If you’ve got an entrepreneurial spirit, a green thumb, and an eye for design, and you enjoy spending your day surrounded by the scent of fresh blooms, a flower business might be a perfect fit for you. It’s a growing industry that offers a variety of entry points to newcomers.
Whether you’re interested in setting up your own brick-and-mortar flower shop or going national with an online model, there are a few best practices to help you along the way.
What is a flower business?
A flower business, sometimes known as a floral shop or a florist, is an enterprise for selling flowers, usually in bouquets. Unlike a nursery, which typically sells live plants and gardening supplies, a flower business usually sells cut flowers.
Flower businesses often tailor their offerings for special occasions—birthdays, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, weddings, and funerals. As a result, there’s an emotional component to the business, which requires interacting with people as much as with the product.
Why start a flower business?
The floral industry is booming and blooming—in the US, cut flower sales increased by $90 million between 2017 and 2022. And the overall flower industry is forecast to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.1% during the next five years, to an estimated $8.6 billion. In particular, Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day gifts often include flowers.
But flower sales aren’t just of a seasonal nature. “About 40% of our daily orders are for birthdays,” says Wild North Flowers owner Jennifer Fallow on the Shopify Masters podcast. “Around 80% of flowers are bought by women for other women. It’s not always this romantic gesture that a lot of people associate with flowers. It’s any occasion: job promotion, congrats on a new baby, new house, just because. Now we are finding that a lot more people are ordering flowers for themselves, which is really nice.”
Flower businesses rely on a number of different operating models: You can run a traditional florist’s shop that caters primarily to local clientele, or set up an exclusively online business.
How to start a flower business
- Choose a business model
- Conduct market research
- Craft a business plan
- Register your business and obtain permits
- Set up shop
- Find suppliers and a delivery model
- Build a portfolio
- Develop a marketing strategy
- Launch your flower business
Before launching your flower business, it may help to take the following the steps:
1. Choose a business model
Just as a flower shop carries a wide array of buds and blossoms to meet any imaginable customer need, flower businesses themselves come in all shapes and sizes. You can open a traditional brick-and-mortar florist shop, set up an online boutique that specializes in delivery services, or create a dropshipping model where bouquets and arrangements go directly from wholesalers to customers. Or maybe you’re a floral designer who specializes in weddings and events, sourcing exotic flowers from around the world.
The type of flower business you choose will inevitably inform how you approach all of the following steps—so making this decision early on, and committing to it, is fundamental groundwork.
2. Conduct market research
Once you’ve decided what kind of flower business you want to run, it’s essential that you thoroughly assess the market both locally and nationally. Who are your competitors? What do they charge? What sorts of flowers do they offer, and how are they arranged and packaged?
Obviously, a brick-and-mortar flower shop is more likely to service a local clientele, and your market research should reflect that reality. But for online flower delivery services that ship floral arrangements all over the country, a wider look at the competitive landscape is necessary.
3. Craft a business plan
Use your market research to develop a comprehensive business strategy. A solid business plan should contain a thorough market analysis as well as details on your pricing strategy, financial forecasts (taking into account all your expenses, like climate-controlled storage and flower food), day-to-day operating plans, effective marketing strategies, customer profiles (individual consumers, wedding venues, local event planners, etc.), and overall goals for the company.
As part of your financial projections, the business plan should also touch on costs associated with maintaining a physical retail location or ecommerce website and how you intend to source your raw materials (more on this below).
4. Register your business and obtain permits
The next step is to make sure your business is properly registered with the necessary state and local authorities. Depending on the type of business you form—a partnership, an LLC, a corporation, etc.—there will be specific rules you have to follow, and documentation you have to file before you can open your doors.
For example, if you opt to run your business from home, you may need a local business license. Generally, the secretary of state’s office in the state where you’re setting up your business will have all the resources you need to get going. And because a flower business is a retail operation, you will also likely need to apply for a seller’s permit to collect sales tax.
Finally, it’s worth noting that while floristry is not a licensed trade, some states may require you to hold a special license if you plan on selling certain exotic species or flowers wholesale.
5. Set up shop
For brick-and-mortar flower shops, the next step is finding a location. Rent will likely be your biggest operating expense, so make sure you find a space that fits your budget and is in keeping with your financial projects. Consider foot traffic, competition, and affiliated costs associated with renting that space (utilities, redesign, etc).
If you’re an online flower shop, a well-designed website is a must. You may want to invest in a florist website even if you run a physical store, where customers can see your merchandise and place orders.
Make sure your florist website is user friendly, with plenty of images. Shopify offers an excellent, all-in-one solution. “I can’t code, I don’t know anything about coding,” Jennifer says. “It was crucial that Shopify existed. I would never have launched an online flower business if it wasn’t for Shopify, to be honest, it was just so easy.”
