HELP! Joining 1800FLOWERS good or bad?...

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wildflower said:
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I may be totally off here, and If I am I apologise, but it just seems that some florists on this site try really hard to talk people out of WS just because they dont personally feel it's right for them.
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Edward, trust me when I say that we have nothing but the best interests of each of the florist on this board, and are just trying to disseminate real world WS information and problems, most of it earned through hard knocks. When we opened our shop, my partner came from shops that were getting 4-10 INs a day and had an established cleintele of OUTs on top of that. What *I* did not understand at that time was that business was a result of being estblished (over 20 years avg.) in the OTS game. We niavly figured (with the not-so-gentle prodding of the WS reps) that the same would hold true, and our inital business plan (still have it somewhere, it reads like good fiction nowadays) was that the WS (we started with both TF and FTD) would basically "cover our nut" and weddings and events would be the gravy. How wrong we were...the last straw for me was the fact that both OTSs allowed dOGs to do full-page ads in our local phone book ($2200/month!) and allowed THEM to skim the cream off the order and give us the often sour milk. What kind of operation does that to its members??

If you truly believe that a business that takes large fees from you, and tries to steal *your* local customers with decieving order taking and direct ship options, and is much more interested in establish THEIR brand on the back of YOUR hard work, then by all means "partner" with an OTS. But please do not blame us for trying to enlighten those who ask for our opinion and assign some sort of anti-WS conspiricy.

98% of us have no hidden agenda are an simply trying to give those who have not worked the system/business our sincere thoughts and input. Please feel free to ignore us all...perhaps you will be the 1 out of a 100 that actually makes the OTSs work for you...
 
See, this makes more sense now :) Glad I started this :)

Like I said I am new to this. The way the shop that we are planning to buy operates, is by minimizing labor during off peak hours. It's been around for 30 years and the manager (my wife and future partner) has gotten really good info from previous owners and has applied it successfully to keep minimal labor on hand for non-holiday season. During the holidays, they have a great list of extra designers who come in for those few days at previously agreed wages to fill the capacity. I am pretty sure i am not re-inventing the industry here, and many if not most of you do something similar or exactly the same here.

To me the WS decision is very simple (unless you use the 30% Labor formula). If you start at 100% price, and take out 30% for Cost of product and 30% for WS markup, you have the last third left as "what you make. IF you use the "30% Labor" as a benchmark, the BEST you can do is break even. It's that simple :)

So the only thing I am considering here is this:

Do my employees have enough time to fill orders during their normally assigned hours without having to hire more people or give existing employees more hours? If the answer is yes, pick a WS that works for you and get more business. If not, your decision is easy. Which is exactly what you described above as 'capacity' factor.
 
Edward,
We started with FTD and the merc, then we joined TF and the Dove. We were a little simple at first and thought incoming orders were a good thing. But beleive me and this isnt hypothetical if you have enough emplyees standing around in a new shop or any shop for that matter to fill all of the 800 and other dotcon orders that they will throw at you as well as all of the orders from local customers and WS orders from other REAL florist you have too many employees. We thought along the same lines that you are talking about and couldnt understand why with all of those incoming orders we were not making money. We were getting a nice check from the both WS every month. Then I started reading some of the post on here and the other board from more experienced and wiser (thanks Griff ) some small and some not so small shops. As hard as it was when I got rid of FTD and the merc and then got rid of DOVE (still in TF but dont codify for squat or buy the espensive containers, or subscribe to magazines or any of the other money draining goodies) we started to see the bottom line turn around. This might not be true for everyone it is how it worked for us. I dont have any hidden agendas, no paid WS affiliation nor any reason to bash either of them just telling you what our experience is. We all have to do what is best for our own shop and hopefully without hurting anyone elses (except in friencly competition of course).

Best of luck,
Bob
 
Lordy Lordy Lordy!!!!!!!!
I can't believe we are still talking about wire service today.
In your own words, you said you are doing alright without a wire service.
You are thinking of joining 1-800 orders because you will be a preferred florist.
What a crock....I am a preffered florist in my town. We are all prefered florist to any wire service as long as they get money out of us.
Why do they need a second prefered florist in your small town.
Answer is clearly....THey will make money off you.
You are better off sending money and asking for your discount form another florist then receiving those discounted orders.
Like it was mention before....YOU HAVE TO DO THE ARR. they send you.
NO ONE TELLS ME WHAT TO DO IN MY SHOP.(except my wife) KEEP THE BALL IN YOUR COURT.Keep control.
Luc
 
Well stated, Luc.
 
I will end my 2 cents worth by stating this, and don't EVER forget it:
1-800-flowers is NOT a freind of the florist. They will call you a 'partner', but they call ALL the shots. Read your contract. You do something they don't like, they cut your order volume off. You don't buy a codified container, you get cut off. You don't send a delivery confirmation by 10am the next day, you are charge money. Read your contract.

It was once said to me by a 800 VP that the customer is THEIR customer. We are to have NO contact with THEIR customers. THEY are the florist, we are not. We are the fillers who partner with THEM.

Now, everyone go back to work servicing YOUR customers.
Make it a GREAT day!

- Herb
 
This....

ladies and gentlemen...is a GREAT THREAD!!
I find it a little amusing that you've all been so candid about the validity of having or joining an organization like 1800 based on the sheer merits keeping yourselves occupied in YOUR OWN SHOPS!!
I kinda like and appreciate the way Luc presented HIS version, and the way Herb tried to show the "possibilities" of making money!!
Why do I find this humerous???...in ALL case discussions, for or against, florists ARE the enablers, for ALL wire services.
1800 is NOT in the business of making YOU money...sorry if you might think otherwise!!
Having said THAT, my own personal opinion is that we STILL probably need a viable way to transfer orders, in AND out, and IF 1800 is YOUR choice, then the discussion ends.
ANY VAN can deliver flowers...but, you gotta choose one over another based on personal reasons and preferences.
IS IT A GOOD IDEA, to have a van parked in your driveway, when it's not being used......OF COURSE NOT...YOU are paying for it EVERY SECOND of EVERY DAY...BUT, still, there is sits ( just an analogy)
Wire services fall into THAT category!!
 
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