Should You Host Floral Design Workshops?
As a florist, there are many ways you can pivot your business model to increase revenue and brand awareness. One additional service you can offer is teaching floral design workshops to your community.
The Benefits of Hosting a Floral Design Workshop
For studio florists, workshops are an insightful opportunity to meet your customer; for shop owners, they entice people directly into your premises. In all situations, they are an important tool in marketing your complete package of services in an engaging way. Many workshop attendees could be next year’s brides or corporate clients.
Not sure where to begin? Below are eight questions you should think through before getting started.
1. Is Teaching a Floral Workshop Right for Me?
Whether you’re just starting out or are an established business inundated with work, busy doesn’t always mean profitable. Workshops are an ideal tool to increase brand awareness for new and established businesses alike. As business owners, we are always looking for new customers, but most importantly, we want to find and connect with our target market. And teaching a workshop can help you do just that!
If you feel confident designing in front of others, coaching individuals through a design, and giving step by step instruction—plus have a heart for sharing flowers with your community—hosting a floral design workshop might just be the right fit for you. (And even if you don’t feel confident teaching in front of people at first, getting experience doing so is the key to feeling comfortable!)
You may wish to select a Design theme for your workshop
2. Should I Have a Theme for My Workshop?
Let’s begin with what you’re trying to achieve. Do you want people to know you can deliver amazing tablescapes beyond bouquets? Or do you love working with dried flowers, but no one knows it?
The beauty of hosting a floral design workshop is that you are in control. Use events like these to showcase your inventiveness and artistry. As we all know, this is sometimes difficult to convey when restricted to certain client briefs.
Think outside of the box: Seasonal themes are an easy go-to, but also look at trends happening in your neighbourhood and within the fashion or interior design community to inspire colour palettes and textures. An A1 collage or mood board is an excellent tool for people to visualise your inspiration immediately.
3. What designs work for a Group Experience?
Always choose floral designs that you have previous experience making; you want to feel prepared when teaching. Be mindful of the time it takes to make the design and the level of experience required to recreate it.
Ultimately, you want to make sure your workshop is suitable for all skill levels. Spiral bouquets, flower crowns, and low bowl arrangements work well and are easy to gift-wrap. They’re also transportable for guests to take home, which is another important element to factor in.
4. How Do I Make a profit On The Workshop?
Unless you are running a one-off workshop to promote a launch under marketing spend, regular workshops should be profitable. Treat your workshop like any other endeavor—make sure you mark-up your flowers correctly and consider all elements such as staffing, sundries, props, venue hire, and—most important—your time.
You must consider not only the time it takes you to source and condition flowers, but also the time to prep for, run, and breakdown the workshop. Create a test workshop scenario and time yourself. A longer than anticipated workshop means less profit.
Everything above should be taken into consideration when calculating your ticket price—including any third-party commission such as Eventbrite ticket fees. You will find the cost for your initial workshop (on your end) will be more due to buying scissors and aprons, for example, but financial rewards will soon be on the way once you’ve found your workshop groove.
Adding personal touches to a floral workshop is a win!
5. How doEs My Business get the most out of a workshop?
Always begin with an introduction about you and your business! You have a captive audience of customers in front of you—make sure you tell them about yourself and all the services you offer in a natural and engaging manner.
Encourage social media interaction by asking people to take pictures of their work once it’s found a place within their home, tagging you in the process. After the workshop, email everyone that attended with any relevant flower guides/care tips and a link to your newsletter sign-up and social media accounts. Offer discount codes for repeat bookers or those who recommend you. I always ask for any client feedback at this point too.
6. Where Should I host a FLoral workshop?
If you’re a floral retail shop owner, then many of you may have the space to run a floral design workshop inside your premises. This is ideal, as attendees will be surrounded by your product and inside the shop that you’re also trying to promote.
If you need to hire a space, the space needs to work for you in terms of location—both in terms of travel distance for you but also for those attending. Find a venue that has great lighting, if possible. Lighting is often overlooked. However, not only is good lighting needed for great photos of the experience, but it’s also important so people can easily see what they are doing.
And this may sound obvious, but make sure that if you’re falling in love with a venue during the day you confirm that the evening lighting is acceptable, too. Check that they have enough chairs and table space for the required designs, and you will also need a sizable area for set-up and to display all your flowers without things getting too cramped.
Select a Floral Design Workshop Location with Great Lighting
7. What Are The Logistics I Need to Consider For a Design Workshop?
Make sure your liability insurance covers working with members of the public. Some venues may request a risk assessment, which is always handy to create as they flag up any issues.
Also, ask about water! Some sites have an issue with vessels requiring water. There are plenty of ways around this, as promoting sustainability is also a great way to educate and give your workshops a strong unique selling proposition (USP). Teaching foam-free floral designs with moss and chicken wire is a highly sought-after skill.
In addition, think through things such as having an age requirement for guests, etc. Many floral workshops require using sharp scissors, so they are best suited to adults. And if you decide to host a wine and design event, age is a factor there, too.
8. Should I Collaborate With Other Businesses?
Workshops are a great way to expand your customer base if you work with a reputable brand that has a broader reach than you. If they have an extensive customer database, featuring your workshop in their newsletter is fantastic promotion and can increase ticket sales.
Better still, if a partnering business lists the event on their website (with a weblink back to you), this is beneficial for your business’s search engine optimization (SEO). The added benefit to partnering with another business (especially for studio florists!) is if they have a wonderfully curated space, you’ll also get some great photographs to promote future events and general content. Choose brands carefully that match your ethos, customer profile, and location. Always use a contract that states who is promoting what, how, and when, and include photography usage rights within this too.
Choosing materials at a floral design workshop
Most importantly, you must be inspired by what you’re teaching; workshops need to work both financially and creatively. Good luck with your endeavours. You never know who you may meet!
All photos by Alys Tomlinson.
