The Floral CEO

This week - I'm going to give you a wedding season pep talk because I literally just had to give this to myself. The other night was looking at my calendar and I had just met with my decorator friend and like things felt heavy - it's gonna get real this year again!

I'm very transparent and I want people to know that everybody struggles. I was worried - how am I going to do all of these things?

I've made promises to myself. To make sure that I'm doing two podcasts a week to make sure I'm showing up on Monday, posting on social media and showing up in my social media and interacting and creating value, to make sure I'm sending an email that adds value.

I stood back and said snap out of it!

I don't do overwhelm. How am I going to fix it? What strategies am I going to put in place to help this feel lighter, feel easier?

And then - I wondered if all my Flower Friends are trying to figure their stuff out right now and feeling the same way.

Tune in to this episode to hear what you can do now to make sure you are prepared for wedding season - from actions you can take with your staffing, equipment and your own mindset.

Check out my social media guide. thefloralhustle.com/social

You may heard you are the sum of the 5 people you hang out with the most. Those 5 friends could be- you parents, spouse, best friend and similar people in your life. Look at your friends- are they just getting by? Are they kicking butt and taking names- reaching and setting goals. Are they healthy? Stressed? Complaining? Happy? What are the traits that describe those people- that is what you are soaking up and that is driving you to your current position and state in life. You can change that- people can make an exit and you can bring in positive influences to fill those rolls. Your probably wondering how do I get these positive influence. You need to start putting yourself in scenarios that would foster those types of people. Podcasts, books and other personal development can also help you on your path to getting into a state of mind that will attract those types of friendships. Changing your circle will grow you in so many ways.

Growing you social media accounts is an exhausting affair is sometimes. Often you are looking at likes that aren’t translating to purchases. How do we get in front of people that need you or work with people who need your services.

Getting in front of the right customers can be complicated. It is hard to way a flag that says couples come here. What if you were in front of other industry service providers that are constantly in front of clients needing your services. Winner! How do you do this?? Find industry professionals that. you can follow and support on social media and then during that time they to know you. Spend time interacting with other wedding professional to build relationships with them. Then start sharing content that they will want to put in front of their audience because it is filled with value.

Check out my social media guide. thefloralhustle.com/social

What to post is a serious question that most business owners struggle with.

Content ideas-

Create a theme for days of the week.

Meet us Monday- meet the owner, why we started this business, how you work with us? Are business offerings. Tip Tuesday or Wedding Wednesday is also a good theme day strategy

Theme for the week- relevant topics for audience.

Examples- Should you hire your florist for tear down, 3 ways to save money on your wedding flowers, top 2023 wedding trends, Who gets personal flowers in a wedding and so on. You can do a long form video, a 60 second reel and 30 second reel all out of your topic of the week.

Stories content- wholesaler trip, unpacking, bouquet flowers filled and so on.

Download our free social media guide at thefloralhustle.com/social

Isn’t it a crazy thing- you built a business and it looked like you are at the top of your game and success in yours! Sometimes you Girl Boss to much because you are afraid of fear- a fear of failure and a fear of judgement. If you have success in your business you have not failed so you are likely fearing rejection or potentially even fear success! The biggest thing is you need to define what your ideal business looks like. What needs to change? How does your mindset need to change and stop holding on to that you need to let go. You are the CEO of your business and can make those decisions. Get rid of everything that feels icky in your business and have a business that things feel good. Realign and redefine what feels good for you.

You also could have Girl bossed to hard but love you business but there are parts that you don’t like. Figure out strategies to get those things that are on your plate. Is it worth it to get those things gone to free you to step back in as the CEO.

You can do it! If you need additional support my one on one coaching could be the firecracker to get you back to a business you love! thefloralhustle.com/coachingn

Know where you are at closing percentage, average wedding costs, etc.
Create a spreadsheet of current metrics to track the progress.

Do a mental reset of your business- of your life if needed! Identify what you want- how you want your business to feel- what strategies you want to put in place.

Look at your social- is it supporting the looks, feel, and direction you want to take your business? Are you showing up the way you need to in your business on social?

Does your current portfolio support the work you want to attract? If not- change it!

Look at how you are showing up in your business on all the different levels. Is that the experience the client you want to attract would expect? Are you standing out in the crowd of florists that a couple might meet with?

