What should I know about a florist’s Valentine’s and Mother’s Day peak season routine?

For many florists, a couple of holidays decide the year. Ask the owner to walk you through a peak week from the first order of flowers to the last delivery. Who plans, who hires extra help, and where do the arrangements get made? A routine the owner can describe in detail is more likely to be repeatable.

Look at the records. Ask for past planning notes, staffing schedules, sales by day and what was left over. Spoilage matters in this trade, so find out how the shop decides how much to buy and what happens to unsold stems. Compare the peak with the rest of the calendar to see how much the quiet weeks must cover.

Also ask what can go wrong. Late supplier shipments, weather, vehicle problems and unhappy customers all show up on those days. See how the shop has coped before. Finally, find out whether the owner’s own long hours are holding it together. If you took over in the weeks before a peak, would the team and the suppliers be ready? Ask how early customers place their orders and whether the shop takes pre-orders, since that shapes how much stock it risks buying.

Key takeaways

• Have the owner walk through a peak week from ordering to final delivery.
• Review past planning notes, staffing and unsold stock after each holiday.
• Ask whether the routine works without the owner’s own long hours.