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to use ready made flowers or not? that is the question.

post #1 of 27
1/5/12 at 1:40pm
Thread Starter 
Hi all, I am looking for opinions.

I am about to start my business from home. I live in an area that doesnt have a cake decorator for a few hundred kms. (Australia) . I am torn whether to use ready made flowers on cakes to make them more affordable to customers or whether to make all my own or should I offer a choice. Ready made would be a lot cheaper especially when it comes to filler flowers and i would still colour them myself but they save a lot of time. On an artistic level I feel like I am compromising but on a business level it makes financial sense as it is a largely rural area and people dont have the huge incomes like in the city.

What do you all think?

Neroli
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post #2 of 27
1/5/12 at 2:16pm
imo, there is nothing wrong with using ready made flowers. There is no reason for you to feel bad about using it. You're still an artist icon_smile.gif

If I were to start a business (but I'm not) I would definitely use ready made flowers.
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post #3 of 27
1/5/12 at 2:45pm
I agree. Once they see the price difference for handmade by you vs. what you can buy them for wholesale (even including mark up), you'd probably never get anyone to order your custom, handmade gumpaste flowers anyway. Save your time to do things that aren't available to purchase wholesale to be more profitable. Good luck!
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post #4 of 27
1/5/12 at 4:23pm
I'd show them a sample of both and give them a choice.
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post #5 of 27
1/5/12 at 6:51pm
Buy them! Leah_s will tell you the same.

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post #6 of 27
1/6/12 at 7:08am
So the customer doesn't get a choice?
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post #7 of 27
1/6/12 at 7:15am
The customer doesn't get a choice, if it's not something you offer.

Lots of bakeries don't have unlimited choices, for example--silk or fresh flowers.

The way I view it, as a business owner--you should only offer what you feel comfortable with, what you want, what's profitable, etc.
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post #8 of 27
1/6/12 at 7:22am
I got the impression from OP that she did make them and could offer them. I didn't realize I couldn't offer my view point and we were limited to yours.
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post #9 of 27
1/6/12 at 8:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tiggy2

I got the impression from OP that she did make them and could offer them. I didn't realize I couldn't offer my view point and we were limited to yours.



Back up the boat... that's not what I said.

The OP asked if a choice should be offered and that's simply what the responses are about. Nobody says you can't offer your viewpoint... I'm sure the OP appreciates it. If I agree with the OP (and others), the OP isn't limited to our responses--they can choose on their own. Noone determined that the customer doesn't get a choice, but if gothmother decides not to offer a choice, then there's only one answer to your question.
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post #10 of 27
1/6/12 at 9:16am
[quote="AnnieCahill"]Buy them! Leah_s will tell you the same.[/quote]

icon_biggrin.gif You betcha! I never had time for that flower making nonsense. And yes I know how. I still have a tremendous inventory of white flowers that I can airbrush at a moments notice . . .

Anyway, buy 'em! I can buy a large rose for $1.75 or so and sell it for $5-6. Why would I spend my time making them? I'd rather be with my hubby.
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post #11 of 27
1/6/12 at 11:53am
And the way I view it if given a choice some people will choose quality over price. While they can be purchased cheaper you will not get the same quality of hand made. OP asked asked if a choice should be given so silly me thought it was an option.
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Glenda
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post #12 of 27
1/6/12 at 12:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tiggy2

And the way I view it if given a choice some people will choose quality over price. While they can be purchased cheaper you will not get the same quality of hand made. OP asked asked if a choice should be given so silly me thought it was an option.



That's a sweeping generalization. Who says handmade is better than premade? We don't know the OP's quality, and besides that, they aren't machine made--they're all handmade by someone. (some RI flowers are machine made, but not the gumpaste/sugarpaste filler flowers and such that the OP is talking about.)
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post #13 of 27
1/6/12 at 12:56pm
Okay, I don't know why people are being so tocuhy about nothing on here, but here's my .02, do what you think will work for you. I don't think it is wrong to buy them. There are some AWESOME flowers you can actually buy on sites like Etsy. Now, I prefer to make them, but it is more cost effective for me to make them, then buy them. The really good gumapste flowers you can order are not cheap. And no, I wouldn't give a customer a choice once I decided which way I was going. I don't give a choice between a box and a scratch cake, so why do I have to do it for flowers.
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post #14 of 27
1/6/12 at 12:58pm
Tiggy you seem a little touchy about this and I'm not sure why. I haven't read anywhere in this thread where not giving the customer the option of handmade BY the decorator is so terrible.

Personally I don't do flowers by hand. I buy them. I was asked by a bride once to show me what one that I could do by hand out of royal icing would look like. I have one of those clear plastic boxes you use to hold fishing lures with all the flowers I know how to make in each space. Mine are no where near as nice as the ones I could buy are though. That bride ended up going with organically grown roses her MIL grew for her. But like everyone else, I'd rather buy them, mark them up and re-sale them then to spend hours hunched over my kitchen table cutting, rolling, molding etc.
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post #15 of 27
1/6/12 at 1:00pm
I do my flowers watching tv with my dh at night. That way, I get a lot made at one time and he doesn't feel that I'm not spending any time with him.
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