A keen eye for detail and aesthetics, taking joy in arranging and organizing living spaces, and an undying love for flowers mean that becoming a florist just might be your thing. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Becoming a floral designer involves a lot more than just liking flowers. In this article, we will show you exactly how to become a florist and succeed.
Many believe that you might not need formal training to learn how to become a floral designer if you’re good at working with flowers. But the level of competition and technical knowledge among your peers is higher than ever. A degree/diploma in arts/biology or even a certificate in floral designs can be a massive boost to your chances of landing a great job.
But before we tell you how to become a florist, you need to understand what exactly a florist does.
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What does a Florist do?
By definition, a florist is someone who works with flowers and takes care of the designing, and arrangements of flowers in wreaths, bouquets, vases, centrepiece elements, etc. Sometimes florists may design entire rooms or outdoor areas, and fill them with flowers in a pleasing arrangement. But that isn’t entirely what a florist does. Their job duties can also include growing flowers, ordering flowers from wholesalers, conferring with customers on their wants, recommending flowers and arrangement types, choosing flowers and greenery, and completing designated paperwork for transactions. You will need a combination of creative and business administration skills if you’re planning on becoming a florist.
In addition to these responsibilities, a florist will work with customers in the shop or on the phone to take orders and discuss custom floral designs. Florists working in these shops usually have a regular schedule, arriving when the shop is open and leaving at closing time. Sometimes, florists who manage the shop must work after-hours, usually to catch up on bookkeeping duties or to fulfill large orders.
How to Become a Floral Designer?
Now that you are certain about becoming a floral designer, you need to know the best way to do so. Considering the fact that floral designing is only recently getting the global academic recognition that it deserves. It’s not a professional degree that you get after which you can directly get a job. And even if you do have a florist degree, that still doesn’t guarantee you’ll be hired. In order to learn how to become a florist, you need to develop a combination of practical and theoretical skills to ensure success. It can seem very confusing to know where to start and how to go about it. Hence, we give you a 6-point checklist that not only tells you how to become a florist but also be the best one in town.
1. Passion
More than trying to know how to become a florist, you need to ask yourself why. Being a florist is a wonderful job, that is, if you love hands-on, creative work or if you like being around and working with flowers all round the clock. But you also need to understand that though it is a very fulfilling job as you work with nature and get to use many beautiful things each day, it is also a lot of work. You generally have long working hours, irregular offs and need a keen eye for detail. Hence, you need to be highly motivated and passionate about your work.
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2. Education
Though you don't need a degree to start working to technically start working as a florist, having one can help you get the dream job with great pay. You can obtain a degree in arts or biology (botany) to get a headstart, followed by a Certified Floral Designer (CFD) course offered by The American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD). The course gives you hands-on training, program or industry experience; and a design demonstration to give you professional competency as a florist. Though the CFD credential isn’t voluntary, floral specialists who wish to join the AIFD must earn it.
3. Skills Development
Apart from a college degree and certification, you need to learn how to become a florist who knows more floral design techniques than one. This can positively impact your career as a florist and rank you among the top. Floral designs are a vast topic, and it is impossible to be an expert right from the beginning. An important skill in floral design is the art of prepping flowers and having a clear understanding of the basic principles of arranging flowers. Prepping is when you prepare the flowers to have a long-lasting fragrance and freshness.
You can look up local or online classes for various techniques in flower decorations such as Ikebana (Japanese floral design), cascading centerpieces, and table arrangements. Florists can also take courses to learn about modern floral design and silk flower arrangements.
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4. Practice Your Skills
The best way to be successful in a business is to be prepared for anything. With floral designing, you cannot possibly imagine the things that could go wrong from failures in decorations, the freshness of flowers, their combinations and the overall aesthetic of the decoration. The best way to avoid this? Practice, practice, and practice. Though you can't be prepared for everything, practicing your skills and perfecting your techniques can avoid those major goof-ups. Understand different occasions and settings and recreate the designs yourself before you do it on the big stage.
5. Set Goals
The most important thing to be successful in any business is to be able to set and complete targets. The same goes with learning how to become a florist. You will need to have realistic goals such as opening a flower shop, working from home on wedding and event florals, or finding employment with a local flower shop. Plus, once you’ve gotten your long-term goal in place, have short-term goals that keep on track to achieving your target. Say you’re looking to work as a floral designer at a flower shop you can call around to local flower shops, look for employment as a helper and look for mentorship opportunities. If your goal is to run your own floral business, then you might consider focusing on business aspects such as creating a website to build brand visibility on the internet, cultivating relationships with local business owners, funeral directors, bridal shops, restaurant owners, churches, etc. to establish your business.
6. Market Yourself
An important aspect of building a successful career as a florist is to be able to market your business. Either way, you need to tell prospective clients why they need to choose you over your peers. The age of the internet has brought us tonnes of ways to market yourself. All you need to do is choose the right platform that best suits your business. Social media is the best platform to showcase your work and also to find clients. Having a social media presence can elevate your status as a florist.
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So there you have it. The best tips teach you how to become a florist but they cannot help you reach the top. For that you need to establish a professional identity that will distinguish you from your competition. You need a flower portfolio website.
How to Build a Florist Portfolio?
Unlike the hard work and effort you might have to put into learning how to become a florist, building a flower portfolio website is way easier. You don't even have to be a tech wizard to set up a website nor hire one. You can do all by yourself with a premium website builder. These website builders have pre-built templates that can be used to build a working website. To make it easier for you, we will show you how to build a website on Strikingly.
Here is brief description of how to build your website:
- The first thing you need to do is sign up with Strikingly. The process is free and takes less than 5 minutes to finish.
- Once you sign up, you can directly go to the create site option on the dashboard to choose to create your website.
- You will need to choose the template that suits your style and start editing accordingly.
- Once you're done you can publish your site. But be sure to register a domain name for your site.
- You will also need to choose a pricing plan to access some of the high end features and expand your website. But when you start, you can go with a pro plan that's best suited for portfolio websites.
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Learning how to become a florist is not as simple as it looks. It takes dedication, hard work, and commitment. You need to be focused about your goal and work towards it everyday. But marketing your business with an online portfolio is a lot easier thanks to Strikingly. It is a one-stop shop that caters to all your website building needs. So put on your florist hat and start your journey towards becoming a floral designer. Strikingly’s got your back when it comes to building a website.
