Is Owning a Flower Shop Profitable? A Guide to Success
Florists tend to fit this profile. What could be better for a flower-lover than to:
- Spend time surrounded by beautiful scents and colours?
- Help others to discover which flowers they or their loved ones favour?
- Put together gorgeous bouquets to show their affection?
But that is exactly why it can be so depressing to start out with such wonderful dreams and to then spend 9 to 5 every week (and a few more hours besides) panicking because your flower shop isn't making any money!
Maybe you're thinking of starting a flower shop, or maybe you already have a blooming business and want some tips on ways to ensure better profitability. Either way, knowing how to protect your profits and run a successful florist is every bit as essential as knowing how to nurture and keep fresh flowers.
Right then! What makes a profitable flower shop? And how can you make your flower business profitable? Let's figure this one out together.
The floral industry: the statistics
The great news first - flower businesses are booming! The global flower business, as of 2021, was valued at just below $35 billion and continues to grow year by year at a predicted 4.6%.
However, industry studies suggest that sales in unspecialised retail stores are taking a larger share of those sales and may be responsible for that growth, particularly in Europe. In the UK, florists share the market with roughly 12,000 competitors, in addition to non-florist retailers offering floral product lines, and you can expect a liveable £22,000 for an average salary and up to 60% profit margin. However, the number of florists businesses was over 14,000 ten years ago, showing that, for some, the flower industry has not proved itself profitable.
One key factor that may be impacting the industry (and who succeeds in it) is the diversity of business models. Many consumers and florists alike value the experience of visiting the store, breathing in the soothing, scented air and receiving (or providing) specialist advice in person about which flowers would be the best buy at the moment. But, as with many industries, studies are showing rising online sales and delivery services taking increasing shares of sales.
This move towards ecommerce will surprise no one, and this changing industry will cause strain for many flower shops, along with some regrettable and inevitable closures. However, any entrepreneur knows that change brings with it an opportunity for those quick to adapt. In particular, those that go in with an open mindset, prepared to start offering online and in-person services immediately, may see a better return far quicker.
There are further changes to the industry around sustainability, with more and more flower lovers buying responsibly grown or local produce. Local greenhouse production can help remove the need for carbon-emitting shipments from global producers such as the Netherlands, Japan, or Colombia - and keep costs lower without having to negotiate these shipments from suppliers.
Adapting your business plan: the difference between success and failure?
Many business owners think of a business plan as something you only need when opening to secure funding. But this is one reason that so many small businesses don't succeed! Even the most keen and business-savvy minds can’t instantly guarantee success. To drive an enterprise to succeed, you need organisation, research, and careful planning. Updating and using a business plan allows you to easily adapt to whatever future challenges you face.
Your business plan should include:
- An executive summary about your business, including your mission statement
- Products and services you’ll be selling, including pricing, product lifespan and benefits to the customer
- Market analysis into the florist industry, including your competition and how your company fits into the industry
- Marketing strategy, outlining how your flower shop business will attract new customers and retain a customer base, with details around marketing campaign plans, advertising, and what channels you will use
- Financial planning and projects for your company, including targets and estimates for your first few years and descriptions of potential investors or places your getting funding
- A budget, including staffing, development, manufacturing, supply chains, marketing costs and any other expected expenses\
TOP TIP: Read our detailed blog for instructions on How to open a flower shop.
Competitor analysis and self-assessment
Learning how to assess your strengths and weaknesses is a valuable skill. Testing your ideas to be sure you know why you struggle (we all struggle sometimes) then helps you take the correct steps to address your issues.
Retail florists face a lot of competition, and any flower business requires a lot of work to succeed. Hard work, of course, but smart work too. If you've gone online and peppered your social media followers with pictures of staff arranging flowers ready for sale but no one's buying, you may well be scratching your head.
But it could be that there are other florists out there offering more choices, and you could boost sales by expanding the variety you offer and launching some new products. Or maybe customers aren't responding to your floral design business because your shop front is in need of reservations. The floral business demands attention to detail, whether online or in brick-and-mortar.
Tips on how to update your business plan
Florists are no different from any other businesses and can benefit enormously from good, well-researched planning, especially if you are struggling to make a profit. Fortunately, gathering data on your business is easier than it's ever been. Your POS (point of sale) system collects sales data as you trade. A good system will split this data by employee, product, time sold and innumerable other ways.
You can scrutinise your profit margin data to learn not only which flowers, bundles and bouquets sell best but which makes you the most money and whether or not delivery, in-store, or pre-ordered products sell more.
A new florist business needs a business plan to manage finances, time, and entry into the market. But existing businesses still need to manage all of these things. Markets change, and time is so easily lost in the mundanities, to-do lists and hassles of everyday trade. The result can be mismanaged money and lost customers. But don't panic; regularly reflecting on (and updating) your business plan will help you counter these forces, no matter how long you’ve been trading.
Planning your future in the floral business
Now then, if you've looked into industry trends and internal sales trends, you may start to see differences between the direction the market is moving in and your position within it. It may be you feel confident in some parts of your operation but see issues with others.
To begin, try analysing each area of your business. What do you do well? What are you struggling with? What are you not doing at all? Some areas to think about might include:
- Skill sets and services. Are you offering your customers the best advice? You'll want customers to come to you not only for the quality of the product but for presentation, service, and experience. Could you offer fun workshops to get customers in and make their own bouquets? Look at ways you can offer an enhanced service beyond a sale, and you’re likely to inspire greater customer loyalty and profitability.
