Did you know that the floral industry in the United States is worth $6 billion? You probably know of the popularity of floral shops, which is why you decided to open one in your neighborhood. 

But the floral business is quite different compared to other retail stores, so you will need to keep certain things in mind before thinking about how to start a flower shop. Keep reading for some flower store opening tips.  

Location Matters a Lot to a Flower Store

If you have heard the adage 'location, location, location' when referring to real estate investors, the floral business isn’t that much different. When you are choosing the location for your flower store, you will have to be quite careful. Don’t just choose based on cost or proximity to your home.

Even though a majority of floral purchases are planned, as birthdays and other events approach, there are also folks who will purchase floral arrangements for their home on a whim as they pass by a floral shop.

That’s why you will want to ensure you set up your store in the busy part of town with a lot of passing foot traffic and adequate parking, so you have a constant influx of customers.

The floral business has a very low markup, which means you need to sell a lot of flowers before you make any profits. And this can only happen if you get a lot of customers walking into your door every day. 

Don’t Spend Too Much of Your Monthly Budget on Expensive Flowers

Maybe you wish to get into the floral business because you are enamored with flowers, and the hundreds of varieties out there. But remember that most folks out there barely know anything about flowers and will always gravitate towards the typical choices, like roses, and such.

That’s why you need to be careful and not spend too much of your budget on expensive rare flowers, because very few customers will choose those. Most of your orders will be for common flowers like roses, baby’s breath, and lilies. 

You can save yourself a lot of money and angst if you focus on buying these flowers and other floral supplies wholesale and leave the expensive rare flowers for some other store. 

Do Your Research Before Joining a Floral Wire Service

When you first look at joining a floral wire service, it might seem quite enticing and lucrative. That's why we wanted to place this warning here to be careful before treading into this avenue of your business.

The biggest flaw that this service has is that even though you might get lots of orders through the floral wire service, they usually have so many discounts and promotions going on that you will make almost nothing on each of your orders. And you will spend lots of time fulfilling these orders, as they have to be delivered on time or you get kicked off the service. 

This could result in you ignoring customers who are more profitable for you. That’s why it’s important to do your research before joining such a service, and go without it, if you can.

Make Sure Your Online and Social Presence Is on Point

A lot of your customers are going to find you through your online presence. This means you need to buy your domain name and have a website, and you will need to be on at least a couple of social media networks, like Instagram and Pinterest. 

The great thing about this is that if you do it right, you can get a constant influx of paying customers despite spending very little on your marketing budget. Don’t forget that you need to post consistently on your social media channels, so add it to your weekly schedule. 

If you aren’t comfortable with your writing skills, consider paying someone on Fiverr or some other freelance site to write blog articles for you. This will boost your website’s ranking in Google’s eyes, which means your page will show up on page 1 of search results. 

Is all this not making any sense to you? Consider taking a course in on-page SEO or hiring someone to do it for you. It’s worth the money you would spend on it. 

Focus On Work-Life Balance Even as You Build Your Business

When you are first starting a small business, the entire business rests upon your capable shoulders. That can result in you working 20-hour days with very little rest, recreation, or sustenance. 

But skipping meals, sleep, or time with friends isn’t going to make your business a success faster. It will just deplete your health, which will make your fledgling business suffer.

Try as much as possible to build some sort of work-life balance in your business, so you can increase profits slowly while still maintaining your health. 

Also, hire some part-timers if you are finding it too much to handle on your own. Just don’t get too used to them, so if they do call in sick, you are still able to do everything on your own. 

How to Start a Flower Shop: Slow and Steady

Don’t place too much pressure on yourself and try to make your flower shop a success from the get-go. Even if you do everything right, there’s still a chance that your flower shop is slow on the uptake. 

Use the tips above on how to start a flower shop, and slowly but surely, your flower store will get there too. 

If you are still searching for a floral supplies store to work with, contact us to see how we can help you out there. We offer a complete collection of elegant wrapping, carry-out, pick, and utility products.