Wire service for home based business?

[Flowerchatter03]

I aint mad at 'cha for having a home based business. I've gone back and forth myself about opening one.

Teeny bit of advice- what you pay for in wire service fees I seriously doubt you'll get what you are after. Plus you won't be making 100% on your orders- FYI.

If I ever did a home based floral business I sure as hell wouldn't give a dime to a WS. No way no how.

Thanks for starting this thread. I do believe that a lot of peoples opinions (on this board) will change even if slightly about FSN. I know mine has.

I don't have anything against people who work out of their home either. One of my greatest teachers is Tracy Park who, although works from her home, is a professional designer running a professional business. I think most of us are against those who just do floristry "on the side" and have no idea what they are doing. I think Geranium here isn't one of those people.

 

[BOSS]

I've already been disappointed with their not chiming in about gestapo-like tactics reported by some. I even sent a message to Mandy on facebook to alert her.

Done.

""usually"" when someone won't step up to the plate here (not that we can't be a contentious bunch) their position is indefensible...

I too was surprised they did not respond.

 

[roysecityfloristand gifts]

Well folks I guess it's time for me to tell my FSN story and help some of you further with the latest questions about ethics and actions.

Two years ago when I gave the shop to my son David, I was out of the big two WS's, but had heard of FSN and the $250.00 per year was nothing.
On top of that they said they had amazing numbers of orders for my area, (I still wonder what they were on when they calculated those order numbers LOL).
So I signed David up with them. Told the girl that I had a website I built that I wanted their site to link too in a reference in the listing as they always do when you have other sites.

Well the girl managed to use my domain from my site which took my wonderful order producing website down, killed it dead! It took me over a year to get my domain roysecityflorist.com returned to me. In the process I was yelled at and called stupid. I never received an apology, although the girl did say to me, "Oh no, I've made a terrible mistake" (ya' right). It was an eye opener for sure.
In the process the junk "cached" pages of my original site went up online, Google saw the mess and tagged it, I'm still working on getting that fixed. It is not malicious and never was, it just looked funky cause it was just a bunch of cached random pages.

It took me another 5 months to get my own website back up. It is clean if anyone want's to look at what I did it's viewable on Bing and Yahoo with no problems.
www.roysecityflorist.com

The entire time I was with them I never got an order for my area. I got a total of three skimmed low value orders for a town about 30 miles away ( the shops in that town didn't even want them).

Their pictures are nice but they all contain everything but the kitchen sink. How many florist have all those items in their coolers, in those colors, all the time, and the prices don't reflect the number of higher end stems shown. The option to select from three prices insure the customer will select the lowest price everytime and expect the item pictured.

They will not make you money Geranium my dear. I took a look at your website, thanks for the link. I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but you might want to study some on design. Having the want to and the experience in care of plants, doesn't mean your gonna be able to match the design quality requrements ask of professional shops. Also you can never send out flowers with dead brown edges, (reference the pic of white spray roses, purple carns etc.) That will kill a reputation very quickly.

Wishing you the best, I really do. Just think you need to think about this a little more before jumping in. We are all really nice people ready to give free advice and help when asked, but we do tend to tell it like it is. It's not to be mean, we just don't want anyone to lose money in this economy.

I cannot understand why anyone who has access to the fantastic information related to Wire Services here on FC, would ever sign up with a WS.
WS FREE is the right way for me after thirty years and the only way to go.

Sorry for the rambling I haven't posted in awhile. Oh, and Hi there Pat, missin ya' a lot! Miss our little group too, hope everyone is doing well. There are way too many shops closing! Has anyone heard from Tammie at MakeScents Boyd TX? How about Heather and Navy Brat?

 

[hollyflr]

I have had an entirely different experience at FSN:

I joined last February for three hundred dollars, when I joined I stated I wanted my website left alone, but wanted it listed on my FSN home page. This all happened as planned.

