Buying a florist

[JCconvert]

Hi all

An opportunity has come up to buy a florist in our local high street. The unit is absolutely tiny, about 4m2, but has a large pavement space and a garage included. The rent is tiny - just under 4k pa.

I've had a look at the accounts, they turnover around 50k with 16ishk profit. They open 4 days a week (wed - sat) and mainly do funerals, referred from a local funeral directors. They have no online presence at all, no social media or online orders. I can see a real opportunity to grow the business in that regard. The high street has a thriving independent greengrocers, bakers, butchers, cafes and (in my opinion) is missing a florist that

I am currently extremely burned out in a middle management corporate career and would LOVE to do something different. The thing is, I have no formal floristry training. I'm passionate, grow my own at home and in an allotment and have done amateur work for friends & family & pta etc so I'm not totally starting from zero but would have a lot to learn. Ideally I would open in February and use the time between now and then to do some intense training.

I feel confident that I would be able to handle the business side of things, whilst hopefully maintaining existing business, then grow revenues through physical and online sales in y2. We could manage on the current profit figures for a few years.

Has anyone got any advice or thoughts? Just writing that all down has helped.

4m2 - that's the size of a ford focus - is it a kiosk? You will need space to work.

16k profit for 4 days per week is less than minimum wage.

What is the selling price - £20k? ie one year's profit?

If there is no online presence what are you actually getting for your money, other than a name above the door? There won't be any stock as the flowers perish.

Full disclosure - my wife and I opened an art gallery last year, which is growing, but I work FT during the week, and am in the shop Sat and Sun.

It is fun - and a nice contrast to the day job (board level etc) - so I can see where you are coming from.

The good thing about art, as opposed to flowers, or cakes, is that none of the stock perishes as such - apart from calendars I suppose.

Utilities and insurance will mean your running costs are more likely to be 8k

Assuming you don't have rose-tinted glasses and imagine yourself as a chick-lit heroine, it can be tough, lots of early mornings, you're relying on plants to be available and not perish too quickly etc.

The custom is not likely to be regular (weddings, funerals ...)
Flowers are a luxury so will be affected by the cost of living etc.
I'm not a fan of cut flowers so I'm probably a bit too negative.

I've been to 'women into business'-type events and many of the women wanted to be florists or beauty therapists.

Thanks for the quick replies!

On the size, yes it is tiny! There's basically a work station inside, with a small store/toilet behind. Stock (there's not much) is outside and in the garage.

Good question on what the price is for (you guessed about right) I'd say

• longstanding customers
• connections with funeral directors
• small stock/sundries included (maybe worth 3k?).

But I suspect they just got a multiplier from their accountant/FA.

I'm definitely trying to use a clear head to think about it and I realise it would be a lot of hard work, just need to weigh up if the freedom/creativity/opportunity is worth it. I could stay in a cushy corporate role for the next 30 years but I want to cry when I think about that. Constant pressure to make money for people who already have too much of it, it all feels so meaningless. Pdfs and all hands meetings and corporate bs.

Is there a middle ground? - does it have to be this one?
Sounds a bit of a compromise really.
The largest seller of flowers in the UK is Aldi.
Whilst I run my wife's art gallery at the weekend I am so NOT an artist. That took years of training (both formal and informal) - I'm getting a bit better at judging whether other artists work will sell.
Would your floristry look like a random bunch of flowers tied up with string? Mine would.

As well as original art, we sell cards and gifts. Some art folk look down on us a bit, for not being a huge white box with four paintings on the wall, but without the cards and gifts we would literally sell nothing.

Imagine you opened the doors, then got an order to do the "MUM" type wreath for a funeral - would you know what to do? You could find those contacts with funeral directors drift away if your results look a bit homespun.

You will no doubt have seen cakes for sale on FB or suchlike from home bakers. Realistically they look crap, mostly.

20k is quite a lot for an "address book" and a few worn out shopfittings.

You haven't said where you are, but my 250 sq ft shop (25 sq m) would cost about £7k to rent.

