Wire service for home based business?

[lori042499]

Boss, I agree...I think that anyone owning a business need to be serious about it to thrive, grow and succeed...Many "basement bettys" that so many worry about don't have the knowledge, stamina, business acumen or drive to ever make a dent, if they do they will soon learn that their basement is no place to work out of and they need a legit place and a legit presence...I am far more worried about fake call centers, the low want for flowers everyday on the local market, the economy, my own lack of knowledge and capital to market properly....believe me I have tought a million times that it would be easier for me to close my everyday operation to have more time as a single person to market to the funeral directors and weddings working by appointment only out of warehouse space or my basement....and it could be in the future where I go...I may consult for shops and get paid while doing my own thing as a freelancer for many shops and myself...who knows, I will change as the landscape changes...isn't that what we keep telling everyone, that if it doesn't work the way we are doing it, to do it different for a better result....

 

[bootcampguy]

which is why ALL the folks, involved in the industry NEED and MUST understand, it's NOT the "model" that is "broken", it's the forthought that is broken. I bring this up, BECAUSE, a former business associate, downsized her business, and operates out of her home, so she could "afford" to fill orders for these online OG's and national gatherers, and when I OPENLY expressed my "disgust" that was the end of that!
How stupid can you be indeed...to retain ws affiliation, and driving yourself bonkers, by being stupid!

To be successful in todays times you must not be afriad of confrontation. I know people who will drive 1000 miles to avoid a conflict. When I first joined opinions we're many and still many I don't agree with, but I appreciate that "points" they make and the "positions" you/they take. I didn't see or feel any "venom", I saw many strong opninions and like Sanpdragon said, "it works for her business model"...................................totally her choice. So here's my answer for all of this:

BREAKING NEWS!!!! The pity train has just derailed at the intersection of Suck It Up and Move On, crashing in to We All Have Problems, before coming to a complete stop at Get The Hell Over It. Reporting live from Quit yer @@@@@in!!!

 

[lori042499]

BREAKING NEWS!!!! The pity train has just derailed at the intersection of Suck It Up and Move On, crashing in to We All Have Problems, before coming to a complete stop at Get The Hell Over It. Reporting live from Quit yer @@@@@in!!![/QUOTE]



Rick love this and my husband would like this too...His biggest statement to me lately is "suck it up, cupcake!!!!"

 

[theRKF]

Many "basement bettys" that so many worry about don't have the knowledge, stamina, business acumen or drive to ever make a dent

The problem is not the individuals, but the aggregate. A few years ago I had a long chat about this issue with a long-time florist in our area, Paul Schneider. Paul was recounting how his shop had been in the same area 25+ years, and how local competitors too numerous to count had opened and closed around him, most lasting less than two years. On the surface, it looks like he has an established, solid business ... but he was experiencing what I like to call "midget wrestling". While a full-sized athlete can likely defeat one, or even a few, little people in a wrestling ring because of his size and strength, when you add enough midgets to the fight the man is going down.

Add enough basement bettys (unlicensed, unqualified), hobbyists and such taking little bites of the pie, and there won't be enough for even established florists to live on.

 

[lori042499]

Same could be said of all the low quality bucket shops and all the other inexperienced getem while we can pop up retailers....I worry more about them being organized, open all hours and available...These true "basement betty's" aren't any of those, they are the lowest on the pole of entities to worry about...some are a force to be reckoned with and are no basement betty...they are full force full time florists just like me...but the real betty's not an issue worth time or worry, right now..bigger fish to watch gaining on my tail fins!!

 

[flow2178]

The problem is not the individuals, but the aggregate. A few years ago I had a long chat about this issue with a long-time florist in our area, Paul Schneider. Paul was recounting how his shop had been in the same area 25+ years, and how local competitors too numerous to count had opened and closed around him, most lasting less than two years. On the surface, it looks like he has an established, solid business ... but he was experiencing what I like to call "midget wrestling". While a full-sized athlete can likely defeat one, or even a few, little people in a wrestling ring because of his size and strength, when you add enough midgets to the fight the man is going down.

Add enough basement bettys (unlicensed, unqualified), hobbyists and such taking little bites of the pie, and there won't be enough for even established florists to live on.

Ryan perfectly said!!

