How to Start a Flower Framing Business Growing for Market

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

How to Start a Flower Framing Business Growing for Market

If you have a green thumb, you can do more than maintain a beautiful garden at home. You can also grow flowers for profit. Because flowers are easy to grow and mature quickly, and because all you really need to get started is soil, seeds and your hands, this can be a profitable hobby or full-time business.

Step 1

Grow your flowers, choosing those you think will be in higher demand. Roses may be a no-brainer, but snapdragons, peonies, sunflowers and larkspur are also commonly purchased flowers. You may grow them in pots or in the soil in your backyard. It really doesn't matter. Depending on what part of the country you live in, you may be able to plant year-round or have to plan your crops around the weather. Start small, so you can grow according to what you learn along the way about consumer demands.

Step 2

Find ways to distinguish yourself. Start by giving your business a unique and descriptive name. Create marketing materials that tell potential customers what makes you stand apart from the competition, whether this is your prices, the method you use to grow your flowers, or your amazing arrangements.

Step 3

Create a price list for your flowers and bouquets. Go to area florists to determine reasonable prices. Try to offer better prices. At the same time, consider your growing costs when pricing your flowers. On the Profitable Plants website, grower Linda Tobey recommends aiming for a yield of $2 for every square foot of plants in your garden.

Step 4

Check with your county government to see if you need a license to sell flowers, even if you're just supplying a florist. Each county is different, but a call to your county government office can give you the answer. Often, all that's required for getting a business license is a fee, and you will usually need at least that.

Step 5

Contact area flower shops and farmers' markets about supplying them with flowers or selling your flowers at a stand. These two avenues are your best bet because they come with little to no overhead costs, unlike starting a flower shop.

Step 6

Provide shipments on a timely manner if supplying to a local florist, or man your booth or stand if working at a farmers' market during hours when it's open. Jot down how many flowers, and of what varieties, you are going through. Tracking this can help you determine if you need to grow more or less of certain varieties. Sales records are also important for tax purposes.

Step 7

Grow your business by planting more flowers so you can offer greater supply or greater variety. Invest some of your earnings back into your growing operation, whether that's finding more land to grow flowers on or purchasing gardening tools and equipment.

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About the Author

Cynthia Gomez has been writing and editing professionally for more than a decade. She is currently an editor at a major publishing company, where she works on various trade journals. Gomez also spent many years working as a newspaper reporter. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Northeastern University.

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Easy Tips and Ideas to Start Business

Although anyone can start a business, many people fail because of a bad product or improper research. If you want to start your own business, you can improve your chances for success before you even begin. In order to make your business successful, start strong and make sure that your idea will hold out for the long haul.

Have a Good Product

Ensure that you plan to sell something useful. Although you may think that your product is important or special, that doesn't mean the general public will agree. Ask friends, family and strangers what they think of your product. If they don't seem that interested, ask them why. With their suggestions, you can either improve the product or scrap the idea completely. According to Brad Sugars of Entrepreneur magazine, most small businesses fail because they sold a product that didn't have an adequate market. This also applies to small businesses that provide a service. A lawn-care business might be useful for part of the year in a northern state, but it is in-demand year-round in the south. Consider whether people will actually want to use your service and get constructive advice from those not afraid to give their opinion.

Research Local Businesses

Research local companies before starting up your own business. This will not only give you an idea of the amount of competition you will have, but it will also help you price your product or service. If you're looking to start a wedding photography business, you may find during your research that the market is over-saturated in your area. If not over-saturated, you should contact each business and ask them for a price list. Alter your prices so you can stay competitive with the competition in town. Researching similar local businesses will also help you decide where to locate your business location. Try not to start up a store or office close to another business of your type. If your small business is located away from similar business types, this will cause locals to choose you over businesses that are farther away from where they live.

Get Professional Advice

You may know someone who has started their own successful business. Ask him for advice and listen to his stories of how he started his company. You may gain useful advice on the good and bad ways to start a business. Local entrepreneurs can also introduce you to local product providers or advertisers that you may not have met without their help. Accept any advice with open arms, especially if the advice is coming from someone successful in the area.

How to Calculate Business Start Up Costs

Starting a business in no easy endeavor. It takes a great deal of research, perseverance and hard work. While sweat equity will make your small business more successful, you will most likely need real capital to get the business started. Before you start raising capital and/or investing your own funds, the first thing you need to do is determine the total start-up costs.

Step 1

Determine your costs of sales. For most small businesses this means inventory, the cost of raw materials, manufacturing equipment, shipping, packaging, and warehousing. However, not all businesses sell products. In this case, the cost of sales is primarily the direct labor involved in making the sale. For example, to open a small shoe business entails purchasing enough inventory ($10,000) to stock the store.

Step 2

Determine professional fees. Planning your business structure, i.e., limited liability corporation or general partnership, means hiring an attorney. There may also be the need to pay an attorney for help with establishing trademarks, copyrights, and patents. In this scenario, that puts total professional fees at an estimated $20,000.

Step 3

Determine technology costs. Technology can greatly reduce the cost of labor for small business if used effectively. Most small businesses require computers, printers, cell phones, website development, Internet access, software applications, information security, data storage, and outsourced information technology (IT) consulting. If the cost of technology is $10,000 to start, add an additional $5,000 a year for maintenance (hint: maintenance is not included in start-up costs).

Step 4

Determine administrative costs. This varies with business types and may include items such as business insurance, office supplies, product packaging, parking, rent, express shipping, desks, chairs, fax machines, phones, or anything else necessary to operate the business daily. A good estimate for start-up administrative costs would be $5,000 for the first six months.

Step 5

Determine initial sales and marketing costs. Now that you have your product, you need to let folks know about it. Sales and marketing costs generally include marketing materials for presentations, printing stationery, business cards, advertising, trade show events, and public relations. These initial sales and marketing costs can add up to $3,000.

Step 6

Determine the wages and benefits needed to secure a staff. This includes employee salaries, benefits, workers compensation, and payroll taxes. Let's put the cost of wages and benefits estimated at $20,000 for the first three months of business.

Step 7

Add all costs associated with starting the business for a total. Be sure to only include business start-up costs that will be incurred in the first three to six months of operations. For this example, the calculation is: $10,000 + $20,000 + $10,000 + $5,000 + $3,000 + $20,000 = $68,000.

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Wednesday, August 7, 2013