My business specializes in destination weddings, by which I mean my customers come to me. Usually when I say, “I specialize in destination weddings,” florists ask, “Where do you travel?” and “How do you get the flowers to the location?” but that’s not what I do. I am the destination. That’s my niche.
Destination clients come to me in search of more than flowers—they need guidance. They don’t know that peonies are in season in June or that it’s easy to source beautiful linens from a local rental company. They don’t know that the baker just down the road from their venue is not only nearby, but she’s also the best!
Lucky for them, I do know these things. (That’s why they hire me.) I consider it my job to offer expertise with a mostly-giving heart—while not giving away all my best ideas and suggestions before we’re under contract.
When starting a floral business, you must decide whether you want to appeal to the mass market or niche-down to a more focused group of customers. Do you want to operate a bustling high-end wedding business with everything from lights to linens? Or do you want to focus on small-scale weddings out of your home studio?
The niche is your sweet spot, your lane, your area of expertise. If you don’t have a iche, create one. It takes finesse to develop a genuine niche in your market. The thought may cross your mind, “There’s nothing special or unique about what I’m doing.” You may say, “I’m new so I don’t have a lane.” And you may be right! There may not be something special or unique or niche about what you are doing yet, but you need to start somewhere, and just getting started is the first step to specializing in something.
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