Save Our Sales Slump 

As a retired nursery owner, my advice is to diversify. We got through bad years by having a wide range of things to sell. Over the years we saw herb sales peak, perennial sales peak, natives and drought-tolerant plants take center stage, and then pollinator plants rise in popularity. We sold at Farmer's Markets for fifteen years to grow our business, so we really had to adapt to a lot of changes. I know you gave up on veggies because of their lower cash value, but having a few veggies can also draw people to your farmstand. Or even having a few small plants to sell. Wishing you all the best.

To me it looked like there was too much greenery in the bouquets and not enough flower content.

I am betting that people are feeling the pinch of inflation and discretionary spending on things like flowers is easy to cut. Thank you for reminding me to go down to my local farmers' market today to support my local flower growers!

Try a market with your red stand, & see if it makes a difference. People don't always remember faces, but they remember a stand that sticks out... just in case.

I like Ian. He is emotionally intelligent. He has composure and speaks to Serena calmly and loving. I admire that.

Agree; from a former florist. The bouquets are pretty and I love greenery, but I think the perceived value as someone mentioned would go up if you highlighted the flowers more.

Serena, you may want to make a window on the front. With an awning ? I hate to say rebuild the stand but perhaps work slowly on a new stand that is gorgeous.... And shows the product, inviting people yo stop

Open the side walls on the tent. Also, $700 is still a darn good day, even if it didn't meet your expectations.

I noticed a slump this late Spring too. I think people are not as optimistic as they were coming out of Covid. It is hard to explain but a number of my customers almost seem to feel guilty if they make a purchase. "I want to but I shouldn't" So perhaps having signage that says "Thank you for supporting our family farm" or something that would help them overcome this misplaced guilt. It is weird. Hoping both our sales numbers improve this summer 😊

Just to throw out another idea- Serena, you could teach bouquet making classes on the farm! A local farm by me does this and it is so fun and always sells out. It would be a good way to move stock (when you have more) and you don’t have to do the work of making the bouquets, just the prep stuff. Let people bring snacks and drinks or offer 1 glass of wine with the experience. Give a little tour of the farm, do some demos, teach some things, and then let people make a bouquet! You could have a set design or do it more of a bouquet bar style. You could easily charge $50 dollars for this. Even a class of 10 people, that’s $500 dollars for like a 1.5 hour long class activity. So many possibilities with this! Host a seedling class, where you teach everyone how to start seeds, how to grow certain plants. Then let them put seeds in soil blocks or have mini starts read for people to plant into bigger pots (or a combo of this), so there’s an “activity” associated with it and they get to take something home! I think re-visiting the seedling sale could be a good idea too. Many people hopped into gardening during covid and it’s kind of died down, but having access to seedlings could make that easier to get back into.

I'd be curious whether it would help the farm stand if it became an Instagram destination - a couple cute areas for people to take pictures with flowers - an archway and bench? cute doorway, like French flower shop? bee wings for people to take a picture in front of? butterfly wings?

I do think that the way you did your farm stand looked better before, when you had veggies and flowers. Not sure if it’s just the table set up. The way it is now doesn’t seem as inviting. It seems like one big block of flowers, which makes it hard for each bouquet to stand out. They all look the same. Having the veg added more contrast and colour blocks, and it separated the tables, which seemed more appealing. Good luck, you guys are amazing, and so talented at making beautiful bouquets. ❤

Okay, this video has been up for almost six hours, and I just was able to watch it. I read through every single comment, and have never seen so much tough love! Lots of good ideas and advice, a lot of things to sit down and contemplate. Everyone is behind you!

Its a personal opinion, but the greens in the bouquet is overshadowing the flowers. I have noticed that the leaves are blocking the flowers from initial view. Also some of the leaves looked chipped. This might've affected the decision of people buying them? Always rooting for you guys❤❤❤

Get your bouquet wraps either printed or stamped (something the kiddos could help do ?) with logo and name on one side. Low cost, high visual impact advertising when a customer is carrying their purchase around. Also lets recipients know where to get another 💐 from.