Check out the Florist Start Kit for a bunch of goodies. thefloralhustle.com/startkit

Do you march to the beat of your own drum? Or do you follow the masses and try to make that work to drive your business? I think that many people have similar ways of getting to similar places in business.

Fundamentally- you are the CEO of your business and can make decisions that feel good to you. The only thing I would consider is - is your changes to the standard pricing out there keep you profitable. If you aren't at the level of profitability what do you need to change- where are things breaking down?

Download my florist pricing guide- thefloralhustle.com/pricing

There are a million different ways I have seen florists charge for these services. The fact is you need to do a system that works for you and makes you profitable. I look at each item as a separate item/cost. For delivery I look at the number of locations to deliver to, distance, the complexity of load in, does a truck need to be rented or is there parking to be paid. How easy is load in- small freight elevator- more $$$ 

Room flip- transition.
This also is based on variables. Time frame, number of people needed, when timing, and if there is repurposing of flowers including deconstruction and moving something.

Tear Down-
I base this on timing-
How long is the tear-down time frame? Some venues charge you for going over time so understanding you have enough time is critical. Do you need extra team members, are you disposing of things, how much glassware to clean up, how far is it to dump water, and so on? These are a few items I look at when estimating and then I put in an extra 30 min. charge clearly on the proposal so if it goes later I adjust the proposal without question.

If you want my pricing guide that talks through this- visit thefloralhustle.com/pricing

Want to start a floral business? What is holding you back? Fear? Mindset? Confidence?

Fear can be overwhelming- most commonly people are afraid of failure, afraid of rejection and afraid of disappointment. But what if you couldn’t fail because you define your own success? What if you understood- rejection is a part of the process to help you the right customer that absolutely loves what you have to offer? What if you were disappointed because you gave yourself grace to grow a business on your own terms.

What if you changed your mindset to from- I don’t think I can do this. This seems hard to I can succeed and I am capable. What if you had a mindset of abundance and that money flows freely to me. And the mindset that now is your time and you can make things happen!

Confidence can be one of the biggest things to stand in your way! What if you had the confidence to think you are capable of anything. Confidence to show up in your business as the face of your business. What if you had the confidence to make things happen?

All of those pieces start to fall in place- now what? Where do you get started.

First thing- head to thefloralhustle.com/starterkit and download the Florist Start Kit Guide. This guide is backed with business fundamental information and all the steps of starting your business.

Next thing is get the basics out of the way, don’t overthink it! Name, Sales tax id’s and any other formal business registration for your state and city if needed. One of the most overthought part is your logo. Make one in Canva or I love using design crowd and submitting my vision and have artists around the world submit designs for you to pick a winner from. You can buy number of submissions, ask for revisions and pick a winner. My current floral business logo had 235 submissions, not all were diamonds- some were awful and some were fascinating. Then- get your all of your social media pages.

Now- to build confidence and a large part of floral confidence comes with practice. Head to your local wholesaler to investing in some flowers and practice making different pieces. You can make one piece then photograph- tear it apart and make another item. You can start with an altar vase, bride bouquet, bridesmaid, flower girl, centerpieces, bud vases, wrist corsage, boutonniere, wearable tattoo or lapel flowers. You could create- 10-12 creations with the same flowers.

Then start posting on social media. Post and introduction video, introduce yourself. Then start to find industry peers to follow.

Planners, Photographers, venues, other florists, DJ’s and other wedding professionals. When they follow you back- which usually 30-40% do send them a DM to say thank you for following me. Tell them you would love to hear more about their business and asked for a virtual coffee date. Its ok to play the new kid on the block card.

Then lets build an easy to start out with plan. A la carte flowers can be an easy way for you to start with having templated offerings that give you flexibility in blooms and textures. With this you can cover basic items within your scope of confidence. Share your a la carte offerings on social media, with other industry professionals and on your website.

Once you meet with someone ask them for feedback.

Want to hear how you become a freelancer? How do you gain exposure to other florists to do this? There is a strategic way for you to gain exposure to key florists in your market that would be looking for florists to help them. Start interacting with their posts, post in your stories that you are available for freelancing. If there is a local florist group you could post that you have some availability in that group as well. Even sending a DM or email to a local florist and tell them you are a huge fan and would love to work with them. Start building relationships with florists in your market by also going to say hi and introduce yourself at your wholesaler.

I hope this episode helps propel your freelancing strategy and you are working on some amazing projects this wedding season.