I also suggest you not join a wire service right now. The whole wire service industry is going through a LOT of bull right now. There is serious debate on this forum about the future of that business model. The sales reps for wire services get paid by commission, so they will tell you ANYTHING to get you to join. The contracts are ironclad in favor of the Wire Services, and they are incredibly difficult to get out of once your name is on the dotted line. They also will not hesitate to sue you if you realize that you cannot afford to continue until the end of your contract.
One thing is, the wire services will always be there IF you ever decide to join, so there is no reason to add another incredibly difficult responsibility to your, already, hectic schedule while you get your new business venture going. The offers also get better the longer you wait (which should tell you something).
I suggest doing the following BEFORE you decide:
read every thread in the Wire Service forum to get an idea of the what you will be getting into
Also, feel free to google any shop in the country and ask the owner to give you his or her opinion on the wire services.
Go introduce yourself to the other shops in town, and ask them what they think about the wire services. I have found that there are only minor differences between the services that I have dealt with and looked at.
Open your yellow pages and look at how many of the shops with big ads are wire service order gatherers that you will be delivering flowers for. Google Florist {your town name} and check for the same. I would guess that AT LEAST half of the orders going through wire services now are from what we call Order Gatherers. They are the crooks who use low prices to lure in customers and then pound them with back end fees. They use deceptive photography and fine print to fleece customers in YOUR TOWN then you are expected to fill a cheap order for a huge discount and put your shop's reputation on the line when you deliver it to the recipient. When the customer calls the order gatherer to complain (and they will) the customer service rep will blame you for ripping them off, offer some money back, and you will foot the bill.
I am quitting both my wire services. I will be out on September 1. I made some money with them because I live in a decent sized city and did a lot of volume, but they are destroying my reputation. I would not stay in FTD even if it was a 90/10 split and there were no fees. They have proven time and again that they only care about the quick buck, not the long term customer relationship.
One last thing, there are many options for point of sale and eCommerce websites. The wire service options are INSANELY overpriced. Don't let the sales reps try to convince you to join for that crap either.
I would buy a pro account on this forum, and get some input. There are hundreds of years of experience here and as many opinions.