Contingencies and Staffing

Claire, Plantpassion

This section is all about the "What if's"
The " it's never going to happen" scenarios, that, if, just if, they happened, would be devastating for your business and your nearest and dearest. Unfortunately we all know that "shxx" does happen occasionally. Life doesn't always smell of roses, but I know that I'm a lot happier in the knowledge that I've done a bit of preparation for this.

So this lesson is divided into 2 parts... temporarily taking you out of the business, and permanently.

Have you thought, at all, about the "What ifs”?

Sickness or Emergencies

I'm usually a very healthy person, but a few years ago, in the summer of 2015 (actually while I was having the first few days away for 12 years with just my husband, as son was on a school camp) I started feeling ill. I thought it was a bad back at first, which was causing pain, and went to the Chiropractor when we got home. But then I got a bad "cold" which floored me, and sent me to bed for 3 days. Then it was British Flowers week, and I had open days advertised, for florists and the public, so obviously I kept going somehow.... Anyway to cut a long story short, it was Pneumonia.

When I finally gave in and let my Mum and Dad run my open day, so I could be taken to the doctor, I was sent straight to hospital for an X-ray, and told I was very lucky not to be staying there. It was June, I had a field full of flowers, customers waiting to buy them, and I was told I was allowed to do one hour of gentle watering with a hose each day and nothing else!

So did my business fold? Did my hours in bed sleeping each afternoon mean that nothing flowered?
Well no, of course, although it felt like only I could do every job on the field:

• My Mum and Dad knew how to open up the farm, lock it up and put the kettle on.

• I had volunteers who knew how to water, and were willing to serve tea and chat at my open day.

• I had florists who knew how to pick flowers, and wanted orders, so were willing to pick their own.

• I had florists who I could pay to pick flowers and make customer orders up for me.

• I had friends who were willing to help for a few hours in return for flowers.

When I looked back at my takings that month, the turnover was only down negligibly on the year before, my contractor costs were slightly up, but the field had lasted without me for 3 and a half full weeks in peak season, and I'd had time to see my son play cricket lots, sat in my garden, and I was ready to hit the ground running, as soon as I had my strength back.

So, think about if you were unexpectedly out of the business for 3 weeks.

• Who would, or could get access to your plot?

• Who could you call on to temporarily help you?

• Which would be the volunteers?

• Who could you pay to give you knowledgable assistance?

Here's my blog from the time afterwards.....

I have always believed in "paying it forward". Helping others now, so that should you ever need it, they will be ever so willing to help you.

“Who can you count on this year by paying it forward?”

Covering events

What if your 3 week emergency was at a time of year when you had events? During my pneumonia, I had open days - one for florists where the Florist who was running the demonstration took over from me for the majority of the hosting, and 2 for the public, where I pretty much handed over to my Mum and Dad, and a couple of volunteers to enable the doors to be open.

If you’re anything like me, you may feel that nobody could do this except for you however, although someone else won't do it the same as you, it will get done. I'd taken money for the florist day, and the others had been advertised country wide in magazines. They couldn't be cancelled at the last minute. If you had an emergency before an Event, whether a workshop or an open day, what would you do?

What do your terms and conditions say about cancellations?

• Do your terms and conditions say that it will be you running the workshop, or can someone of your calibre stand in for you?

• Have you kept all the monies paid in advance aside, so that they can be paid back? (if you use some event software the money isn't paid to you until after the event)

• If it's wedding flowers, - Is there another florist, or list of florists that someone can contact on your behalf to get the displays done?
  While I was ill, the only wedding flowers that were needed were a DIY bucket wedding. However it was at this point I realised I hadn't written down for my helpers exactly what that contained. Even if it isn't available for your customers, have you written down for yourself and your team exactly what each "thing" you sell means in terms of workload?
  This is where Staff and helpers are so important, who will cover you?

What if you went under a bus?

Gorgeous bus photo from the Heroine in Heels blog

You have one week to go before an important event that you were going to manage all on your own, you now won't be available. What steps can you take to cover it?

OK, we don't like to think about our demise, but as the saying goes,

“ the only certain things in life are death and taxes.”

