ECC!

One of the characters we hear from often at this time of year is Count Dracula. His voice is used in many advertising campaigns, his image promotes scary movies, and he teaches counting skills to many pre-school children on Sesame Street. The Count also reminds us just how important numbers are to help ensure a successful business operation.
If you ask a designer which part of their job is their least favorite task, many would say doing the math or counting. While creating beautiful floral stylings probably is their favorite, counting components is equally important as being able to design well. Why is so much emphasis being placed on counting you ask? Quite simple; if a floral design contains too much product for the monies invested, the business will suffer a loss. Most business models are not set up to lose money. With a loss, owners cannot afford to maintain the business, pay a respectable salary, purchase new equipment, or stock proper inventory.
Here is a quick example of the effects of adding extra product to an arrangement. Let’s say you add .50 extra to 10 arrangements each day. That could equate to an extra flower, foliage or accessory. It doesn’t sound like much, but let’s follow the damage trail. .50 x 10 =5.00 per day. 5.00 x 6 days of operation equals 30.00 a week in lost revenue. 30.00 times 4 weeks a month equals 120.00 a month which now turns into 1,440.00 a year! Multiply that times the number of designers on staff and you can see just how important it is to get a handle on that problem! If you have 2 designers on staff, you could be losing almost 3,000.00 a year in revenue. Just think what you could do with an extra 3,000.00 a year! How many times do we hear from designers or are guilty ourselves of adding just one more flower of piece of foliage to make the styling “just right”. That “just right” can have a major negative impact on a company’s bottom line.
There are several solutions to the problem. One is to recipe designs that are used most often. For instance, how much foliage or filler goes into a dozen roses in a vase? Everyone on staff should be able to find this information to ensure accuracy and profitability. Or how many carnations go into a half couch casket spray? If you have weekly featured items, each one should follow a recipe and executed the same way each time. This gives the customer consistency. Think about the success of McDonald’s. Each dollop of catsup or mustard is premeasured and does not vary from burger to burger or location to location. It ensures the right amount of product is being given for the right amount of money spent.
While we are far more creative than assembling burgers, the sad truth is that most McDonald’s employees make more money than many flower shop owners! Again, one of the biggest reasons is not following recipes in the design room. Not all designs are “recipe designs” and are not duplicated as much if at all. When these come along, it is important to remember to write down every component that is added into the finished styling as it is designed. It is pretty difficult to remember how many stems were used of every component at the end of the design process.
While no one enjoys being the Flower ‘Shop Gestapo’, it is important to stress to all staff persons just how important accuracy is when creating the design work. Since most flower shops only operate on a 10% profit margin at best, each nickel, dime and quarter really does make a difference. Let the Count be your reminder that Every Component Counts!