Are there any Florists on MN??

[MascaraOHara]

Please come and talk to me about how you got into it??

What training did you do and where etc

Do you love it?

If you own your own business do you make an OK living? I imagine it might take a long time to establish the business (assume it would mostly be through reputation)

Please come and talk to me.. I want to know everything!

bump for lunchtime...

I used to be a florist, my uncle, cousin and auntie have all owned one or 3, owning one is hard work, long hours, stress etc like any business but they all seemed to make a decent living out of it. Be prepared to get up very early and work long hours on days like mothers day, vaentines, christmas eve etc

Whne I worked as one (10yrs ago) I loved the creative side and the customers but I didn't like being left in a shop on my own or the low pay.

Did you do any formal training?

No but it was 10yrs ago, actually 12 years ago when I started as a saturday girl then when I left school I worked there full time and managed the shop sometimes if needed but I was only getting £70 per week (not sure if its because I was family) but I could get £150 per week doing office work so I left to do that, if the money was better I might be tempted to go back at some point, I'm happy with my job at the moment but I did enjoy floristry, was a cold job though and making holly wreaths is not for the faint hearted!

Could you go and work as one to give you an idea of if you would like it before you start a business? You also need to get up about 3am to go to the wholesalers.

I am a florist. I dont own a shop as we are freelance. Most of our business is weddings. I didnt have any formal training. I once met Jane packer (not name dropping honest )
who said in some circumstances its not always a positive thing to go through formal training as it can sometimes smother your natural creativity. But saying that you definately need to know the basics before you can start anywhere.

A few courses here and there and we really fell lucky through a contact that gave us a contract for a chain of hairdressing salons across the noth west. This gave us the experience we needed and after a couple of years we gave up the contract work to concentrate of weddings.

If you want to go down the formal route then maybe you need to look into some kind of formal training ie a local college with florisrty courses with recognized qualifications, this website will help [[http://www.societyoffloristry.org/ here]

Where abouts in the country are you?

ooops, sorry here

I was looking on that site this morning actually. it was really useful.

I'm look to career change (possibly).. at the moment I work for a huge company in quite a well paid but stressful job so it would be a complete life change.

Have you done any taster courses? Is it something you already do as a hobby?

It can be stressful sometimes due to dealing with brides that want perfection.
It can be cold and your on your feet a lot.
Early mornings.
Smells great and a lot of job satisfaction.
You will never have nice nails
Flexible working hours if your freelance.
We work from a studio.

I absolutely love it. I worked in a dental practice for 12 years and had a complete career change just after my DD was born and my DS was starting school so that I could be flexible and around for school times etc.

Nope, never done anything with flowers before..

hmmm... never have nice nails might have to have a rethink lol

I thought about doing an evening course to see if I actually enjoy it..

I want to line up a few potential ideas that I can then have a real think about.

The problem I have is that I need to be fairly confident I can earn a decent living as well as find something I can enjoy as well...