Have you planned for it? Or at least had a serious think about it?
If something drastic happens to you, your loved ones are going to be coping with enough as it is. Who will deal with your business?

If you own your own land, have no contract customers (nothing booked in for a particular date) and have no staff or debt, then this may be as simple as taking down any sign, and your website / online presence. If like me you rent land, that has constraints and covenants, have staff, and commitments more than a year in advance then you will need to have a plan in place for what would happen if all of a sudden you weren't there.
Main things to think about:

• Customer commitments
  Workshops and weddings - Have you got any booking fees kept separately, so they can be refunded?. Do you have a list of florists who you could refer brides on to if you're unable to do their event. How will someone sorting your estate know who to contact? Have you got lists printed out? Or are there details of how to get into you computer files, and where they need to look?

• Staff or helpers
  Is there money put aside for wages? How long would their notice period be? Would they be required to help with closing up the flower farm? Could they run, or take over the farm?

• Web Presence / Social media
  Will you want your followers to be told about your demise? Do you want your accounts to be closed immediately, or remain for people to find out about your business, or do you want them to be your memorial? Facebook have a policy on Memorial accounts, and how to close them down.

• Stock and investments
  Over the time you've been flower farming, you will have built up investments. Plants, equipment and accessories may all have monetary value to the right people. Have you written instructions about what might be sold? Is there anything hired or loaned that will need to go back to others?

• Clearing down the flower farm.
  If you farm on your own land, then plants and equipment could just be left in place. If you rent land, then plantings may need to be cleared, infrastructure may need to be removed, or added to leave the land as expected. Who will do this? How will they know what is needed?

Is there a business without you?

Would your business go on without you?
In the next section Paula will go over passing on or selling a business, but here we're looking at the situation where something unexpected happens to you.
For most of us the answer is, no... because we are all, or the majority of the business. but I'd like you to think about what would happen to your business at various different times of the year.
Are there flowers that could still be cut and used?
Are there plants that could be dug up and sold?
Are you in a position where the business could be sold on to someone else? I've attached a checklist for you to start to form your own "What if" plan.

Planning for the Future - Where are you going?

From A to Z, via C, J and W

Paula, Mill Pond Flower Farm

Where are you and your business going? Some people have a very clear vision of where they want to be in 1, 3 and 5 years, they’ve written a business plan and mapped it out. Throughout this course we’ve encouraged you to look at how flower farming fits into your life and how to make it all work for you as a person. One of the things that Carol, Claire and I have in common is that although none of us have a blueprint for a successful flower farm, the thing we DO have is a clear idea of what we want from our lives, where flower farming fits into it, and where we hope to be in a few years time.

Twelve years ago, I worked as a Director of Quality and Accreditation for an awarding body, a responsible and well paid job, interesting and challenging, working with good colleagues. The organisation took staff development very seriously and wanted to know about my ambitions for the future so they could provide development opportunities and training. I didn’t know what I wanted, but I knew I didn’t want to stay in that role long term. They paid for me to discuss future options with an independent consultant. We chatted about the reason I was there, what the organisation wanted, the possible outcomes, not really coming to any conclusion. Then he asked me a question:

What would you do if money was no object?

That was an easy question to answer – something to do with growing, working outdoors, a bit of teaching, a few hours volunteering, time for family and friends, a bit of kayaking. Although I’d never talked about it before, I knew exactly what I wanted, not the detail, but the elements and the proportions. Taking money out of the conversation made it easy to articulate because there was no pressure, it was purely blue-sky thinking. It was a revelation!

So, the next question was how would I get there?

The advice I was given was very sensible and practical.

Don’t try to do it all at once, have in your head where you’re going and make decisions that will take you in that direction.

We put our house on the market (just as the financial crisis hit, poor timing!) I changed my job to one more home based and further north, we looked for some land, moved slowly, tried things out. It wasn’t quick or direct, but I’ve ended up doing growing, working outdoors, a bit of teaching, a bit of volunteering, time for family and friends – I’m still working on the balance and the kayaks are collecting leaves rather than waves but there’s still time for that one!

