How to Become a Floral Designer

There is money to be made selling flowers and creating floral arrangements, I don’t think there’s any argument there. However, because it is such a big industry, competition can be fierce. You don’t want to spend a lot of time and money opening your flower shop – only for it to go belly up.

Learn the Tricks of the Trade…

It’s important to learn the tricks of the trade. You want to get a really good understanding of what your market wants – and even better: give them something they love that they never even knew they wanted. This knowledge comes from staying ahead of the trends and stepping inside the customer’s shoes to truly get what their flower shopping experience is really like.

How Can You Increase Your Chance of Success?

At the same time, new florists want to minimize their start-up costs. By doing this, they minimize their risk, which at the same time, coincidentally, increases their success rate. Now who doesn’t want to boost their rate of success?

Included in this cost cutting process is finding floral design classes for cheap, minimizing the amount of inventory you need to stock and eliminating overhead costs like retail leases, employees, etc… Now don’t get me wrong, A high-visibility flower shop in a popular shopping mall can be worth investing in – maybe just right in the beginning when you are working with a tight budget and trying to minimize risk.

Know What Shoppers Want – Even Before They Do!

Yes, you may already know how to create floral arrangements. Keep in mind that you are entering a competitive market. Are your designs different enough to stand out and get people’s attention? What are some creative techniques that you can use to get people asking for your creations specifically? That’s what floral design school is all about.

In fact, according to Judith Babb of Artistic Floral Arrangements, mastering the art of floral design doesn’t mean that you need to spend more money – you can actually save money. This, of course if great for business.

There is no single “right” way to master the skill of flower arranging. There are schools, local classes and courses online. That said, learning from a variety of professionals will give you a variety of different angles on the industry, the products you can offer and how to build your customer base.

You Don’t Have to Spend a Lot to Make Money…

Instead of trying to secure a storefront lease right off the bat, consider a flower delivery business that you can run from your home, a mobile shop you can position in high-traffic (yet less costly) locations or an online store that lets you create your own virtual storefront for a lot less money. This business strategy can be ideal for entrepreneurs targeting busy executives or people with family living far away where they need to order their flowers remotely anyway.

Think outside the box! Professional Florist Alisa Gordaneer says that businesses like hospitals, hotels, restaurant, funeral home and government organizations can be a good source of revenue. Whether you work in a large flower shop or from home, it’s a matter of reaching out to the right people and forming relationships so they want to work with you first.

First Steps:

The first thing you want to do is choose niche. By choosing a specific market to cater to, you instantly minimize the inventory and supplies you have to buy because you are not trying to supply products for everyone. It also makes finding customers much easier and less costly.

Visit trade shows and local shops to find out what people are buying and selling, read wedding and interior design magazines to discover the latest trends and ideas and sign up for some classes to arm yourself with the knowledge you need to create your unique products and bring them to market.

Next, check out some business start-up guides and write a business plan so that you have a road map to follow for starting your business. Still have questions? Find a flower shop owner (preferably not in your local area) and take him or her to lunch. Many entrepreneurs are happy to share the lessons they have learned because most likely – some one helped them out when they were getting started too.