I would love if you did a CSA program. The parking situation at the farmer's market is my deterrent. I was at your roadside stand once but I need to make a special trip out to Lake Country as I live in Kelowna. If I prepaid for guaranteed flowers weekly, I would love that!

Perhaps next year you should get permission to be in the parking lots to sell grad bouquets and advertise before hand.

I love that you guys talk about money. It lets other people know how hard you have to work to have a flower farm. And you can work as hard as possible and it still can not be enough.

Try add banting flags that flap in the wind which will attract attention to the road stall or perhaps a sign that spins around. Creating movement will add to your plant garden attraction. Stay strong.

The red tent readily identifies your farm. Who knows if impacts sales but it certainly makes you easily identified and found. Ian, you seem very natural and approachable. :)

Something I miss in the ranunculus bouquets is the pretty Kale flower 💛💐

I would say double the size of the roadside stand! and make more of the signage - bigger and colourful ! If you’re allowed have a progression of signs from 2 miles away . The signs, maybe simply a flower and a red arrow ⬆️..until the last 2 signs have the flower and left hand pointing arrow ⬅️ to the stand 🙂 Your gift is that busy road so capitalise on that. ☺️🌻

Loving this channel. Inspiring us to grow flowers for sale on our farm here in Ireland! Sold out first flowers this morning! 🙌

Whenever I am feeling discouraged with sales or pests or whatever on my flower farm, I remind myself of what Lisa Mason Ziegler has said over and over- just keep showing up. And she is right, this low period will pass. Love you guys!

I miss the red canopy and wonder if it made the colour of the bouquets more vibrant. Love your optimism and inspired by your work ethic!

Maybe try dried flower bunches of same type of flowers only and maybe small bags of flower heads - good for crafters - people are starting to craft for fall and Christmas now, your higher shelf on the roadside stand would be great for those.

I think you are very well liked! I especially like your honesty!

Clearly Price your products. Visible outside of the booth. Folks are reluctant to ask a price for fear of not wanting to pay. Have several price points, everyone wants to buy, just maybe not $30, which allows the posting of a sign with a "great" price. Marking your price also makes a markdown believable. The last two hours, liquidation sale, new signs n prices. Guarantee these will double, or triple sales.

At my local farmers market they put the bouquets on the ground and a level up, so two levels. That way u can see them from the top. No brown wrapping. It makes a beautiful display. It really draws the attention.

If I lived in your area, I would purchase flowers😍. You are a wonderful family flower farm. Canadians get out and purchase from Red Roof Farm. You also remind me to buy from my local flower farm. …love the videos 🎉

Yup, tune up your color branding theme. Buy red paint. Paint that aqua door on your flower roadside stand RED. Put up the red canopy tent out front, get red balloons and banners in a red theme. Have a "special bouquet" like, " I'M SORRY BOUQUET" sale. Etc. Say it with flowers.. etc

Maybe a terrible idea, but why not take the bouquets to the parking lot where all the people will be at the graduation? Sell them right there? I am always running late to things, and so would be that person who would buy on the spot because I didn’t have time to stop on the way. And I don’t mean a full market set up - just sell out of the back of the truck.

I think the Farmers market going to come and you're going to sell all the flowers 🌹 you're flowers so beautiful I wish you all the best take care guys.

I see you've gotten a ton of advice in the comments. I hope it doesn't feel too overwhelming or critical -- you guys work so hard and everyone wants to see you succeed! I agree with what folks are saying with diversification, but one angle to that I think to consider is diversification of content. I know you don't want to be a content farm, but it's faster to make adjustments with digital products than farm products and it could get you through the slump temporarily while you begin planning for long term business solutions for the actual farming. Another idea for the farm -- marketing in bridal fb groups for direct selling for weddings. I think if you market it as a budget option for DIY brides, you could move a ton of flowers (once you have them). People might be saving money now and not buying flowers for their home, but there will always be a demand for wedding flowers.

Hopefully you have signs a couple of hundred yards up the road from your stand. Give customers a chance to stop.

