Why Overspending Is Sabotaging Your Floral Business (and How to Stop It)

Do you ever walk out of the wholesaler with way more flowers than you budgeted for? Or find yourself adding “just a few extra stems” because you want your work to look next-level amazing? If so, you’re not alone. In this minisode of The Floral CEO Podcast, I’m pulling back the curtain on a topic that came directly from a recent coaching call inside the Floral CEO Mastermind: overspending.

Overspending is one of the most common reasons florists struggle with profitability — and the truth is, it’s rarely just about flowers. Sometimes it’s about ego, validation, or fear of not being “enough.” In this episode, I’ll help you uncover the root causes, set boundaries with your budgets, and create systems that protect your profits without stifling your creativity.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• The subconscious reasons behind overspending (fear, ego, self-worth).
• Why overspending erodes your profitability and leads to burnout.
• How to shift your mindset from “more is better” to “enough is enough.”
• Mantras and affirmations you can use in the moment to stop the cycle.
• Practical strategies, like building a “fun flower budget,” so you can still feel creative without sabotaging your bottom line.
• Why your budget is actually a boundary that your future self will thank you for.

Key Quotes from This Episode:

• “Your budget is a boundary your future self will thank you for.”
• “Stop overspending to prove your worth — your art is enough.”
• “Fulfillment and profitability must go hand in hand, or resentment takes root.”

Why This Episode Matters:

As florists, it’s easy to feel like “just a little extra” won’t matter. But overspending adds up quickly — and it’s often the difference between a thriving business and one that’s just scraping by. By learning to set intentional boundaries with your designs, you’ll not only increase your profits but also build a business that feels aligned and sustainable.

Resources & Links Mentioned:

• Floral CEO Mastermind – Join for monthly live coaching, tools, and community.

What is The Floral CEO?

Struggling to turn your floral design talent into a profitable, scalable, and stress-free business? Welcome to The Floral CEO® Podcast—the ultimate audio destination for wedding and event florists, flower-shop owners, and creative entrepreneurs who want to book bigger budgets, price with confidence, and lead like a true CEO.

Hosted by Jeni Becht, award-winning wedding florist, event designer, and floral business coach with 25 + years in the industry, each weekly episode dives into:

Profitable pricing strategies: markup formulas and minimums fine-tuned for weddings & events

Magnetic marketing & local-SEO hacks: social posts, blogs, and Google tricks that attract high-budget couples and planners

High-converting sales funnels: inquiry replies, proposals, and follow-up scripts that turn curious leads into dream clients

Streamlined systems & smart outsourcing: workflows, templates, and hiring tips that free you from the design bench

CEO mindset & sustainable growth: leadership habits and eco-friendly practices that keep both you and your business flourishing

Jeni pairs real-world success stories with actionable strategies you can implement today, so you’ll spend less time hustling and more time designing breathtaking bouquets, installations, and arrangements.

Ready to scale your florist business and reclaim your life? Follow, subscribe, and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or your favorite podcast app. 🌸

Connect & learn more:

Website & free resources: http://floralceo.com

Instagram & Facebook: @‌thefloralceo

Turn your passion for flowers into the six-figure floral business you deserve—one episode at a time.

Website- floralceo.com

Social @‌thefloralceo.com

 Hello, flower friends, this is Jen, and on this mini sode I wanna bring you something that came directly from the floral CEO Mastermind. This was just a, this is gonna be like a snapshot of the monthly life coaching sessions that we do in the Mastermind. I thought that the topic was just so. Real and something that I know that even at this stage of my business that I run into, it seemed like it was something that really resonated with profitability in your business.

It really resonated with a lot of feelings about success in your business. And I wanted to just share a kind of a, a little kind of mini, coaching episode on this topic of overspending. Overspending is something that often can make or break your business from a profitability standpoint, but there are a lot of subconscious, deep reasons why you are overspending.

Yes, you might not know how to properly price. That might be an issue. You might not know how to write recipes, but there is often so many layers of what is really going on that I wanna peel back some of those layers and talk about it. I know often when I was growing my business, when I'm, I mean even now, I'm, you know, working with a new planner or I am doing something for a photo shoot or I'm doing something.

For something that I really want visibility on, or an open house or just something, and I often will be like oh God, I'm at the wholesaler and I see these beautiful flowers. Or I'm going through the process of laying out recipes and I just, I wanna do more. I wanna go bigger. Have you guys ever had this happen?

Like, I want just this to be so badass, so stunning. But I didn't charge badass stunning prices. So then it's like you wanna reign yourself in because you have this, like the devil and the angel kind of talking to you and you're like, the devil's like. Go all in. You want this to be so cool because you wanna feed your ego and you just want this to, you wanna be seen and you want everybody to just think you are the best florist ever.

And then you have the other, the angel going, but. We didn't charge for that. And we wanna make sure that we're staying in budget and that we're valuing our time and that all of these things, and there's this like back and forth, if you have ever found yourself doing this, like you are not alone, this is a huge problem.

So a couple things to just think about. Why am I overspending? What is like the root of the overspending? And of course it could be fundamental. I don't know how to do this. That is a real thing for many people who are starting their business. And if this is you for one, I'm your girl. I can totally help you figure that out.

I have my pricing guide that can help you kind of figure out how to price for profit if you go to floral ceo.com/pricing. It's a step-by-step guide, but if you don't know how to do recipes, that's another level that is really hard to make sure that you are accurately figuring out what you need. But if you are an experienced florist, if you have been doing this a little while, are you overdelivering as a form of self-worth validation?

