When is your busy floral season?
If you’re primarily a wedding florist, it’s most likely when most weddings are happening (let’s be honest, that changes with Pinterest trends).
If you’re a retail florist, it’s most likely holidays like Valentine’s Day, Mothers Day, Easter, and Christmas.
Either one of these circumstances is “seasonal floral income.”
It is almost impossible to build a stable and thriving business on seasonal floral income, and it’s a mistake I’d encourage all florists to avoid. But if you can identify with this one, you are definitely not alone.
Society tells us that to be successful and have financial security, we need to wear the Badge of Busy.
I’m sure we’ve all heard the term “hustlepreneur.” I am a former hustlepreneur. I can’t believe, at one point, I was doing 3 events a day! And if I wasn’t booking 3 events a day, I felt like I wasn’t working hard enough.
I’m not saying we want to be at home listening to crickets, but the hustlepreneur mindset is not sustainable whatsoever.
Building your floral business on seasonal income versus consistent income is like building a house with toothpicks versus a solid foundation.
I’ll use myself as an example.
One day, my floral business was thriving. I was booked and busy, but my floral business was built on toothpicks, a.k.a. seasonal income. I had arrangements going out the shop door, birthday celebrations, funeral orders, and I was bidding on weddings and events for income.
Then, life happened. I had a human experience. My house burned down, and I lost everything. And let me tell you, you don’t run a business very well during that, and my business suffered because it wasn’t built on a solid foundation.
A solid foundation is hotel partnerships. In my experience, hotel contracts range from $1,500 to $5,000 (I’ve even seen luxury hotel floral budgets at $25,000 per month) a month and are for 12, 24, or 36 months.
If you have 1 hotel client at $5,000 a month and a check dropping into your account for the next 12, 24, or 36 months, working 1 day a week makes sustaining all you’ve worked for when life hits you much, much more manageable.
In addition to consistent income, you have creative freedom for a nationally or internationally recognized hotel client, which builds your brand equity.
I’m not encouraging you to give up the seasonal income – oh no. That is what I like to call the “cherries on top.” But having a foundation built on consistent income, you’ll be able to grow your business, hire a team, and have more freedom for your passions outside of floral design.
If you are interested in starting to build your stable foundation, I have a free masterclass for you! 3 Steps to Land Hotel Partnerships & Create Consistent 5k Months WITHOUT Depending on Unstable Event Income is available now HERE.
Keep blooming,
Franceska x
Binge all episodes of The Hotel Florist Podcast on iTunes or on Spotify
P.S. Be sure to check out my FREE masterclass for florists looking to create consistent 5k months through hotel partnerships here.