Could it be the RED tent? It sure made the flowers look amazing on video. What if you switched it up a little and see. It could be the economy also but have a gift shop in Georgia in a tourist town my sales are WAY done too. Praying for both our sales to skyrocket now!

A good project for the off season would be to add a photo opp mural to the roadside stand - perhaps painted on the stand itself or the fence. I bet it would inspire people to pull over to snap selfies and purchase boquets while they're there.

You are going to have great years, good years, and downright so so years at the Markets. When sales are great, it is easy to have a good outlook. When sales are so so, it's hard to be positive. Ian is right about the weather. Concentrate on the roadside stand and expect the market to be the side hustle. It'll all work out. Remember the weird weather plays into it. I was a Vendor in SoCal and my best day was 10 beautiful $20 boquets. Talk about disheartening. You're going to be fine. You have to take several years average before you get into a real routine of knowing what to expect. It'll be okay.

I live in Crimea. We buy bouquets only for holidays. These are roses, carnations, chrysanthemums, tulips. I've been doing my garden for 30 years. First there were peaches-grapes-tomatoes for sale. Now flowers (roots) are a priority. I plan to plant a lot of peony bushes for cutting.

Good morning, Thanks for the great video. Here are some things I’m wondering about- Would displaying a few bouquets in the water bags help sales at the market? Would it lower an obstacle to sales? Would a more structured consistent exposure on social media and advertising work? People need to see multiple ads before becoming customers. Could social media become part of the daily work flow? Monday- thanks for a great weekend, I loved seeing that the tulip sales went so well (even though you didn’t make $) maybe a picture of the bunch of the week- which sold the best? Tuesday a drone shot of the farm Wednesday a kitten and flowers shot Thursday a flower close up in the field Friday shots of bouquets Saturday a market shot Sunday a funny picture- wearing a flower crown. Holding a mass of flowers (like the old veggie photos) amazing a really wild Serina bouquet- over the top! Using every leftover flower of the week… A this is what we are cooking up for graduation post A shot with a ruler of the flowers growing in the front garden? I know you like to keep it elegant and minimalist for your customers. But I think incorporating some of the personality and techniques you are already showing in RU-vid will help build your brand. I assume you could schedule it to release on its own so it wouldn’t need constant attention. Would having a separate Kelowna farmers market Instagram account help you find your customers? A few ideas…. Ayelet

Don’t be discouraged! The first 5 yrs of any new business venture can be the toughest ;) Every failure is a learning opportunity :)

So instead of a bag water should do wet paper towels. As a grad i would be devastating to get soaked holding flowers.

Paint the outside of the home stand vibrant colors to attract people to it

Would you describe in a future video what the rules are for the roadside stand ? Ie: how big can it be? Can it ne a store ? Can you add on a wee greenhouse ? Or lathe house ? Then people can see inside. I think getting them to pull over is key.

With the farmers market maybe try and make your booth more flashy. Reconfigure your tables, add some signs, make it so it catches the eye. I also agree with others saying diversify, but I don't think you need to add back veggies to do that. You just need to use your flowers to make more products. The flower crowns are a great idea (especially for your dried flowers) making stuff for prom could also be a good idea. I know many parents will splurge at prom, so that is probably a seasonal good market test out. You could even use some of your old dried flowers that aren't in the best shape anymore to make eco friendly confetti. I'm sure other people might have so great ideas for easy stuff you can make with flowers too!

I was talking with my husband the other day. If the economic goes down, nonessential businesses will be the first to go. Being nonessential businesses always has that liability. But what can we do, right? It's our passion and lifeline. We have to be optimistic and have a back up plan/saving.

