Local Business Growth
I wish I could give perfect advice for everyone who asked about how to grow their flower businesses. The fact is, that growth is dependent on so many factors. I’m very skeptical of anyone who purports to offer advice in that vein. And I worry when I see advice being doled out about different kinds of sales outlets and their profitability as if those means are the “best” way of doing something. What I can tell you is how I grew my business in my circumstances. And which things I think farmer-florists should consider when looking to grow their businesses.
This post addresses local business growth and how I was able to achieve it.
The answers to the following questions also helped shaped how my business grew. I will preface the following by saying, what you’re about to read probably makes my journey seem impossible. But it wasn’t. The key was in finding my own way.
How would I grow a profitable local flower business?
One of the first things you might think about is: are YOU a local? For me, the answer was/is, NO.
I am not from here and I inserted myself and started a business in an area where I hardly knew anyone. I’d lived here for less than a year when I started my farm. There would be no one to champion my project. No local friends to rally.
Is a road side stand super profitable for some? Yes. For me, NO.
My area is VERY rural and I am on a low-traffic road. The nearest town is what most people would consider VERY small and it is 30+ minutes away through mountain passes. Customers might be willing to drive here once. A few customers will come twice and even fewer will come more than that. We’ve tried opening our farm on the weekends for in person shopping in my studio. It was great for the first few weekends and then the sales dropped so much that it was no longer profitable to put the effort into preparing the studio for sales. My take away: a few pop-ups per year might work with a TON of advertising, but that will probably be the maximum for in person sales at this location without turning our farm and home into some kind of tourist trap. And that’s just not something I want to do.
Is u-pick profitable for some? Yes. For me. NO.
For the same reasons as above, u-pick does not make sense for my business. I also am not set up to support customers who drive a distance to get here. I don’t have a public bathroom. I don’t really have a parking area. There are few nearby options for hospitality.
Can farmer’s markets keep your business afloat. For some, yes. For me NO.
There is one busy farmers market in our area. It is on a Sunday. I participated in it for several years, until the profits I was making from wedding work were so much higher that it made no sense to turn around from those events on Saturdays and put together a farmers market instead of resting or potential closing a deal on another wedding with a phone call from home that would net 5x the revenue or more. This is something that I really hope people consider when they dive into farmers markets. Is the TIME you spend on them the most efficient way for you to make money. It may be in the start, but as the value of your brand increases, its worth re-examining each year.
Can some people sell all of their products wholesale to high end independent supermarkets? Yes. Can I, NO.
Generally speaking, the population here is not very interested in a “green” lifestyle or local flwoers. There are few small health foods markets. We’ve developed a great relationship with one. The others have not been able to show consistent sales for us. So we focus on the one that does. From it we generate about $40,000 per year.
Can some people sell all their flowers wholesale to local florist buyers? Yes. Could I? NO.
Since I started my business here in the northern Adirondacks, there has been a weird tension between me and the conventional florists. I’m sure that is in part due to my willingness and ability to seek out design projects and compete with them potentially for wedding work. It’s also due to the nature of design work and trying maintain a wholesale inventory at the same time. It’s just too much for my small farm do both at once. Inevitably, if I had a large event or a couple large events, I wouldn’t be willing to sell flowers in the colors I needed and that affected the products available to the other florists.
Will some people do well with on-farm workshops? Yes. Will I? NO.
For the same reasons mentioned above, we’re just not a great fit for on-farm workshops. I’ve tried. Oh, I’ve tried. I love teaching and I’ve tried to reach people who want to learn floral design, who want to relax and just make, or who want to learn farming. We are really in the middle of nowhere. Our location is difficult to travel to for visitors. We have to drive 2 hours to the nearest significant airport (Montreal, Canada or Albany, New York).
Does my location lend itself to access to event venues and weddings? HECK YA.
And from a quick Q & A with a local minister, I learned that there were up to 6 marriage contracts being signed each weekend in just one of the neighboring towns. I took a step back and looked at my “nowhere” location in the middle of a 6 million acre state park with visitors who are environmentally conscious…and BINGO. Sustainably produced and designed local wedding flowers would be THE way for me.
Little Farmhouse FlowerS Growth:
Year 1: 2017. Farmers markets, a few small event orders earned from word of mouth at farmers markets, 1 invite to a photoshoot, 1 half day professional photography session, dahlia tuber sales.
Year 2: 2018. Farmers markets, wedding orders earned from word of mouth and portfolio images from photoshoots, dahlia tuber sales, + part time inexperienced helper
Year 3: 2019. Farmers market, substantial wedding orders, seasonal bulb and tuber sales. Began winter sales to local grocer. + 1 full time and 1 part time assistant.
Year 4: 2020 Covid. No farmers markets. All weddings cancelled. Let staff go. Hired one person for part time in the fall. Survived on aggressive sales of Flower Club memberships with home delivery. Year round sales to local grocer. Wholesale to florists.
Year 5: 2021. Weddings are back with a vengeance. Did so many weddings. Continued year round grocer sales and wholesale to florists. +11 staff members during the height of the summer season (some part time and some full time).
Year 6: 2022. Full wedding schedule with the last of postponed events squeezed in. Year round grocer sales, wholesale to florists. Launch of The Tulip Workshop with business partner. Knowledge-based educational programs in my areas of experience under development. +7 full and part time staff members during the height of the season. 3 help during the winter.
Year 7: 2023. Wholesale to grocers and florists. Knowledge-based programs grow. NO delivery weddings planned. “Take out” wedding flowers available for purchase on website. Focus on farm maintenance and wholesale bulbs and flowers and writing, editing. +3 staff, possibly more.