Why You Don't Need Consistent Flowers to Start a Flower Subscription

Flower subscriptions are an amazing way for flower farmers and other floral businesses to bring in income. People love to have fresh flowers in their homes all season long without having to deal with growing the blooms themselves. 

Flower subscriptions are possible for pretty much any flower farm. However there seems to be one thing holding A TON of growers back from offering subscriptions: inconsistent flowers. From uncertainty about when things will bloom or not enough flowers, inconsistency is the number one objection I hear from people about starting a subscription. 

But I’m here to tell you, inconsistency doesn’t matter and shouldn’t be a roadblock to your subscription success. This blog is all about the reasons why and how you can overcome these challenges. 

Don't Be Afraid of Bad Weather

When it comes to flower farming, unpredictable weather can always pose challenges—whether you offer a flower subscription or not. Mother nature is going to do what she wants. Whether it’s your first year farming or you’ve been in the game for decades, weather will always be unpredictable and uncontrollable.

While this may seem like a negative, I want to remind you that weather didn’t stop you from flower farming in the first place. You know there are chances of severe weather or pests, but you still grow. Why can’t the same mentality apply to subscriptions? Ultimately, these challenges are just part of the job and shouldn’t hold you back from starting a subscription. 

Most customers know and will understand that nature impacts your flowers, because your flowers are part of nature, too!

You Don't Have to Offer Subscriptions All Season Long

Despite what you may see other farmers do, you don’t need to offer subscriptions throughout the entire growing season. My advice is to start small. Only offer subscriptions when you know your blooms are most abundant. This could be August for some and May for others. Also consider only offering one bouquet a month or every other week. This will allow you to spread out your customers and help make sure you have enough for everyone. 

After you’ve tested out a smaller subscription season or spread out how often your customers will receive flowers, you can grow and scale from there. This is a safe and easy way to see what will work for you and your business. 

Use Backup Plans Like Wholesalers and Other Growers

So let’s say that even after starting small, you still experience a hail storm or run out of blooms right before you have subscription bouquets that need to go out to customers. You’re not out of luck! There are always backup options. 

Start by searching and knowing who else offers flowers in your area, from wholesalers and co-ops to other growers. I’ve tapped every single one of these resources before with my own subscriptions. The growing community is typically more than happy to help one another and establishing these relationships will offer you more benefits than just a place to find extra blooms when you need them. 

You might also find that these resources offer varieties that you don’t grow that could enhance a bouquet or offer something new and exciting to your customers. 

That’s all to say that networking with fellow growers is an opportunity to find someone to lean on when you need some extra stems. 

Adjust Subscription Timelines and Be Honest With Your Customers

There may be times when you’re short on flowers or bloom times are late and there isn’t an easy or affordable resource to tap on for help. While this may sound like a worst case scenario, it’s not the end of the world!

In this situation, you’re not out of luck and honesty is the best policy—honesty with your customers that is. Simply let your customers know that your blooms are behind. That the storm destroyed your blooms for the week. Whatever it is, just communicate openly with your customers and let them know what’s going on. Things happen. 

And like I said before, flowers are part of mother nature and some things are just out of our control. Customers understand this. 

Just let them know what to expect next. Maybe they need to wait a few extra days. Maybe you’ll add on an extra week of blooms at the end of the season. Whatever it is, just keep your customers in the loop and be flexible with any objections or challenges that might come up because of the shift. 

As a flower farmer, venturing into the world of flower subscriptions opens up new ways for you to succeed. While it might be scary or stressful, you certainly experienced some of this when you decided to flower farm in the first place. Even in the most dire of situations—which honestly aren’t typically even that dire—you have options to keep your customers happy and run a successful subscription program. Don’t let these common challenges stand in the way of your business. All you need is a simple mindset shift that you can do it and you’ll be well on your way to sharing even more blooms with happy customers. 

Are you ready to start a subscription program or looking for some additional advice and resources to get your subscription started? Learn more about Subscriptions by Design—a program I offer to help flower farmers kickstart their flower subscription programs. It’s time to bring consistency to your cut flower business!