Five Things I Wish I Knew Before Opening a Flower Shop | Advice for entrepreneurs | The School of Styling - A three-day hands-on workshop for creative entrepreneurs. | Written by Kaylyn Hewitt of  1956blooms  .   http://www.theschoolofstyling.com

You’re a creative and a business owner. Before I started 1956blooms I had these glowing dreams of being in the most beautiful space, laughing and always smiling with my friends and clients, while completely surrounded by flowers. It was the dream. It was my dream and I was committed to making it happen. Flash forward to the first few months of 1956blooms and I found myself spending a majority of my time reading and rereading articles about how to run and business. I spent afternoon errands filing paperwork and registering for this and that. This wasn’t what I planned but I realized early on that this had to become a part of my dream. If I wanted 1956blooms to be full of days laughing and creating, I had to make being the best business owner I could be apart of my dream too.  

Never stop learning. I wish in the beginning of 1956 that I would have been more gracious with myself about this. I put a lot of pressure on myself to have everything figured out very early on, and that only lead to a lot of sleepless nights and stress. This whole journey you’re on is a process and I believe that it’s so important to keep learning. In the creative industry, it can become very overwhelming to try and have all your ducks in a row immediately or to have all the answers to your questions so that you feel able to keep up. Let people love on you and help guide you, take classes, and be gracious to yourself.

It’s going to be okay. This sounds so simple and so obvious but this is something that I struggled with for a long time. Despite being so excited to start on this journey, I consumed myself with worry and doubt. And sometimes, I think this kept me from being the best florist I could be. If you’re in the beginning stages of starting your own floral design company, or any company, it’s going to be okay. I wish someone had told me that more when I opened 1956. It’s simple, but how often do we worry that it’s not going to be? Even if your business stays open for only 3 months, or business isn’t coming in as fast as you’d like, or it is and you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, you’re going to be okay. The thing that I’d forgotten is that I already had so much to be proud of and so do you. It takes so much courage to do what you’re doing, so no matter what happens in the ups and downs lean on that and find rest.

How physically demanding it is. Water is heavy and so are flowers. This might sound silly but this is SO TRUE and was SO SHOCKING to me! I heard another florist compare florist to movers and after laughing my head off for a good few minutes, I realized that she was right. This is such a physically demanding job and we can so easily get caught up in the dreaminess of being a florist. There is a very real gritty side to this job I love, and I’m here to tell you that it’s not all roses (yeah, I went there…). The sooner you embrace that, the better. 🙂

There is so much growth. Looking back on the last couple of years and I couldn’t have imagined everything that would happen in the months to follow the launch the of my business. This isn’t meant to be the bragging part of the blog post because there were a lot of valleys in those months, but this is to encourage you with that SO much of this journey is so formative. You will stretch, challenge, and push yourself in ways you can’t imagine. It’s an experience like no other and I would encourage you to be gracious in everything that comes along. Getting the opportunity to do what you love on your own terms does not come around for most people and is definitely something that shouldn’t be taken for granted. There is so much you will learn about yourself and if you can be proud of who are (and who’ll you become) you did it! You did something so hard and came out on the other side a better person.  

I couldn’t be more excited for you and all that’s in store for you. Dreaming along with you, friends.

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  1. Victoria K says:

    Oh my goodness. It’s like this was written for me today. I’m so bogged down by the paperwork and filing and licenses and reading business books– it’s hard to see beyond the clouds. Thank you for reminding me I’m not the first person to feel this way. I can’t tell you how encouraging it is to hear from someone that it is actually going to be okay- even if you have a hard time believing it. Hugs and so much gratitude to you Kaylyn.

  2. Shauna says:

    I really enjoyed this interview. I am currently working with my father in law apprenticing at his flower shop and it has become overwhelming. I have always enjoyed flowers and knew I wanted to open a business but it is so much more than just playing with flowers all day like you said. This article put things back into perspective and reminded me how much I love the business, creative freedom, and challenges. It gave me new hope and a refresher I needed. Thank you!

  3. Heather says:

    I am just now getting my creative ideas together and know the part that isnt as pretty will come. Thank you for your transparency and sharing what is not so pretty and not easy with those that are coming after you. I am so thankful I found your company on instagram. I just signed up for your blog subscription and cant wait to see what wonderful ideas will come from it! Thank you again for laying the ground work and helping those of us that dream to make it real! Heather

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