Unit B2-12

1. Unit B2-12 Floriculture Horticulture CD

2. Problem Area 2 Floral Design

3. Lesson 12 Managing the Flower Shop

4. Interest Approach On a sheet of paper, list as many flower shops as you can that are in your area. What do the shops have in common? How are they different? What does it take to run a flower shop?

5. Student Objectives • 1. Describe the qualifications to be a florist. • 2. Describe the types of flower shops. • 3. Explain the basics about good location and starting a floral shop. • 4. Describe the importance of marketing, promotion and sales. • 5. Describe effective packaging and delivery. • 6. Explain the major areas of an effective flower shop floor plan.

6. Bucket shop Carriage trade shop Clearinghouse Demographic study Displays Empty nest couples Fictitious name statement Filling florist Franchise Gray market Marketing Marketing mix Promotion Resale license Satellite shop Sending florist Stem shop Tax number Up-selling Visual merchandise Vocabulary

7. What Skills Must I Posses If I Am Going to Become a Florist? • Most people who become florists do so because they enjoy flowers and plants • Opening a business, however, requires: knowledge about the industry, floral training, and ability to keep up with new trends • Skills can be acquired through college courses, working in a shop and attending training sessions

8. Qualifications of a Successful Florist

9. Major skill areas include: • 1) business knowledge • Knowing how to advertise, market, buy, do inventory control, effective pricing strategies, computer skills, bookkeeping, accounting and employee relations • Having a partner provides added experiences • 2) personal skills • Honesty, trustworthiness, drive, energy, patience, tact, compassion, consistency and integrity; Basically a “people person” • Will result in ethical business operation

10. 3) must possess knowledge of floral products • Understanding of plant care and handling, design principles, display techniques and overall creativity

11. Flower Shop Categories • Full-service shop • Large-volume shop • Party/wedding shop • Carriage trade shop • Stem shop or bucket shop • Satellite shop • Franchise shop

12. What Are the Various Types of Floral Shops? • A. Full-service shop: • The traditional floral shop • Offers a wide variety of services to meet the consumer’s needs • Usually a member of one or more wire services (such as FTD or Teleflora) • Does wedding and sympathy work and fills various other needs • Owner is usually a good businessperson and prominent member of the community

13. B. Large-volume shop: • Sells large quantities of design work due to a well-executed marketing plant • Owner is an expert in planning, budgeting, financing and training • Offers many of the services that a full service shop offers but does mostly large quantity orders • Often found in big cities and work with corporate accounts such as hotels and businesses

14. C. Party/wedding florist: • Considered a specialty shop that has restricted its work to event planning for weddings and parties • One caution in this business is that the market area must be able to support the specialization if it is going to survive • Owner must be a good communicator, creative and dramatic in carrying out the plans requested by the consumer

15. D. Carriage trade shop: • Provides extensive personal service to a limited, elite clientele • Offers the services of a full-service shop, but in a lavish, upscale manner to a limited customer base • Key to success is developing a name and reputation with the desired clientele • Communication is extremely important

16. E. Stem shop: • It is a cash and carry operation that offers a variety of flowers & foliages by the stem or bunch • Often called a bucket shop because the flowers are sold directly out of the buckets • Key to success is to be in a high traffic area • Often found in grocery stores, malls or airports

17. F. Satellite shop: • A second shop operated by a full-service shop, commonly found in a strip mall and shopping malls • May also be found in hospitals and office buildings • Might be opened due to increased exposure and traffic • Owner must have skill in planning and organization if both shops are to survive

18. G. Franchise shop: • A flower shop purchased from and operated according to a parent company for use of its name and business service • There are not many shops of this type because the initial cost of purchasing the shop can be quite high • Advantage is the name recognition and demonstrated services and products in the marketplace

19. Where Should a Flower Shop Be Located and What Are the Basic Legal Requirements? • The trick to finding a good location is to do some research about the area where you are interested in to start the business • Research should include potential state, city and neighborhood • Competition, population, traffic flow, parking, visibility, and wholesale florist locations must also be taken into consideration • Prospective owner must also evaluate the economic and demographic information

20. A demographic study is a report of the size and distribution of population in a specific area • It will include information on age, education, income levels and other information about the community • Community information will allow the future florist to see if there are trends like empty nest couples - people under 65 who no longer have children at home; They are likely to spend money on flowers • The gray market, people over 65, typically spend less because of their fixed incomes

21. There are some basic legal requirements to be met before operations begin • Licenses and permits must be obtained from state, county and local governments • Florist must gather five licenses as follows: • 1) A fictitious name statement is a document that must be filed with the county to register the business name and prevent another business from using that name in the county • There is a filing fee and a notice must be published in county newspapers • 2) A federal employer identification number (FEIN) must be obtained if there will be employees

22. Number is used by both the internal revenue service and the social security administration for tax return purposes • If there are no employees, the owner’s social security number is used • 3) A resale license or tax number is a number obtained so that the required sales tax can be collected and wholesale items can be purchased without paying sales tax • Applied for through the state’s revenue department • A county license might also be required • 4) professional licenses are issued by the sate agriculture department, registering a business to meet certain state regulations • Not required by all states