Finally, whether you’re an online flower shop or a brick-and-mortar retailer, you’ll want to set up a business bank account to deposit revenue and pay suppliers.
6. Find suppliers and a delivery model
As a business owner, a crucial part of your pre-launch strategy is finding the right suppliers. Depending on the scope of your distribution, this might mean forging contacts at local flower farms or greenhouses, or buying flowers from growers overseas.
However you choose to source your wares, forging relationships and creating a dependable model is paramount: “We decided to use some imports as well, but over the years we’ve built these amazing relationships with our local growers and we’re able to buy directly from a lot of them, which is really cool,” Jennifer says. “I’ve actually been to the greenhouses. I text them, they send me photos like, ’Oh, do you think I should grow this one? Or what do you think the trends are for next year?’”
Delivery is another critical aspect of your business. Flowers are prone to damage and must be delivered fresh. And since they’re often gifts for special occasions, making sure they arrive on time is key. Whether you’re an online business that exclusively delivers or a neighborhood storefront that specializes in local weddings, you need to make sure customers receive your precious cargo in pristine condition. Depending on your business model, you can do this in-house (perhaps for local deliveries) or contract a reliable third-party delivery service.
7. Build a portfolio
Next, you need to develop a portfolio of floral designs for your website or store. If you enjoy arranging flowers, you can do this yourself, otherwise, it’s time to hire a floral designer. Depending on seasonal availability, you can build a variety of different themed arrangements and bouquets—perhaps tied to various occasions like graduations or corporate events.
Choosing flowers is a visual activity, so make sure your stunning arrangements are photographed well so as to attract customers. “Photography was obviously crucial,” Jennifer says. “From the beginning I made sure that we had a beautiful place to photograph all the arrangements. When it comes to flowers, natural light is key. I had learned in a workshop that I took that the best way to photograph flowers is natural lighting from the side. When I moved into the studio, I picked the best window, and the entire studio was designed around making sure we had the best place to take photos.”
8. Develop a marketing strategy
Showing off a solid online portfolio is only one part of getting the word out about your flower business. Investing in a digital marketing strategy can help you reach your potential customers. Use search engine optimization (SEO) best practices for your website, and set up and post regularly on social media accounts. You can also buy ads using platforms like Google Ads. Since floristry is a visual medium, prioritize marketing efforts that put images of your arrangements front and center.
A marketing plan for a floral design business should also examine bundling options and pricing packages—perhaps even with products that go beyond strictly floral offerings. For example, in the run-up to Valentine’s Day, your own flower shop might offer flower arrangements alongside a selection of complementary products like gourmet chocolates.
9. Launch your flower business
Finally, once your website is up and running and your storefront is ready, it’s time to launch your business. Creating buzz around your launch can help attract customers: pop-ups, launch parties, and introductory promotions are all ways to create hype and get customers talking about your business.
Challenges of running a flower business
Although running a flower business has exciting possibilities, you might run into challenges such as:
- Supply chain issues. The cut flower market is subject to seasonality and availability. You’ll want to be sure you can obtain products to meet certain timelines. For example, graduation-themed arrangements should probably feature flowers that are seasonally available in May and June.
- Sustainability. Today, more customers are sensitive to the carbon footprint of their consumption choices; flower business operators should take steps to ensure they meet customer expectations on this front. Consider your supplier’s environmental and labor practices and your choices of packaging and delivery.
- Competition. There are a lot of flower businesses out there—from huge corporations that deliver bouquets to doorsteps around the world to small neighborhood shops with fiercely loyal customers. To stand out, you’ll need to find a way to differentiate your brand, whether through marketing, competitive pricing, design, or connection with the local community.
How to start a flower business FAQ
Are floral businesses profitable?
A flower business can be profitable, whether you plan to set up a retail flower shop or an online-only one. However, as a flower business owner, you will need strong supply and delivery operations, a plan to ensure that sales cover your overhead, and the ability to adjust to fluctuating prices and availability of fresh flowers.
How do you start your own floral business?
The first step to starting a floral business is figuring out the business model that works best for you and your lifestyle. From there, you should conduct market research, write a business plan, register your business and obtain any necessary permits, find a storefront or climate-controlled storage space if necessary, establish relationships with suppliers and delivery companies, and develop a strong marketing strategy.
Can you start a flower business from home?
Yes. Many flower business owners choose to operate out of their home to lower overhead and increase profit margins. However, you will need to equip your space with appropriate storage and climate controls. And in some locales, home-based flowers business operators may need to obtain special licenses and/or permits.
