I’ve been spending some time looking back at the early days of my flowering career. As much as it makes me want to cringe and I’m embarrassed by a lot of what I was doing, I’ve found it really helpful to reflect on all the mistakes I’ve made and see just how far I’ve come – particularly when it comes to learning how to run a successful flower shop.
I am on a mission to share as many of my epic failures and lessons learned as possible, with the goal to help you move forward and progress faster. It’s like we all get to learn from the mistakes I made and then you’ll be 10 steps ahead. Isn’t that fun?
When it comes to learning how to run a successful flower shop, the list of mistakes we made is long. There are so many things I wish I had known and so many ‘a ha’ moments to share.
Even now, in 2022, florists are operating on a lot of misinformation about how to make a flower shop work and I want to help simplify this process. I want to fill the void of information and make it easier for you to get real results (and make more money).
At the end of the day, there is a lot to think about when it comes to how to run a successful flower shop. There are all the logistics around operations, insurance and retail leases. Then all the technology, POS and systems. Plus staffing and shop fit-outs.
And that’s all BEFORE you even have a customer calling or coming into the shop to even get into the flowering and fulfilment.
I’ve put together this blog post to help cut through the overwhelm and help you get focused on what matters most. Because your time is precious. Your energy is limited and I don’t want you to waste money on sh*t that doesn’t work.
My #1 Secret for Making it Work: How to Run a Successful Flower Shop
I wish someone had told me, way back when I became my own boss, that I get to decide what success looks like to me.
I spend five years chasing someone else’s definition of success and it was awful. It’s like mindlessly climbing Mount Everest and then getting to the top, only to wonder “WTF is this? This isn’t what I wanted?”
So let me save you from all that toil and trouble and lay it out for you as simply as possible: when you make the decision to start a business, you are signing up for being the person in charge. The head honcho. The person who holds that sign says ‘The buck stops here.’
Most of the time, it’s a scary place to be. It’s new and unfamiliar and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to get it perfect.
But being a business owner and flower boss is also one of the most empowering experiences a human can have. (I share more of this on Instagram, so be sure to follow along.)
I believe being a business owner really teaches us, as human beings, how to truly LIVE into the fullness of the human experience. To feel all the feelings and work through so many of our fear-based, scarcity-driven limiting beliefs.
So, if you’re at a loss on what to do in your business and what direction to go, one of the most helpful exercises you can do for yourself and your business is to get clear on what success means to you. And be super literal and specific in your definition.
If you look up the definition of ‘successful’ on the interwebs, you get this: accomplishing a desired aim or result.
So, with that definition in mind, what is YOUR desired aim or result? Remember, you get to decide for yourself what you want success to mean and you don’t need to pay attention to what anyone else is telling you “you should do”.
Maybe you’re like so many many of the florists inside my Flower Boss Bootcamp who want to have a beautiful shop front with a collection of giftware, home decor and a cute little flowering space.
Or maybe you’re navigating a totally different path and only want to do 4 weddings a year, all with big fat 6-figure budgets.
Or maybe you’re somewhere in between.
At the end of the day, you get to decide. You are the CEO, the woman in charge and this is your business. You get to define the outcome for yourself. (And no, you don’t need to ‘work your way up’ or ‘start small’.)
Being In Charge is Awkward
Yep. There you go. I said it.
Being a leader, being a CEO, being a Flower Boss doesn’t come naturally to most of us.
We’re very comfortable having someone else tell us what to do. When we’re kids, our parents are in charge. Then we go to school and have teachers, principals, professors leading the way. And then we get our first job and, as an employee, we are still following someone else’s lead.
Then, we make the decision to start a business and we bring all of that ‘not in charge experience into our own work and inevitably ‘outsource’ the “being in charge” authority to others.
This is particularly true when we’re wondering how to run a successful flower shop. We really like to tell ourselves there is a “right” way and a “wrong” way.
So, on our hunt for answers (and when we lack confidence), we might give our customers or clients the power to tell us what to create. Or we might have team members and staff who push us around. (I’ve experienced both.)
Here’s the thing though: it’s not your fault. You are not broken. You are a human being running a business and for most of us, no one sat us down and told us how intense this experience feels. No one has told us that when you own the business you get to decide what is done, how things are done and where the business is going.
It’s OK that it feels new and awkward. It’s OK to feel overwhelmed and confused. There is a lot to sort through.
You can do this. You can do hard things, right?
Go Deeper: My Flower Boss Success Formula
At the end of the day, your success is 100% up to you. No one else is going to come along and do the work for you.
You don’t need to wait for permission. You don’t need more qualifications and you definitely don’t need more Instagram followers.
But you do need to decide you want this and you will make it happen. And then get to work.
Friend, it’s time to double down on YOU. To recognise how capable and smart you are. This flower dream of yours was planted in your heart for a reason. I feel it in my bones.
It’s time to step up and share your love of flowers with the world.
And no, you don’t need to figure it all out on your own. In this week’s podcast episode, I’m sharing My Flower Boss Success Formula.
Yes. Quite literally, I’m giving you the formula for showing up with more confidence, more clarity and giving you the inside scoop on how to embrace the discomfort of being the boss of your business.
What you’ll learn from this episode:
✓ The real reason we play small, stay small and talk ourselves out of massive action
✓ The #1 secret to being intentional, mastering your mindset and showing up with more confidence
✓ My 4-part framework for feeling successful (even if you’re new and just getting started)
✓ The value of hitting ‘reset’ on your business and coming back to basics
Listen to the full episode here
Full Episode Transcript
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