I had been without a WS for three years and have been finding florists on the internet for my send orders.

I am a small neighborhood florist (under $100,000) and received very few if any orders from florists around the country while WS free.

I can be profitable with a 80/20 split as long as other fees are mimimal.

I started getting orders last June, much to my surprise, the orders are from small towns and actually from real florists. I checked the order senders through the web and actually called to verify.

I send orders through FSN but not all my orders. If there is a local florist, I send on FSN, if not, I find a close florist on the web and call.

I receive 2-10 orders per week through FSN, all in the $45 to the $150 range, average about $55. I do not know why I receive so many orders, but I do, perhaps it's because most florists belong to the traditional wire services here and we have three big players here in the wire services, our two regional grocery stores (FTD) and Walter Knoll. My website orders are minimal.

I did refuse to buy a banner ad on the Funeral page, because it did not make sense to me, but they have not pressured me. Overall I am happy with my FSN experience, as I said before, I am happy to fill orders from other florists, and I am happy to deliver my flowers to people in my community as long I I do not lose money. People smile when they get flowers.

It sounds like some people have had a bad experience with FSN, probably through inexperience and lack of communication on both sides. But so far my experience has been good and much better then with the big guys.

 

[cindys floral]

I quit FSN when I found out that they allow Home Based businesses with out store fronts. I want a REAL florist to fill my orders!

 

[Flowermomma]

I didn't know until this post they let home based in....

 

[spentflowers]

Geranium ....

You need to understand florists with a brick and motor shop typically have a better chance of buying/storing and selling higher quality flowers then a lot of "Basement Betties" in the past. Not to say you can't do as well, it's hard for store front shops to not at least bristle when they hear their orders are going to a home based business. All too often those people go to the nearest grocery store/Costco/Sam's Club for their flowers because they don't have enough order volume to buy their flowers fresher from a wholesaler. AND!!! Typically "Basement Betties" have given the other floral shops a bad name when the arrangement dies in 2 days.

In days past the wire services weren't suppose to sign up home-based businesses and had to submit polaroid photos of the shop's signage, inside store photos, cooler, delivery van, arrangements etc to prove it is actually a bonifide store and NOT a home based business, hence their charge of $20 for National Quality Program fees ~ which are bogus all onto themselves but that's another thread.

 

[Snapdragon Studio]

I applaud your efforts to expand your business. I myself am a home-based business. However, I simply cannot imagine how you plan to make this work. How much volume do you expect to get off your website and wire services? How much stock do you plan to keep in your cooler? What flower varieties? What is your plan for rotating stock? I believe you have bitten off substantially more than you can chew here.

 

[concord]

I have not had any problems with FSN. Truthfully there are plenty of brick and mortar "real" florists out there that suck, so I judge on a case by case basis and if a home based business can get my order filled with out a problem, I'm OK with that. I try to get my customers to call a shop so I send very few out anyway, and receive even fewer.

 

[sandytf]

Yeah....pretty sure Geranium is gone for good. You know, it wouldn't hurt to be a little gentle with the newbies around here.

 

[CHR]

I have seen so many good florists give up their storefronts and move into warehouses and converted spaces at their residences in the last few years... and I still send them orders.

It's not where you are, it's what you deliver. One of the best florists in the wedding biz, a designer for John Henry selection guides - Kebbie Hollingsworth - has a home-based studio and that hasn't stopped her from designing fabulous work for weddings & events.

Plenty of lousy florists have B&M locations - with big WS logos - and I would never trust them to deliver our shop's orders. Look around in your own areas. Do storefronts guarantee customers get great design work?

 

[anytimeflowers]

I could not agree more with the opinion that whether or not the florist is home-based or brick and mortar, good design is good design.

Bad is bad.

That's why I think I'm going to have to give up FSN. I trusted them to vet the people they sign up, I trusted them with my orders without having to take the time to look up a florist, just using their list. It was easy to do.