I’ve been watching for a few years and have noticed a pattern. I have an abrasive way of presenting information, so please know I mean this in a “I’ve got your back” way. Not a “I like to kick people while they’re down” way. You guys have been working so hard, I don’t want this farm to fail because you’ve gotten discouraged too many times. So here it goes. You really don’t have a firm grasp on your local market, yet every time you get a hunch about something it’s full steam ahead. It was years before you started making $40 bouquets after arguing ‘people can just buy two and put them together’. Turns out, people don’t want to do that. And even in this video, you said “no one is going to buy flowers for prom, only graduation.” Well… you don’t know that. You could have ran a prom sale and started a new trend of dates buying each other flowers. Or even parents buying for their children. Like a daddy-daughter “remember daddy always loves you” type thing. You could have donated the unsold flowers to a school and/or used them to create boutonnières. It wouldn’t translate to sales immediately, but it would show off your farm to the chaperones. Since, people are allowed to have fun again, you may need to do more event work. I respect the decision to pivot toward flowers when veggie sales were down, but now that people are not stuck at home and money is tight, the perceived value of flowers has gone down. Getting out and having fun is still a semi-priority for a lot of people. (For now) so the flowers can be used to add value to that experience. Like flower crowns at a concert or, as I said, flowers at prom. But that bubble is going to burst eventually. So you need a safety net which veggies could provide. The pendulum is going to swing back to home cooking soon. People will reevaluate their budgets and realize they have to reignite their culinary skills. And what better way to do that than the freshest ingredients possible? You can provide them with the best ingredients to help transition to home cooking. That is… IF you start selling veggies again. And in five years, you’ll have to make changes again. But as of right now, you’ve been terrible at predicting consumer behavior and only pivot a year or two afterwards. You’ve been mentioning a new employee lately. For a while you were saying employees are not the goal and you couldn’t afford them, but since you have one now… you really need to come up with a diversification strategy. You can’t keep chasing customers. You need to come up with your core products so people already know to come to you when they need them. The quantities can change, a few new products can be trialed. But please stop scrapping your business every few years. Imagine McDonald’s not having burgers just because those sales go down during Lent. They don’t get rid of burgers just because sales go down for six weeks a year. No, they offer sales on fish filet in addition to their standard menu. Now imagine McDonald’s gets rid of everything but the fish filet… in May after Lent has ended… that’s been your strategy thus far. So come up with a plan on how you can keep some variety now that you have help. I can understand not being able to do it all, but something’s gotta give, guys.

Diversity is a good friend also. Carrots, tomatoes and the flowers could help with the swing of things. My heart goes out to you! Farming and ranching is not for the faint of heart. Best wishes to you all!

I don't think it would hurt to paint your fence to catch the eye. Kind of like a billboard. I think the fun wall in your shop would be a great way to advertise. And write Flowers in the middle of those fun colors

I watched a RU-vid channel where they open their flower fields 2 days a week for “you pick” and it is very successful. Designate a specific field. They mostly had zinnias.

I think the bag is a good idea. Reminds me of selling fish!

The quality of life coming from your roadside stand is not to be ignored

Other people have already mentioned diversification. You know/follow other flower sellers and see all the paths they follow: bouquet bar, plant sales, dried flower heads for crafting, dried blends for potpourri, wholesale to florists, CSA with scheduled pickup, know the events in your area and be at them (love the idea of selling at the graduation, dance recitals, etc.), getting your product into local stores and farm stands, charging for photo shoots on your farm, and having a beautiful, consistent social media presence. Another grower on RU-vid said the majority of their money was made from education and other non-bouquet sales.Good luck.

I just have to say that after all these years I've never once tried of your videos.. your one of the very few I've continued to watch over the years 👏👏👏👏

6:08 Heck Yeah!! Strong big yellow flowers with tiny dainty flowers, white petals with yellow centers, and a little bit of greenery! Looks perfect to me! I don't have it in my budget to buy flowers, but the sight of this bouquet had an immediate positive effect on me, and I'd buy it anyway! Even if I was a grad and my colors didn't include yellow or gold! My opinion: if you were to do this with large, strong, "blue" flowers, and African blue-disk daisies (white petals, blue centers) that might be a big hit too. I believe at least one of the schools near you has a general theme of "shades of blue", as they said in a description when I went googling for school colors in your area. I don't know what advertising you do, but I would think that timely advertising that specifically mentions things like "We've got school colors for graduation and parties!" with a picture of school color themed bouquets, that might be a good seller for graduation and graduation parties. You can even plan flower growth to the themes and (hopefully) the right timing.