“TASK
Have a go at putting down on the worksheet what your ideal life would be
It can change over time, you can add in new developments and interests, and you don’t have to share it with anyone, but it might help you to be clear about your direction”

How to Plan for an Unknown Destination

If you’re really not sure about your ultimate destination, but you’re happy to keep on moving and see where you end up, there are still a few things you can do to help prepare for the future.

1. Enjoy the process

We can be in such a rush to get where we’re going, even if we don’t know where that is, that we can miss the scenery along the way. If you know you won’t be doing it forever, even the most mundane job can be enjoyable, just treat it as part of your process and look for the positives.

If you’re juggling flower farming with bringing up children, it can be a challenge to find time to do everything in the time you have, but you don’t want to wish away the time with small ones who grow up so fast.

2. Be Curious

There are so many opportunities when you’re developing a new area of work. Being curious about things you’ve never done or experienced can often bring huge rewards. It can take you in unexpected directions and bring you in contact with people well outside of your usual group, but can also expand your idea of what your role could be and how your business can work.

I’d never been involved in a photoshoot before but was approached by a photographer and gave it a go. I learned a lot from the process, how it all works, what a model does that’s different to an ‘ordinary’ person, what flowers need to look like and how robust they need to be, how much hanging about there is, how boring it would be to do every day...an insight into someone else’s world is always fascinating.

3. Develop networks

We sell flowers to people. Finding a market for our flowers is the key to a successful flower farm, even more than being a technically competent grower. If you’re going to develop a retail flower business you need to be able to reach more than just people who already love flowers. Look at who you know, what you do and who you interact with. They’re all potential promoters for your business even if they won’t buy from you and they can be your routes to new markets. Think about your networks and work out how you can cultivate news ones that might open you up to new experiences.

Last year we added signwriting to our flower delivery van and it was amazing how many people commented that they didn’t realise that we were the people who ran the flower farm. They knew us, and that there was a flower farm, but not that it was OUR flower farm. We clearly hadn’t been using all our local networks and we’ve had a lot more local enquiries since then.

4. Develop skills

Which skills do you think would be useful in your life? You may have a plan for growing skills directly related to flower farming, but it’s always worth taking up opportunities to develop additional skills that can be transferred and applied.
In 1989, I was working a nurse, had a couple of small children and no time to do any learning outside the house. I got a book out of the library and taught myself to touch type. At the time, I’d never done any admin and computers were not yet widely available, but I thought it would be a useful skill. It is a skill that has saved me hours and hours of time in the intervening years, I type quickly and with fewer typos and can hold a conversation at the same time. I also took the opportunity to train as a tutor through my job, it was extra work but gave me a basic teaching qualification which has allowed me to move between sectors and teach with confidence across a range of subjects. Developing transferable skills can be time very well spent.

5. Don’t look at the rock!

If you’re paddling a boat down a river and approaching an enormous rock that could spell disaster, where should you be looking? It’s tempting to look at the rock, it’s the focus of doom and needs to be avoided. However, looking at the rock means you’re much more likely to hit it. You need to look in the direction you’re going, paddle hard and keep focused. The same is true in business. You need to be aware of possible obstacles so that you can avoid them, but keep focussing on where you’re going so that your efforts are used in a positive direction.

Values-led approaches to business

How you behave is underpinned by your values. We all have firmly held beliefs that affect the decisions we make and the things we do and these values are key aspects of how we develop our flower farms. Values affect the direction of our lives and the development of our businesses. There’s no need to feel we all need to have the same values, or that we should try to be a particular way. It’s important to understand which values give us direction however, so that we can take them into account when planning and developing our businesses.

For example:

• If one of your priority values is Balance – taking the opportunity to develop through family, friends, at work and play, then you might set your business hours to allow you to collect your children from school, help elderly relatives with their shopping or go to a choir. These things are important to you so you make sure they are possible or there will always be a conflict between what you are doing at work and what you feel you should be doing.

• If one of your priority values is Perfection - complete and correct in every way, then you are more likely to spend time getting aspects of your work exactly right and need to build this in to your schedule

The important thing about values is not feeling you should have the same ones as others or society might expect, but knowing which values are important to you so that you understand the impact this will have on your decisions on a day to day basis.