23. 5) special licenses are issued for special services that might be provided by a florist, such as a liquor and pesticide application license • Often same as those with helium tanks

24. How Does One Market and Sell Floral Products? • Marketing is the process of selling a product and providing a service the consumer wants or needs • It is essential in the retail business world • Goal is to determine the most effective market mix and market strategy for a given consumer base • A marketing mix will vary from shop to shop; There are five guidelines

25. Guidelines For Effective Marketing • Define specialties or strengths of the particular floral business • Define the targeted customers or target market • Determine the products the customers want to buy • Determine how to communicate the message • Decide the specific products and services to offer the target market

26. Promotions encompass a variety of activities that lead to public name recognition • Include advertising, community involvement, contests, punch cards, coupons, demonstrations, educational articles, logos/image development, window displays, publicity, signs and effective selling techniques

27. Advertising is the biggest promotional activity of a business; It occurs on a daily basis • Varies from print, to voice, to video, to the internet • Yellow pages are used heavily because many orders occur over the phone • Helps to be affiliated with a wire service, such as FTD • Sending florist – a florist who sells a wire service order; Orders are sent via telephone, fax or computer • Filling florist – is a florist who takes the order, fills and delivers it • Billing of the order is based on the order activity and is settled by the clearing house

28. Smart selling is invaluable to the retail florist industry • Salesperson must be versatile in handling a variety of situations, from weddings to funerals • Salespeople must have knowledge of flowers, be friendly and personable – this will project a positive image of the shop • Should also be good listeners and effective communicators; Also develop up-selling – a technique of persuading a customer to make a larger purchase than originally planned by offering a range of prices, not just the lowest, and suggesting the purchase of related products

29. How Should Effective Packaging and Delivery Be Handled? • Packaging plant material has a two-fold purpose: protect the flowers from the outdoors and provide a shop image promotion and advertising • On cold days, flowers should be double wrapped and the vehicle pre-warmed • Packaging materials to protect flowers include sleeves, bags, cellophane, tissue paper and any combination of these • Should be neat and held together with tape or staples • Ribbon and accessories may be included and the package should be finished off with a shop sticker

30. Delivery is an essential part of the floral industry • Link between the designer and the customer • Efficient routing and delivery schedules must be maintained • Delivery person must be good at maintaining the vehicle and loading items • He/she must be timely and safe, neat in appearance, and courteous • Items should be secured in the vehicle • Use sandbags, bricks, boxes, and plastic carriers • Place tall items on the side and shorter ones in the middle will help in effective loading • There are several categories of deliveries

31. Types of Deliveries • 1. Regular deliveries: those that are made in an area predetermined by the shop owner • 2. Out-of-the area deliveries: are those outside the predetermined area and carry a larger delivery charge • 3. Timed deliveries: are those that are to be delivered at a time determined by the customer (usually for birthday’s or anniversaries) • 4. Special deliveries: are for those customers that forgot, or were not aware of a floral need, and a last-minute delivery trip must be made. Additional charges could apply

32. What Primary Areas Are Needed in a Floral Shop Floor Plan? • There are four major areas to consider when developing a floor plan: • A) the sales area should contain a display window and have a good entry spot that invites the customer into the store • Need room for display units, coolers, tables, shelves, a sales counter, cash register and possibly a plant area • Taken into consideration lighting, floor coverings, and the ceiling

33. Sales area continued • Traffic patterns should encourage the customer to look at all available merchandise before making a purchase • Effective displays in the sales area will promote a greater volume of sales • Visual merchandising is a coordinated plan to attract customers to the flower shop and to make a purchase • Displays are one component of visual merchandising • Attract attention,create interest, and motivate the customer to want to buy the items displayed

34. B) the design area, or workroom, needs to include design benches, easy access storage for containers and supplies, receiving and delivery area for incoming flowers, and outgoing area for deliveries • A storage cooler should be located in this area • It should be large enough to hold the increased volume of flowers during the busy seasons • Good lighting, accessible water, drainage, and good shelving are important to a design area • Design benches should be at a comfortable height while standing

35. C) wedding or funeral consultation areas should be located where conversations will be undisturbed by phones or other people • A table and several chairs should be provided • An area that is neutrally decorated and furnished can serve the needs for both types of consultations • Some funeral ordering will take place over the phone • D) the final area is the office; This area should be convenient for supervision of both the design area and sales areas • It should be equipped with as much modern office equipment as possible • Including computers, telephones, fax machines and internet capability

36. Summary • What are some areas of skill that are required by a florist in order to run a business? • Give some examples in the area of flower knowledge that are required by a florist. • How is a full-service shop different from a stem shop? • What makes a carriage-trade shop different from a full-service shop? • Why would a florist open a satellite shop?

37. Summary Continued • What is the purpose of doing a demographic study before opening a floral shop? • Explain the importance of a fictitious name statement. • What is a federal employer identification number used for? • How does one market and sell floral products? • Name some ways to package floral material. • Why is it important to wrap all floral products?