Retail is fun - I have already made a sale since my earlier post - but we have taken our project on at the time of no DC still at home, and mortgage (nearly) gone. So more like 15 years of working life left rather than 30.

@BettyTurpinPies I love your chick lit comment. Bit like when Eddie in Absolutely Fabulous is "opening a shop" selling "beautiful gorgeous things"

@JCconvert I think you could make a go of it. But be warned, it is very hard physical work. Early morning starts and mostly bloody cold! You'd have to expand your reach such as doing workshops. You could offer Christmas wreath making sessions for example. A lot of hotels offer these, so it wouldn't necessarily have to be on your premises. Likewise corporate or gift experiences as well as some kind of mindfulness sessions involving flower arranging. You could also do "living" birthday cards. Foraging has become very popular so you could incorporate locally foraged plants/herbs into your displays and maybe give talks about them. All of this is in addition to attending wedding fairs, working with local funeral directors and possibly supplying local venues/restaurants. Wishing you luck!

There is an element of hope in launching any business. There is a limit to the amount you could lose - ie basically paying the rent with no sales.

We have been open just over a year, with sales of £20k. Probably covering our running costs - but not much beyond.

Would you have funds to employ a skilled florist to help out as you get started?

It would be awful to lose the trade from the funeral directors by messing something up when you're still gaining experience.

And in addition to arranging the flowers there are bound to be lots of little tricks of the trade that just make everything run more smoothly and avoid logistical mess-ups.

An old hand to learn from from would be invaluable, I'd have thought.

Thinking about it, for this business reputation will probably be much more important than it is for eg @topcat2014 's gallery (even though reputation does matter there too).

Buyers of a finished product get to see the exact item before they part with money or make plans around it. There's little or no risk from their point of view.

For a buyer, ordering a product where they will only find out the item was what was promised, delivered where and when it was promised, is all about reputation.

So I think you'll have much less wiggle room for a slightly dodgy start than most businesses.

You certainly wouldn't want to commission me to do a painting.. (DW of course OK).

I have learned more about art since running this, including from DW, than I previously knew.

I know nothing about floristry but I must admit from the outside it looks like there is a massive potential for growth just by a bit of online promotion. I do think people are pretty lazy these days and if they can just go online, order what they want and for it to be either pick up or delivery I think there has been a massive opportunity missed by the current owners. Maybe you need to do a bit of research first re wedding suppliers. If there is a link to the local funeral home maybe check that there aren’t wedding planners who already have suppliers in the area? However, in view of the small space, you could maybe offer home consultations for brides. Something that makes you stand out and be possibly unique? You could have a stall ant a bridal Fabre to pick up business and make you known. Also good to establish why they’re selling. If it’s just low turnover I think that could be addressed but if there’s something else which isn’t apparent that could be an issue.

My friend’s god daughter has a floristry business. She does loads of advertising on FB and Instagram but she also runs workshops for people such as a Christmas wreath workshop and those can be in other locations where you provide the venue (and pay obviously) or paid by an organisation to do the workshop at their venue.

Having said that do you actually need to buy this particular business? They don’t seem to have much of a name and their main business seems to be with the funeral home. Could you not look for better premises and start from scratch, networking and making contacts, which to a certain extent you’d be doing now especially as you don’t have much training? I think I’d look into the viability of that rather than shelling out £20000 for not very much which could be used to set up your own business.

Being a florist isn't something you can just do without any training, even harder are funeral arrangements. £16k a year profit is not going to pay for you to have a florist working for you at 4 days a week.

Thanks again for all the input, it's really helpful.

I wonder if it'd be worth discussing if the existing florist would be willing to do a prolonged handover, or even stay on briefly in a freelance capacity whilst I got up to speed. Establishing strong connections and a good reputation would be more important than profit in the first instance. I'm quietly confident that I can/would be able to produce work to a professional standard fairly quickly, I definitely wouldn't want to fall into the Facebook baker type quality.

