There are so few places floral designers can turn to understand how they landed that client, navigated that enquiry and sealed the deal.

At the end of the day, that’s the stuff that truly matters, the stuff that will help you make money in your florist business.

Today, I am on a mission to transform this industry, to teach floral designers about the business of flowers.

Fast track your success – get access to my FREE Ultimate Guide to Making Money in Your Flower Business.

How To Grow Your Floral Business

When you decide to start a flower business, it’s important to remember it’s a business. As in a for-profit, money-making entity.

Making money is the point of your flower business.

I often see floral designer after floral designer after floral designer falls into the same trap I did. We assume that a flower business falls into a different category than any other business. 

That different rules apply to us. We believe we need to make sacrifices to build our portfolio and grow our following. 

Because this industry is so secretive, with nothing else to go on, we think investing in fancy styled shoots, having lots of Instagram followers and having our work published is what is going to help make us money.

I want to question those assumptions, to interrogate whether that’s going to get you the results you want in our business. Are those assumptions helping you make progress and move in the direction you want to go?

Need help? Check out this podcast episode: Thrive Podcast Episode #171 – The Finish Line

Floral Design + Marketing

Yes, floral design is a creative endeavour, but that doesn't mean it doesn't follow the same business principles as every other industry on the planet.

Telling ourselves otherwise is a lie. And it's so unhelpful for you as a business owner. 

Hands down, it's the biggest reason so many florists don't make it; they struggle for years to turn a profit and barely make enough to cover the bills. Personal income...what’s that?

This one storyline undermines all our efforts and very quickly gets in the way of anyone trying to transition a florist business from side hustle to a full-time florist.

In the end, it turns into a really expensive and heart-breaking hobby.

Like graphic design, copywriting, website design, your flower business is still a business – it's a business that happens to sell a creative service.

So, learning about business is how you grow your flower business. You don’t need to be the world’s most famous floral designer. You just need to be a smarter business owner.

Marketing Strategy For Your Flower Business

At the end of the day, marketing is all that matters when it comes to making money in your flower business.

I’ve learned first hand, you can be an average designer and make a lot of money in your florist business. It all comes down to understanding marketing strategy and business.

Marketing our florist business services can be super simple. The equation goes something like (1) we sort through where our clients are actively seeking out our services (2) tell them we can help them and (3) make it easy for them to buy from us. 

Of course, simple doesn’t mean easy. Particularly in today’s online marketing world.

The secret to success in your florist business? Remembering that the majority of your customers are going to find you online. 

A Shop Or Studio Space Doesn't Guarantee Success

Gone are the days of assuming a physical shop will help you attract customers. Today, the decision of having a physical shop front is less a marketing consideration and more an operational consideration.

That’s right. Having a physical studio or shopfront is no longer a requirement for success in our industry. (That became crystal clear in the chaos of 2020 didn’t it?) 

To build a profitable flower business, you need to learn the principles of marketing as it relates to the online shopping experience….regardless of whether you have a shop space or not.

Today, the success of your flower business is directly related to your appetite for learning online marketing strategies. Things like: how to set up your website, navigating the Google game + SEO, learning about hashtags and how to elevate your Instagram feed.

Building a successful flower business isn’t a design competition. It’s a marketing strategy competition. 

Online Flower Business Basics

Your website is your single most important marketing + sales tool. Hands down, it can make or break the success of your flower business. You can have a hugely successful florist business and have no physical retail space to speak of.

Yep. You read that right. 

Heck, even if you do have a physical studio space or shop, if you want to create a profitable florist business, having the right online flower business presence is mandatory. In today’s world, it’s the only way our small businesses have a fighting chance.

Of course, learning the ins and digital marketing is overwhelming. It’s so easy to get sucked into posting a few pretty pictures and assume that’s all that matters. (Check the box, done for another day!)

Turns out, just having a pretty website isn’t enough. We need to sort through the complexities of delivery date pickers, variable delivery and custom card messages. And that’s just the beginning. 

But, what’s the point in having a pretty website if no one can find it?

So your work doesn’t stop at your website and checkout forms. When you get that first pile or tech sorted, you get to shift your focus to learning about the Google game and SEO (Need some SEO help? Check out this super helpful YouTube video on SEO – SEO for Florists: A Beginners Guide). 

Think you’re done after that? Nope. No ma’am. 

From there, you need to dive into learning how to use Instagram and stay up to date with the constant changes to the features and make the most of the right pieces of the Mark Zuckerburg puzzle to effortlessly attract higher-value customers and land our dream clients.

As an aside, I am a person who used to hate Instagram. Hate. With a capital H. Until I learned that we get to play a totally different Instagram game. 

Yep, everything you assumed about how to show up on Instagram is a lie – we don’t need to worry about engagement or chase after followers or even worry about getting published.

Don't Give Up. Ask For Help Instead.

Of course, sorting out all things flowers + business is a lot. It’s why so many floral design businesses don’t make it past the five-year mark. In fact, more than 50% of small businesses won’t make it past year five. They throw in the towel too early. 

Why do most new businesses fail so early? Forbes.com posted an article a few years back sharing the eight reasons why small businesses fail.

At the end of the day, your florist business requires you to learn about business and marketing strategy. And in today’s world, 99% of what you gotta learn is online flower business marketing.

If you’re anything like me, when you fell in love with floral design, you didn’t dream you’d be spending your days sorting out SEO, Instagram hashtags and online catalogues, did you?

The Flower Coach For Ambitious Designers

There are so many places we can turn to for floristry guidance – we can sign up for online courses, go to workshops (check out our Byron workshop experience here) or go to formal training as a traditional floral design school.

But there’s nowhere to turn to when it comes to learning about the business of flowers. Until now.

I work with florist business owners from around the world in my Flower Boss Bootcamp. It’s the only online program available to floral design business owners focused entirely on marketing, money and managing your mindset. Learn more here.

Business School For Floral Design

I’m here to make it easier for you to understand what really matters when it comes to making money in your florist business.

We’ve packaged up the essentials, giving you the exact roadmap you need to turn your passion for floristry into a viable successful online flower business. 

Check out my Flower Boss Bootcamp here.

If you’re ambitious and already know you have what it takes to make money in your flower business, but you’re frustrated you’re not making progress this program is for you.

If you feel like you’re spinning in circles and wasting your energy on all the wrong things, check out my flower coach program. 

Free Course To Help Your Flower Business

If your mission is to build a successful online flower business, learning the fundamentals of floristry isn’t enough. Yes, I am a huge advocate of learning the fundamentals of floristry and flower care. But if you want to learn how to attract customers and make money in your flower business, learning about marketing and having a sound marketing strategy is a must.

I know how hard it is to find information about business + flowers, which is why I’ve put together this super awesome free course for flower business owners.

FREE COURSE – Ultimate Guide to Making Money in Your Flower Business

At the end of the day, the success of your flower business isn’t contingent on your floristry skills; it’s contingent on your ability to learn marketing strategy.

As unsexy as that sounds, it’s how you make money in your online flower business. If you want to make more money in your florist business, you need to build your business acumen and understand the intricacies of marketing. 

You Are Not Alone

I spent the first five years of my florist business spinning in circles. I wasted so much time and energy, spinning in self-doubt and uncertainty.

For years, I walked around assuming it was just me, that I was the only one struggling to make money in my flower business. Turns out, I was wrong.

Turns out there are so many designers experiencing the same challenges I experienced. I’m here to help you. To be the flower coach and fairy godmother you’ve dreamed of…but didn’t know existed.