Flower Business Ideas Gets Business ‘Blooming’…

Flower Business Ideas Through Working With A Business Coach.

Sandra and Tracie met with their Business Coach, and true to his word, a week later an action plan was put in place. Since then Sandra and Tracie have met with their coach on a weekly basis. During this time he has helped them look at every aspect of the business.

Sandra says; “Before working with our Business Coach the business was ticking along nicely but we weren’t in control of our own destiny. Now targets are set and we are organised. We know what we need to do each week and have a clear plan – which feels great.”

Her Business Coach has helped Sandra to focus on her team. For instance, the girls working in the shop have specific roles and responsibilities to fulfill. These range from ordering flowers, taking orders, making up bouquets, or writing the personalised cards.

“I now have happy staff as they know what is required of them and feel much more involved”.

Planning Ahead Is A Good Flower Business Idea.

Their Business Coach has also worked with Sandra and Tracie to get much better planning in place. He helped them look through past records to identify their busiest days and to apply this know-how to the year ahead.

For example, if Valentine’s Day falls at a weekend, rather than a weekday, it is much more hectic in the shop. Drawing on this knowledge and spotting that the next Valentines was to be a Sunday, the team planned a month in advance. 

Sandra says: “Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day were always occasions when we’d pull our hair out. Like most florists there are only a handful of days in the year when you are extremely busy. It’s crucial to manage those days well, as it’s where major money is made or lost. Before, we were chasing our tails and finding we had either over or under-ordered. It was panic stations. We needed a systematic and organised approach and that is what we have now.”

“Being able to access previous data means we can now anticipate and order the correct quantity of flowers and employ the right number of staff. For instance this year we took on five extra drivers for Valentines’ Day. We really maximised sales and avoided rushing orders through.”

Other Flower Business Ideas from Business Coaching

My Business Coach also helped the team focus on the cost side of the business. Reviewing suppliers services and costs and our own terms and conditions. 

Sandra says: “My Business Coach has got us using four wholesalers rather than just two. We can compare prices to keep the business competitive, which has trimmed our costs by over 10%.” A 10% reduction in costs, when maintaining sale prices, is a massive increase in profit!

Having focused on planning, keeping costs down and ensuring staff are motivated and focused. The Business Coach then helped Sandra and Tracie take a fresh look at their marketing. For instance, they have launched a promotion called ‘petal pounds.’ This ‘money off’ voucher scheme is designed to encourage existing customers to buy more frequently and new customers to give us a try.

Sandra explains its impact: “Although it cost a bit to put in place. Sending out the petal pound cards has really paid for itself. It has generated lots of new leads, we’re selling to lots of people who have never used us before.”

In addition, they have also started an Elite Loyalty Scheme for long-standing customers. All Long-standing customers were issued with a card to receive 10% off each order.

“Our customer schemes have definitely helped – at a time when lots of businesses are suffering a downturn. As a result, our customer base has increased by 6% so far this year and keeps growing. That is a very positive result in a recession. Our established customers are also typically buying 10-20% more” adds Sandra. These Flower Business ideas all contribute toward our blooming florist business!

Flower Business Ideas For Special Occasions

Their Business Coach has also encouraged Sandra to create some fantastic PR stunts to generate the ‘wow’ factor and to keep the shop in the limelight. 

Sandra explains: “The first one was Valentine’s Day. We hired a male model from Debenhams to stand naked in the shop window, with a bunch of roses strategically placed. The women loved it. It caused great discussion and got the customers through the door as you can imagine!”

“For Father’s Day, we ran a competition. What do you call your Father? Entrants tied a note to the tree just outside the shop with their answer and details. It really got people thinking about us and connecting us with those special occasions.”

The promotional ideas have really paid off. As a result of this increased visibility, large corporate orders have started to come in. With our Business Coach’s help, they are also now targeting new groups. In fact, Sandra’s Florist now supplies flowers on a regular basis to local hotels and restaurants. Opening up a whole new line of business, resulting in our ‘blooming florist business’.

Sandra concludes: “I still have a lot to learn, but thanks to my Business Coach I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. If it wasn’t for him – I know we would have gone under. Instead, we’ve taken control and our future is looking rosey.”

Find Out How You Could Also Benefit From Business Coaching…

If you want to explore the best Flower Business ideas for your Florist Business then please do reach out to us at Libabun.

See more Case Studies by checking out the Categories in our Success Stories

At Libabun we help Business Owners and Managers discover and understand the benefit of working with a Business Coach. We do this by conducting a 2-Hour Small Business Audit which looks at your current business strategies and your current results. Next, we assess the options with you and offer you a myriad of improvements to achieve ‘real and sustainable’ growth. We also do this audit with you so that you get to understand how Business Coaching can work for you and your business.

You also get to see the competence of the Business Coaching team you are considering working with.  As a Business Coaching Organisation, we also offer all our clients a 26 Week Results Guarantee. So we want to make sure the business growth opportunities are there for you and we are confident we can help you achieve them.