If you love flowers and you’d like to start a business that you can easily run from home, you can consider becoming an online florist. It’s a profitable business which has many benefits. The tradition of giving flowers dates back centuries ago and it isn’t going to stop any time soon. On the contrary, flowers are becoming more and more important nowadays and used for a huge range of occasions and celebrations. With the huge advances in technology in recent years, online floral businesses are making huge profits with deliveries of bouquets and flower arrangements.
So how does one become an online florist? The first thing you need for this to become your career is to have the passion and the creativity required for the job. It’s not enough to simply start a website and deliver the inventory. You need to consider a few things before you start.
• The Target Market: You need to make sure that you are targeting the right audience. There are plenty of online floral shops so you have to find something that will make you stand out from the crowd. You can also offer a Deal of the Day or a Discounted Bouquet for a start.
• The Niche Market: You should create one dominant spot in the market and specialize in it. Whether it will be wedding flowers, discount flowers or wholesale, choose wisely. Of course you still need to provide flowers for all the other occasions, but having one major one is a successful idea.
• Marketing: The biggest part of your online florist shop is the right marketing. If you are planning to emerge as a serious leader on the market, you need to build a solid and impressive online presence. This can be done with a strong marketing campaign and a powerful strategy. You need a great website, a significant logo, a newsletter and web traffic. You should invest in advertising if you want fast results. Make your presence visible in the social media and use the various tools there to market the business – banners, competitions, pictures, follow list, blog, etc. Your website has to be user-friendly, welcoming and offer interesting content – information about flowers, their symbolism, various arrangements, etc. Post high quality photos of bouquets, gifts and decorations with flowers and this will attract clients.
• The Delivery: You have to provide fast delivery and same day option too. People want fresh flowers delivered within hours – if you can guarantee that you will build a solid clientele.
• The Service: You have to offer impeccable customer service and you need to keep track of your clients and their feedback. This is essential if you want to stay in the business and make a good profit. Make sure there is a question and answer section on the website and a 24/7 active email system. This way you can communicate with your clients efficiently. Understand that it’s not only about the purchase, but you need to make a name of yourself and build a reputation. That’s how successful businesses work.
With the right marketing strategy, with a solid business plan and an adequate budget, you will slowly but surely start attracting clients and making a profit. As long as you love flowers, have creative ideas and free time – this can be just the right business idea for you.
