Quote:
Originally Posted by tree
Promise you, they don't open that early in Bromley! I tell you I am staggered that some of them stay in business. I pass 2 or 3 on the way to the Saturday a.m. course and none open at 09.00.
On the way to work I pass around 6 florists (I think I know every florist shop in SE London) and on the lead up to Valentine's and Mother's day only 1 of them was open/setting up early on the Friday before MD - I couldn't believe it surely that's prime time to catch people on their way to work. I pass by 2railway stations each with a florist nearby and neither of them are open early or late to catch commuters.
Foliage - I now get from the wholesaler and my best friend 'Ivy' from the garden. The local florist to work is also v. hit and miss - tried to engage her a couple of times by telling her I was on a course but she wasn't interested - Leatherleaf (the only foliage she'd sell me) was £1 a stem.
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I'd love to be getting £1 for leather leaf and still be confident that people would come back. Use the same price margin for all the other stuff and be an overnight millionaire!
I sell leather at 25p and i think that's enough. It's just a leaf after all and costs peanuts. If your just selling a few bits of foliage then you're not really adding any 'value' as such so there's no justification for saying "I trained for 5 years to learn how to wrap this up!"
I can remember a window cleaner saying to me years ago " I need to put the price up as i need to earn £300 a week to pay all my bills!"
My reaction..."I don't give a monkies how much you need to earn, I care about my own financial position and my ability to feed my own children, so for that reason i'll clean my own windows or find someone who can do it for the old price"
If we are losing a lot of trade to the supermarkets it could be in part down to that sort of thing. No one likes to be ripped off just for the sake of it. If something is really worth the money, you don't mind paying for it. So charge a good price for something you have created and applied your skills to. If you try and make your fortune out of simply re-selling stuff you'll have a hard time on the high street. If you can give the impression that you're willing to give value and look after people whenever you can, you'll reap the benefits.