Every February, the floral industry gears up for the largest holiday of the year, Valentine’s Day. I used to start prepping months in advance. Plotting out pop up shops, carefully choreographing marketing campaigns, pre-ordering flowers, “guestimating” how any arrangements to make; all in the hopes of making a nice chunk of revenue on what should be a sure-thing for florists. Right?
Wrong.
Since my start in 2014, I was never once profitable for Valentine’s Day. Until last year. Why? Because I let it go.
I stopped holding onto all the stress of trying to crack the code of profitability. While I do backstock much of my supplies, add Valentine’s Day arrangements to my site, secure extra delivery drivers, and stock up on coffee, I just let it ride.
Last year, was my best Valentine’s Day ever. In fact, it was one of my highest months of gross sales all year long. Now, I have had several years to build up a solid customer base, placement on Google is key, but letting go of the stress allowed me to focus on more long-term growth throughout the entire twelve month calendar.
I also used to feel like I needed fresh content and professional photos for the holiday every single year. This gets expensive quick! It does help that one of my dearest friends is a professional photographer. But, I have been repurposing imagery she took since 2017! I do think investing in professional images is key but do this wisely and strategically. More generalized shots, like photos of flowers or simply flat lays, will allow you to utilize these images in different ways for years to come!
Determining product pricing and the variety of arrangements customers will want was also very stressful! I would twist my stomach into knots. Thinking this way and that. Backwards and forwards. All in the hopes of cracking that code. Let’s be honest, consumers are brainwashed with fresh, dozen red roses for $19.99 by the millions! Most consumers go with what they know and are most familiar with. And, that’s what they see in advertising. Again, when I let this go and sold what I knew was beautiful and quality, I was able to keep within my means and not take a loss.
The truth is, the only code to crack is your long game. You achieve profitability when you stop focusing on one damn day out of the year and start thinking about the other 364.
Next up, Why I won't be selling a dozen red roses for Valentine's Day. Stay tuned.