The main local competition is a very traditional florist a mile out of the high street, and a high end/trendy artistic florist in the next town over. I feel like there's a space for a more modern offering than the traditional offering, but not as high end as the arty one. My vision is a community focused offering which is why the tiny high street space appeals - low overheads therefore lower risk but still gives me a physical presence in the community. The rent is really very tiny (probably 30% or less) than other units that would become available locally.

@topcat2014 can I ask what made you eventually take the plunge with your gallery?

Training is vital. You are planning to produce designs for two of the most important events in people's lives and your reputation will turn to dust within days if you produce an amateurish tribute or fail to deliver on time.

You are paying a premium for goodwill based on the current owner's own talent. There is no contract with long standing customers or the funeral director, so they could immediately go elsewhere.

It doesn't seem to have a feasible working area. Many people buy on impulse so you need a visible display area, but displaying outside of the kiosk will make pilferage very easy.

You haven't said why the current owner is selling. Perhaps they recognise that the market is in decline and want to make a quick gain from someone who doesn't understand the business model. Perhaps their customers are also aging and no longer pop in regularly to buy.

How long has it been for sale? How much longer is the lease available for? Can you exit the lease or are you committed?

There is a growing trend for direct cremations so bear in mind that you may lose some of that business going forward

Good questions @HewasH2O - they said they're selling as their youngest is moving away to Uni next year so looking to slow down in general. But it could be that the graft and hours involved for the money aren't worth it. They have no desire to increase business or go online, she is very happy doing the predominantly funeral work at a relatively low volume.

I wouldn't want to touch weddings until I was up to speed and trained - I actually envisage most of the growth through online orders and local deliveries. Possibly a subscription service.

It's been for sale about 2 months I think- 1 year into a 10 year lease with a 5 year (tenant) break clause.

The size doesn’t seem viable for expansion.
The outside pavement space might be ok Spring and Summer but in the rain and wind it’s useless.

The rent may be cheap but if it’s not that workable it’s not helpful. I wonder if the current owner only focuses on funerals due to the space constraints.

Are you getting caught up in this prospect because you dislike your job and this opportunity has presented itself, but you’re not looking at the bigger picture?

If you want to be a florist perhaps consider training first and then looking for more suitable premises. I run my own business and there’s always more overhead than one presumes.

I’d be curious about why they’re selling one year into a 10 year lease - that doesn’t suggest a planned, calm exit.

Two things for us:

1. We were able to purchase, rather than rent, our shop
2. This is a lead in to our "retirement" project

I have a bit of retail experience from the start of my career, and work as an accountant, so all the business admin doesn't phase me.
Plus, DW is a trained artist who has been exhibiting and selling in pop ups for a few years, and also sold greetings cards wholesale. So it was "new" but not entirely unknown.

We watched enough hotel inspector, kitchen nightmares etc to avoid going too far away from our own areas of knowledge.

I would worry about being a florist who doesn't do weddings.

Might you be better to work in a florist over some weekends, then think about taking on a vacant unit with no need to pay an outgoing owner?

I agree. I wouldn’t have signed a ten year lease. Accepting illness can change things.

It sounds like her business model is about being a florist and the work that's the real earner can happen in a backroom or off the premises, while her shop front less important.

Whereas you want to be a shop, and flowers are one of the products you want to sell.

She could even continue doing the floristry in her garage and take a lot of her funeral director customers with her.

I probably should have said that the team I'm working in at the moment went through a round of redundancies in April where 50% were made redundant after we were acquired by an American firm. I would be shocked if there weren't more cuts next year. So, as well as being a high pressured environment in general, the atmosphere is just horrible and there is constant uncertainty.

So in the next 12 months I'll be moving on from my current job regardless (of my own volition if the team survives the next quarter or 2), which has probably led to this feeling more like a realistic option whereas previously it has always been a pipe dream. Kind of like, if not now, then when? Otherwise will I just get sucked into the next corporate role.

I'm fully on board with the "if not now, when" thing, btw.
I was sacked earlier this year (as opposed to redundant) - and do have an element of sod them all in my character now.

@friendlycat very possibly yes! Crossposted that though just now!

Working for American companies truly sucks balls.