It’s one of the most wonderful (read: profitable) times of the year to be a florist. As consumers deck the halls, florists are expecting strong sales in December. They won’t be jolly, however, if the extra profits only stuff the stockings of employees via overtime paychecks. Financial advisers and industry experts say mindful budgeting and scheduling is key to ensuring a profitable holiday season.

“Overtime is expensive, and it can mess with your budget for payroll, so you want to avoid ,” says Paul Goodman, MBA, CPA, PFCI, president of Floral Finance Business Services. “It’s an unnecessary expense.”

Budgeting for Staff

Dan McManus, president and CEO of TeamFloral, a floral marketing consultancy, recommends budgeting for staff in December as follows:

• Sales staff should equal 6 percent of the month’s projected total sales
• Design staff should equal 10 percent of the month’s projected designed sales
• Delivery drivers should equal 50 percent of the month’s projected delivery fee income

To create schedules, business owners need to know how much revenue to expect. To project sales, McManus suggests looking at last year’s sales and making adjustments based on how they compare to this year’s pattern. For instance, if sales are up 10 percent this year, adjust holiday sales to reflect a 10 percent increase. Then determine how much of the projected revenue needs to be budgeted for staff.

The following example shows how to budget for sales staff.

1. Find your sales increase or decrease from last year.

• June to November 2021 shop sales: $450,000
• June to November 2022 shop sales: $500,000
• The difference in sales from 2021 to 2022 is $50,000
• $50,000 divided by 2022’s sales of $500,000 equals .10 — or a 10 percent increase in sales

2. Determine your projected sales for December 2022.

• December 2021 sales: $100,000
• $100,000 multiplied by the 10 percent increase equals $110,000, which is the predicted sales for December 2022

3. Determine how much to budget for sales staff

• $110,000 (your projected December 2022 sales) multiplied by 6 percent equals $6,600, which is how much to budget for sales staff
• Sales staff hourly rate: $8
• $6,600 divided by $8 equals 825, which is how many sales staff hours are needed for the month

To predict how much design staff is needed, McManus says to follow the same steps, but only use point of sale (POS) data for designed sales. Then multiply the predicted designed sales by 10 percent, for example, to find how many design hours are needed for the month.

Compare Dates

While the above information provides shop owners with staff hours for the month, florists still must determine how much staff is needed per day. Goodman suggests looking at POS data for each week of December to determine staffing.

“You can look at what your holiday volume was last year and then look at how that volume played out per day of the week,” he says. “That will work until you get to just before Christmas.”

Beginning on Dec. 21, florists should look at last year’s POS data from the exact date rather than the day of the week, Goodman says.

Mark Anderson, founder of FloristWare, a POS provider, says shop owners can fine-tune their scheduling by cultivating data for external factors, such as weather. For example, if walk-in customers account for 25 percent of sales on Fridays, but walk-ins drop by half when it’s snowing, shop owners can schedule fewer staff when snow is in the forecast.

Anderson encourages shop owners to take a few minutes every day to keep track of similar data throughout the year and look for patterns. After several weeks and months, shop owners can make better scheduling predictions not just for the holidays, but for the entire year, he says.

Maximize Time

If employees are idling about the shop now, they may be racing around later when it’s busy.

“While you’re at work, what you’re doing needs to be profitable or have a purpose,” says Vicki Bierman, owner of Victoria’s Garden in Rapid City, South Dakota. “Even if we have days that are quieter, we all have to find something to be doing.”

Dave Mitchell, owner of Mitchell’s Orland Park Florist & Flower Delivery in Orland Park, Illinois, has been utilizing down time to prepare for the holidays.

“We’ve been making bows for Christmas for the past three months,” says Mitchell.

With the accessories ready to go, designers can put together arrangements faster. For maximum efficiency, Goodman suggests florists promote certain holiday arrangements. This enables designers to assemble multiple arrangements simultaneously.

“If you make two of them at the same time, it doesn’t take you twice as long; it may take you one and a half times,” says Goodman. “If you make three of them, you can be even more efficient.”

Rethink Staff Makeup

Goodman suggests shop owners hire part-time, rather than full-time, designers when possible. This provides flexibility throughout the year, but it is especially helpful during the holidays when demand increases. If designers normally work 20 hours per week, their hours can be doubled in December without accruing overtime, says Goodman.

Another option is to hire seasonal help. Anderson says shops can hire people to perform simple functions in the design room such as processing flowers. On the sales floor, seasonal help can assist with wrapping flowers or gathering care instructions and flower food, while a permanent employee processes the sale.

When necessary, shop owners can fill scheduling gaps themselves, says McManus.

“You’re the overflow,” he says. “You can put the other management duties on hold … you can be the pressure release valve.”

Laurie Herrera is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.