The Floral CEO

 

Hello flower friends. On this week's full length episode, I want to dive deeper into installations. That is the theme in the floral CEO Mastermind this month, and I did Monday's episode on pricing per square foot in installations because it's such a critical tool in your tool belt to really make pricing on installations faster.

What I wanna continue on is really like the critical ingredients to making installations a large part of your floral business. And I have looked, and over the years, I can directly attribute over a hundred thousand dollars of in, of revenue, if not more. Two floral installations. And that, of course is a percentage.

One year it was like 30% of my revenue. Uh, one year it was like 25, but that's still a pretty significant amount when you are a business owner of a multi six figure floral business. So this can be significant. You guys, this could be huge. This could change your business and. I know a lot of, there's a lot of fear, a lot of anxiety, a lot of worry, a lot of, um, hesitation, a lot of lack of confidence in floral installations, and rightfully so.

If you think about it, we are hanging a bunch of shit from potentially the ceiling from places that fundamentally it wasn't meant to originally be. We're making things often that nobody else has made this exact thing before. So it's a lot of theory and I know that. Because of all of my background, because of how many times I've practiced and executed and all of the foundational things that I'm going to talk about, I feel confident in pulling this off.

And so how do you develop that confidence? Because that confidence is what sells. When somebody tells me that they want something or they are showing me something, I'm like, no problem. I got you. I can figure it out. There are core principles, which we are going to be diving into those core principles on mechanics, pricing, planning, all of those things.

But today I just wanna give you like a high level overview of things that I think are really critical if you want to make floral installations a integral part of your business. So the first thing that is really important is ideation. You need to come up with ideas. And some people do, their brain just doesn't work like that.

I can walk into a space and visualize what something could be like. My brain abstractly can work and go, okay, I'm looking at something. Wouldn't this be cool if, and those wouldn't It be cool if statements have helped me sell. A lot of floral installations because I am going above and beyond, I am showing somebody ideas that other florists, if they meet with three florists, I'm probably the only one that came to 'em with that idea.

So to develop ideas, I of course, you know, save things on Instagram. I screenshot, I save them in a folder. That just is fun installations. I also make sure that I am looking and researching the space. And when you look and research a space, you can get so many ideas. Like they could have cool columns, they could have cool beams and architecture that you could highlight.

There is a newer venue that has this, like really, it's a kind of an outdoor greenhouse. And it's got this cool, like stone, kind of looks like a pottery ish. Um, not very Minnesotan, I'll tell you that. Uh, looks. Tuscany ish, um, fireplace and like I looked at it and envisioned flowers crawling up it and crawling across.

And like, just when you look at something, try to be inspired, like actually. Have your mind think about just being inspired by this thing and what the possibilities are. And often we try not to think of those possibilities because we don't want to be disappointed. We don't wanna throw things. Especially if somebody's told you they have a very strict budget.

I probably wouldn't be talking to them about a $3,000 installation if they're telling me their budget is $3,000. But for the person who is a more premium. Client that maybe, or even into luxury, I don't feel in my market we do a ton of luxury. I think we do a ton of premium. I think we do a ton of, almost to luxury and that's a market that like I am totally comfortable with living in because it has helped me hit immense revenue with installations.

So thinking of ideas, formulating, saving, having an idea bank, especially when it comes to a venue, like if you really want to do something at a venue, like think of that idea and next time that you have a client that's at that venue, like totally put your sell and choose on and pitch it. So the next key ingredient I think is really critical in.

Making in installations, a big part of your revenue source is understanding mechanics, and you can do that in several ways. You can do that. Really freelancing for someone who does a lot of installations and diving into what they're doing, or you could. Practice. I actually, in our new studio, have hooks in the ceiling.

If I had leftover flowers from a tear down, I could hook my metal bar up. That is my go-to hanging installation. And I could hang things from that. Like I could go and use leftover flowers. I could just practice, create opportunities for you to get familiar with. Like I know even when somebody shows me a structure.