Are you wanting to just, I, you know, at this point I should be at this elevated level where my work should be at this certain point. If that is you, like I totally see you because I have been there. You want everybody to think you make cool shit and that you're this like top level florist and that, you know, you do big things, big installations immaculate weddings, but.

You also could be feeling an internal fear of disappointment. Will this be good enough? Will my bride be happy? Will my client be happy? And how am I stacking up against Instagram, Pinterest, what my client's looking for? Other florists? All of these things like you're just from the outside in, you're just afraid of judgment, of disappointment.

And of not having it be good enough. So next time, are you adding extra flowers because you think it adds value or because you are afraid of not being enough? Then going into and really thinking, what can we do to make what we're working with even better? How can we reframe our budgets? In a supportive way, how can we put boundaries in place to build a sustainable business?

How can we make you as a florist not being measured just in dollar signs and making it huge? And then inevitably, how can your budget as a boundary, like really be this kind of North star? For your future self to be thanking you thank you for putting that boundary in place because I have the money to invest in whatever is in your horizon.

I have the money to go get my nails done. I have the money to put gas in my car. I have the money to pay myself. I have the money to invest in coaching. I have the money because I charged accordingly. I did it right, not I guessed. I winged it and then I made a motion based decisions. Think of yourself in like six months when you're past this wedding, past all the momentum, past all of this, will you, if you asked yourself, if I overspent, if I just went all in and I just allocated all this money in six months, will it be worth it?

Will sacrificing profitability be worth it? And it doesn't mean that you sometimes don't wanna be like, you know what? For this first time working with this planner, who you don't do something special, special could be measured in so many different ways. It doesn't need to me mean overstaffing. And it doesn't need to mean that you just overspend your budget is a boundary your future self can thank you for.

So every time you're looking at that, just think how can you shift it so that my future self is going to thank me? Then what are some ways that we can kind of stop this in his track? For one, I would love for you guys to repeat after this or develop your own mantra that when this happens, that you can speak to yourself and hopefully interrupt this pattern.

So if you wanna repeat after me, I honor my business, my time, and my profit. By respecting my boundaries, you can say I deserve to make money. I create beautiful things without overspending. My art is beautiful and I can stay within my budget parameters. I attract my dream clients that trust my creativity within their budget.

There's so many different things that you can really just develop this thought. Even if you want to like, be like, I want creativity, I wanna have fun, I want all those things, then build 10%, 15%, 20% of your budget into fun shit, fun shit budget, so that you get that dopamine hit, you get that realistically that, that like kind of putting yourself the little bit higher end.

I'm just like elevating my work. A little bit, but you're using your budget for it. Build it into your formula. So try to do things to stop this in his track. But I would also love for you to think about again, that future self. Close your eyes and imagine you completed this wedding, you completed this job, you are under budget.

Your client is happy. They are telling friends like, what a great job you did, and you are feeling calm. You are feeling really just like, this is awesome. I love this. This is why I do this. You're feeling confident. You are proud. And then repeat. After this, I deliver excellence with intention. I am enough.

So much of overspending is so deep that it's sometimes just so easy to be like, oh yeah, I'm in a flash. I'm through the wholesaler. Just this looks pretty, this looks pretty, this looks pretty. But that can make or break your profitability at the end of the year, and I want you to make money. That is like one of my.

Biggest motivators for this podcast. I want to help you guys be more profitable and more fulfilled because you can be super profitable and not fulfilled. You can be super fulfilled and not be a make any money. The two need to go hand in hand because without the profitability part, without the fulfillment, resentment starts, re resentment builds, and.

Who wants to do something that you fucking resent? Like, not me. I was at the, um, kitchen table and we have this, this questions game. And in the questions game it, you know, you pit pull two cards out and one of the questions was like, what would your dream job B? And it was being a florist because I. Do it in alignment.

I do it in a way that is fulfillment. I do it in a way that I don't resent my business, and I want that same thing for you. So if you are really wanting to make a shift, this whole 10 minute episode was an hour long class where we dove deep into specific examples in the floral CEO Mastermind. So head to the floral floral ceo.com/mastermind or check out the show notes because this is something that is important.

Money, making money in your business is important and you deserve to make money. But often our own stories, our own shit is getting in the way. And I wanna help clear the air. I want you to be able to, in six months, feel proud of the business owner that you have, become proud of yourself for sticking to your boundaries and proud of yourself for making real impact, not only mentally, but financially.

I actually, it was really fun. I had. A mastermind girl that just kind of graduated the mastermind. She just had a ton of things going on with her family and a couple times she's text me like when she's, or, uh, sent me a Voxer because you get in limited Voxer access, access in the Mastermind and sent me this like, picture of her shop and it's just like completely just Bo business is booming.

And she was like. I am feeling so overwhelmed and I was just like, I totally get that. But inevitably this is what success looks like because her shop is like, I mean, she sold out, she was tapped out because she just had so many orders and so much business and she just won best florist in her area.

And she has had her shop for less than a year, and she messaged me and she's like, I won Best florist, and I just wanted to share you with you because this is what success looks like. And we all define what our own success looks, looks like, but to me, fulfillment and making money are one of those biggest equations.

So I hope you have the fulfillment you're looking for. And I hope you are making the money in your business that you deserve to. Thank you so much for listening, flower friends, and you have an amazing flower filled day. I.