With Sales Hardly in Bloom, Florist Needs a Marketing Arrangement

Successfully growing a small business has proven tougher than Bouquets of Blooms flower shop owner Dena Flekman expected.

Her West Los Angeles store, nearing its fifth anniversary, has made it into the black and won standing orders from local businesses. And Flekman is eyeing her third small acquisition.

But everything is not coming up roses.

Sales have inched up slowly, just keeping ahead of the bills. The flower business can be unpredictable, Flekman has found, making staffing and ordering difficult. And the owner, who has yet to take a steady salary, has learned she doesn’t have the marketing skills or assertive sales style needed to increase sales as fast as she would like.

“After 4 1/2 years, I shouldn’t be struggling with the same issues over and over,” Flekman said.

Slow growth can be nerve-racking, said consultant Kent J. Burnes, but it’s not always a bad sign.

“Anybody can grow a bottom line, but how strong is that bottom line, that’s the key,” said Burnes, a small-business and community development consultant for 15 years and the author of several books aimed at small-business owners. He is the founder of Burnes Consulting in Grass Valley, Calif.

The consultant said Flekman has already discovered the key to solid growth for her flower and plant business: the corporate market. She just needs the know-how to unlock it effectively, he said.

Burnes suggested a plan that included business training for Flekman, a fresh marketing approach to her target clientele and an upgrade of the company’s Web site, https://bouquetsofblooms.com.

The first stop for Flekman should be the local Small Business Development Center, Burnes said. (For Flekman, that would be the Westside SBDC at [310] 398-8883.) These centers, a joint project of federal, state and local agencies, offer free and low-cost consulting, workshops and classes for small-business owners.

When she contacts the SBDC, Flekman can expect help with marketing and advertising strategy, with certifying her company as a woman-owned business (another of Burnes’ recommendations to boost corporate business) and with updating her business plan.

The business plan is the logical first step, Burnes said.

Updating or writing a business plan is daunting for most business owners. But given the abundance of help available, Burnes has little patience for those who put off the task. He also advised against building a business plan for bankers then shelving it once the money is in hand.

“In reality, this is a planning document for, year-to-year, how are we going to operate the business,” Burnes said.

And for those business owners who complain they don’t have a crystal ball to generate the projections required, Burnes had one word: “Cop-out.”

“Forecasting is a big hurdle, but there is too much assistance out there to buy that argument,” he said.

CACI (https://www.caci.com), for example, is one of several companies that offer demographic and market projections, he said. They could provide data on flower sales for Flekman’s community over the next five years, for instance, or pinpoint which part of her community is projected to grow fastest.

Economic development agencies, cities, the federal government, colleges and universities and trade associations all have “hoards of information about your market,” Burnes said.

Cultivating Her Corporate Clientele

As part of her business plan, Flekman also will need to describe her target customers and the sales and marketing strategy she will use to attract them. Burnes had a number of ideas to help her woo more of her target corporate clients.

At the same time, he said he didn’t advise that she abandon individual customers. But he noted that flower shops face increased competition for that market from nontraditional outlets such as grocery stores, kiosks at malls and airports, even street-corner vendors selling roses on Valentine’s Day.

“That business can be very fickle. Corporations may be more consistent, are less likely to shop around and are unlikely to run down to Vons for flowers,” he said.

In return, corporate customers will expect, and are willing to pay for, a high level of customer service, a high-quality product and a fast and easy ordering and billing process, he said. Flekman has shown she can deliver all three, he said.

“I believe she can really make headway by becoming more aggressive with corporate marketing,” Burnes said.

To start, he suggested the business owner hire an intern. The intern, possibly a marketing student at a local college, could assist Flekman with the basic customer and competitive research the business needs. An intern could also help with the myriad marketing tasks Flekman will have on her plate as she begins to design and implement her new plan.

That plan should include special buying programs to reward and attract her target market, Burnes said. He suggested a pre-buy program that would give companies a price break if they commit to spending a certain amount on plants and flowers throughout the year.

“It’s like a working capital loan. They may only use it up at $50 a month, but she always has some of their money to use,” Burnes said. Volume buyers and frequent buyers should also be encouraged with special pricing plans, he said.