You might also choose to promote your values through your work

For example, If one of your priority values is Sustainability – being able to maintain activity without adversely impacting on others or the environment, then you could tell your customers what you do to limit the impact of your business on the environment.

“
Question
Are your business values easy to identify and promote?”

Sustainability

Carol, Carol's Garden

What is Sustainability?

Here are a few definitions:

• Avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance

• The ability to be maintained at a certain level or rate.

• Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

It’s about creating a balance within environment, economic and social factors. It’s easy to focus on just the environmental considerations, but economic and social sustainability are also critical for long term balance, on whatever scale we are looking. We can consider sustainability as just our own business, but we could also look a bit wider at our own local community, our nation. Solving world problems may be beyond us, but in the absence of top-down change, we need to start from where we can.

1. Environmental sustainability - Is about the use of natural resources, care for the environment, biodiversity, management of waste. All the stuff which is quite well publicised and easy to get started on - plastics, pesticides, water, peat, etc.

2. Economic sustainability - is about creating an economic balance where systems can continue without exploiting any parties - can your business make enough to provide an income, pay for the best environmental options, pay taxes and start to put something back into the local economy.

3. Social sustainability - is where we can start to work with our local community - through providing work, personal development, education, supporting local community groups, businesses, charities, etc. Providing access for your community to your flowers, even those on lower incomes. You may not consider this to be part of sustainability - but if everyone just looks to their own business, then communities and society will peter out.
   
   

What is the ‘Gold Standard’ for flower growers? There isn't really a One Size Fits All answer to this. We know it would be great to have a closed system - being totally self-sustaining, bringing in zero resources, producing zero waste. But this is simply not achievable for most of us. It is better to think of a continual process of improvement than to have an unrealistic ideal which we will never reach.

Absolute terms can sometimes be damaging to progress. Take the use of floral foam as an example. Zero foam, or never using foam, is an admirable target. Easily achievable for a few who probably don't use much anyway. But an emphasis on reducing rather than eliminating floral foam might have greater impact on total foam use. It might be better if, say, 50% of all florists reduced their use of floral foam by 50% than if, say, 10% committed to never using any and the 90% carried on the same because they think zero foam is unachievable for them.

Creating a seasonal foam free urn in the middle of winter.

So what is the reality? We are where we are. We are not talking about campaigning to change what other people do, that’s a different conversation. We are looking at what we do. We can all do more to improve our sustainability. This process will never be finished. We have to make a start and to get sustainability in all its forms onto our agenda, into our business plans and make it happen. It’s about having a long term, considered approach to the sustainability of our businesses and their place in the local environment, economy and society.

So what is a Sustainable Approach?

If there is no blueprint, we need to develop our own sustainable approaches:

1. Define your attitude to sustainability. Call it a policy if you like. Just define it and write it down. This might include long term goals or ideals, or you might want to focus on one thing at a time. Build in some of your values and context for your business - whether it is for environment, family, community, etc.

2. Set some targets, which might be in the following areas:

   • Reduce your carbon footprint - through reducing use of plastics, imports, chemical fertilisers

   • Steps to protect your own environment - soil, biodiversity

   • Monitor and record what you are doing and achieving - including biodiversity

   • Outreach into your community - spreading and sharing the message, setting an example

   • Spreading the message with the flower-growing community - reducing waste, reducing plastic.

   Remember that targets need to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed) - eg., I will do 3 talks to local groups, explaining why British Flowers are the best choice for people buying flowers, by the end of the year. Achievable is better than failing.

3. You will need to measure some of the elements of your plans - e.g. amount of fertiliser per square meter, water useage, % of imported flowers used. If you don't measure and monitor it, you can’t manage it!

4. Review your progress and learn from what you have done. If you have not met a target, or had to resort to something you didn't feel happy about (eg using a pesticide) then review why that happened and what you can do to prevent it happening again. Set new targets. Do this as you go through the year, but definitely when you revisit your plans. This long term, considered process is much more sustainable and valuable than reacting to short term trends.

5. Make it a habit - it’s all about mindset. If you start to notice and investigate, you will develop the instinct to reduce : re-use : recycle - before you buy or throw away.

Don’t be over ambitious, but remember that some progress is better than none.

The Hierarchy of Choices.

