Are you like I was last year? Do you have a really really green thumb (like maybe 10 green fingers)? Are you in absolutely in love with growing flowers and considering selling them?
All of the flower farming experts recommend for you to start slowly - and grow your farm a little bit at a time. It will take a long time to figure out all of the components of farming as I've quickly realized over the past 12 months and I'm just in the very beginning stages over here at Choosing Calm. I still have thousands of flowers to grow and deliver to my customers this season.
Flower farming is truly about understanding your market and what your customers are looking for too - it's not just about you ordering lots of seeds, bulbs, corms and dahlia tubers. If you don't have customers you are farming for yourself.
Who would your customers specifically be? Consumers? Wholesalers? Florists? Will you be selling by CSA, subscriptions, flower stand, farmer's markets, bouquets by order? Are you in a rural area? A suburban one? An urban one? There are so many things to consider before you even start planning your beds and what will go into them.
Always think about your customers first not what you have to offer them.
Try to think through what your customers would be interested in. Who are your specific customers? Why would they buy your flowers? What feeling would it give them to buy your flowers? And how can you reach them in the most compelling manner? What messages should you share with them? I've spent the past year thinking about my customers. I've also thought about answering the question of what my business is really selling? Quick clue here - I'm not just selling flowers, I'm 100% selling the emotion behind them. I'm selling flowers to people who find peace and joy in beautiful flowers - that care about their scent, their texture and how it makes them feel when they see them in their home or gift them to others.
As a former advertising and marketing strategist, I have had decades of experience thinking through this topic with clients - from a huge national pharmacy brand, a national home improvement retailer, an online music company to a world-class computer manufacturing company. But this is my first time thinking about my own customers - and to me these are the most exciting customers that I'll ever have because they are my farm's customers and I'm growing these flowers for them and to bring beauty and calm into their lives. I'm helping to build my community locally one flower at a time and I feel so very fortunate to have this opportunity to do so.
#cutflowers #flowerfarmer #chicagoflowers
