7 Reasons to Start a Flower Subscription

I remember it clear as day. 

I would sit at our dining room table—it was completely covered with the bouquets I just made—phone in hand and notebook ready. It was time to find homes for these bouquets. I would put out a post on social media and pray buyers would respond.

For the rest of the afternoon, I lived on social looking for new comments or messages. I’d secure delivery addresses and explain payment processes. I’d wait for responses to my messages and send Paypal invoices. All the while, making sure my 7- and 9-year-old boys were entertained and fed, only to repeat the process a few days later. It was exhausting!

Something had to give.

That’s when I decided to make a huge shift in how I sold flower bouquets. I decided to offer a flower subscription.

…and I have never looked back.

In fact, I become more obsessed with them every season. Why? Because they’re packed with benefits!

Here are seven reasons why you should consider starting your own flower subscription. 

1. Multiply Sales

A subscription multiplies sales because it transforms occasional buyers into regular customers. For example, if a customer typically buys 2 bouquets per season but subscribes to a plan for 12 bouquets, your sales from that customer increase sixfold. You just 6xd your sales!! Subscriptions encourage customers to commit to more frequent purchases, boosting your overall sales.

Plus, when you sell more to your current customers through subscriptions, you don't need to constantly look for new customers. Instead, you can focus on nurturing your relationships with your existing customer base which leads to the next benefit: customer loyalty.

2. Create Customer Loyalty

Flower subscriptions can help you create a lasting relationship with your customers. Customers who receive a weekly or biweekly delivery of fresh flowers from you are more likely to build loyalty to your flower farm, buy future subscriptions, and recommend your business to their family and friends. This loyalty translates to consistent sales and a stronger community presence.

I would rather have 10 loyal customers than 100 average customers any day. Why? Because loyal customers provide stability, repeat business, and valuable word-of-mouth marketing that helps grow your business organically.

3. Generate Income During Slow Season

Flower sales are usually seasonal, with peak sales occurring during the spring and summer months. And for many seasonal businesses, this means that income is also seasonal. And that inconsistent income can be a real challenge, especially during the slow season. 

If you offer flower subscriptions, you can choose when they go on sale or when you get paid. 

When I started offering subscriptions, I sold them during the holidays when nothing was blooming, but when people were thinking about purchasing gifts. I now sell them in the fall when the current season subscriptions are coming to an end. The beauty of subscriptions is you can choose to sell them when it works best for you. 

4. Avoid Constant Selling

Another benefit of offering a flower subscription is that you don't feel like you are selling All. The. Time. Instead of constantly searching for buyers for your bouquets, a subscription means your bouquets already have homes. This reduces the stress of finding customers and ensures a steady demand for your flowers.

Each season I move hundreds of bouquets through my flower subscription program. This allows me to sell a large number of bouquets without having to consistently market my flowers (show up on social) and hope people show up to buy them. I offer our subscriptions for sale in the fall, they generally sell out in a few days and then I don’t worry about selling bouquets again until the following season.

5. Customize To Your Lifestyle

I strongly believe in building a business around your life, not building a life around your business. A subscription allows you to do this. You can customize your flower subscription to suit your lifestyle, family, and the flowers you grow.

You can choose to run them for a month, a season, or for a specific crop. This means you can align your subscriptions with the natural growing cycles of your flowers. You can also set pick-up and delivery days that fit your family's schedule. Everything about a subscription is customizable, allowing you to tailor it perfectly to your needs.

Not wanting to work as much while the kids were home from school. I offered a spring subscription and a dahlia subscription. The spring subscription ended when the kids were getting out of school for the summer and the dahlia subscription started when they headed back. 

You can do this too!

6. Create the Sales Foundation for Your Flower Farm

I’m a fan of diversifying my income and not relying on one particular thing to make money. However, it’s still great to have one or two steady income streams that are your primary money makers. Today, I have a limit on the number of subscriptions I sell. But back when I was selling more, my subscriptions brought in over $50,000 a year. You can generate a solid income from subscriptions alone. 

7. Consistency

And lastly, consistency.

Have you ever tried to move bouquets the week of the 4th of July? It’s tough. Ever tried to sell bouquets when it’s downpouring? Or during a heatwave? It’s dismal.

With a subscription, your sales aren’t determined by holidays, poor weather, or summer travel. Subscriptions provide guaranteed homes for your bouquets regardless of external factors, giving you peace of mind and stability in your business. This allows you to focus on what you do best—growing beautiful flowers—without worrying about sporadic sales.

Growing flowers tends to be inflexible and unpredictable because it deals with Mother Nature. And she does what she wants. But I firmly believe that flower subscriptions allow you a way to sell in a consistent and flexible way. And I don’t know about you, but that’s ultimately what I’m looking for in my own business. 

My business changed for the better when I utilized subscriptions and stopped selling one bouquet at a time. My flowers had a home to go to. I no longer needed to live on social media waiting for someone to respond. It allowed me to bring in income during the slow season to pay for our seeds and bulbs. And most importantly, I was able to earn more money by selling less!

Are you ready to learn more about how to start a flower subscription? If so, check out my popular program, Flower Subscriptions by Design—a self-paced flower subscription creation and sales course for growers who want to multiply bouquet sales, bring consistency to their business & say goodbye to hoping buyers will magically show up.