Almost all of these decisions have many options. Some are better than others, and there is often a ‘hierarchy’ from the best to the worst decisions for the environmental impact.

For example: The decisions around sourcing of flowers for anyone in the UK - eg a florist or a grower who may need to buy in flowers. There have been various studies on this notably by Rebecca Swinn at Lancaster University and ongoing research by Coventry University in conjunction with Angela Coulton of Flowers From The Farm.
They have concluded that outdoor-grown, seasonal, locally grown & sold flowers will have the lowest carbon footprint of any flowers, anywhere. As with any sustainability decision, there is a ‘hierarchy of choices’:

1. Grow your own flowers - the lowest carbon cost of any flowers.

2. Buy from a local grower - next best option.

3. Buy British direct from a grower from outside the region.

4. Buy British grown via a wholesaler (lower than no 4 because they will probably

   have travelled further and used more resources along the way).

5. Buy imported - wherever they are from, the carbon cost will be higher than UK sourced. It is then better to source flowers which have been certified under a sustainability scheme of some kind.

All these kind of choices will apply to other countries, and to other products. It is the hierarchy which matters. If you can’t do 1, try 2 next and so on.

Note on Certification - there are various flower certification schemes in place in Europe and internationally. There are currently none specific to the UK because, simply, there hasn't been much of an industry to need certification. There are some plans to address this, but it’s likely to be a long way off.

Making a Difference...

Look at everything that comes into your business and all the waste that leaves it - all the items you buy or throw away. Ask yourself:

• Reduce - Do I need to buy it? What if I didn't buy that? Can I reduce the quantity I buy? Can I reduce the waste?

• Re-use - Can I use that item again, rather than throwing it away, chucking on the compost. Can I use something else, maybe something I’ve already got to do that? Can I mend it?

• Recycle - The last resort for most waste we generate - good composting systems, but also can you support recycling by buying recycled waste products?

• Monitor what you throw away or burn - how can you avoid doing that again? Is it a symptom of a deeper problem?

Look again at lean systems, which focus on reducing waste of all kinds. A lot of the time, there are no clear-cut answers. You can only make decisions based on the best knowledge at the time. This knowledge might change, we have to try to keep up to date and aware e.g. I use plastic pea netting to support my flowers. I’ve been re-using the same netting for about 4 years now. At the time I bought it, it was the only option I could find. Jute netting is now available to buy, Should I switch to jute?
My decision-making process is:

1. To carry on using what I've already got. Not buying anything new is the best option at all.

2. I will continue to mend it as it needs, and to take care of it to extend its life as long as possible.

3. When I need to replace it, I will consider alternatives, including jute. I will need to try to find out and weigh up the environmental cost:benefit. Jute may have a lower carbon footprint to produce, and dispose of. But is still has to be transported to UK and will need to be replaced every season. Plastic lasts many seasons, but the production and disposal is damaging. The options might be different by the time I need to source a replacement

4. I might also have to consider if my business can stand the increased cost of using jute. Perhaps I need to increase the cost of the flowers slightly to cover that. How can I persuade my customers that they are still getting best value?

I’m not going to suggest which way we need to go, but this is the process we should be going through.

Turning all the work into a marketing opportunity

Make the most of your sustainability and promote it. Be transparent and accurate. If you’re growing and using all your own flowers, then say so. But, don't over-claim, as this undermines credibility. If you are not registered organic under a recognised certification scheme, do not claim to be organic. You can state if you do not use pesticides or herbicides, but don't then use unofficial remedies which are not recognised in the UK.

Download the Checklist and use it as a prompt to write your own sustainability policy and targets

Future-Proofing your Business

Paula, Mill Pond Flower Farm

Research and Development

If we want our industry and businesses to progress and develop, we need to invest time and resources in research and development. Dutch suppliers and big businesses do this as a matter of course, but their findings are often not relevant to small scale growers. To get information that can help us to plan, develop and improve our products and our businesses we need to set our own agenda, to decide what is researched, tested and trialled, how the results are shared and work with others to roll out new developments.

