How do I start my own flower shop?

Question

I have access to wholesale retailers since I live near Los Angeles. I have worked in a flower shop before(briefly). Other than getting a retail space, what other things are necessary? What specific equipment (fridge, buckets, etc.)?

Answer 1

You may want to read the article "Starting a Florist Shop Business" http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol50/florist.htm . The article lists what you will need other than a retail space, and this includes refrigeration system, floral supplies, secondary products you want to sell, shelvings to display your plants and flowers among other things.

You may want to check out the following associations as they have tons of information if you want to start in this business:

American Floral Marketing Council (1601 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314; 1-800-336-4743)
American Institute of Floral Designers (721 Light Street, Baltimore, MD 21230; 301-752-3318)
Society of American Florists (1601 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314; 1-800-336-4743)

- Peter Blair Pfahl, "Retail Florist Business," Interstate Printers & Pub (1994)
- Rosemary Batho, Stephen Roberts, Bernice Waugh, "The Advanced Guide to Floristry," Merehurst Ltd (1999)
- Retailing Flowers Profitably

Answer 2

The best routes to take are to research the process of starting a business as well as the industry you're interested in.

I recommend checking out the SBA, Entrepreneur, The Start Up Journal & Nolo. All 4 are great informational resources for the new/small business owner. I posted links for you in the source box.

Associations may be a good avenue to explore as well. These organizations will address many of the thoughts, questions and concerns you'll inevitably have as well as many you haven't anticipated yet. See the source box for some relevant links.

Research, research, research – this cannot be stressed enough. Read as much as you can about the industry. Here are some book titles that are relevant:

* Starting A Flower And Gift Shop by Millicent Gray Lownes-Jackson
* Start and Run a Profitable Retail Business by Jim Dion, Ted Topping
* Retail Business Kit for Dummies by Rick Segel
* Specialty Shop Retailing: How to Run Your Own Store Revised by Carol L. Schroeder
* So You Want To Own The Store: Secrets to Running a Successful Retail Operation by Mort Brown

Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!

Answer 3

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Answer 4

Don't take this in a rude way, but if you need to ask what equipment you need, this may not be the business for you. If you are not familiar enough with flower shops to know the equipment, consider working at one longer so you can go in and really scrutinize what they do. You can see who manufactures their equipment and learn about good and bad suppliers. You will also see when most of their sales occur, find out which advertising methods bring in the most customers (ie: bridal fairs versus yellow pages). If this is something that really interests you, you are probably at the stage of needing to learn a lot more about it to be successful.

You may also want to consider partnering with someone who does know about it, but you'd need to be sure to bring something to the table, too, such as funding. If you don't have funds or know-how, lenders are going to be reluctant to help you out. I'd suggest one year experience, but you can be doing a lot of planning during that time. That way when you quit, you walk from your employer's florist shop into your own with a little more money in your pocket from the work and considerably better preparation.

Answer 5

...You first might want to read a simple easy read book...

It's called ...The E-Myth revisited by Michael Gerber...

This will save you alot of time and money along with guiding you along the road of having and developing a small business