Florist News

Roberta, you are a business the same as I am.
You are self employed, you pay your taxes, you keep accounts for the taxman and share your profit with him.
'Kitchen sinkers' do/are none of the above.
The point I was trying to make earlier was, where would the home based/internet based among us go?
just because we aren't on the high st. any longer does not make us less of a valid business.
I for one do not want to be lumped with the same one's who 'steal'the trade from the 'real' florists. I had enough of that done to me when I was on the high st.
I do think a 'flower arranger' club on the forum would go down well, but then again would that then make us more reserved in what we discuss on here re: wholesalers and prices etc.??
And roberta, don't undermine yourself, you are a businesswoman

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www.floralpride.co.uk

Hi FloralPride,

I understand what you are saying about this. I wanted to make sure and let you know that my comments were not directed at you or anyone else in particular.

It was just me commenting on that term, kitchen sinker.

I don't know, maybe I'm just being naive, but it seems like there is enough business to go around for all of us. (Although being in a very rural area makes that a bit different!) The skills required to get that business are a challenge for most of us.

And yes, I would definately hate to see those of us who are homebased/internet based have to find somewhere else to go. And I sure don't want to be lumped into the category that steals "Real" florist business. (that "real" florist thing bugs me too!!! )

There are people who believe that anyone in that category isn't worthy either. I beg to differ but Oh well - not my problem!

Although it's not fair for others to undercut with pricing and such, what are we to do? It's going to happen in all areas of business. I'm not going to worry about it myself. I'm too busy with other things I'm not selling to the bargain hunter anyway so it doesn't matter. Bargin hunters are not my ideal customer and sometimes I have to let people know I can't help them.

When I opened my counseling business a few years ago, I had to do an enormous amount of work around pricing and marketing. You would be amazed at what many in the counseling profession do when it comes to charging for their services. Example: Using A Sliding Scale. This is where you ask the person seeking your services what they can afford to pay you and then that's what you charge them I can't make a living that way. I know there are lots of counselors out there charging half what I do. More power to them !!! I was told by many in my profession that I could not charge what I was planning to charge and get it. They were completely wrong.

What helped me was getting some help with marketing. There are skills that we all need as business people that apply - no matter what your business is. I can take the same skills I learned for running and marketing my counseling business and apply them to selling flowers.

I think people who undercharge are really hurting themselves in the long run. They undervalue themselves. I try to encourage people like that to take pride in what they do and charge an appropriate amount. There's a whole lot more to it then trying to run other florists out of business. I don't think it has much to do with that at all. It's more about not valuing themselves or understanding what it takes to act like a real business.

Roberta