First off let me say that you grow very beautiful flowers and make lovely bouquets. I have read a lot of these comments and there is some good advice there- I am a market vendor and farmer myself and know a tiny bit about such things. I would be wary of trying too much diversification as it can just get exhausting- going back to a few veggies might not be a bad idea, or maybe strawberries- something the kids could help harvest. The tan tablecloth I would suggest changing to dark green- it goes well with flowers and vegetables of any sort. That red roof tent did shed an odd light on the bouquets as I remember- the wrapping paper might look better in a green shade also- visuals are so important. And Ian- you are such a nice looking fellow- as a vendor you might want to try a shave and haircut- we need to be at our best when selling at market, even when we are exhausted! Good luck guys!

don't come down on yourselves...remember this has been a very odd year with the forest fires, cold weather and the downhill economy. (6-28-2023) i'm in detroit and we have nothing but an awful season so far.

The bouquets were still lovely! It's too bad that so many culminating factors have made these two weeks so disappointing financially. I hope things are better in the weeks to come, and that you get the flower abundance you've been missing :)

The veggies. Bring back the veggies with the flowers. At least a little bit? I miss the veggie content. Plus, post covid flowers sold as we all needed a boost, but each year is different. And ppls needs / moods change. The cost of food is up… we need fresh food. ❤ good luck!🍀 God bless. Don’t give up. ❤

Have you considered selling some smaller, shorter stemmed boquets? It would expand your stock and not everyone has a place for a large statement boquet..which also really needs several bunches to have an impact and not look scrawny. That gets expensive unless you can augment with your own stuff. Small boquets offer more flexibility for the buyer, are less expensive and look more lush. I have a lot of flowers on my property and build boquets all the time but i prefer the smaller ones for those reasons. For the same amount of labor i can have lots of smaller boquets all over the house to cheer things up rather than one big one that often just gets in the way,plus the larger ones require more mtc. You dont want to just compost them when they still have some good stems so you feel compelled to salvage them as opposed to just replacing them. With smaller boquets there is less "guilt" and pressure to maintain them...which could result in more frequent repeat business...Just a thought.

Hope things pick up for you guys. I don't think some people have the money they use to.

If I had the roadside stand I would pick that for my purchase because it would be close to my car. Carrying flowers around the market is clumsy.

I don't have any experience in marketing, but I really liked your red tent at the flower market, eye catching and vivid. I thought the flowers looked just fine under the red color.

This past year when you turned to flowers because they were higher profit margin or selling better, my immediate thought was...why do that when we are clearly heading into a deeply recessionary cycle? When money gets tight, flowers for the house get cut from the discretionary budget, if there is even a discretionary budget left. Grow food. People always need food. Maybe not carrots, if the margin is low. But sell food.

Hey ! I love your channel. My profession is sales and marketing and I would suggest this. You said the booth traffic is good so you are getting that. Ask the potential clients when they visit your booth what they are looking for in bouquets and they will tell you what they want. And if it's price they will tell you that also if you ask honestly in a learning format. If they say they are looking for a different bouquets they will say that also. It's really that simple; ask them what they want. The hard part of course in the subsequent weeks is growing what they want at the price they are willing to spend.

There's about 3 weeks around the fourth of July that the entire floral industry slows down. A lot of shops close and take the entire holiday off and go on vacation. You need to factor this in and plan time off during this time and not get discouraged. Also, people's own flowers are blooming at their houses. If you have the graduations, that's great!

Maybe offer greater quantities of the $10/$15 bouquets

I think a big focus on the roadside stand is where the future is at. You could sell more through the stand and maybe eventually skip the markets...veggies, herbs, etc. Graduation bouquets and arrangements are a fantastic last minute idea for some extra fundage. Maybe set the kiddos up once in a while with a lemonade (cookie, popcorn..etc) stand out front or something that draws the eye of someone driving by to the stand...maybe a balloon or 3??

This year I think people are avoiding any temptation to spend because of inflation and skyrocketing food prices.

