Currently, Dried Flower Business has a good profit margin. It’s a fast-growth industry. And there’s a lot of interest in dried flower products.
Over the past decade, the interest in cut flower bouquets has grown steadily. If you enjoy gardening, consider starting a cut flower bouquet company.
Drying flower petals for use as decorations could be an excellent way to start a small floral enterprise.
Read: How to start a floral business at home
One of the main benefits of starting this dried floral business is that you can start it right from your house. You can also grow your own flowers to be used for drying and selling them.
The importance of dry flowers is to emphasize crops that can thrive in our northern climate. Focus on crop selection, product development, and niche marketing.
The types and qualities of crops that can be produced efficiently will dictate what you can offer the marketplace, and market price and supply will dictate what can be produced profitably.
Everlasting flowers, also known as “dries” because they last for such a long period when dehydrated.
Here are the 8 Steps to Start a Dried Flower Business
1. Understand the Market
As for the success of a dried flower store, it depends on the demand in the surrounding area. Conducting thorough research and collecting as much information as possible will help you understand the current situation of the industry, its competitors, and the future prospects of the company.
It has been observed that the primary demand for drying flowers comes from hobbyists, event planners, and individuals who want to decorate their interiors. You need to have a network of distributors for marketing your products.
2. Learn the Process of Making Dried Flowers
Making dried flower art broadly can be divided into three main processes:
Selecting crops for the dried flower business
Choosing suitable plants for the dried flower industry is very important to succeed in the market. Some of the dried flower products lose their ornamental value when they’re dried.
Everlastings, such as Celosia and Strawflowers, are very easy to cultivate and easy to dry out. Growers often sell their dried flowers at craft stores, antique stores, and florists.
For harvesting dried flower business, there are two main methods:
The timing for each type of harvest differs depending on the species and the kind of fruit desired. Be sure to check when the right time has come before you start.
Usually, flowers are picked when they are fully opened and the color has not changed. At this point, flowers taken from the field take less preparation than those taken earlier.
Drying Techniques for Dried Flower Business
Dries flowers are produced using various methods including, but not limited to, sun/shade-drip, shade-drip, misting, spraying, and bagging.
- Air Drying
Dried plants are usually hung in an airy place (such as a garage) with plenty of light and ventilation. It takes time but it works!
- Press Drying
To prevent moisture from escaping during pressing, the flowers and foliage must be arranged between the folds of newspapers or blotting paper. Then these layers of paper are stacked on top of each other and pressed together using corrugated boards.
- Embedded Drying
To dry plants, use either sawdust, perlite (a type of volcanic rock), silica gel, or a mixture of them. Sawdust and perlite are cheap and easy to obtain, whereas silica gel and a mixture of the three are expensive. If you’re using a mixture of the four, start with two of each and add one at a later date if necessary.
- Oven Drying
Hot air and microwave ovens can be used to speed up the process of making dried flowers. For example, they can be used to quickly dry plants such as roses.
Flowers and other ornamental plants require heat for their optimal development.
- Glycerine Drying
Glycerin is an inexpensive way to preserve plant material. You can use it to preserve plants by dipping them into a 33% glycerin solution, or you can crush some dried flowers and place them in a 33% glycerine solution.
- Freeze Drying
To preserve flowers for sale in the dried flower industry, the best way to store them is by using freeze drying. Freeze drying uses the principle of sublimating, which means holding an object at temperatures below its melting point but above its boiling point under reduced pressure.
The lack of liquid water during the drying process prevents any unwanted chemical reactions from occurring. Therefore, colors and fragrances remain intact in the dehydrated flower petals.
If the drying business is ready for expansion then there are two options. First, you could lease some vacant property to expand the drying operation, or you could buy the raw materials and start packaging them yourself. When they’re packaged, the finished product can be bought by wholesalers who sell directly to retail stores.
You might be interested in reading an article called “How to Start an Organic Farm Greenhouse Business”.
3. Research the Market
You must gather information regarding the demand for your product in the local community. Do market research and learn more about your competitors’ products and prices, where are the holes, and so on. This will help you plan your own marketing strategy properly.
4. Name Your Dried Flower Business
Naming your dried flower business is an important step because it helps people remember your brand. Read our guide on naming your dried flower business here.
5. Create a Business Plan for Your Dried Flower Business
Start planning your new venture. Determine what you’re going to do, how much money you’ll spend, who you’re going to hire, where you’re going to operate, and what kind of product or service you’ll offer. Write down everything you know about your idea so far, including any problems you might encounter during the process.
If you’re going to start your own company, you need to think about these three things: (1) how much time and effort you want to put into it; (2) whether you want to start out by trying to raise funds from investors; and (3) whether you want to create your own product or service.
- Executive Summary
- Challenges
- Solutions You Offer
- Market Scope
- Competitor Analysis
- SWOT Analysis
- Operational Plan
- Hiring Plan, if required
- Financials
6. Calculate the Cost of Starting a Dried Flower Business
To start a dried flower farm, you need to buy some plants and equipment. You may want to rent out the land where you grow your flowers if you don’t have any land. There are also other costs involved including compliance and advertising expenses.
If you decide to invest in marketing frozen flowers, you’ll probably want to buy some specialized storage facilities for them. A price tag of at least $1,500 would be required.
There will be both fixed costs and recurring costs involved in running this business. These include things like garden supplies, office furniture, machinery repairs, employee wages, and so on.
You can start up a dried flowers business for less than $2,500 if you’re willing to operate at a smaller level.
7. Register Your Business
It is important to start and operate a legally compliant company. Each country and state has different legal structures for companies depending on their size and resources. You need to talk to an expert from the relevant government agency and choose the one that best fits your needs.
For example, in most countries, the most common types of companies are sole proprietorships, partnerships, and limited liability companies (LLCs). Legal experts usually advise forming an LLC because it provides protection against lawsuits.
If you want to form your own limited liability company (LLC), you can either register your LLC yourself at no charge or pay for professional help to do so.
8. Where to Sell Dried Flowers
Networking is the best way to get started in any business. Contact people who sell similar items. Offer them discounts if they refer you to others. Make friends with retailers and party planners. Get into online communities where people share information about their businesses.
Create a brochure featuring pictures of your dried flower arrangements and give them out at local events. Post news and updates about your business on social networking sites.
Is Dried Flower Business Profitable?
Drying flower bulbs is an important process used to preserve them before they can be sold. They are then shipped to countries such as China, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, United States, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Panama, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, St Vincent and Grenadines, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, Turks and Caicos Islands, Aruba, Curacao, Martinique, Guadeloupe
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