FYI, I noted this link in another thread, felt it needs repeating and emphasizing.
http://www.impulsecorp.com/how-i-bought-a-flower-store
Read and weep
Keith
http://www.impulsecorp.com/how-i-bought-a-flower-store
Read and weep
Keith
Florists For Change
- Thread starter BOSS
- Start date
I had to laugh at his efforts.
So he makes $60,000 a year in profits. We just finished up our fiscal year and did considerably better...
How?
We DO NOT fill for any .com florist. We only fill for other FTD brick and mortar florists.
We DO NOT fill for an out-of-town florist who advertises in our yellow pages or poses as a Pittsburgh florist online.
We do not charge a "service fee" on outgoing orders. We do this as a service to our customers. And no, we do not receive those $7.00 rebates.
We market ourselves online as a LOCAL florist, and do well with SEO.
We own our own building.
We strive for the best in customer service, and will do whatever we can to make the customer happy.
We buy wisely, direct from South America. We get the best deals on glassware, etc.
We treat our employees as family. We do profit sharing with them. They are loyal and work hard.
We fill our niche. This year has been a great one for weddings. We don't do a lot of high end ones, but we work with brides and their budgets while still making a nice profit.
We sell emotions and convenience. We provide that special gift for an anniversary or birthday, etc. and get it delivered within hours, all with a phone call.
We provide quality and value in our products.
We treat people honestly and with respect and we can sleep at night.
So yes, it is possible to make a decent living as a small "mom and pop" retail florist.
I don't think we will be able to be at the meeting in Las Vegas, but we fully support the effort.
anytimeflowers
Linda
The thing that bothers me more than anything else, rebate aside, is that "if" the order gets canceled, he actually makes 2 cents MORE than if there is no problem.
That totally blows my mind.
And I bet that as this "Online Florist Scam System" implodes your sales will go up
bootcampguy
Well-Known Member
And they will. Floirsts can make a great living by doing exactly what "blumen" does. The sales are out there......
Doug Munro
Well-Known Member
"The way it used to be"........
Maybe your memory is shorter than mine, or maybe I have been around this industry longer but.....
I clearly remember how the whole rebate program came into being
- One wire service started giving rebates as a way to entice florist members away from other WS's. Ironically this WS is no longer in existence, however their "rebate legacy" lives on.
- Many florist's jumped ship immediately, others hedged their bets keeping multiple services to receive orders (as the rebating WS did not have as much incoming initially)and sent all their outgoing with the WS that rebated. Thus the advent of reciprocity fees to try to ensure some equality on the part of member florists.
- Within a short time the other WS's were forced to start giving rebates to combat the drop in outgoing orders by their "loyal" members. Funny enough the wire service that is so reviled on this board, FTD was the last to cave in on this.
-Then the feeding frenzy started amongst florists and WS's with one WS or another upping the rebate by $0.25 or introducing stepped volume increases on rebates and the florist chasing after every quarter given.
- Backroom deals between high volume sending FLORISTS (there were no OG's back then per say) and WS's for even higher rebates to ensure their loyalty on the sending end.
So the moral of this story is
"Be careful what you wish for as you may get it"
The current rebate programs are in place based on the wishes and demands of florists 2 decades or so ago.
bootcampguy
Well-Known Member
Loyalty has no expiration date, unless rebates are involved.
Doug Munro
Well-Known Member
My point in posting that "snapshot" of history was to point out the last time florists tried to make the wire services "bend to their wishes" (higher rebates) it didn't quite work out in their best interests in the long run.
Now we have a small group of florists that wish to once again have the wire services change in order that the florist will ultimately reap the profits.
Let's hope the cure doesn't kill the patient
what it boils down to is what Doug has been saying all along. Stop expecting someone else to make your business a success.
BTW Doug, I think it was the wire service that chose to implement rebates, and then go cut throat trying to outbid the competition. Now it is the wire services who are reaping what they have sown.
BTW Doug, I think it was the wire service that chose to implement rebates, and then go cut throat trying to outbid the competition. Now it is the wire services who are reaping what they have sown.
Doug Munro
Well-Known Member
Jamie,
As I recall AFS started the concept so you are right ghat it was wire service implemented. However, it was the florist jumping ship for the $3.00 per order that forced Teleflora and finally FTD to bring on their own rebates. I would suggest that you can no more blame all WS's for rebates than you can blame all florists jumping ship over rebates. Both parties were simply doing what they felt was best for their businesses at the time (and in the case if the WS's reacting to customer demand).
My intention is not to blame one party or another, simply to show sometimes the best intentions go astray.
Move forward 2-3 decades to today and we have a group of individuals that want to tear down the current system with absolutely no solid business plan or blueprint for a replacement. Yes, Yes,Yes, I know the Vegas meeting is intended to discuss change. Funny though, most of the posts I read seem to already indicate that the plan is the demise of the wire services.
Doug Munro
Well-Known Member
Please tell me that this post was intentionally meant to be humorous (I hope so, or I will once again take flack for laughing.....lol)
I can't imagine that the actual intent was to suggest that the creation of one of the greatest democratic nations on the planet and the meeting in Sin City of a couple of dozen small buusiness owners with no real agenda are events of similar historic importance?
