Hey Jgilmore, your situation is exactly what I was under in the summer of 2005. Since we didn't fail (at least not yet), I would say it's possible to succeed even if you had zero experience in the industry.
There are a couple of things that you might want to remember.
Firstly, because you had no experience in this industry, it is critical to have good employees. The problem is that, initially, you actually aren't able to tell good ones from bad ones. My suggestion is to avoid the employees who behave like s/he knows everything. They could kill your business overnight. Question everything they do.
Secondly, your experience as a former business owner is a tremendous asset (I, too, had experience in running a small business when I bought a flower shop). The part most difficult for you is to figure out the profitability of wire services. You will find a numerous number of info and opinions on this topic here. Also it's imperative to predict that you will lose as much as 30% of the sales after taking over the shop.
Thirdly, you should find your own job in your store as soon as possible. I started out as a flower-cleaning guy in my own store. Now I "moved up" a little and am doing deliveries and web commerce. It's important to show to your employees that you, the owner, is working hard. As someone with no experience, you don't have an automatic charisma to begin with. It takes time to earn some respect from your own employees.
Finally, suggestions from the previous owner or other florists are of course useful, but only to a degree. They say all kinds of things that may or may not apply to your particular situation. Or ever worse, they may be completely wrong. I think that, in the end, you would have to rely on your own judgment and instinct to sort things out. This applies to anything you will read in this forum.... including this one.
