Making More Money as a new Floral Designer

Starting a new business is difficult and expensive, and floral shops are no exception. For a new business owner starting out, it can be hard to know where to start when you need to increase your income to make your business viable, but luckily you have some great options to reduce costs and add revenue.  

Teach classes

Dang near everyone loves having fresh flowers in their homes, so there's actually a fairly broad interest in floral arranging classes. Give them the basics and have them work with inexpensive, easy flowers that are great for newbies. 

Try setting up a date night class aimed at couples, or a class for brides who want to make their own bouquets. And by the way, if the idea of marketing a DIY class to brides makes you panic, remember that a bride who would want to make her own bouquet isn't going to hire you anyway. And there's always the chance that, once she sees how difficult DIY'ing florals is, she'll want to hire you to save herself some headaches.

Expand your product offering

Why not add some floral products to your shop or website? Florals go well on pretty much everything, so consider making some "grab-and-go" accessories brides can match to their bouquets. You can also carry cute wholesale accessories like garden shears or jewelry to add a little variety to your income stream. 

Go over your expenses

In the subscription economy we live in, it’s easy to lose sight of those reoccurring expenses that take up funds automatically every month, and this is true for your business as well. Even if you stick to a strict budget, reviewing your expenses with a fine tooth comb can help you spot troublesome money leaks that are slowly costing you money. 

I’ve actually got a free worksheet that can get you control over your finances and help you avoid the 7 most common money leaks if you want some help.  

Open an Etsy or online shop

If you're not listing your floral business on an online ecommerce platform, you're missing out. Even if you only sell locally, you can reach people across the country who want flowers delivered in your area. Plus, setting up an account is simple, and you likely have your arrangement descriptions and photographs ready to go.

Start email marketing

Email marketing is a low-cost way to reach potential customers, and especially repeat clients. Start a simple email list by asking customers for their email addresses at checkout. Send out a monthly discount or offer email every so often and get an email list opt-in tool on your website.

Sites like MailChimp are inexpensive to use for a small contact list, they're fairly intuitive to get started with, and they all come with pre-built templates that are easy to edit and change.

Increase your prices

This might sound overly obvious, but do some research on your prices. Are you competitive for your area? For newbies, it’s easy to underprice your arrangements, and price-conscious clients might have given you the impression that you’d lose all your business if you raised your prices.

But that’s really not the case! Need some help asking customers to pay more? Check out my price amplifier worksheet for some help! (Psst! It’s free!)