The second course in Clara and Manny Gonzaleses’ Forecasting Your Future series helps florists control cost of goods.
Is the rising cost of goods squeezing your profit margins? Are you looking for ways to cut costs in the face of a possible economic downturn?
The Society of American Florists’ second course in the Forecasting Your Future Series focuses on ways business owners can control costs to achieve their profit goals.
“We developed this six module course to help you get control and be a shop that decides how much profit they want to earn — not settle for what was left over,” says former retailer Clara Gonzales, who with her husband, Manny Gonzales, developed the course for SAF’s learning hub.
The Gonzaleses’ methods are proven. The couple left their corporate careers in 1996 and bought Tiger Lily, a flower shop in Charleston, South Carolina. Despite hitting $2 million in sales, they were nearly bankrupt when the recession of 2008 hit. Structuring a turnaround, they borrowed business strategies from their corporate experience and saved the business. They sold the shop in 2018 to their former manager.
The first course, “Sales Forecasting” was released in June and retailers praised its practical approach and application in creating a sales forecast. Jennifer Chastain, a studio florist at JMC Bloom in Reno, Nevada, liked the course’s easy-to-follow structure, downloadable spreadsheets and step-by-step instruction.
“I have learned a lot about how to manage sale expectations while making clear reasonable estimates for future sales,” she says. “I believe will be helpful to anyone who invests in it.”
The second course, “Cost of Goods Sold,” builds on sales forecasting using videos, worksheets and reading assignments. Participants will learn how to determine markup, tips and tricks for labor charges and cost outs; how product offering affects your profit goals; the importance of using a sales forecast for ordering; the impact of care and handling on profit margins; and the importance of communicating your sales goals to your staff.
“Cost of goods sold will generally take up about 30 percent or more of your overall expenses, and next to controlling wages and overhead, it needs to be top of mind in order to achieve your profit dreams,” Clara says. “We aren’t here to tell you to control COGS, raise prices or buy less; we will show you our step-by-step fingertip control system and detail our simple, yet in-depth process to help you take the guesswork out of buying.”
Kate Delaney, AAF, who became SAF’s director of career development after a 20-year career running a flower shop in the Mid-Atlantic, worked with the Gonzaleses to develop the series of courses. Delaney points to the course’s spreadsheets as tools that every retail flower shop can use.
“In the very first module, Clara provides a worksheet with an accompanying video that demonstrates in a very seamless way how to determine markup and price products to land you in your target cost of goods,” Delaney says. “This is a tool that should be used in every retail flower shop.”
Both courses are available now on SAF’s learning hub for a fee.
Amanda Jedlinsky is the managing editor of SAF NOW.
