Are you mad? Have you lost all sense of reason? 

Do you have ANY idea what this is going to involve? 

Are you sure you wouldn’t like to do something (heck anything) else? 

OK I am being a tad OTT … although only a tad!   

Because I’ve been in the industry a long old time and know, first hand (I have had shops too) just how hard floristry is.  

Being a florist isn’t just about playing with flowers… in fact, it’s not about playing full stop. 

Floristry… whether you have a studio or shop and assuming you’re doing this to make a decent living rather than pocket money, is bally hard work.  Not just physically but mentally as well. 

In fact, being a full time, proper commercial florist is darned challenging and not for the faint hearted.  Yes, it can be amazingly rewarding but if you get it wrong it could cost you dearly.  

Let me talk you through some of the things you need to think about  

If it’s for the money forget it

I don’t know any millionaire florists but plenty of struggling ones.  Unless you can really scale up your business and scale down your overheads and COGS it will never be a big earner.  The margins are tight and, because of the global economic challenges, tighter than ever as every cost has gone up.  Make sure you have plenty of cash reserves to tide you over when you begin.   

If it’s for creative freedom forget it too

Doing flowers for friends is totally different to working for strangers.  They will be far fussier, less forgiving and will want you to make things you might not actually like.  You can stick to your style guns but that may limit your earning potential and if you have overhead to cover or savings to recoup tis hard to refuse work. 

Are you physically fit enough?

Being a florist is cruel on the body.  Early starts, late finishes, lots and lots of heavy lifting of flower boxes, buckets, dry goods etc, oh yes and your hands will be wrecked, your feet permanently cold in winter and swollen in summer and your diet will be rubbish as you grab a chocolate bar to keep you going.  OK I’m dramatising a bit (well actually only a little) but floristry is bally hard work.  This is not a sit-down job so be sure you can cope. 

Are you mentally strong enough?

Mental pressures will be real too.  Not just making sure you balance the books, buy the right stock (wastage should never be more than 5 – 8%), keep your creditors happy (cash flow, especially in event floristry, can be tough) but dealing with customer’s emotions is hard too.   

Birthdays, gift work and every day orders are fun, weddings can be OK but demanding but taking and making a funeral order can be very tough as you will be dealing with the bereaved and unless you are very hard hearted you will feel their pain too. Complaints happen and need to be dealt with, sitting in a full shop or studio waiting for orders to come in can be draining so make sure you have the mental capacity to deal with it all. 

Have you got enough knowledge?

Watching a few You Tube videos or attending a short course … however expensive … simply won’t cut it.  And don’t even think about setting up your own business unless you have got some real-life experience under your belt and seen what it’s like at the coal face.  It may be hard to find a job but you need to see it first-hand to really understand what is involved. 

And what about the other skills?

Being a florist means you need to have a whole breadth of knowledge and not just about the design side … that’s the relatively easy bit!   

I won’t go into all the technical skills side here but trust me, not only do you need good and, because time is money, very fast make up skills but a whole host of other areas of expertise too.  

You need to be mathematically savvy to make sure you are on top of the cash, have good written and oral skills to make sure messages and orders are taken correctly, and be organised so that deliveries go out on time. 

You need to know how, and what to buy to make the best margins, understand flower and plant care so they don’t die on you – or the customer, oh yes and be totally internet and tech savvy with a good dose of marketing knowledge so you can generate enough business to cover all your costs and make a living.  

Are you determined enough?

I see a lot of people set up a shop or start working from home thinking it will be easy, only to fail after a few months and with a lot less money than they started with.   

It can work but it takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears to make a good floristry business and is not for the faint hearted.  And, as more and more people leap on the floristry bandwagon, the market has become more and more competitive, so you really need an unlimited determination to succeed.   

So please make sure there really is a gap in the market for what you want to do, not just a pipe dream because you think it would be fun to work with flowers. 

Go for it!

If you are still with me and still game enough to come into the wonderful, crazy, exciting world of floristry then welcome and go for it BIG time!! 

Financially you are unlikely to ever drive a Rolls Royce … even some of the most successful florists still only have a van!!   

And it most certainly won’t be easy so you need to do your homework, prepare your business plan, make sure you have the right skill base, read and study everything you can, offer to work for free to get hands on experience (expect to start at the bottom sweeping and washing buckets) and attend every event you can! 

However, get it right and I reckon being a florist can be one of the most rewarding careers you could choose.    

Because truth is flower power is really rather remarkable.   

You will never be just a florist … you will be the person that shares people’s most precious moments as well as bringing a smile to everybody’s faces.  Every bloom you touch will give someone goosebumps in a zillion ways … every design you make will be a special message brought to life and every single day you will be part of someone’s journey … be it happy or sad. 

There aren’t many… heck any other jobs… that can achieve all those sensations and that is a pretty good reason to be a florist. 

This article first appeared on the Floristry Trade Club and has been updated for 2024.