How to turn your floral hobby into a profitable wedding flower business

Sarita B Author

Before you dive headfirst into starting your own wedding flower business, there are a few things to consider and I'll go through them here.

Are you a flower lover through and through? Do you often lose track of time scrolling through images of stunning floral arrangements on social media? Do you have a knack for arranging flowers in your home? If these describe you, then you might be dealing with flower fever. But have you ever thought of turning your love for flowers into a business?

Before you dive headfirst into starting your own floral business, there are a few things to consider and I'll go through them here. 

Business Start-Up Prep

Invest in your floral and business education

First, you need to invest in your floral and business education. Understanding your skills set and going into detail with your style of work and what you want to do is crucial. Your skills and business acumen are both important to the success of your business. You need to understand what skills you have and what you will need to learn and develop as you grow.

Understand your dream client and what problem you are solving

Next, it's essential to get clear and understand your dream client and what problem you are solving for them. By investing time and effort into this you can understand what your marketing needs to focus on and where you will need to 'hang out' to attract these clients.

Business Planning

Now you know what you want to create and who you serve, have a brainstorm about your business as a whole - everything from your business name and branding to your social media and email setup to portfolio building and what you can offer in your packages. There is a lot of behind the scenes work that needs to be done here and often a checklist will be great so you can make sure you don't miss anything out. I have a comprehensive checklist in my Wedding Florist Business Planner. 

Marketing

There are many ways to marketing your business both offline and online and you need to ensure you have a holistic approach to this. When marketing online you need to make sure all your platforms are setup with your brand name and logos making sure you have consistency across all platforms. Offline marketing is also very important and you need to explore if you are going to advertise your business through wedding fairs, networking with other suppliers or even through wedding publications.

Portfolio Building

It's crucial to have attractive photos for our businesses, as they're the foundation of our marketing. But how can we obtain them without clients? Consider volunteering to decorate family or work events or creating something for a future client with purchased flowers. Take the time to learn how to use your phone camera to capture these creations for social media and your website. Alternatively, collaborate with an up-and-coming photographer in your area to build your portfolios together. You will want to create a price list and brochure of your items you want to sell.

Building Relationships

They say your network is you net-worth. The success of your business is based upon your ability to network and build relationships. You will need to research who you will build relationships with and build up that little black book of your go to contacts.

Selling your services

You begin to get enquiries coming in and you invite your client to book an appointment in your diary. Make this process seamless as possible. I like using Calendly which can automate the whole process for you and send the appointment once they have booked so they and you have it in your calendar.

At the consultation you need to sell yourself which is what a lot of florists find hard to do. Tell them your journey, what makes you different and why they should choose you. Next explain your sales process so they understand the timeframes and what happens when they book your services.

Now, you have to listen to them. Let them tell you their vision and requirements, what is important to them. Make suggestions where you think. I usually start with the beginning of the day and then work through to the evening.

Be prepared to answer any objections they may have. This is where you have to educate your client about your processes.

The proposal is the next step where you have to put together their ideas into a visual plan so they understand what they are getting. Your proposal should be detailed, clear, and customised to the couple's preferences and wedding style. Use a design software for this so you can include images - I use the popular design software Canva to create my proposals. Schedule a second appointment with your bride to present your proposal to her and close the sale at this meeting. Be firm with the client and create a sense of urgency and scarcity to encourage your client to confirm the booking. And lets celebrate!!

Execution

You have a week to go to the event and you need to ensure you order your flowers and sundries Your priority at the point is to deliver a 5-star service to your client so they rave about you and you can get even more enquiries. Don't forget to collect your reviews once the event is over. If anything goes wrong - don't worry, its a learning curve and you have to review and change the process so next time you do it better.

Next Steps to Growing your Wedding Flower Business

Want to learn more about how you can grow your wedding flower business and getting more of the right clients you can work creatively with?

Here are some recommended next steps to help you get started with your flower business and grow it with ease.

• Get your Complete Wedding Florist Business Planner to help you create the business of your dreams.
  
  
• Download your free Guide "Creating Winning Proposals - Wedding Florist Edition
  
  
  
• Join the Petal Post - a monthly newsletter keeping you up-to-date with tips and exclusive offers.
  
  
• My signature course The Wedding Florist Academy - This is the exact framework I used to build my 6-figure business and contains modules for wedding flower designs and business management. Click here to join the waiting list for when it launches.

• Shop Etsy - Behind the scenes, there are lots of moving parts that you need. I am building a library of all the resources and tools that I have used to grow my business and now you can get these at the click of a button
• Get more free education through the Bloom IQ blog New Blog delivered on the 1st and 15th of each month
  
  
  

WRITTEN BY

Sarita B

Hi I'm Sarita B!

I'm a wedding florist and I'm proud that I've built my own 6 figure wedding florist business and I'm also passionate about helping and educating fellow budding and ambitious wedding and studio florist-preneurs get booked with the right clients that helps their business grow too.