Online Floral Design Training Program

Have you ever wondered about what goes into those often massive floral displays at churches or theatres or weddings? Do they intrigue you? What about floral design as a career? This, like any profession, requires training in order to become proficient. Floral design schools can help you to create true beauty from nature. Don't wait another day to start your degree. Get started with a floral design training schools below. Training schools can easily be found below to help you get started on your new and exciting career.

The florist training courses available often last around 120 hours and this, after a written and design exam, will help you to get an entry level position into the floral design business. Learning from professional floral design schools has helped many top designers and floral shop owners become successful. Classes daily are usually made up of demonstrations, critique, practice and lectures.

Surrounded by beautiful flowers for your day will not be a hard task. Far better to learn about a profession this way, than in a small cubicle with no windows. Your current job may have been downsized, or you could have been laid off, or you just want a change from that windowless office. Floral design schools are an escape that you can choose right now!

Most floral design schools have a wide variety of flowers and foliage that students can practice with, and learn to make stunning floral displays used across the world to show joy, sadness, celebration and color. Students usually work on their own projects, guided by an instructor. Class size is kept down so that everyone will feel like an individual and get the attention which they deserve and need. Think of being certified and starting into the field of floral design! Who knows where it could lead you.

If a flower shop is not your end goal, then graduating from floral design schools has helped many people enter into management, educational, executive and sales positions, as well as design and consultancy. If you enjoy the thought of customer service and hands-on creation of bouquets and arrangements, then there are many franchise, chain and local flower shops around the country.

Holidays are busy times for florists and you could apply to shops a few weeks before any holidays, clutching your certificate of graduation in your hand (not literally of course). Holidays such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day, Easter, July 4th and New Year's Day, have all provided opportunities for some stunning arrangements of gorgeous flowers. If you study at a good floral design school, then you'll learn to often push the boundaries past the average and run of the mill design.

Soon, you could be designing a July 4th fireworks display made up of red, white and blue flowers. What about a Jack O'Lantern filled with gorgeous yellow, orange and even brown flowers? Christmas and Valentines offer up their beautiful red and white combos, and Easter is replete with the colors of Spring in mauves, yellow and pink. You may want to start getting ultra-creative and design for celebrities, or themes such as Rock and Roll, or Sci-Fi, or any of the hundreds of reasons to celebrate with flowers that are waiting for you the new floral designer. Select any of the floral design courses offered by the schools below to get started.

How to Start your own Floral Business

If you are like most the dream of owning your own floral design business can be a reality with a lot of hard work.

Training – The first step is to enroll in a floral design program. Often these programs are available 100% online so you can actually train from anywhere in the world. Find a school that is affordable and that be completed in less than a year.

Experience – It is recommend like with any career to first go out and actually work in a floral shop or floral delivery service. This will give you valuable insight into the industry and hopefully you’ll find an employer that will further teach you about the industry. You’ll get the opportunity to see how flowers are ordered, how to do bookkeeping and how to manage employees.

Operating Capital – One the hardest thing for a new floral business is having enough working capital to open up shop. You can try to get a business loan or even take on a partner but from our experiences in starting a business it is recommended that you try to do it yourself without a loan. It is better to start small and grow your business than give up equity or control of your business to a business partner that perhaps doesn’t have the same level of commitment that you have.

Time – One thing about owning your own business is that is it not your typical 9 to 5. Floral businesses have to be available on weekends were lots of events take place and because you own the business you can’t simple have someone to run it for you. The time commitment is usually 10-12 hour days for the first few years.

Marketing – In order to have a successful floral design business you need the ability to market your new business to the proper audience. Having a floral website where customers can order is critical and these days can be done with limited income. Outside of online marketing it is also recommended that you partner with larger florists. These companies have been selling flowers for years and they can use your store as a satellite store if they get orders in your area that need filled. Another advertising method for floral shops is in the local newspapers and yellow pages. Although these are older ways of advertising they are trusted and proven ways to get new customers.

Specialization – Every floral business needs to be specialized. If you have a retail shop then you might focus on walk-in traffic but many will focus on weddings, funeral homes or delivery. This is very important to do when you first start as you simply aren’t big enough to take on every industry. Focus on something like weddings and be known in your area as the best in your specialization.

Grower – Most floral shops use local growers for all of their flower and plants. In order to save costs you could consider having your own greenhouse and growing certain flowers that you use the most or those that are expensive. If you don’t ever want to have your own retail shop

Salary and Outlook
Floral designers on average get paid $24,750 per year if you work for a floral shop. The salary or profit however can be more if you own your own floral business. Research above any of the floral design courses available online to get started.

Sources:
AIFD - American Institute of Floral Designers - Last visited December 3, 2018