In the UK there is no Industry Body for flower growers, which can be seen as an advantage (no administrative obstacles) but also a disadvantage (no route for funding or responsibility for development) but it means that very little research has been done on small scale flower growing in the UK. There is a National Cut Flower Centre for England, based in Lincolnshire but its work does not impact significantly on small scale cut flower growers.

A couple of years ago I approached the Scottish Government on behalf of Flowers from the Farm members to ask them to support our growth and development. Work with Scottish Enterprise showed that there was little known about the scale, impact and possibilities of Scottish flower growers and they agreed to fund a small study. That study led to a facilitated seminar and a group of growers are currently being supported to develop and trial grower to florist systems to try and get our flowers more easily to market.

Practical steps you can take:

• Join Flowers from the Farm in the UK, or your national flower farmer network in your own country

• Let your MP or representative know what you do and ask them to involve you in consultation on national developments

• If you think of a good idea or project that would help with flower farming, approach someone with it. Start a conversation, you don’t know where it will end up!

• Approach your growing and business development in a methodical way, keep good notes and records

• Join in trials and research projects if they are offered

• Test new varieties and plants and share your results with others

• Test different ways of growing plants for cutting

• Share new ways of working and growing methods

• Subscribe to free horticultural and floristry updates where available

• Follow industry bodies on social media and keep an eye on new

  developments, disease warnings, etc.Collaboration

Competition or Collaboration?

If you read about getting on in business, you’ll usually find that there’s a great concentration on beating your ’competitors’. You need to be better, smarter, cheaper than other organisations in the same business. This kind of language creates an oppositional approach and would encourage antagonism and aggression towards other flower farmers. It’s easy to feel threatened by people working in the same industry as yourself, particularly if there is a limited local market that you are both targeting.

You can take a collaborative approach instead, it’s a choice about how you want to work. I’ve always encouraged other flower farmers in an active way. I run Introduction to Flower Farming workshops, share information on forums and support flower growers by email and phone. I think that the more flower farmers there are, the more attention we’ll all get and the industry can grow and develop taking us all with it. If my business is strong and my customers well served, Mill Pond Flower Farm will be fine.

When I first started growing for sale there were 3 other growers in Scotland and I’ve worked with others to increase that number. We now have over 70 members of Flowers from the Farm in Scotland. What that gives us is strength in numbers, shared experience and diversity, all positive attributes that have enabled us to approach government for assistance and raise the profile of flower growers with the general public. On our own we would have got nowhere fast, but together we can get along, have company and support from each other and go further.

Working with others can take you further

The UK cut flower industry has grown and developed in the past 7 years in a way that no one would have ever predicted. The only reason for this is the extent of collaboration between small scale flower growers facilitated by Flowers from the Farm, promoting British grown flowers together. On our own we could have raised awareness in a minor way in our local area, but there is no way that British grown flowers would have been across the whole of the BBC for a week in May 2018, and in the press numerous times throughout the year, including photos of the Queen with Flowers from the Farm members on the stand at RHS Chelsea. It’s all about working together!

If you and your business are part of something bigger, you benefit in many ways:

• Support and camaraderie.

• Practical help and support.

• Advice and help with problemsolving.

• A platform for approaching statutory organisations.

• Greater visibility.

• Pooled resources and expertise.

• Opportunities to link with other businesses and suppliers.

There’s always a demand on your time and energy but in my experience, investment in collaborative work always repays with interest.

When considering collaboration, there are a few questions you should ask:

• Do you like the people? If you’re going to be spending time with them and linking your business to another, you need to know you can get along with them.

• Do their values align well with your own? If you feel uncomfortable with a collaborator’s key values and beliefs you won’t be committed to your work together.

• What can you gain from this collaboration? The benefits are rarely seen in monetary terms but you should be able to see a positive outcome for you and your business.

• What can you offer to the collaboration? The more you’re able to contribute, the more you will get from the experience. If you feel you’re a ‘junior’ partner or are just setting out, don’t worry about that, just be sure you’re going to be able to play a role that helps to make it all work effectively. The lessons in Module 5: Managing Customers and Suppliers provide some additional guidance in how to approach collaborations and develop clear understandings with those you work with.

