FLORAL COURSES

Over the last few years, I've toyed with the idea of creating floral courses. Not necessarily to make money but to tell you all how it really is. I have spent so much money and time on courses and webinars, and to be honest, I feel like no one teaches you anything. Ok, I am lying. I can say I usually learn something tiny, but mostly I feel invigorated afterward. So when I sit back and think was that worth my $125+ the 2 hours of my life, I would say no, it was a waste of time and money, which both I don't have. So I decided with all this extra time on my hand from shelter in place I would work on a few courses. My focus is to tell my do's and don'ts plus, keep it short and sweet and affordable.

This blog post wasn't supposed to be about me selling my courses; it was going to be a piece about how I learned so much from my mistakes that writing them down was therapeutic. Sometimes I don't even know how I have this business and how I can support myself because I had no idea how to run a business, but I knew I was a great floral designer.

PRICING COURSES

The first course I wrote was about pricing and all the things I did WRONG. Man, did I do so many things wrong for so long. I hope I can save a few fellow florist years of torture. A few examples I learned was how to price flowers. I was wayyyyyy off. I mean, I was close but losing money. At the small boutique grocery store I worked at for a hot minute processing the flowers, the owner told me to times the wholesale by three but minus a $1.00, which is correct but wrong. Yes, we sell flowers at a retail price that is three times our cost, but so does the clothing store you buy your shirts from or the cost of groceries from the store. It's the standard way. What's not standard is taking away a $1. I would price a bundle of carnations at $5 for five stems when they really should have been $6. The whole dollar is a lot of money when you are pricing weddings and trying to live in The Bay Area. Eventually, I learned, and now I price correctly and making money, so I don't need to work a part-time grocery store florist position. In the pricing course, I also talk about pricing labor and delivery, which I had no idea was even a thing until a year into the business. I even give examples of my proposals.

HOW TO GET STARTED

The second course I am writing is about how to get started. I had no idea where to began and man if I could do it differently, I would. So I will be sharing what I did, what worked, and what didn't. I am not saying a master at any of this, but I am saying I sure know a lot. Again, that's why I want to keep these courses at an affordable price point so you can learn a handful of things and not feel like that money should have been spent on your POWER bill.

The other courses will be basic, how to make bouquets, centerpieces, and general art rules that apply to flowers. I defiantly think I have a one up on people who didn't go to art school. Wow, That's the first time I ever said art school wasn't pointless. These basic rules can be found in books, but going to art school, you realize these tricks are in everything from advertising to interior design. Color theory and compositions play a massive role in good floral design, and if you can master them, you can make something beautiful out of anything.

Even if no one buys a single course, I am happy I created them. It gave me something to do and taught me a lot about myself and Ash + Oak.