Flekman can also make inroads with a company’s employees by offering discounts when they make personal purchases. A tire shop in Northern California tried that with State Farm employees and ended up with more business from the employees than the company, he said.

Down the road, he’d like to see Flekman hire someone who could go out one or two days a week to consistently call on corporate accounts.

He even supplied the creative detail that Flekman and other business owners unfamiliar with marketing often have trouble envisioning: The salesperson could wear a green apron embroidered with the Bouquets of Blooms logo. That person might carry a basket of day-old roses and a package of customer surveys. He or she would give out roses and surveys to the office managers, corporate buyers and workers they come across as they visit local companies.

“They give the lady at the desk a nice rose and say, ‘Let me ask you a few questions. Do you know we are right down the street? Let me leave you this Rolodex card with our number. And because you are an employee of this approved company, let me give you a card that entitles you to 10% off your own orders,’ ” Burnes said.

A personable high school student might be happy to do the job for a small commission, he said. And Flekman will have an easier time working with these pre-screened buyers.

“Dena admits she isn’t a good salesperson,” Burnes said. “However, she is extremely friendly, and once someone comes in contact with her they will probably find they would like to have her as their florist.”

Burnes also suggested she join the Southern California Regional Purchasing Council, a group of corporate buyers, to make further inroads with corporate purchasing executives.

Corporate buyers will expect the convenience of online ordering, something Bouquets of Blooms doesn’t yet offer. Burnes suggested upgrading the Web site so customers can buy online, perhaps from a pre-selected assortment. An upgrade should also enable Flekman to distribute an e-mail newsletter to alert customers to seasonal gift ideas and specials.

Contradicting her e-commerce advisors, he also encouraged Flekman to pay to have her business listed in the online yellow pages of the major search engines. She can expect to pay up to several hundred dollars a month in link fees, but should recoup more than that in new business, he said.

It will also pay to keep on top of e-commerce trends and to scan competitor’s sites for new ideas, he said.

“If you stick a Web site up there and think you are done you’re dead,” Burnes said.

How will Flekman find time to make changes to her business when she already works a full day in the Olympic Boulevard shop and spends evenings on paperwork?

Investing Time Can Pay Off

Burnes suggested she consider farming out bookkeeping or secretarial work. Flekman doesn’t have to handwrite the thank-you notes she sends to clients, for example. Her computer system is in need of an upgrade: The right software could save her an enormous amount of time, the consultant said. And she could ask for time-management help from a Small Business Development Center consultant.

The bottom line is, though, it can take a lot of hours to nurture a business.

“It ain’t an eight-hour day,” Burnes said.

Despite the challenges, Flekman, who has already started the SBDC’s training course, says she’s in it for the long haul. Burnes is confident she has the potential to make it.

“It can require numbing patience to grind down the doors of bureaucracy at some big companies,” the consultant said. But the rewards can be worth the wait.

“Growing slow is often difficult, but it can result in a strong business with many devoted clients,” Burnes said.

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This Week’s Business Make-Over

Company name: Bouquets of Blooms

Headquarters: Los Angeles

Type of business: Flower shop

Status: Sole proprietorship

Owner: Dena Flekman

Founded: November 1995

Start-up financing: $10,000 in savings

1999 sales: $225,000

Employees: 1 full time, 1 part time

Customers: Companies and individuals, including those holding weddings and other special events

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Main Business Problem

After almost five years in business, the shop revenue is making just enough to cover the bills.

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Goals

* Increase sales.

* Provide a salary for the owner.

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Recommendations

* Use free resources offered by the Small Business Development Center.

* Attain certification as a woman-owned business.

* Develop a marketing plan targeting companies.

* Establish pre-buy, volume and frequency programs.

* Upgrade Web site.

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Meet the Consultant

Kent J. Burnes, a small-business and community development consultant for 15 years and the author of several books aimed at small-business owners, is the founder of Burnes Consulting in Grass Valley, Calif.

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Cyndia Zwahlen can be reached via e-mail at cyndia.zwahlen@latimes.com.

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An application for a Business Make-Over can be obtained by writing to Business Make-Overs, Business Section, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. First St., Los Angeles, CA 90012 or online at https://latimes.com/bizmakeform.