In the past few years we’ve collaborated in the following:

Paula:

• Gardening Scotland stands

• Wedding Photoshoot

• Horticultural Society Shows

• Approaches to Scottish Government

• Project development with Scottish Enterprise Conference design, development and delivery

• Floral installation in central Edinburgh

• Flowers from the Farm management and development

Claire:

• Writing a book

• Wedding Photoshoots

• Florist workshops

• Organised and delivered bulk buys

• Hampton Court Flower show team displays

Carol:

• Flowers from the Farm stands at regional flower shows

• Worked with florists on a display for RHS Chelsea flower show (and

  supplied flowers)

• Collaborated on several workshops including with Emma Bridgewater

• Worked with florists on their own events

• Group buys in Flowers from the farm local region

• Local garden society and annual show

Looking outside our industry

Flower growers and florists tend to focus their attention on flowers. We’re always concentrating on how to sell what we grow, trends in retail, systems and processes, new technology for small businesses. On the whole, that’s not a problem so long as we don’t forget to look up from time to time and take advantage of the great work that other industries are doing. Just because a workshop, seminar or book isn’t aimed at flower growers doesn’t mean it isn’t relevant.

Ben Hartman, author of The Lean Farm is a great example of this approach. He took work done on efficiency in the motor manufacturing sector and applied it to small scale farming. We’re now applying the same principles to artisan flower farming. We just have to look at the basics of the message and how it might be relevant to our own work.

A couple of years ago I went to a seminar by John Stanley, a global retail guru. John Stanley is a global retail consultant who specialises in Garden Centres and visited Scotland in 2017 as a guest of the Horticultural Trades Association. Although flower growers aren't garden centres (obviously!) we do share some common ground in that we deal in perishable goods and non- essential items. So, attached is an edited-for-flower-growers version of John Stanley's words of wisdom for the next few years.

Technology

We can love and/or hate technology, but it’s part of our lives and we need to make it work for us. There are lots of machines we don’t even think about until they break (washing machines, computers, cars) and then we realise how dependent on them we are.

Robotics and nanotechnology is currently the cutting edge of development in manufacturing and production. It may not seem relevant to you as you stand in a polytunnel in the rain planting seeds you saved from last season’s crop, but staying in touch with developments in technology is an essential part of your ‘job’ as a flower farmer.

You don’t have to invest and adopt everything new that comes along. However, if you’re serious about efficiency and having a good work/life balance, it could make the difference between making a profit (and therefore staying in business) and losing money. Simple computer programmes can save a huge amount of time and improve the image of your business.

• I now use WAVE app for invoicing which is quick, easy and looks very professional.

• I use Mailchimp to manage contacts and easily contact my wholesale customers

• I have a quad bike to moving flowers, compost, weeds, plants around the flower farm

• I promote my flowers using a smartphone, taking pictures or video and posting immediately onto social media

None of these are seen as groundbreaking technology any longer but mean that I save time and money, and do a better job.

Succession Planning

Paula, Mill Pond Flower Farm

How long are you going to be a flower farmer?

It may be a strange thing to consider when you’re just starting out as a flower farmer, but it’s important to think about the timespan of your business as it will affect the decisions you make.

• If you have rented land on a three year lease, you may decide that your planting will be short term, fewer shrubs, perennials and trees, with more focus on annuals and easily moved plants in case you need to move it all. A three year timespan may give you the chance to try out flower farming and see whether it’s going to be a feasible longer term business for you.

• If you have access to land long term and have small children who have just started school you might feel that flower farming is a ‘job’ you can do around your other commitments in the longer term. You might decide to plant low maintenance shrubs, trees and long-lasting perennials that will require less work initially when you have limited time, but provide a good quantity of stems over a long period.

• If you’ve taken early retirement and are concerned about being able to maintain the physical elements of the work you might concentrate on growing for your own floristry, creating a cutting patch that can provide you with good quality blooms for arranging but can be easily converted into a beautiful garden when you become fully ‘retired’.

Whatever your circumstances and plan, thinking ahead will help you get the most out of your time as a flower farmer and look at what happens to your business when you’re not involved personally.

Planning to get the most from your hard work

What you don’t want is to spend a lot of time and money to set up a flower farming business without being able to recoup some of the time and resource invested if circumstances then change and you aren’t able to keep running your business.