I'd like to help you. I've been a business owner for over 4 decades. I'd say that the high school, college, and grad school courses that helped me the most were accounting, business law, retail marketing, and believe it or not, a linguistics class in grad school. I noticed in your previous videos that decisions about which flowers to buy seeds or bulbs for, depended on how pretty they would look in a bouquet rather than your Return on Investment. Do you have a system in place where you both sit down and agree on a budget for ordering seeds and bulbs and calculate to some degree what ratio of blooms would yield a profitable bouquet? Obviously, loss due to bad weather or poor germination would be a next tier calculation. Other RU-vid Channels are hurting you in a way but not intentionally. There are a number of RU-vidrs who have homesteading channels, economic and financial channels, and prepping channels and all of them advise people to pay off debts, get out of debt, and to grow food, preserve food, and stock up on necessities. Jess at Roots and Refuge has taken criticism just for telling viewers that she likes to plant flowers around her vegetable garden so that it is pretty and enjoyable and not just a place to weed and harvest food. That would explain why people feel almost guilty about buying flowers. They are being encouraged by not only RU-vidrs but the high cost of food and everything else, to conserve their money. In my area the independent and Big Box store garden centers have an abundance of unsold flats of flowers and hanging baskets. In previous years, if you didn't get your flats of petunias on Mother's Day weekend you'd have slim pickings by the end of May. I live in an area with a high percentage of State Workers so the area doesn't suffer the economic downturns as much as other regions so if there are unsold flowers here, that is a noticeable change from previous years. You might want to consider making your farm into a place where people can come and be taught how to mix their own potting soil. use grow lights, and plant seeds. Even though you have made videos on it there a many people who learn best by doing things with their hands (my teaching degree at work, here) and would pay for a workshop in the winter at your farm and in the spring when you till the soil and plant the starts. People forget what they didn't know when they started so they discount their own experience in relation to those who never even thought about doing what they are doing. That is true across all occupations and hobbies. I grew up with multiple dogs, cats, and other animals and took for granted knowing what I do about them until people asked me the most basic questions about their behavior or care. So there are opportunities for you to have all kinds of workshops on your farm. As the retired garden nursery owner suggested, you have to diversify. These other RU-vid channels have reaped the rewards of people wanting to grow food during the shutdowns and the scarcity of food on grocery store shelves at the time and some scarcity now. Also, more people are concerned about what is used to grow vegetables. There are ranges of concerns about different types of fertilizers and you could present a range of options. Gary P at The Rusted Garden gives his viewers options when it comes to fertilizers and Peat Moss. Selling vegetable and flower starts and seedlings, and offering workshops is a start. If you offered a special workshop for children it would make people drive to your location. That right there is important because many people won't drive to new areas without a really good incentive. A summer workshop for children, if it were a success, might help you to develop one for during the school year, either at your farm or one that you would teach in a classroom as a special guest. Talking about how much money you have in the till is bookkeeping; talking about your Return on Investment is accounting. You might want to make an appointment with a CPA who has florists and famers as clients and get some advice (equations) from that person. What I am about so say may sound a little unkind but you have children. You aren't getting any younger. How will you be able to do this kind of work in 10 years? You can't work enough hours to make a living on your own. You make money by having other people work for you so that the business pays their wages and yours. Lastly, the economy and the agendas of the people who buy politicians can't be ignored. There is no use investing in farming if it is going to be legislated out of business or confiscated. Of course, with Canada's new law, you won't have access to RU-vidrs who alert people and explain the underlying issues of news stories because they won't be able to pay the publishers of the stories. It will be increasingly difficult to get news that is outside of the approved narrative which is the point of the law. I hope that you and the other readers here will take what I have offered as being helpful and not hurtful. It is difficult to convey in writing something that if said in person, would be conveyed in a give and take conversation where reactions can be noted and speech modified so as to not unnecessarily hurt someone's feelings. Best wishes for your future endeavors!

I believe you need more color (flowers) to balance the filler you put in your arrangements.

Lol, I think it’s fine that you talk about your honest journey in the market farm reality. ✌🏻❤️ we love you guys!