Like Geranium said, so many of the florists that I look up don't have their own site, they have an FTD or Teleflora site which really tells me nothing about what they are really capable of. It's just gotten so shaky that I really don't want to be responsible anymore for orders that are not going to be from my shop.

I do not like to disappoint my customers. I feel sandwiched between a rock and a hard place. Before FSN, I sent all of my customers who wanted to wire flowers to another shop and in some cases was able to convince them to call directory assistance. That was before google became such a powerful search engine. I now will look up a few numbers for people so that they have a couple of options.

I had a couple of ladies today who wanted to look at a book. I don't have a book and they just could not get it through their heads that looking at a book would in no way guarantee that what they saw was what they would get.

They chose to go to another florist to look at a book and have it wired out. They've been conditioned to operate this way for so many years and don't understand how much the industry has changed, and I couldn't get them to stay long enough to explain it. I could tell that what I was saying simply was not getting through.

They assured me they would still be back to me for their local flowers and I'm sure they will. I was relieved to not have to send it, they wanted to spend a maximum of $50 for "a nice bouquet" in Los Angeles.

Even when shops DO have their own website, and I see what they are offering, sometimes, it just isn't what I would want sent out.

 

[prestonway]

I do not like to disappoint my customers. I feel sandwiched between a rock and a hard place. Before FSN, I sent all of my customers who wanted to wire flowers to another shop and in some cases was able to convince them to call directory assistance. That was before google became such a powerful search engine. I now will look up a few numbers for people so that they have a couple of options.

I had a couple of ladies today who wanted to look at a book. I don't have a book and they just could not get it through their heads that looking at a book would in no way guarantee that what they saw was what they would get.

They chose to go to another florist to look at a book and have it wired out. They've been conditioned to operate this way for so many years and don't understand how much the industry has changed, and I couldn't get them to stay long enough to explain it. I could tell that what I was saying simply was not getting through.

You may not have a book...but you do have a computer.

In order to not disappoint the customer, why not google "florist zip code 12345" and show the customer what is available online?

This customer is apparently not computer literate, but you are.

Your're servicing the customer with the equivalent of a book, as well as showing them what is available in that market for that price.

Win/win?

 

[Mikey the Flower Guy]

Yeah....pretty sure Geranium is gone for good. You know, it wouldn't hurt to be a little gentle with the newbies around here.

thin skin, thin chances of survival.....not sure why Geranium would run though

 

[Sarah Jane]

I would have run too. That was a harsh welcome. Maybe she will come back.

 

[Johan]

I own a tiny shop and are WS free. But I could not see how her business plan would work. When I was in a WS I would quite often have to either nip to another local florist who I get on well with and who will help me out if I need or go to the wholesalers if it was worth a trip or do major substitutions if it was for sameday delivery. Next day was never the problem. But my wastage was always much more as I would be buying to fill an then struggling to sell these items to my other customers if it was flowers that weren't popular around here, like red roses.
Being a home based florist to do events /weddings or even funerals is one thing as you can to a greater extent plan everything and stock but with WS you just can't. Home based florists are less likely to sit near the computer waiting for an order to come in if they do general flowers rather than just events.
I do still think about just working from home or a studio to do events as I would probably make more money than I do now. Everything is so expensive now, I just aren't sure how long I can now whether this economy.

 

[bootcampguy]

.......Plenty of lousy florists have B&M locations - with big WS logos - and I would never trust them to deliver our shop's orders. Look around in your own areas. Do storefronts guarantee customers get great design work?