How you approach this will depend on your circumstances to a great extent, whether you own or rent land and what your own plans are for your future. There are a few different options to consider:

• Passing it on

You may have family who would be willing and able to continue what you’ve started. A traditional farming approach is for a child to take over a farm from their parents. As many flower farmers operate in a very different way to traditional farmers, it might not be something you’ve thought of, but it is an option, particularly if the family members are already involved in the business in some way. There is a lot of good advice about succession planning for farmers available if you’re considering this option.

• Bringing in management

If you have a vibrant, successful business that is running really well and that has a loyal customer base, it might be straightforward to employ a manager to run it for you. It’s possible to train up an existing employee or find someone new specifically for the role. You could choose to be as involved or hands-off as you want, still retain ultimate control, but relinquish the day to day responsibilities.

• Selling your business or brand

What you create has value, it is worth money. If you have a successful flower farm, with regular, loyal customers and a field full of stock plants it would be a good purchase for someone who wants to run a flower farm. Not everyone wants to start from scratch and go through the early days and sound businesses can find buyers relatively easily.

• Closing your business

When you no longer want to be a flower farmer, but the previous options aren’t possible or desirable, then it’s time to close down your business. Making the decision that it’s time to stop is not a defeat or a failure, it’s just what needs to happen at that point. It can be hard to let go, but limping on without being able to fully commit to the business will not help you or your customers. You may be able to recoup some of your investment by selling stock, plants and equipment if they are still in good order, and if you can organise a sale. Make a firm, positive decision, communicate it well to your customers and suggest alternative suppliers, tidy up the loose ends and admin, set a date and then stop.

Although you may not really want to consider this now, it’s worth bearing in mind. If you’re setting up your flower farm with one of the options as a possibility, however far away, it can help you to look at long term development, investment, systems and processes that will help any transition. In the past few years, I’ve successfully closed a business and sold a business.

Mill Pond Camping

We set up a campsite on our smallholding in 2011, using the only sound bit of a derelict cottage as facilities and the flatter bits of our land near the pond as camping ground. I set up a small website, advertised on a few free websites, promoted it on Twitter and off it went! We had 5 pitches for tents and campervans, encouraged groups to come together and take over the whole field and ran it for five successful years. The people who came were generally great and it was a good experience for us. There were a couple of ‘memorable’ campers -one with no trousers early on a Sunday morning and a renowned drug dealer who wanted an alibi – but on the whole, it was very positive. However, as the flower farm got busier and we made progress with the renovation of the buildings we decided we didn’t want to continue. The option of selling, management or passing on weren’t possible as I wanted to use the land for growing flowers. We set a date as the end of the season in 2016 and closed it down.

Heirloom Silk

In 2014, I was sent a photo of a lovely bouquet by a bride who’d booked wedding flowers, as a style she liked. It had a gorgeous silk ribbon draped around and when I looked for a supplier I could only find one in the US. So, I made some silk ribbon and dyed it with elderberries, posted it on Twitter and got orders! I added a shop to our website and Heirloom Silk became part of Mill Pond Flower Farm, selling natural dyed silk ribbon to florists and sending it by mail order. It was great to make and very popular, however I knew I wouldn’t want to give up flower growing to do it full time so from the start I had in mind that I might want to sell the business at some point. By 2017, I was completely overloaded with work, running to keep up with both flowers and ribbon-making so I decided to sell Heirloom Silk. I did some investigation, came up with a value for the business – it consisted of equipment, stock, expertise, customers, the Heirloom Silk brand and goodwill/reputation. That's what I would be selling, a three year head-start for a small business.

I advertised it on Instagram, Twitter and on our website and it sold easily. I trained up the new owners as part of the sale, passed on the stock and equipment, set up a link to send enquiries from my website to their new one, and that was it! Heirloom Silk is still doing well, growing as a business and developing new lines.

Tying ribbons on bouquets

See my blog posts about the sale of Heirloom Silk

https://www.millpondflowerfarm.co.uk/apps/blog/ show/44666871-ribbon-business-for-sale- https://www.millpondflowerfarm.co.uk/apps/blog/ show/44775713-sold-