Any person who owns a business, needs to be in control
One of the things that hopefully will become clear to the florists that are reading this thread is what some people can do doesn't mean that you can all do it too. In some of the formula calculations that were done earlier, we were able to arrive at different conclusions based on inserting different numbers. For example, we could calculate that a florist would have to send out x number of orders to break even on commission and rebates vs cost of the WS. We also had the opportunity to insert different numbers to show marginal gain that can be obtained. Marginal profit gain is a real thing, but as the numbers showed, it can be very elusive. The single most difficult aspect of incoming orders is DELIVERY. You can deduct $5 or $7 for delivery, but the real cost is not determined until delivery it is completed. Florists in delivery pools have an advantage, Their delivery rate is fixed. For the regular florist outside a delivery pool or without a delivery service, the mere fact that your vehicle is stopped at a train crossing during delivery is costing you money and eating away at the profit.
Some florists will also question nuts like myself who are willing to send direct and NOT use a WS. We are not rebels! We have just learned the secret. We have figured out a way to send a quantity of orders every month and eliminate the fixed and variable cost of doing it through a WS. My profit is greater for my volume of outgoing business if I do it this way. Yes, I figured that out by the numbers.
Not to harp on excess labor, but if any florist even thinks about incoming orders as a way help pay for this problem, adding an additonal 30 incoming WS orders to your current work load translates to roughly an added order per day which inturn translates to 15 or 20 minutes of created work for a designer per day. And what is that designer going to do for the other 40-45 of the hour or the next 7 hours of the day? This is what they mean by volume. You need alot of it! Joining a 2nd WS for more incoming doesn't help either. The additonal cost of that WS now goes completely against any incoming. Why? Because, the dues for the first WS is applied to outgoing and as you didn't join the second for outgoing and neither WS created any more outgoing for you, all additonal expense of the second WS goes toward any incoming orders. In other words, you do more work and make even less!
One last thing. DISCOUNTING in the floral industry. In the real world, discounting is done between the customer and the business person and is always to the benefit of both. Generally, we refer to it as a quantity discount. Four tires for the price of three, buy one shirt and get the second at half price. The merchant or business person is trying to sell more product and is willing to give a price incentive directly to the consumer. In the floral world, discounting was originally created to benefit the WS not the consumer!. It is used to create an incentive for someone to send an order. When every WS created the same program <20-80>, rebates were needed to "sweeten the pot". Neither the discount or rebate has any benefit to the consumer. I have a personal dislike for discounting, but also realize that if done properly it can benefit your business. If both the provider of the discount and the consumer both benefit, then it is an effect tool. I mentioned offing 4 tires for the price of 3. Anyone can figure out that is a 25% discount. The tire salesman, however, is not just discounting 1,2 or 3 tires at 25%. You have to buy 4 tires for the discount to apply. He is trying to increase his volume of business. I'm sure that some florists were chuckling when I raised the idea of discounting weddings. I'm not referring to all weddings. If Summer is your traditonal slow time, why would you not create an incentive for additonal Summer business. If you average wedding is $750, why not offer a discount on weddings larger - $1,000 or $1,500. If you have the month of June is filled, why not offer a discount for weddings in July and August? It doesn't have to be 25%. YOU control the discount and YOU control what you want to achieve. Most florists charge a premium labor rate for weddings. If you charge 35% labor and offer a 20% discount, what is the resulting labor factor? We already talked about the savings in delivery costs. The point of this is YOU should control the discount and the results and not have the discount control you!
To me, it is simple. Whatever decisions I make for my company, I wish to be in as much in contol of the outcome as possible. If there was a delivery service available to me and I had to chose between a part time driver and a delivery service, I not only look at the costs, but also the how much control do I lose with one vs the other. If I want to invest in a website, I don't want anyone between me and the consumer. If I decide to offer discounts, I am not interested in anyone other than the consumer being able to get a benefit directly from it.
