Floral recipes guarantee profitability and seamless design execution. Like a chef creating a signature dish, you can do the same with your floral arrangements. Perfecting a few recipes will allow you to create your go-to list of floral templates that your clients will always love. And this is how you build customer loyalty!

If you are running a floral business, it is essential to have a well-organized recipe process. Not only will it help you keep track of flowers and supplies, but it will also save you time and money in the long run.

What are floral recipes?

Floral recipes are the key to keeping your business sustainable—maximizing profit and reducing waste. They are the blueprint for your floral design arrangements. Recipes should always include a list of flowers, hard goods, and step-by-step instructions for putting everything together. In addition, an excellent floral recipe system will consist of a photo or sketch for style reference as well as any specifications shared during the consultation for the final product by a floral designer.

Why are they important?

Keeping track of your floral recipes is important for a few reasons. First and foremost, it will make your workflow more efficient. Having a clear recipe blueprint all in one place guarantees that you won't waste time looking up details or remembering what goes in the recipe. In addition, recipes help you keep track of supplies and create a consolidated shopping list.

Secondly, recipes allow you to replicate your most successful arrangements easily. This is especially useful when you're building your brand and marketing portfolio. If you have a recipe library where you can store your designs, you can use it for future projects with reduced time and effort.

Tips for Managing Your Floral Recipes

Storage System

Collect all of your floral recipes in one place. This could be a physical notebook, spreadsheet, or even a folder on your computer. However, we recommend you take the digital cloud-based approach and use an all-in-one project management software created for event florists. For example, True Client Pro floral software stores and manages your recipes with a few clicks of a button. This way, you always have recipes on hand when you need them.

Organization

Figure out a good system to organize your recipes. It will make finding the right recipe faster if you're looking for inspiration or trying to replicate an arrangement. Make sure each recipe is clearly labeled and easy to find. Your floral recipes should be organized in a way that makes sense. We suggest categorizing by season, holiday, or even type of event. You can also alphabetize by flower type or arrangement style. Florists rave about True Client Pro's auto-generated 'pull and prep' list. This wonderful software can help you stay more efficient and ensure everyone on your team is on the same page when making arrangements.

Details

Make sure to incorporate every single little detail in each recipe, including all the supplies you'll need, the type of container used, flower quantities, dimensions of the finished arrangement, and even special care instructions. In addition, take pictures of your finished product to help you and your team create arrangements that are consistent.

When including supplies, be specific. Don't just mention "a vase." Instead, specify the size and shape of the vase, the type of material it's made from, and any other relevant details. The same goes for the flowers you'll be using. Include the species and variety of flowers, color, size, and number of blooms.

When listing dimensions, specify both the width and height of the arrangement. Lastly, when listing special care instructions, include details like preparing to process the flowers or restocking your rented inventory.

Duplication

Maximize your best recipes. If you use software like True Client Pro, you can draw on a recipe database to create new incoming proposals with minimum effort. Once the recipe is finalized, you can duplicate it into different aspects of the event. For example, if you create a bridal bouquet, you can duplicate the recipe and modify it to create your bridesmaid's bouquets. This will help save time, money, and creative energy. You won't have to stress when coming up with new arrangements.

Cost

Staying within budget and making wise financial decisions are critical to run a healthy and profitable business. You may have a proven recipe that is a fan favorite. However, your profit margin might be affected due to the rising cost of resources. Wouldn't you enjoy taking the guesswork out of your recipe profit margins? What if you could get a red flag alert

when you adjust quantities so that you can modify markups or source your florals differently as you track your finances? True Client Pro does just that with the 'product cost' report and the flower order summary sheet.

Review Process

Review your recipes regularly. As your business grows, your product offering may expand. In addition, your client's needs may change based on current trends. An annual review of your floral recipes encourages creativity, keeps information up to date, and helps you catch possible errors or typos. Also, remember that pricing updates may occur weekly, monthly, or quarterly.

These are just a few tips on how to manage your floral recipes. With a little organization, you can streamline your workflow and create beautiful arrangements over and over again. It saves you time, energy, and money. Ultimately, preparing and organizing a floral recipe library will make your business run like a well-oiled machine.

You can be on your way to becoming a recipe pro. A recipe storage system is essential to help you get there. Cloud-based software, such as True Client Pro, takes the guesswork out of your recipes by automatically generating key reports to help you make informed decisions about your arrangements. With this system in place, you'll have everything you need to streamline your workflow and take your business to the next level.

Visit the True Client Pro Resources page for complementary educational tools or book a one-on-one demo here to start your free trial.

Photography by Almond Leaf Studios & design by Kelly Perry of Team Flower