It's tough worldwide, even here in Australia people are spending less having to find an extra thousand dollars to pay their mortgages, unfortunately things like buying flowers go first. Maybe its time for the veggies to come back, or houseplants.

Definitely promote the stand at the farmers market! It is more time flexible for customers, and less time cost for you. The farm I worked at for years eventually stopped going to the market for all the reasons you are talking about and because they had plenty of traffic to there stand (+ wholesale sales) to make it feel not worth it to go to the market.

You could sell your strawberries or cherries a couple weeks in June. Flower crowns out of dried flowers at a farmers market would be great too.

Maybe you should sell fresh herb bundles, berries when in season and maybe find a wholesale honey source to put out jars of honey? I feel all those things would be good add ons to flower sales. I think the seedling sales were a good idea. 🌸🌸🌸

We're also seeing slow flower sales at our market. But our veggies always sell out. Luckily we also have a flower CSA and offer retail flowers through a local shop and our online website. So we manage to get the flower sold. Like i said though, market sales have been slower than anticipated

One of the things I noticed with ur bouquets this year is the greenery is more than usual for ur regular colorful flowers.. I would not personally pay that much each week.. and as an extra idea.. start displaying some of ur wonderful strawberries.. they would attract the customers would might likely take a closer look and spend the extra 20 for a bouquet to take home

The longer you grow and the more people you talk to that farm the more you’ll learn the trends and will be able to focus your efforts and energy with more precision. You’re still new so give yourselves some grace. Thank you for sharing your journey we are all rooting for you to succeed! ❤

The proper clothing and clean hair always work.

Maybe host a workshop at the market? Build your own bouquet, flower crown etc. consider shipping or delivering flowers? Advertise arrangements for parties. Different size bouquets perhaps? Sometimes people would be a cute petite 6 dollar bouquet rather a luscious $20 dollar bouquet. Good luck! Love your channel and the flowers. I would buy some if I weren’t states away

Not just flowers showing a pinch, the reptile, amphibian, and plant hobbies are seeing a sizeable drop this year across the board.

I hear the disappointment, unsure if things will turn quickly enough or at all. No way of knowing the future. However, I think you have a great product. There has to be other ideas from other flower farmers, not that I know them, but flower farmers who have experienced, or are experiencing this, must have creative ideas that might help, I hope will help. I do wish you all the best. Try not to get too down, keep your head up, seek advice from others who have been or are going through the same struggles. It is so fun when things go well, remember those times, have faith, things will change, finding how that works for you is the key. Love from Virginia USA.

Your channel ROCKS!! I LOVE watching. I'm in the Mojave desert in Nevada and sale produce here, very difficult growing conditions..Your channel inspires me to keep going and gives me great ideas for marketing..Keep up the great work!!

you guys work so hard, i hope your sales slump ends soon. Serena your dried flower arrangements are so beautiful, i love them. You can do a cut flower bouquet like nobody's business just perfect....good luck (on your sign isn't it etransfer??? not etranfer??

Consider selling by the stem out of buckets at the farmers market. Less work for you and people can then choose exactly what they want ie colour, flower, etc and aren't limited to premade bouquets. You can still provide the water bags and also have elastic on hand to tie up large handfuls of flowers for the customer. I am wondering as well about the greens you are including as they overwhelmed the flowers in my opinion and people don't usually want to pay $20 for greens. Again if you sell out of buckets by the stem then people will pay for the greens if they want but don't let the greens a focal part of your bouquet. I am suggesting this based on my experience selling for a flower farmer at a market for many years and we sold out every week. That farmer also sold veggies and strawberries and other berries as they came into season so the advice you have received to diversify is a good one.

I used to make and sell soap. So glad that part of my life is done! Best of luck to you.

