[Hua11.com Original] Occasionally, some of the more innovative-minded students from Hua11.com inquire about how to leverage existing local flower shop resources to embark on their entrepreneurial ventures.

I will summarize the question as follows:

Teacher, if I want to market for the flower shops already established in my area, where should I start? And how should I approach these unfamiliar shopkeepers?

I plan to initially try selling for those who have already opened shops, gradually becoming familiar with the market here. I've noticed many shops here are run by a single person and might need a marketer like me.

Do you have any specific strategies or guidelines, such as how to converse with them and the profit-sharing structure? I am quite confused. Thank you!

In essence, what these students are referring to is an issue of resource integration and marketing.

This pertains to a relatively advanced operational method.

Given such demands, since the students do not have their own physical stores and do not produce by themselves, they cannot offer much added value. From a marketing standpoint, creating value becomes more challenging, limiting the scope for marketing strategies.

Thus, we can only treat the flower products as regular trade goods.

As trade goods, they involve the supply side and the sales side.

Let's examine how to manage these two aspects specifically:

I. Addressing the Supply Side

Clearly, without a foundation of trust, the simplest and most direct way to persuade these flower shops to cooperate with you is through mutual benefits.

Let's consider this cooperation from the perspective of the flower shop owner:

As a flower shop owner, the most cost-effective deal would be that I don't have to pay anything upfront. You only need to bring me the orders for production once you receive them.

As for the commission you take in the middle, you can negotiate a reasonable percentage; or I could give you the base price, and you add your own markup.

Additionally, since the customers are sourced by you, reflecting your efforts, I don't need access to your customer information. This ensures your security and makes long-term cooperation feasible.

Understanding the mindset of the flower shop owner, we can draft the following cooperation plan:

1. Obtain sample photos from the flower shop to ensure they can produce the items as shown.

2. Get the pricing for these samples and negotiate a commission rate with the shop, such as 15% of the selling price. It should also be agreed upon that this pricing remains stable to avoid unexpected losses. (Since the flower shop is not willing to take on any risks, typically, you will cover these potential losses.)

3. Shipping costs are charged as actual and are not included in the commission. The charging standard can follow the rates of a courier service APP (ranging from a few to several tens of yuan), usually calculated based on distance. You can also opt to deliver the products yourself.

4. In the event of customer dissatisfaction due to quality issues and returns, the flower shop should bear the loss. In such cases, you would not receive a commission either.

The above serves as a framework plan, with specific details adjusted according to the actual situation. However, the direction should align with this to ensure mutual benefits.

Only a win-win situation can ensure the longevity of the business.

If the flower shop agrees to this plan, you can proceed to create promotional materials and start marketing.

The promotional materials should note:

1. Your contact information should be included.

2. Indicate that in case of shortages of certain flowers or the need for seasonal substitutions, flowers of the same color scheme and at least the same grade will be used, maintaining the overall effect and value of the arrangement.

The second point is crucial. You may need to monitor the production quality of the flower shop to ensure this clause is upheld. Otherwise, customers may feel the products are not as described, affecting your reputation and income.

If the flower shop you collaborate with frequently encounters such issues, consider finding a different partner.

II. Addressing the Sales Side

Once the production side is resolved, it's time to start promoting, which is the most challenging part. However, once an effective sales method is identified, it becomes the most valuable aspect.

This is why the book "How to Run a Flower Shop and Floral Studio" includes numerous articles on marketing management. We aim to break down and analyze the most difficult parts one by one.

Solving marketing challenges can pave the way for you to open your own store in the future, aligning with your original intention of such an indirect approach to success.

So, how should you proceed?

Whether it's bouquets, monthly subscription flowers, commercial floral works, or light arrangements, you can collaborate using the plan outlined earlier.

But with so many products, should you launch them all at once?

This is clearly not advisable. A "big and comprehensive" product sales strategy will disperse your energy and make it hard to find precise users. Without a targeted audience, the conversion rate will be low, directly impacting your sales.

Instead, focus on creating "few but fine" products and refining them. To increase the hit rate and coverage of your marketing, you may need to prepare 2-3 product lines for promotion. For example:

- Bouquets

- Monthly subscription flowers (for home/office/commercial use)

- Opening flower baskets

Standard schemes for light arrangements (refer to: [Hua11.com · Light Decoration Series 2] The significance of Light Decoration to modern flower shops and floral studios)

These product lines can cover many application scenarios, providing ample material for your promotions.

Then, should we promote all these lines at once?

The answer is still no. We should "act at the right time."

