Today’s Pro Solution
Some of the most beautiful value-added fall products at cut flower farming operations are dried flower wreaths. They are visually fascinating in their symmetry and beloved by customers. But beware, they present some distinct challenges to their producers. I often see farmer florists undervaluing dried flower wreaths (and all dried flower products generally) from a few different directions. It’s easy to accidentally undercharge for the flowers, the supplies, and the labor.
First bit of advice: if you haven’t made one of these wreaths, don’t take for granted that it will come easy to you. There are a few different ways to make them— our tool tip this week is a BIG help in this department. So if you haven’t considered joining the Little Farmhouse Flowers Pro solutions service, this may be your sign that it’s time!
Typically, beginning farmer florists aren’t investing in this helpful tool so they struggle with the physical construction of the wreath and ALSO with the length of time it takes to make them. While beautiful, our general finding is that it can be very difficult to maintain a meaningful profit margin with these kinds of products. If you are considering adding dried floral wreaths, try your hand at making them before you offer any pre-sales. Time yourself. See if it’s really worth it. And then consider- is your local market/community/customer base willing to offer you a price that will make it worth your while, or would you be better off spending your time earning a different kind of sale?
And from a slightly different angle- maybe dried floral wreaths make REALLY good sense as a product for you. If you have a gap in your fresh flower production in the fall this kind of product may be helpful.
Some more considerations:
When we make a wreath that is about 14-16 inches wide, we’re using about 5 bunches of dried flowers, sometimes more. As a fresh product, the value of those 5 bunches wholesale would be about $45. To make a profit selling these fresh flowers (without any design work), I’d want to sell them for about $90 retail, a general floral industry 2x markup.
But, for a dried floral wreath, we have to go through the trouble of drying the flowers. Drying requires having a well ventilated, covered or climate controlled space. While this kind of space may seem complimentary because it’s in your house or somewhere else that is available and open on your property, it is imperative that you think of these areas as rented spaces for your business. There is a cost for having that space available. Maybe you’re paying for it outside of your business as your home’s mortgage, or maybe you’re using that room and now it means you can’t have that space for something else. Whichever way you consider it— it is a cost. And drying flowers requires a lot of space.
Will you need to ship your wreaths? If so, what is the cost of the boxes needed to fit them? What about the tape, postage (the larger the box, the higher the rate), and labor to assemble the packages. Those expenses all add to the bottom line and increase the cost to the customer. They shouldn’t result in a lower profit margin for you.
Have a look at the additional costs of dried flower wreaths below and remember that you’ll be adding those expenses to the $90 in fresh flowers that you’d already “spent” on the making just one wreath.
Here is an outline of expenses to consider for dried flower wreaths:
cost of harvesting flowers (same as fresh flower expense)
cost of processing flowers (same as fresh flower expense)
cost of hanging flowers for drying (labor to hang them, nails or tacks, space to hang flowers)
cost of space to for hanging flowers
cost of climate control for drying space (you may need to run fans or be adjusting windows, or doors frequently)
cost of loss from dried flowers that break and become unusable (some inevitably will break)
cost of storing dried flowers (boxes, labor to box them up)
cost of space to store dried, boxed flowers
cost of supplies for wreathing (wreath form, or grapevine form that needs to be made, tape or wore)
cost of time to make a wreath— the process takes a while. Let’s say 30-45 mins. from start to finish if the maker also needs to prepare small bunches of flowers for the wreath they are making.
costs of shipping if that is the way you find you need to sell your product (boxes, tape, postage)
Then consider this question: do you have a marketplace that will support the sales of your product at $90 + the other costs listed above as they apply to your situation? In some ways, you may not know until you make a few and test the water. That’s OK. Have a try and see how things go.
Next, it’s important that we minimize as many of the other costs as possible to increase your profit margin. One of the biggest expenses with wreath making is time. What would you pay a designer (not everyone can make these because they take time and skill and practice) to make a wreath? If they each take about a half hour and your designer rate is somewhere in the range of $22-$30 per hour depending on experience, you’ve just added at least $11 to your overheard. And if YOU are the one making that design and you don’t factor in your labor, you’re cutting yourself and your business short.
Today, on our Pro platform we’re taking a look at one of our favorite tools, a wreath clamp machine. We’ll be sharing how it works, how efficiently it works, what it costs, and whether or not it’s been worth having one. We’ve seen some Instagram accounts sort of glancing over this tool but not really sharing much info about it. It’s time to spill the beans!