 

[Tuberose]

I can't agree about the basement Bettys not being a problem, we have them here, untrained and under pricing their product, they have gained a big chunk of the bridal monies of the ones not doing DIY. Between the two, our weddings have dropped considerably, back when our staff was underpricing the work we were getting more work than we could handle, but when new staff came in and we were held accountable to accurately price for a profit, our sales fell dramatically.

I'll be the first one to agree that the grocery stores are kicking our butts, we have to mark the product up, we have no choice, so it will continue. I can, however, choose not to help home businesses that are undercutting us and not offering a quality product. I've even had gals come into our shop and want us to teach them how to do "unique" designs like we do, and they let slip they did weddings on the side.

 

[lori042499]

I just had one of my accounts tell me I was undercut by another florist on carns...now in the bast for this account I was charging 75 cents for carns just cut and in water....nothing else done with them...This past VD, they called me 2 days before holiday and wanted red only carns, I let them know that I had to get them and they would be more expensive than normal because it was last minute, red carns were scarce and I would do my best to keep the prices down...I ended up having to charge 1.25 for them because they had to come out of my store stock because they were not available...I explained to them the difference and such...

Now for st pats they called me yesterday morning and asked for green carns, yup the day of...I don't do a huge st pats biz and didn't even get green carns, they needed 100. I let them know I would do the best that I could and they let me know another florist told them I way over charged them for the carns at VD...I am sure it is the home florist that does the gift shop cooler flowers(her only gig)...I explained to her the new tax and the fact that the production on these items are lower and the demand at the holidays goes up, blah blah...I also let them know that if they ordered in advance time it would give me an opportunity to pre book what I need for them an a better price...my thought on this is the florist that said this has no idea that they are asking me for these items at T-2minutes and that I am paying whatever they demand because it could be the last 100 of this particular item the wholesaler has at a demand time...I usually only double the price, but I would hate to lose the whole account over a couple of nickles per flower to some kitchen florist making statements without knowing all the facts...and undercutting because it would just add to her whole carn and pom order, I barely even use carns anymore and not because I am a snob, but because for a few cents more I can get roses and people in general would rather get a rose than a carn in an arrangement anyday...

 

[Sprout]

For the record, I think calling someone a "basement Betty" who has studied at Harvard, trained at the the Arnold Arboretum and Historic New England, and has taken design classes from a design school is a real insult. I'm not familiar with the Cass School of Floral Design but I think I recall hearing about Harvard before ;/

I also studied at the Harvard Landscape Design program and graduated from Cass - FWIW all it took for both was for my check to clear.

 

[jamie]

My Father-in-law runs a $4 million dollar a year b2b printing business out of MY garage and has for 30 years. (My wife inherited the house when her grandmother passed) He has 15 employees, pays taxes and insurance. He uses part of the money he would have spent on rent and commercial utilities to provide exceptional health coverage for his employees. He is also one of only a small handful of printers left in the country that does his type of work. Everything is going digital or going to China. He has thrived (not just survived) because he has always operated on a shoestring and ran a professional operation. He can still compete with Chinese bids for work because of his lack of overhead when his old US competitors went out of business years ago.

It really sucks to know that I have to park in the rain, so he can print all that profit. I can't fault him though.

 

[bootcampguy]

........It really sucks to know that I have to park in the rain, so he can print all that profit. I can't fault him though.

I would park in the rain too!!!

 

[Victoria]

Spend the money on your own site. Why on earth would you feed the dragon who doesn't give a flying rats behind about you or your business?

Hopefully you'll become a pro member here because there is a wealth of information at your fingertips for a lot less money than paying the WS.

V

 

[Mikey the Flower Guy]

My Father-in-law runs a $4 million dollar a year b2b printing business out of MY garage and has for 30 years. (My wife inherited the house when her grandmother passed) He has 15 employees, pays taxes and insurance. He uses part of the money he would have spent on rent and commercial utilities to provide exceptional health coverage for his employees. He is also one of only a small handful of printers left in the country that does his type of work. Everything is going digital or going to China. He has thrived (not just survived) because he has always operated on a shoestring and ran a professional operation. He can still compete with Chinese bids for work because of his lack of overhead when his old US competitors went out of business years ago.

It really sucks to know that I have to park in the rain, so he can print all that profit. I can't fault him though.

my dad was running HIS 3 million dollar a year electrical contracting business out of MY garage(at one of my rental properties) for almost 15 years, and when I couldn't get the nose of my car into the front of the 4 bay garage in the pouring rain, to change an alternator...I sold the place!!