- Sales channels. How many different ways can customers buy your flowers? Do you sell online? Through social media? Do you offer delivery? Different types of customers purchase products through these channels.
- Product lines. Are your floral arrangements enticing, vibrant, and have variety? You can sell the same flowers in many different forms. How many do you offer: baskets, vases, bunches, and boxes? Customers looking for flowers in a specific form will come to you if they know you're likely to have what they need - and putting the same selection of flowers in a different container can easily make it look like a new product (without too much effort on your side!).
- Marketing. Do you feel like your florist has a loud presence in your area? Do people know who you are and where to find your shop? What about your digital marketing? With a delivery or postal service, you can use online marketing to expand your customer base way beyond your local base.
- Business infrastructure. Do you and your staff have the top-quality tools to deliver the best results? Scissors, watering systems, a first-rate POS. Does your shop soothe and inspire, inside and out? What about vehicles for delivery and pickups? What material changes could you make to your floral shop to help reach everyone in your target market?
Let’s look at these points in great detail.
Improving your services: ideas that lead to profits
Whether it's because of some customer feedback or because your bank account could use a boost, quality service from everyone in your team is a surefire way to attract customers. Quality customer service is also one of the key attractions of small business enterprises.
So, what can you do to improve your customer service?
- Equip your team with all the knowledge and training they need. Train your staff to know the selling points, flower costs and deals, as well as the qualities of the products you are selling. Customers will return and spend when they think of you and your team as an authority on flowers. Surround your staff with all the information they need to work, invest in training and host training sessions yourself to ensure everyone is up to scratch.
- Use your social media presence to create dialogue. Encourage customers to ask questions and learn about both flowers and your business online so that you can create stronger bonds with your customers. Respond to messages and posts quickly and professionally, but also with a friendly and welcoming style.
- Offer customers complimentary services with purchases. Any customer wants to feel they're getting a good deal when they buy flowers. When you sell some fantastic, fresh-cut flowers, including a free selection of add-ons, such as a note, card, or flower food, it can really show your attention to detail and make the customer feel good about the purchase (and you can account for this expense in the original price).
Expanding product lines and your customer base
You can work to increase revenue in two primary ways:
- Altering your operation to capture more sales from the customers that already use your shop.
- Widening the reach of your shop so that more customers come to look in the first place.
Social media marketing
Finding effective marketing strategies can be difficult. Social media is densely populated with businesses all looking to win your potential customers. Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok can be effective methods of communicating with existing customers and followers, just as email marketing can help you stay in touch, but both require either a follow from the customer or marketing consent and an email address.
To get good at social media marketing, you either need some serious money to put behind social media advertising or be ready to commit to a strong organic social media strategy (which will take up time and resources but can be effective in winning over new customers).
Online flower shop businesses
However, going online with your business immediately makes you much more accessible and widens your net of potential customers. There are a few ways of doing this.
For instance, if you're not offering delivery, services like NearSt allow you to begin local inventory advertising. This means when someone in your area searches for a product you offer, you can immediately advertise your product and show that your business could sell it to them. This reduces the number of potential customers in the area that can go to your competitors because they don't know your business is an option.
Alternatively, your point-of-sale system offers simple, effective, and affordable ways of selling online without building a website from scratch (which can cost thousands of pounds). Epos Now users, for example, can integrate with Shopify, Wix, or Woocommerce (as well as the in-house Epos Now Online platform) for a double-figure monthly fee, with your in-store and online inventory connected.
Going online widens your customer base because, in the 2020s, many shoppers want to shop local, but also want the convenience of online shopping. Not all flower lovers are stepping outdoors and foraging for the local sellers. Many of them stay in and search online to order their flowers. This makes online advertising and e-commerce some of the most effective ways for a business owner in any industry to grow their business.
Is owning a flower shop profitable? The verdict
£22,000 a year may not be a thrilling prospect for many people, but the idea of turning your passion into your profession often thrills and inspires many florists to succeed far beyond this figure. Profitability, for many flower shop owners, is more about staying in business and enjoying their job than becoming the biggest distributor of plants and flowers!
There are steps dedicated florists can take to increase revenue and profit margins and expand their customer base. The average annual revenue of a florist is roughly £285,000, which gives any floral designer a chance to examine their business overview and find ways to grow that figure, increase margins, and turn a sometimes difficult industry into an extremely profitable one.
Looking to boost profits? Try an Epos Now point-of-sale system
Your point of sale is the tool you use to understand your business, offer the best service, and run your operation. A flower shop POS that has all the tools you need can help you go multi-channel and provide streamlined online sales and delivery options to your customers while helping you market, and manage customers, inventory, and reports.
Epos Now has spent over ten years crafting a better point of sale to allow florists, coffee shops, and all kinds of businesses to provide excellent customer service and easier business management:
- Gain every advantage with hundreds of apps and partnerships with the best software in every industry
- Sell safely and speedily with the latest transaction technology
- Use Epos Now Payment processing to incorporate card payments into your POS with a simpler, easier style
- Manage your business stress-free with cloud technology that gives you instant access to the latest business data from anywhere in the world!
Get in touch with our team to find out more about our business technology. Or, click on one of the links below to read more of our helpful guides for business owners: