Jeni: Hello Flower friend.
This is Jen and you are listening to the Floral Hustle Podcast.
Today we're gonna talk about seven things for you to stop immediately.
Stop now for a more profitable 2023 wedding season and beyond.
Right now is the time of year We are in planning mode.
This is the time for you to regroup and really strategize.
How can I make next year better?
What do I even want for next year?
What do I have booked?
What do I want to have booked?
You know, in the big grand scheme, I want X wedding or I
want just general goal planning.
This is goal planning.
The new year is coming New Year's resolution.
By time this airs, the new year will be here.
But this is your opportunity to craft the business that you love, the business you
adore and ditch all the overwhelm that.
Making your business business feel heavy, making it feel like not
aligned, making it feel just heavy.
So here are some things to really just stop doing.
Really think about how you can implement these as strategies going into next year.
So first thing to stop doing is stop guessing on cost pricing when you guess.
You are literally asking for either a less profitable wedding or a big old mistake
because you did not do the legwork.
And if you listen to my easy installations, especially that
episode, you can learn my easy formula of figuring out a cost per square.
So that you're not investing a ton of time in this, but if you are just guessing, you
are asking for issues, you are asking to be less profitable because you are gonna
go into that going, I just threw a number out there and now I have to make it happen
for that number, and you deserve better.
And if your client does not understand that, I cannot manifest.
Like the cost on this because it is a complicated thing.
I cannot just spitball because it is a complicated thing.
Take that and just say, you know what?
I really wanna make sure that I am achieving the look and feel
of your inspiration photos.
and I wanna make sure that I'm properly getting the foundation, um,
of everything to accomplish that.
And so it just takes me a little bit of time to do the research to make sure
that I am really making sure that I'm.
Have you just love your installation and, um, that I have enough flowers
for it and all of those things, so I'd be happy to just put that
together in the pro uh, proposal.
But if you have a rough idea, like that is a range.
You know, most of my installations start at acts and I've done installations up to.
because at that point, when you tell somebody a range, they're usually gonna
tell you your their budget for something.
And if they don't, just say, you know what, let me just estimate it.
I know my range is a pretty broad one because installations are so customized
to each wedding that I really wanna do my due diligence to make sure that I'm
achieving everything that you want.
And I'm making sure from a foundation standpoint that I
have all my ducks in a row.
Leave it at that.
So, stop.
It's not helping you.
It's only hurting you.
Stop trying to be the cheapest in town.
This was me.
I was trying to be like race to the bottom because I felt volume and doing a
million weddings was the key to success.
I actually, I did a, I think it was 137 weddings one year.
One weekend I had nine weddings, and then somebody reached out to me for a funeral
and I thought that was a brilliant idea for me to do nine weddings and a funeral.
I, I pulled it off, but this is while I was working full-time, running a
sales organization, having employees.
I didn't have children, thank God, because then I probably would've
just like been in the Looney bin.
, but it was crazy.
So I, that happened to me because I was the cheapest in town.
I was literally undervaluing myself.
I was sometimes losing money because I wasn't estimating enough, um, for
fluctuations and pricing in the market.
I just wanted more, more, more, more is gonna make me more successful.
More, more, more is only gonna bring you more headache and less.
, you have profitability built into that equation and being the cheapest
in town is not one of those ways.
If you are attracting all of those, like wanting the cheapest options,
the cheapest everything you need to implement some processes.
For one, I would implement having a brochure for all your inquiries that has
pricing guidance in it, and so you can.
right away at dealing with price shoppers that are looking for like
the lowest price bouquet cuz they think that they should be able to get
bridesmaids for $45 or whatever it be.
You give them that brochure.
I would love to talk to you more if, um, the pricing in my brochure
is aligned with where your budget is and if they don't reach out.
I send one reply email if I don't hear from them in a week because I use Gmail
and it nudges me when I don't get a reply.
So I go in when I get nudged and I reply back and just say, Hey,
I wanna make sure that you got my brochure and see if you had any
questions that I could ha help answer.
Um, if not, it was.
Thank you so much for considering me.
End of discussion then.
You're not wasting your time with price shoppers by doing a full estimate.
and spending that time on an hour consult if somebody's
looking for the chiefest in town.
Third thing, stop comparing yourself.
This is something, again, I used to do a lot.
I can't charge that because I am not this florist.
My work doesn't look like this florist, so I can't charge like that.
BS you are your own.
Dictator of your prices.
You are the own dictator of the work.
You want to perform the work that you want to be proud of, and often cheap
budgets are not going to accomplish that If you do have a situation that
you have a couple that's reached out and it looks super duper fun, but.
they have a little bit lower budget.
If there's one item in there that absolutely is like on your floral
bucket list or on something that you have really wanted to put in your
portfolio, I would price everything accordingly to what you normally price.
But that one item, and I would position that item to them, is, I've priced out
your wedding, but the one thing that is really inspiring, Me about your
wedding, and I want to use this as part of my portfolio is this installation.
I have given you a discount.
This is if you really wanna do it, and they're absolutely
not budging on your budget.
I, of course you can.
Try them on.
But if you just know, and I usually just know after meeting with somebody
what things look like, literally go in there and just say, I'm doing
this at a discount, um, because it is a portfolio building piece.
That way if they refer someone for that exact same thing, , you don't need
your portfolio built anymore, and it is the regular price and you can explain.
I use that as a portfolio building piece and it is actually not something
that I can do at that price again, because that was not something that
will sustain my business to keep doing.
End of discussion.
Easy peasy.
So when you keep comparing yourself to other Floris, for
one, you are brainwashing yourself that you are not as good as.
Everybody has their strengths.
Everybody has something that shines about them.
That's something that sticks out that they are great at.
And if there are things that you keep comparing yourself and falling short,
then you need to invest in yourself.
Taking courses, doing things like practicing, going to Trader Joe's.
We have Trader Joe's like a grocery store that like their flowers are
unbelievably cheap because they're buying in such volume that sometimes
it's cheaper than the wholesaler.
When in my earlier days, I would go there and I would buy like $40 of
flowers, $35 of flowers, and I would just make different things, tear it apart,
take pictures, and keep doing that to build my confidence, but also build my
portfolio because you also need to have work that you can put out there that
speaks to the work you want to be doing.
and when you've done something, you also feel more confident.
You can understand recipes a little bit better.
You can understand maybe like the spiral bouquet is something you're
struggling with or making corsages is something you struggle with.
You know, you could just practice and then that comparison, when you build
confidence just starts to to dwindle.
And if you are continuously comparing yourself to people, especially
on Instagram, unfollow them.
You will not be missing out if they do a wedding somewhere that is not for
one, your ideal venue, your ideal type of wedding, like just unfollow them.
It's good for your brain to just not even be exposed in my opinion.
Next thing, stop using one wholesaler or one flower source.
. By putting your eggs in all in one basket or one wholesaler, you can be
disappointed and be subject to their pricing or their price fluctuations on
items because they have limited sources.
I personally have three wholesalers.
I have a flower co-op that is a co-op of a local growers, and I have two
flower farmers that I buy direct from, and I grow my own flowers.
I will often on hard to find flowers, order from two locations
to help up my chances, but I also check prices accordingly.
Hey, how much are your toffee roses right now?
Are you even able to get them?
How much are your Ines right now?
Are you able to get them in the summer?
Are you able to get white, ridiculous peach, reinos, whatever?
How are you finding, you know, whatever flower that you need
for this wedding in three weeks?
, ask them, get a ballpark price, and then you can place your order accordingly.
I have one wholesaler that I only have delivered to me cuz
they're a little bit farther away.
I invest my time going to my main wholesaler, looking at everything
and knowing how everything is gonna come together from a color palette,
I go to the flower farmers in person because I wanna be specific.
Even if you're ordering by variety, that variety can be a little bit
different, or they could have picked it at different times.
So super important.
But on top of that, my next item, stop promising individual flowers.
I'm, I, actually, I did a whole episode on this.
This is literally backing you into a corner of not being profitable, because
if that item for some reason becomes a scarcity, you are paying a premium
for it, and you might not have built that into your wedding flower budget.
So, I just stopped doing it several years ago, and it feels so much freer, but
it also helps make me more profitable because I am not backed into a corner
of having to have a specific bloom.
So just stop.
It's easy.
Explain.
If you listen to that episode, I explain how you can make it a benefit
to that couple, then have a minimum.
And I know so many people are like, I just need to do weddings.
I need experience.
Great.
Have ala carte flowers.
Um, which is a great way for people to get, for one pricing guidance of
what things cost for two great flowers without a lot of work on your, your.
Part.
And plus you get a lot of creative freedom because you are dictating
everything that goes into the, from a flower choice, from a design choice.
Uh, you know, I just say they're always in my classic garden style.
Um, look.
But I get to pick all the blooms, um, based on what the
best options at that time.
The best options could be something that's on sale.
It could be something that I found a deal on, one of the auctions
on, then having a minimum.
, you can actually back into that to, from a profitability standpoint, if you
wanna do two weddings in one weekend and you wanna make X amount, okay, if
I wanna make X amount and I'm running at like a 40 or 50% profit margin, or
whatever your percentage might be from last year, or if you're looking at
changing that, then you could of course adjust that into this ac um, equation.
Then I'm going to meet, need to be charging x.
. By having that minimum, you make sure that you're covering your business
expenses, you're making sure that if you are taking on limited weddings, that
that investment in your time is worth it.
And so I see having a minimum as a critical part of your business, if
you are not going to be taking on all these low budget, high volume
type weddings because you are setting the stage that I'm not gonna do O.
I am going to have weddings that I want to do, I enjoy doing that are something
creatively fulfilling to me, and that also fit into my profit equation.
Then the last thing, start sourcing supplies Now.
And I know sometimes you might not have the budget for it before your bride has,
you know, POed up everything, um, or your couple has paid, uh, you know, whatever.
I, I do a $500 deposit that goes towards their total.
And then I don't take any money until like 30 days out because I don't need
the cash influx into my business.
I would rather we finalize everything, we get final payment than I'm paying
for the flowers and so on and so forth.
But I do source supplies now.
I literally, when I see something available that I know I'm going to need
and it is at a normal market rate, is not like elevated, I stop and I'm like, okay.
I, I could buy some tubes of glue.
I could buy some cylinder bases for this year.
I could buy some floating candles.
Sometimes you can even strategically work with your wholesalers to make sure you're
getting a good deal by pre sourcing.
Like they have pre-book on items.
They have pre-book on candles, pre-book on, you know, cylinder
bases are common use items.
Look at pre-book and see, because that's going to be.
your recipe of profitability.
If you have these things and you aren't all of a sudden paying a premium because
you're like having to order on Amazon or having to order it online somewhere
because your wholesaler doesn't have it, so plan ahead and you definitely will
build in just a ti more profitability because you're not paying a premium.
Then also with those supplies, build in things that are profitable for you.
I introduce new collections periodically of items that, for one, make it
easier for me to meet with brides because I can show them something
that fits together aesthetically.
I have these new rib candles, uh, taper candle holders and uh, like
ribbed beautiful glass bud vs.
That.
They go together and they're stunning and like it's really easy.
But that was an investment.
I bought them before I even sold them, but I knew I would sell.
and I have sold them, I think like seven times already.
So they more than paid for, um, themself.
But now is a time to source things like that, that you can integrate, that you
can make some money on because they are on trend right now or whatever.
And then have fun with that.
Like it is fun for me to introduce new things and I'm always on the lookout,
like I actually just got delivered, uh, a accent decor puzzle arch.
I looked at it and I was like, I can sell that to my brides.
And it was 500 bucks, so it was an investment, but it's like getting
down to the end of the year.
So I don't mind the tax seduction, and I know next year I'm going to be able to
rent that for a premium and I will recoup my money in just a couple weddings, and
then I will have this beautiful thing to just rent out and make it profitable.
So look at those decisions.
because then you can book them to your brides couples this
year and really set yourself up.
If you rent that arch out three times, four times, you know if you've paid
for it, and then you've made another 500, then you've made another seven
50 or a thousand, and so you can really capitalize on your investments
that you've made into your inventory.
Those are your seven things.
Start now on implementing these strategies and stop doing.
All the thing.
Stop guessing.
Stop being the cheapest.
Just start thinking you deserve to be profitable because you do.
You work hard, you want to have your business be successful and
sometimes you just gotta gotta rip the bandaid off and make big changes.
And so let's make big changes and let's make 2023.
Amazing.
Thank you so much, flower friend.
I hope you have a great flower.
Bye-bye.