Mother’s Day is just around the corner…Are you ready?

As one of the busiest days of the year for florists, it’s crucial to have a plan in place to ensure that you’re prepared for the influx of orders.

I like to get myself mentally and physically prepared for big days like these with a list. So, I put together some quick tips for Mother’s Day prep that can help you maximize your efforts and results (without burning out.)

Here’s what I suggest:

Strategize

Start with reviewing what worked well last year and where your customers came from. Did you sell out of certain styles or sizes first? This data can help you forecast demand and determine which flower varieties, styles, colors, and price points were most popular. If it’s your first year and you don’t have any data, keep it super simple and choose a medium and large option and focus on pre-selling as much as you can to your community.

Mother’s Day pre-marketing is key. Start getting the word out NOW about your offerings/menu and make it incredibly easy for customers to shop. Choose simple but effective color stories in small, medium, and large options with upgrades in a few color stories. Drive presales through special promotions like free delivery before a certain cut-off date or a special add-on incentive like an upgraded vase or chocolate. This can support your pre-sale wholesale orders and staffing needs tremendously so focus on those areas. 

Keep it simple.

Rather than having dozens of options and offering loads of customization, limiting your options is critical to a successful Mother’s Day. Minimize your offerings by creating a collection or menu of simplified offerings in a small, medium, or large size. Depending on your capacity, staffing, and delivery support, having fewer options on your Mother’s Day menu is beneficial for your business in several ways. 

First, it can streamline and simplify your wholesale order and allows you to save by buying larger volumes of the same flowers to fill your pre-determined recipes. This process makes it easier for customers to choose their arrangements. When customers are presented with too many options, it can be overwhelming and confusing, which can lead to indecisiveness or a decision to go to a competitor. There is actually something customers experience called “decision fatigue”. If they have to work too hard to choose, they’ll move on.

By limiting your menu to a smaller selection of strong arrangements, you can focus on creating high-quality, consistent designs that you can execute efficiently. This can also help you manage your inventory and staffing needs better and ensure that you have enough flowers and supplies to fulfill all orders.

Having a smaller menu can help you brand your offerings and build your reputation as a go-to florist for Mother’s Day. When customers know that they can expect high-quality designs from your collection, they are more likely to return to you year after year and recommend you to others.

Overall, by keeping your offerings simple and focused, you can streamline the ordering process, improve efficiency, and have a profitable holiday!

Train

If you have a staff or even flower helpers, make sure everyone is well-trained on your Mother’s Day offerings—everything from how to build the arrangement to pricing and packaging. If you can have a short training day for anyone new as well, this can be very useful! Training ensures everyone is on the same page, builds their confidence, and improves their efficiency.

Need a quick training tool to get ready? Bouquet Essentials is a 2-hour training where I break down my bouquet-building process step by step. This method is very effective for vase arranging as well and can be a fast and efficient way to produce a lot of arrangements quickly. Do your best to streamline the design process for everyone supporting you during the busier seasons moving forward.

Prepare your tools and supplies

Busy times call for our tools to work well! Mother’s Day is a great time to ensure your tools and supplies are in top condition. Take some time now to stock up, clean, and sharpen your tools and ensure everyone on your team has access to the tools they need.

You can find a list of essential tools in this blog post for reference.

Maintaining your tools through cleaning and sharpening can help improve your performance during the holiday rush and ensure that your tools are not causing excess fatigue or accidents. 

It’s also important to sanitize your buckets and have a variety of bucket sizes available to protect your flowers and ensure they last as long as possible. Take some time now to remove stickers from vases and freshen up glassware.

By taking the time to prepare your tools and supplies ahead of time, you can streamline your process and avoid any last-minute rushes or issues.

Schedule in self-care

If you’re not fueling and nurturing your body, the work suffers or worse, burns you out completely. Here are a few things I like to do leading up to and after big days like Mother’s Day:

• Drink lots of water with minerals and meal prep as much as possible.
• Schedule a midweek or post-holiday myofascial massage in advance.
• Contact a chiropractor and schedule a visit midweek or for the day after the rush to take care of any alignment issues.
• See an acupuncturist for support with pain. 
• Sign up for a stretching session or yoga class the week after and give yourself some dedicated downtime.
• Tell your therapist, business coach, or mentor that you might need extra support emotionally gearing up for or coming down from the holiday, and ask for accountability around your management skills and expectations.

Were these tips helpful? How are you preparing for Mother’s Day this year? Feel free to comment below!