No it doesn't. But no-one has mentioned the economy in all of this. B & M pay taxes (all forms). Home based biz eat away at the core of the market in the area that they are in. I have 2 in this area (not in my town), both do decent work, but neither charge "labor". So a bouquet from them against mine is 35% more value, bigger, whatever.............the comparison. Occasionally I will loose a customer to them, but I always win them back becasue of service levels that we offer that they can't. One girl here is on vacation for bike week and her message says' "Enjoying some time off, call us next week", really......her clients are calling me saying "really"............Weddings in this area are a joke, one girl meats her client at the local fast food chain and then delivers out of her house. In my town, they will not license a home based business that does any form of delivering and if you get caught $500 fine. Florist, caterers, cake people, whatever. The message here is loud and clear. You wanna be in business, step up get a low priced commercial location, pay the taxes, fees, etc. and then be in buiness, I'm just say'in.................

 

[sandytf]

"guess that shows FSN wants "bodies" added to their fold. I don't understand if you are a full service flower shop or not. If not, how do you expect to fulfill orders if you do receive them? "

"I quit FSN when I found out that they allow Home Based businesses with out store fronts. I want a REAL florist to fill my orders!"

" I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but you might want to study some on design."

Don't know why she would have run? Seriously guys, can you not see how these comments would be taken as attacks by a new person who thought they were coming to a friendly forum for some advice? A new person does not know all the personalities here....or everyone's history....or know that they may have innocently brought up a topic that's controversial. I think we should at least let them get their feet on the ground here before we start questioning their qualifications and intelligence. It's like talking about someone when they're standing right next to you. Just sayin'.

 

[Mikey the Flower Guy]

Listen folks.....my property tax bill here is over 8 thousand dollars, I'm certainly NOT going to entertain the thought of "sharing" what I know, or have had to fight through, to help "inform" a startup basement betty business!!..you DON'T know how many times we've thought about LEVELLING this place, and running our biz out of our substantial house next door, and EACH TIME, I realized how much I disliked ANYONE not paying their fair share!
So, IF a potential member is "scared away" because they WANT and NEED to tap millions of years of experience here at FlowerChat, and THEN, compete on an UNEVEN playing field, well, so be it!
This is NOT an "angry" response...it's one that makes EVIDENT that we are NOT YET in the "professional" category when it comes to our beloved industry!
Those of you that are running out of your homes, I'D LOVE to hear what you truly "save" when it comes to your business, and if you EVER have had dreams of commercial ownership, but, have NOT been able to "achieve" this dream!

 

[Sarah Jane]

I think the only taxes I pay are sales tax and income tax. How does that differ from a home-based business? I rent my location because I don't have the means, the resources, the money or the credit to own a location and it's not likely I ever will. When I started my shop, I had my website up and running before my location and there were times that I considered doing it out of my home. I still don't see why it wouldn't work. My website does a tremendous amount of my business. I would say that 60% or more of our business is web orders and people calling from out of town who find us on the web. There were times when I questioned whether I wanted the aggravation that comes from a storefront. It's also a lot of money to open a storefront and some people might have the dream and the desire and the talent but not the resources to open a shop. It's not that easy. When I started I had nothing but a credit card that I could max out and was just so lucky that the florist I used to work for let me keep working there for a paycheck while our shop got off the ground. They also loaned us a lot of stuff. I didn't have the credit or the assetts to get a loan but I had a big dream. Maybe she has a good business and wants to expand into floral with her clients. That doesn't neccessarily mean it's time to open shop. And as far as people charging less from home-based florists, that's their business. I don't charge labor either so my arrangements cost less than the florist down the road but it's not my responsibility to keep the pricing in line with other shops. We operate on a smaller profit margin and it works for us because we don't have payroll expenses and personally I don't think flowers should cost as much as they do at most florists. We make our cuts in overhead and buying so that we can still show enough profit to stay open and make a living. The fact that someone might charge less is not a reason that they shouldn't be in business. Everyone has a right to try to work for themselves and sell their product and you can't say whether it would work for someone or not because there is no one size fits all model. And also, anytime you wire out an order, there is no way to know whether it will get filled to your standards. You pretty much lose control regardless of what florist it goes to. Even if it is a good shop, they might have a sucky employee working that day. You just never know.