Florist News

Go? im already bonkers

hehehe i think we all have trouble from the outset. i have started to buy long lasting at the begining of the week and just top up on the other flowers through the week, pain the arese but lessens the throw out by loads. chin up love, you just need to be tight as bumholes with your stock and make what you have go further

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Never say never.

Well, unless your sure.

Yea Lou i guess youre right, new expression for me tight as bumholes.
Well if i can do that in my love life i guess i can do it at work too...

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Thorny Wire

Its not just confined to a few shops either ,,this deadness. I've been deathly quiet 2day,,and thursdays is usually my busiest day. I know how you feel about it all though,,I'm in throat slitting mode as well!! Its given me chance to do some silk arrangments and play with my new wedding stuff,,but I didn't like the look of the flower display when I closed up 2nite,,way too full for end of play thursday. I've been approached by a different wholesaler and his prices are so good I'm gonna have to consider him seriously,,perhaps all this talk of a credit crunch is not rubbish after all. Blimey this belt is tight!!

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live long and prosper

I'm open just 3 years and only now i can see the light in the tunnel (very little but light ). dont worry, you'll be fine and business will be great! it just DOES take time (unfortunately). I hate that it doesnt go as fast as I want but at least sales are not going down or stay at the same level as last year.... chi up!

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www.twiggys-florist.com

tough it is...if you sit down with your accountant or your bank manager, they will have the answer...very simple...put your prices up!

But hey....you live in the real world. It's a million miles away from "bank charges have gone up this year"

I often look at job ads...'experience in FMCG' (fast moving consumer goods)
I would think that flowers must be right at the sharp end of that particular requirement.

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I think we all feel a bit like you at some point Tina. I was inches away from selling a few months ago, but I found this forum and it has helped a lot, not so depressed now that I can have a laugh with me pals. Recently Ive had to cut the girls hours, which they took very well, to keep down my wages costs. I agree with everyone else, a tight reign is called for and even putting up your prices slightly will make a difference. The problem may be, for you and me, that costs have gone up, wages have gone up, NI, tax and Vat are all going up and it all mounts up in the end, and our retail prices are staying the same because we feel if we put them up then customers will go to tesco and the likes!!

Hope things work out for you.....and me.......and everyone that has a florist

Hi Tina

I understand how you feel and I'm sure everyone here has felt the same.

Try and stay positive, cut back as much as possible in expences & running costs- even if it's a few small changes they do add up. I recently switched my broadband supplier and saved £15 a month.

Hope things start to look better soon - I'm sure they will !

Flowerfool

keeping your stock down for now is about the best way to go.....carntations and xant.....lasts a lot longer and colourful display to......just buy minimum choice stems and lots of nice foliage and plants.........thats what i do when the customers seem to have vanished into thin air...putting your prices up i would advise against, loosing the odd stem is better, the customer will go else where if you start to raise your pricing, they will notice and then you will loose out big time........good luck and think on, we all get quiet periods where you think whats the fkin point, but hey we still here to tell the tale

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gerbera daisy

Yeah, we all go thru some depressingly quiet times - I agree with everyone else - put up your prices (I increased our mark up by 5% across the board - this made a difference to my bottom line but it was so small an increase on individual items that the customers didn't notice), cut back your staff's hours and buy as little as possible. Watch EVERY cent, charge for EVERYTHING. A good rule of thumb for buying sundries is if it has to paid for within a month then it has to be sold/used within a month - if you don't think u can do this then don't buy it!

I do suffer from clinical depression and i've survived being a shop owner for five years so you can do it - chin up, take advantage of the time on your hands, make your shop sparkling clean, change the window displays every week - anything to keep you busy and to keep your mind off things. Well you do have to think about things but try to put the emotions at a distance - write out a plan of what you are going to do with the shop (including the things we have all mentioned) but do it with professional business like language. Just some advice, take it or leave it but it worked for me!

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