Business Is Blooming! 3 Ways To Grow Your Florist Business

Operating a small business can be challenging, and making it thrive is even harder. In fact around 44 small businesses are forced to close their doors every day across Australia. Florists aren't immune to this, and you will need more than beautiful flowers and excellent arrangement skills for your business to make a profit. Here are three tips to increase profits and grow your florist business.

1. Offer a delivery service

Offering a delivery service is a sure-fire way to increase business. Part of the appeal of giving and receiving flowers is having them delivered to the recipient's home or workplace. It's also why flowers are an excellent last minute gift for people who are too busy or too far away to buy flowers in person.

You will obviously need a vehicle to do this. While your private car will be adequate for small or occasional deliveries, if you hope to do larger or daily deliveries then you'll need a dedicated delivery vehicle. This also looks a lot more professional, and will also serve as mobile advertising if you invest in some vehicle signage.

Ideally, you should have a refrigerated transport vehicle. This will keep delicate your blossoms in pristine condition, especially during the hot months. This is a substantial outlay for small business, so it may be better to partner with a refrigerated transport service, such as Thermal Mark Transport Refrigeration, as you get your business up and running.

2. Tap in to the wedding market

Flowers are an integral part of a wedding day, and if you tap in to this market then you'll always be busy. An average Australian couple spend about $2900 on wedding flowers and decorations for their big day. A good run of weddings during wedding season can be enough to turn your business in to a highly profitable one.

If you're not getting many wedding jobs, then the best thing is to attend some bridal expositions and trade shows. Not only will you expose your business to thousands of potential customers, you will also be able to network with many other wedding industry providers. Within the wedding industry a huge amount of work comes from recommendations from dressmakers, make-up artists, celebrants, and photographers.

3. Utilise social media

Even if you'd prefer to be pruning roses than staring at a computer screen, you need to use social media to your advantage. It's almost a prerequisite to at least have one social media page for your business in this day and age.

Social media is a great way to build your customer base, build up your brand recognition, and reach customers with specials and news. It doesn't mean that you need to spend hours on the computer every day. Just a picture or two each day of a beautiful arrangement is enough to keep your page in people's news feeds and keep your page interesting.

Being a small business owner can be daunting, and it can be hard work turning your passion into a profitable business. However, with perseverance and smart business ideas it is achievable.