And it's maybe not a hanging installation, but it is a structure installation on a hipa. I can usually look at that structure and be like, that is not gonna hold. 'cause I understand weight, I understand weight distribution, and I even know tricks and tips for going when you're doing an install to placing one cage and then going to the other side and placing it in the same ex exact spot to help distribute the weight while we're actually installing.

Those are things you learn with time and you learn with. Also working with someone who really is also potentially growing their business. Maybe it's a rental company, maybe it's a decorator. Maybe you're working with another florist who is growing their business and you're there to observe and support.

That is invaluable. The same thing with workshops, and I do have the next installation rockstar workshop coming up in March that will be released very soon. But that is hands on. You not only come to the workshop and you get to hang stuff from the ceiling, you get to do ground ceremony. We often, we normally do a cake installation.

We make this like magical, like. Big, bold idea. It's usually centered around a theme, and then we do a full style shoot like that is not only the practice, and I'm teaching you guys how to take this into your business, but I'm also giving you a bunch of images to share for a fraction of the cost of other educators because I feel like that hands-on experience is invaluable.

That confidence that you get is invaluable. Having a little practice goes a long way. So then the next thing that I think is really critical is having the right materials. I, I will never forget a newer florist who, her business is huge right now, like it's absolutely blown up. Sponsored a thing at I think it was an Eylea event, and I did this really cool growing table.

So like I. It was like a charging station and I had flowers, you know, I took cookie sheet pans from the dollar store and put low foam in it, covered it with moss and had flowers growing out of it. So like the table was growing, flowers that you would charge your stuff in. So it was really cool. But the florist next, 'cause they had like five different florist donate because it was such a big ask the florist next to me, like literally reflux tulips.

And by time we came back. I don't know if they didn't do a water source, I don't know what happened, but every tulip was dead. So making sure that you understand your materials is critical because if somebody comes to that wedding and they're like, yeah, I was at my friend's wedding and I love the flowers other than the dead fucking tulip.

That is not an impression that you want to make on potential clients. That is not work that you want a photographer to photograph. You want to use materials that are going to be sturdy, hold up, and you're using the proper water source of mechanics to support that. I totally get people wanting to be foam free and that being such an impor important initiative for so many people right now.

But if your materials are not supported in a foam free environment, you need to use alternatives like fiber, floral, or, I just got my first case of the renewal flower foam, which I'm super excited to try. Making sure you have the proper durable materials is so important. All right. Next thing you need to make sure that you have the team to support it.

I have seen so many florists buy deaf more than they can chew because they didn't understand how much help they needed. And I know personally from putting together so many workshops and doing these big elaborate installations, I mean, we normally do just at the installation Rockstar, we do like three to five big installations and, and I'm saying big, larger that you're learning a new technique that.

Takes, I mean like a ton of people to pull off, even with two days time. So making sure if it's a wedding day and it's go time and you have a limited time to set all this shit up, you need help. And how do you find that? Help make floral friends, everybody. Make floral friends. Reach out to people who you see tagged supporting other florists.

To see if they're available for freelancing opportunities. It is so important for you to have people in your corner to help you pull off big things. And if you're having a hard time finding freelancers, talk to your wholesaler like, Hey, I'm really having a hard time finding freelancers and I have this really big wedding coming up.

I would rather overspend on labor than underdeliver to my client because we ran over time. And I, I know often we cut corners because we're afraid, because we're worried that we're not gonna make any money, or we didn't price it correctly. So that's my next step. You need to price correctly. Otherwise, so many things can fall apart, for one, if you don't have the money to spend on product.

You have not enough product and so that your installation, which could have been a good portfolio building piece, is falling short. It's not as big as it should have been. It's skinnier than it, than it should have been. Like. When you look at it, it looks disproportionate, and when you have something that looks disproportionate, that inevitably is a recipe for disaster because.

It's gonna look puny and be disappointing not only to the client, but also to you and to the guests that came in. And they're like, oh, that's nice, but it's not impressive. It's not bold. It's not a statement. It's not, holy shit. That's amazing. I want that response. I want that. This is amazing response. I can't believe the flowers at my friend's wedding response.

I'm gonna reach out to her because those flowers were amazing. That's the response that you want, not the response that, yeah, like I can see what they were trying to do, but it just like wasn't, it was sort of cool, but not like super cool. Not the response that we want. So we need to make sure that we have the budget, we've priced accordingly.

And also, you need to value your artistry. You need to value you in the mix because if you undercharged and you have no room to actually pay yourself for doing all of this work, it's easy to get resentful. It's easy to get. Upset and it's easy to then fall short because you're just like, I'm not making any money on this, so I'm not gonna go.

Some people would just be like, I'm not overextending myself. I'm not, I'm not making this over the top cool. Which that's what the client thinks they're getting. So then that's a reflection on your brand, on you as an artist. And this is art. If you are making something beautiful out of flowers, this is art you guys.

We need to make sure as artists that we are paid accordingly. We are not a factory. We are creating something unique and different and beautiful for their special day, and that is a really big day for them. And making sure that we are not overpromising and entering deliver under delivering is. Really, like foundationally something that's really important to me.

I make sure that I am really, I ask really great questions. I make sure that I break down sizes and dimensions to clients because I don't ever want someone to say, I thought it was gonna be bigger. I thought it was gonna be different. I thought it was gonna be way larger than this. I thought it was gonna go to here.

Especially with the volume of cultural weddings that I do, I often will put in there four feet across, five feet down, or four feet down, other piece, three feet. Just like the example that I gave in the cost per square foot. I know that information because I am making sure that I am setting realistic expectations with my client, and part of that is centered around size.

I don't want them to think that they're getting a 10 foot thing when I priced out a five foot thing. I think transparency is way more important than getting a sale and then somebody inevitably di being disappointed. So having integrity when you're quoting and making sure that you really are selling exactly what you are saying.

So we're not like saying, this is gonna be so magical. It's gonna be so badass and so huge. And if it's not going to be, don't say those things. Make sure you're being realistic. Then the next critical thing is timing. And I know I talked about labor, but I am also talking about setup time. I try to make. 90% of my installations offsite, but there are times and places that can't happen.

One thing that I make sure that, and also tearing things down often takes a lot of time as well. So one thing I really wanna make sure that I'm crystal clear with my clients is that these things take time and I cannot squeeze. Something that is a size six in a size two dress like it is. If it's not meant to fit in a four hour setup window, it's not meant to fit in a four hour setup window.

I need to make sure that I have realistic expectations with my client and tell them I'm sorry, but I realistically think that this is going to take at least six hours. They might need to get additional time. Especially at the end of the night. I love how magically everyone thinks a wedding can be torn down in an hour.

An hour. I don't want to hire six people to come at midnight to tear down their wedding. Like for when finding six people, that sucks. You can do it, but it sucks paying them all to be there at midnight. That can add up quickly. So making sure, if you think with two people, it's gonna take an hour and a half, tell them.

I really think with the size of team that I can get for tear down that we need an hour and a half unless we increase. 'cause you know, I'm pricing out the amount, the volume of team members that I'm going to have. If we need more team members, because we have to have to fit in an hour, I'm gonna need an additional like $250 added to the tear down costs.

And that's realistic. You need to make sure there's realistic time expectations to execute and especially execute on a level that I'm guessing you really wanna deliver on. You want this to be magical. You want this to be amazing, you want. Other people that attend that wedding tend inevitably want you to be their florist.

Then the last thing that I'll really drive home is then you need to document. If you want to attract more floral installations, you need to document the floral installation you're making. I. Often teach, and actually this is part of my workshops. Any workshop you come to, I teach you how to take five to eight second nine second video, how to capture that, how to steady your hand, how to pair that with trending music so that you can highlight the badass that you are in, what you can make without documenting that.

You can post a picture, but it is not a video showing how, like the details of the installation video captures details on a different level. So you need to learn how to capture, how amazing, how beautiful, the size, the textures, the how dynamic everything and share it. You need to share with the world what I can do, and especially if you're acquiring inventory, like I have a HIPA in my inventory, I have four different arches in my inventory, like I have a ton of stuff in my inventory because I have acquired it over time, and I share that periodically in my Instagram feed so that people can see that these are things that I have in my inventory.

To rent because honestly, like most companies cost 500 to seven $50 to bring a hoop in. I have a wood one and I'll rent it for like $300 set up because I paid like three $50 for it. It's basically the time it takes me to put it together, which makes me charge 300. My first rental of that paid for the.

Structure and I usually, that's normally what I do is I make sure that the initial rental covers whatever I'm charging for it, and then it's bonus, like I have an arch that I can do. I've actually done like photo backdrops with it. It's a copper pipe arch that requires no tools. It is the best beginning florist arch that you could probably ever have.

It is two copper pipes wide and has connectors so that it's stable and super easy to set up. Take down. I got it for free as a tip for doing a wedding, and I literally have rented that thing out probably 25 times. For $150, 25 times like that has been. That was a great tip because it was the tip that kept on giving additional revenue.

So really understanding that I need to take the best photos or the best videos, or I need to connect with the photographer to make sure that they're really capturing. Uh, I did this wedding, it was kind of like a spooky wedding on October 25th, and we put gold painted. Snakes that I ordered on Amazon. So they were plastic snakes, um, that were realistic looking.

I mean, we did not grab like dollar store ones by any means, and I wanted to make sure that they captured that detail. I wanted to make sure that they captured the earns that I ordered that were kind of fun and different. Um, captured the bride's bouquet that had a snake kind of. Coming in and out of different spots in the bouquet, like I wanted those de details captured in a way that I knew that would really showcase that I can do custom things.

I can do specialty things that are fun and different and. I know a lot of times we're afraid to ask, but don't be afraid to ask. Like this is something that to me is a critical component in your business because you gotta be able to showcase what you can do. We are a visually driven industry and we need photos, and we need video, and with that, you will start to attract.

When I stopped posting. Like crappy ass, no offense, Google, Android phones. Like before I met my husband, I was a total Android user, and when I got an iPhone and my photo game upped. Like my photos changed. The business started changing because I started attracting a totally different clientele because my photos were better.

I took a class with another florist that taught me some photo skills. Um, I learned how to use a photo editor. Like all of those things inevitably have shaped my business into what it is now. And that's why I teach that in my workshops because I know how critical it is. 'cause I know it was the catalyst for change for me.

If you were looking for more support, I, on Monday, I invited everyone into the floral CEO Mastermind this month, but we have three sessions that are really geared all around installations. We're gonna talk about mechanics, we're gonna talk about pricing. We're gonna talk about like product ordering, ideation.

We are gonna dig deep and then. All those things are recorded, so if for some reason you miss a session it's there in the portal along with. I think I have like 80 some course modules that are in there. You also get an onboarding session with me that we talk about your business goals. Um, you get a bimonthly session with me to keep you on track.

You get weekly accountability. You get Vox or access, which is basically like having me in your back pocket and the girls in the group to ask any questions. It is so invaluable and could change your 2026. So please go head out and check out floral ceo.com/mastermind. It will change your business. And I know that sounds heady, but I've seen it.

I've seen people quit their corporate jobs. I've seen people get huge ass events. Because like we've worked on structuring the proposal, I've seen people build boundaries with their personal life and their business that they got the confidence from me. Like just continuing to tell them like, you deserve better than this.

Your business can be different. It doesn't need to feel like this. To I mean booking like a 30,000, $40,000 event. I've had multiple people actually quit their day jobs in it, which is so fun. I wanna support you. I want whatever success that you want. I want that to be yours. But sometimes you need somebody to help push you a little bit, and I wanna be that accountability to make 2026.

The year that shit was lit on fire, that you started to move towards your goals. That the what ifs, and I'd really like tos are your reality, because I know how that feels. I am living in the reality of what I wanted five years ago and five years ago, I was living in the reality of what I wanted five years before that.

You can constantly evolve into the new version of yourself, you can reinvent. That doesn't mean that the old you wasn't amazing. That means this new version of you is ready to kick ass and take names, and I wanna be there to do that with you. Thank you so much for listening, flower Friend, and you have an amazing flower filled day.