For instance, on Valentine's Day, Qixi Festival, and other peak seasons for traditional flower shops, there will be a surge in demand for bouquets and light arrangements. You should begin promoting these products two weeks in advance, rather than others.

Usually, bouquets are not a necessity. To improve efficiency, focus on promoting monthly subscription flowers (for individuals and businesses) and opening flower baskets (for shopping malls and stores).

It's important to note that the demand for light arrangement projects is consistent throughout the year and can be a regular promotion.

After determining the project, how to promote it?

Let's take the promotion of bouquets as an example and outline the steps:

1. Identifying the target audience.

Generally, bouquet buyers are primarily young and middle-aged men.

However, in recent years, there has been an increase in women purchasing bouquets as gifts for friends, leaders, relatives, etc.

Thus, the female demographic should not be overlooked. (But on holidays like Qixi Festival, men should remain the primary target for promotion)

2. Where are the offline target groups?

If you have read this book carefully, you'll notice that Hua11.com places great emphasis on ground promotion. Although it may seem traditional, it is an efficient way to directly reach the target audience. (Refer to: [Hua11.com · Marketing First Step Series 8] Why prioritize ground promotion for flower shops and studios? Isn't online marketing easier?)

Where are the offline target groups? This requires your regular observation. For example:

- Near office buildings

- Shopping malls

- Transportation hubs, subway entrances

- Entrances of residential areas

- Areas with concentrations of restaurants and eateries

Etc.

One of our promotion principles is "Where the crowd is, promote there."

Don't be shy. In reality, no one will care who you are. Of course, if you are an attractive woman, it might increase your promotion success rate. :)

3. Where are the online target groups? What are the free promotion channels?

Regarding online promotion channels for flowers, we have created a mind map.

There are many channels listed, but not everyone will use them. Which method is effective requires your personal testing.

Perhaps, you can consider using the following promotion method combinations:

- Short-term but quick results: Ground promotion

- Medium-term effect, easy to build trust and reputation: Personal WeChat (service marketing)

- Long-term effect but slow to take effect: Weibo (Share your stories with customers)

The key is persistence.

Use personal WeChat for unified contact information.

4. How to capture their attention?

You need to convey the most critical information to the target customers in the shortest time. How to do it? See here: [Hua11.com · Marketing Advanced Series 5] How to design a promotional page? How to enhance a flower shop's first impression on customers?

5. Facilitate transactions.

After guiding the customers to your WeChat, use service marketing to facilitate customer transactions. Avoid annoying and spammy methods, which will only cause customers to leave and damage your reputation. The specific guidelines are here:

[Hua11.com · Marketing First Step Series 4] Boost flower sales with strategic services

[Hua11.com · Marketing Pro Series 1] Avoid selling

The above analyzes the promotion method for bouquets.

So how to promote monthly subscription flowers, opening flower baskets, and light arrangements? You can infer by analogy, think, and practice.

It's worth mentioning that if your goal is larger and you want to focus on online promotion, then you can learn about the sharing and reward policies of the "Flower 24 Hours Alliance". "Flower 24 Hours" is a national alliance of outstanding florists, high-quality physical flower shops, and floral studios (official website https://hua24.com). Due to the mid-to-high-end positioning of the alliance, it can guarantee production to a certain extent and reduce the risk of poor reputation after promotion.

National promotion has a much larger market capacity than promotion targeting only local groups. You can make comparisons and make some choices.

Everything is difficult at the beginning. Implementation at the start is even more challenging. This is why many people do not succeed.

Find the promotion methods that work for you, then simply repeat and do them daily, for 1 month, 1 quarter, and the effects will become apparent.

If you regard flowers as a lifelong career, then this initial period is nothing at all. The most feared thing is to constantly seek methods, delay implementation, and make various excuses for procrastination.

And procrastination is the number one killer of success. Please take action quickly!

Copyright Statement:

This article is an original creation by Hua11.com and is included in the “How to Run a Flower Shop and Floral Studio” Ebook. The content of this article may be periodically updated and is initially published on the Hua11.com official website blog. You can find the article at this link: https://hua11.com/blog/4715.html.

Reproduction of this article is permitted, provided that it is reprinted in full and all copyright information is retained. Any form of plagiarism, whether partial or complete, is strictly prohibited. Legal action will be taken against violators.

The work titled “How to Run a Flower Shop and Floral Studio” is copyrighted by Hua11.com. Additionally, the “Practical Floral Training” model and the concept of “Light Decoration” are original creations by Hua11.com. The trademark “花艺意” is registered and protected by relevant national laws.