Look, I fully understand how the industry has and is changing. Our own stores are experiencing it just like every florist. We are continuously searching for ways to improve their sales and bottom line. The bottom line is that all small business are challenged in today's world and our goal is to ensure that our stores are counted amongst the survivors
anytimeflowers
Linda
I'm not quite understanding why anyone would feel that the wire services, as they exist now, would need to be replaced. My best guess for my not understanding as that I have no need of them myself and therefor do not grasp their importance to any other retail, brick and mortar florist.
I DO understand how the demise of deceptive order gatherers would greatly enhance my own chances of growing my business back to where it should be. IF the only thing standing in the way of that goal is to somehow cut them out and away from the host, that's what I will go after, even if it kills the host. The host invited the parasite to begin with so it is in their best interest to survive by helping in the removal of the parasite.
The American Revolution started with an idea between a few individuals meeting in taverns and homes, spreading the idea to all interested parties. They had no idea if they could actually change the way things were but they had the courage to try and make a better life for themselves.
I DO understand how the demise of deceptive order gatherers would greatly enhance my own chances of growing my business back to where it should be. IF the only thing standing in the way of that goal is to somehow cut them out and away from the host, that's what I will go after, even if it kills the host. The host invited the parasite to begin with so it is in their best interest to survive by helping in the removal of the parasite.
The American Revolution started with an idea between a few individuals meeting in taverns and homes, spreading the idea to all interested parties. They had no idea if they could actually change the way things were but they had the courage to try and make a better life for themselves.
Eric S
Demoted Webmaster
Instead of trying to change the split on all orders that go through the WS. What if the focus was just on Sending Only and all headquarters orders?
Wouldn't that encourage more orders to be sent and recived by B&M shops and help level the playing field? And isn't that the main focus of the group is to level the playing field?
Wouldn't that encourage more orders to be sent and recived by B&M shops and help level the playing field? And isn't that the main focus of the group is to level the playing field?
Doug Munro
Well-Known Member
One of the issues with this thread that I continue to have is that all the talk tends to focus on how the "other guy" must change and give up revenue.
This mind set alone almost certainly guarantees failure. Let's not forget that both "Sending Only" and "Headquarters Orders" have built businesses on existing revenue streams. Going to either party demanding or with an ultimatum that they simply give up these revenues with no plan on how they will replace them will be resisted at every turn.
In the case of say an FTD or Bloomnet (1-800) who are publicly traded it could never happen. No CEO is going to recommend a plan that will critically cut revenues and endanger the immediate profit (and possibly the survival of the company) because their is a minor threat that the status quo is not sustainable in decades to come.
steve
Well-Known Member
Your right Doug both of the wire services you mention have themselves between a rock and a very hard place. On the other hand the filling florist can not stay in business filling wire service orders rather they orginate with an order gatherer or a real florist. A plan that is going to keep all of the top 100 senders happy probably is not going to happen the fact is if a plan comes together that is good for the majority of florist there is going to be some large florist that will be tick off because its going to affect them and there is no running away from that. And if I was in your shoes with 40 shops I probably would not want change either but that does not mean that change should not happen for the long term good of the industry.
Lizi
Well-Known Member
bootcampguy
Well-Known Member
Sitting in airport and our roundtable at lunch here at Virginia Professional Association was on this very issue. Local B & M would be in control of millions of dollars worth of orders, but as Doug said, CEO's aren't going to go for a change in the financials, because they are traded company's. One person at round table today said that several years ago the big three tried to get together on the issue of the devceptive OG and block them access, but all agreed that the fear of legal issues would prevail. I bet the host does regret the association with the parasite. I know replacing the current is not the answer either nor pasisng of laws.........All we're well informed on the meeting and the issues.
Kill the parasites... Simple enuf to do... Stop filling... And if the host dies... Who really cares? They do NOT care about the filler fools!!!
Doug Munro
Well-Known Member
Steve,
You should reread my posts,not once have I ever suggested or stated that I am against change to improve this industry. In fact I have advocated it more times then I can count. However I don't agree with many on here that the WS's services are the cause of many florists failing in today's world. They are simply on of many changes that the florist must deal with if they plan to survive.
I am a firm believer that it is the small florist that must change to deal with today's world, something that many have great difficulty doing. Rather for whatever reason many feel the better solution is to change the world around them to suit their personal needs, wishes, and desires.
Sure you can "tinker" with areas like WS's but that is only forestalling the inevitable for many small shops.
I shake my head every time I read a shop owner on here state that "supermarkets and big boxes don't affect my business". If we believe that the overall volume of flowers sold hasn't changed dramatically in the last few decades where do they think that the 60% of overall flower sales that these two retail sectors currently have came from.
As I have stated in the past the current belief that wire services have caused all the hardship that many florists are dealing with reminds me of similar movement and groundswell 3 decades ago about "In lieu of" and funeral homes. At that time the general feeling is that many could not survive the loss of high volume funeral business. Committees were formed, meeting organized, letters written, and yet the funeral business is a fraction of what it was at one time.
We have more outgoings, we have very little incoming. I know that we can work out the problem. We need help.