I've been watching you for years now and a silent viewer All the way from the 🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭, I want to suggest that please get some colorful veggies on your farmers market stand that will addsale and will attract buyers

The flower farmer at our market makes the bouquets on the spot when you step up to order. Folks walk up and state the general colors or flowers they want and its made right there. Note: The buyer is not directing each flower to be used for the bouquet. They have around 3-4 people making bouquets and 1-2 taking money. They make them really fast, they are big, and the line is long. There is something about a que that brings more people to stand in it. Perhaps you try that for one market and see how that could work. Maybe put on your roadside stand sign that you will be at the market. Its the size of the bouquets that is so impressive. Once you see someone walking around with one you think, I want one of those too! 😂

You’re one of my favorite channels. A bit of constructive advice is to pay attention better to your local community happenings. It seems like you were unaware until the last moment about the college and HS graduations and proms. If you had flowers that represented the school colors, that would be even better. You could have contacted the organizers of the ceremonies to have sold arrangements to put in the auditorium/stages at the ceremonies and sold corsages and boutineers, etc. That could have probably been a big money maker for you if you had advertised well ahead of time. Maybe you could plan for this a year ahead knowing that you can order flower seeds or plugs in certain varieties that represent the local school’s colors. I also think that it is a HUGE missed opportunity for advertising that you don’t put a ink stamp or sticker on your flower Kraft paper wrap with your business name and contact info. If I got one of your lovely bouquets as a gift, and I wanted to get flowers for someone else in the future, it would make me a customer, but only if I knew where they came from.

I’m so sorry to hear of your hardships. When times are tough, people have to pinch every penny to feed their children and pay for their homes. I wish you well!

You guys are my favorite Farmer’s Market channel! I’m a vendor at the Farmer’s Market in Moose Lake, Minnesota selling bedding plants, jelly, salsa, baked goods and some veggies. Of course you have to talk about money. It’s so much work, you can’t do it unless you make money!😂❤ Really love your channel!!!

Hi from Melbourne Australia, i enjoy watching you channel and I hope I can give you a few ideas without upsetting. Paint your fence a brighter colour or paint a flower mural. Show clear prices people are embarrassed to stop and ask. Also at the market brighten the stand, add bunting or flags and if you sell flowering plants together with your bouquets you will attract more customers. Our markets that sell flowers also have plants for sale and they sell out fast. They also sell lavender parcels, lavender oil , soap and farm honey and they always sell out. Try samples of honey and sell plants or seeds in pretty envelopes of the flowers you have in your bouquets for a reasonable price like $3.50. I have purchased lots of plants for my garden that way. Don’t give up countries are all in a slump since Covid .

I have been following you since the start and have seen the comments about 'change the red roof at the farm stand' now there are comments saying ''back to the red roof at the farm stand' 😄well we should admit RU-vid comments aren't always helpful, we are all just trying, noone knows really what's happening. I hope you guys will be fine and find a way through this tough time! Finger crossed and watched ads, that should help a bit. Greetings, Judit

You could set up a small permanent display of your craft items in the roadside stand. Things you'd normally take to craft fairs like bagged dried flowerheads for example, your ornaments (come autumn, no one wants to see Xmas stuff in June!), etc. It wouldn't be a big money spinner but if you prepare them during the off season it's just a matter of stocking the stand once a week and you'd probably get an extra 100-200$ a week.

Your flowers always look amazing, it’s how expensive everything has become. Less money to spend on extras like your beautiful flowers. Also I’ve seen flowers at a stand just recently that had a bag of water attached! Such a good idea😊

I'm just saying if I was rich I would buy all your bouquets 😊

Your flowers and bouquets are gorgeous ~ I do agree with the comments on veggies ~ in the current economic conditions, people will buy food before flowers, hopefully the economy turns and people will buy flowers again. Inflation is crazy in the US, i.e., the cooking oil I buy cost $13 in 2019 is now $23. Gas, food etc. not much left for flowers, this year anyway. Try selling as a wholesaler to flower shops? The diy wedding flowers for brides is a great idea, do you have a flower bar where you sell by the stem?

Have you guys got Sobeys or Co-Op grocery stores in Kelowna? I don't remember if I saw any there last time I was in the area. Anyways, those grocers are always open to local products being sold in their stores. Perhaps an idea would be to approach them and see if you could have your bouquets sold there. They'd be in coolers too so less product loss. Just an idea!

I agree with all the other comments.. some reflection of the comment section might be helpful. However totally get how hard you all are working