Florist News

Hi

I have found myself out of work and in london at least there are no jobs,most shops here want to pay crap money,because so many people from europe will do the job for less money im stuffed,so ive started doing weddings etc from home i have no choice unless i want to work for 5.50 an hour.
With only doing weddings and contracts i can get the flowers i need exactly without any waste and no over heads,i make a weeks wages for 2 days work and some weeks i starve!!
Its not ideal but until i get a job this is it!
Better than signing on.
flo

I've done both. I worked from home for two years although I did have a job too but I was lucky enough to get time off to do the weddings. It really i was hard trying to drum up business though. For example if a customer rings up and says I need a bouquet today/tomorrow, you just cant do it because of minimum orders. I think you need a fantastic reputation to earn a proper living although saying that, get a shop and you'll be lucky to pay yourself in the first year.
I don't think that everyone is crap that comes straight out of college, some people just have a flair for it. To be honest though, of the 15 girls on my course I'd have employed maybe two of them as I really didn't think that their work was all that.
Like Floristflo said, theres no way I'd work for someone else for 5.50 an hour, hence why I set up my own. I think at the end of the day there will be rubbish florists with shops and rubbish florists working from home. Let the public decide who they want to go with as the proof is in the pudding so to speak. Pay peanuts, get monkeys.
Just an example, an aquaintance learnt online (hmm) then sent a blanket text to a load of guys on valentines 'Grand Prix Bouquets 25.00' I wondered how the hell she was doing it. A few months later she admitted she hadn't known prices went up that much, like the public thought it was a myth! It ended up costing her a fortune. Phew, that was almost a novel!

Lylee,

I share your enthusiasm for floristry, and I also wish I had realised at 16/18yrs where my career should be. It is hard starting this late in the game (I'm 28 and work full time in an office, night school course once a week).

I do understand why florists feel so frustrated when they loose contracts to less experienced home florists, however I feel that in business the customer decides what they want. Some brides are prepared to compromise on experience if it allows them a discounted price. Others would prefer security and assurance of quality, however they have to pay for that. There must be a place in the market for all of us, and if there isn't, those who aren't succeeding will have to find a way to adapt.

Good luck getting on the course. It seems very unfair that they wouldn't normally consider you.

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Newbee

alice thats hilarious about your aquaintance and the valentines roses!
people are soo funny

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Sarah Creating Bespoke Wedding Flowers Cheshire

It is funny because I was well p'ed off when the text went round, it even got sent to my other half which really put my back up as you can imagine! I kept a dignified silence for once and that was the result.