Florist School Online: Growing Your Business with Local Flower Sourcing
Online School with Ellen Frost
Class 1 – Landscape of the Cut Flower Industry
Session 1 – Introduction
Session 2 – Why Do I Need To Know This Stuff
Session 3 – The Global Cut Flower Industry
Session 4 – The US Cut Flower Industry
Session 5 – Evolution of Flower Retail
Session 6 – Consumer Trends
Session 7 – US Cut Flower Industry: Big Issues
Session 8 – Conclusion
Class 2 – Why Local Flowers: Motivations, Definitions and Goals
Session 1 – Introduction
Session 2 – Motivation
Session 3 – Motivation: Environmental
Session 4 – Motivation: Ethical
Session 5 – Motivation: Business
Session 6 – Motivation: Product
Session 7 – Motivation: Community
Session 8 – Local Sourcing Goals
Session 9 – Defining Local
Session 10 – Challenging Local
Session 11 – Conclusion
Class 3 – Building Relationships With Local Growers
Session 1 – Introduction
Session 2 – Sources of Local Flowers
Session 3 – Pursuing a Relationship
Session 4 – Strategic Relationships
Session 5 – Starting the Relationship
Session 6 – Dealing with Problems
Session 7 – Conclusion
Class 4 – Logistics of Local Flowers
Session 1 – Introduction
Session 2 – Seasonal Based Local Logistics
Session 3 – Local Flower Pricing
Session 4 – Preparing to Order Local Flowers
Session 5 – Availability Lists
Session 6 – When to Make the Order
Session 7 – Ordering Local From a Wholesaler or Co-op
Session 8 – Receiving Your Order
Session 9 – Conclusion
Class 5 – Differentiating, Marketing, and Selling Local Flowers
Session 1 – Introduction
Session 2 – Value Proposition
Session 3 – Your Flower People
Session 4 – Smallest Viable Market
Session 5 – Marketing With Your Story
Session 6 – Selling Your Local Flower Services
Session 7 – Conclusion
Class 6 – Making Your Business An Indispensable Community Asset
Session 1 – Introduction
Session 2 – Customer Engagement
Session 3 – Community Activism
Session 4 – Leadership
Session 5 – Building Business Relationships
Session 6 – Conclusion
Tracy Case –
🌻🥳🥰
Jenn Campbell –
Ellen’s course emphasizes local flower sourcing for florists but it’s so much more. It’s a roadmap for how to relate to others in your industry, from the grower, through the florist, and to the customer. As a new studio florist and grower, determined to build my business on local product, Ellen has given me great ideas to help me reach out to both ends of the flower chain. From the course, I began my first year selling flowers with a good grasp of what to expect in the relationships I’ve made; the challenges we might come across and ways to constructively resolve them. Now with the main season here finished, I have already sat down and laid out my plan for next year and ideas for 2023 because Ellen has really helped me think critically and strategically about how I want to make my own business bloom.
I want to emphasize that this course is a great resource for florists, but also for farmer-florists and farmers selling to local florists and more directly in their community.
Zoe Dellinger –
Ellen’s passion for using local flowers is contagious and teaching style is so engaging. She provides so many real life examples from her own business experience that illustrate the concepts she presents. Her business model of supporting local businesses and community engagement with her “flower people” is awe inspiring to me.
Ellen’s course provides the knowledge and tools to “be an expert” in your florist/farmer/farmer florist business. I am a micro flower farmer specializing in dahlias and heirloom flower varieties- and I gained so much knowledge about the floral industry. I am drilling down on “who my flower people are” and how I can be the floral expert they turn to for quality flowers, thank you Ellen!
Samantha Ortiz –
Ellen’s course was incredibly valuable to me as a specialty cut flower grower. Ellen has deep expertise in the flower industry as a whole, and she has a uniquely important role as someone in the local flower world. I was able to take her curriculum and start building relationships with designers, florists and wholesalers in a way that worked for all of us. I’m so happy that I invested in myself and my business by participating in this course.