Growing up in the Cape, I developed an early affection for proteas and fynbos. My mother always had nasturtiums spilling over the garden edges and geraniums blazing in terracotta pots. Those colours and textures stayed with me for years, and eventually, that childhood love nudged me into a floral design course in Johannesburg—run, I might add, by one of the leading figures in South Africa’s florist business training world.
If you adore flowers and everything that comes with them, you might also feel the tug: Why not go into the flower business? It’s tempting. It really can be lucrative. And yes, working with beautiful blooms all day does offer a deep kind of satisfaction.
But let’s not get carried away by the scent of roses just yet.
In this article, I want to look at what the flower business actually entails—and some of the realities that don’t make it into the Instagram version of floristry. I don’t say this to discourage anyone. But after that weekend floral design course, making bunch after bunch after bunch, learning about conditioning, wiring, cooling, stripping stems, processing buckets, and the hundred tiny disciplines that keep flowers alive and customers happy—I realised just how tough this business really is. My intention wasn’t to open a shop, but to learn enough about flowers and arrangements to improve my watercolour paintings. Still, the experience opened my eyes.
And I must confess: I even enjoy reading novels centred around the flower business. One that stuck with me last year was Miranda Dickinson’s Fairytale of New York, where the world of flowers is romantic, bustling, and filled with character. Lovely escapism. Real floristry, however, is quite a different story.
Starting a Flower Business Without Experience: Possible, But…
Here’s the surprising thing: you can start a flower business without formal trade experience. Plenty of successful florists are self-taught. Workshops, short courses, YouTube, books—there are many ways in. A qualification helps, but it’s not a legal requirement.
But the flower business demands two things very quickly:
(1) practical floristry skills, and
(2) solid business sense.
Neglect either, and the business folds faster than a wilting tulip in the midday sun.
1. Floristry Skills You Must Master
• Flower care (the most important skill). Processing, hydrating, trimming, storing at the right temperature.
• Design basics: colour harmony, balance, techniques, wiring, binding, bouquet construction.
• Speed: You cannot take two hours on a single arrangement—retail especially demands pace.
• Pricing: Markups, labour charges, waste management. Flowers are unforgiving: you must make money before they die.
2. The Business Skills
• Understanding your customer demographics.
• Choosing your model: shop vs. home studio.
• Setting fair but profitable pricing.
• Marketing—Instagram, Google Maps, WhatsApp Business.
• Supplier relationships.
• Managing perishables (the hardest part).
None of this is impossible. But it’s not leisurely either.
Retail Florist vs. Event/Studio Florist
A quick comparison, because this shapes your entire lifestyle.
Retail Florist (The Classic Flower Shop)
• Daily orders.
• Walk-ins.
• Stock on hand.
• Predictable hours—sort of.
• High overheads (rent, coolers, electricity).
• High wastage risk.
Event/Studio Florist
• Weddings, corporate functions, styled shoots.
• Work from a private studio or home.
• Order flowers only for booked events—little daily waste.
• Low overhead.
• Brutal deadlines but fewer of them.
For beginners, the studio/event model often makes more sense. Less risk. Less daily pressure. More learning space.
The Harsh, Muscular Realities of Floristry
Enough theory. Here’s what people don’t put on Instagram.
It Is Physically Demanding
You don’t sit and dream up bouquets all day. You haul buckets, soak stems, move crates, clean coolers, and process hundreds of flowers at a time. Flowers come drenched in water—every bucket seems to weigh as much as a bakkie engine.
Your hands? Expect nicks, cuts, thorns, stiffness, and repetitive strain.
Your clothing? Always damp.
Your back? Eventually negotiates with you. Sometimes refuses.
The Hours Are Long and Odd
The flower market waits for no one.
4:00 AM is a normal arrival time if you want the best stock.
Valentine’s Day? Mother’s Day? You may as well move a mattress into the shop and sleep between the buckets. These holidays keep the industry alive—but drain the florist dry.
Events add chaos of their own. You might spend three days building arrangements, followed by a dawn start for installation. Then a midnight breakdown at the venue. Flowers don’t care about your schedule.
Emotional Labour is Part of the Job
Florists deal with:
• bereavements
• apologies
• high-stress weddings
• forgotten anniversaries
• picky corporate clients
People often arrive overwhelmed, distressed, or demanding. You must stay calm, creative, and patient.
And you’re handling perishable goods—your inventory is literally dying by the hour, and you’re expected to perform miracles with it.
Why People Still Love the Work
For all its toughness, floristry has moments that are profoundly rewarding. The look on someone’s face when you hand over an arrangement that exceeds their expectation. The joy of transforming a bare venue into something magical. The quiet pleasure of working with colour and texture.
It’s a craft. It’s a discipline.
It’s beauty forged out of relentless effort.
If you love flowers, follow that impulse. Study them. Arrange them. Practice them. Even, like me, read charming novels about florists living bold, romantic lives in cities far away.
But if you want to enter the business of flowers, go in with eyes wide open.
It’s sweet-smelling.
It’s beautiful.
But it’s also hard, wet, cold, heavy, unpredictable, emotional work.
And that’s what makes it such a remarkable trade.
