16 



The Florists^ Review 



August 18, 1917. 



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SOLVING SOME 



OF THE PROBLEMS 







I T would need a book to deal 

 with all the troubles of the 

 retailer. In common with 

 the rest of the world, we flo- 

 rists believe the work in 

 which we are engaged to be 

 the most exacting and the 

 most laborious in the world. It comes 

 often as a surprise to us that 

 others think we are most fortu- 

 nate fellows to dwell amid flow- 

 ers, and to enjoy their beauty, color- 

 ing and fragrance while at the same 

 time making a living. While we do love 

 all these, we think sometimes that the 

 customer does not begin to appreciate 

 the problems and difliculties which pre- 

 vent our living the "lives of flowery 

 ease ' ' many of them evidently think we 

 lead. They do not think of the wide 

 areas from which these flowers must be 

 gathered; the changing seasons with 

 their different requirements; the exact- 

 ing public which wants the flowers it 

 wants when it wants them; the diffi- 

 culty of inculcating some conception of 

 finance as well as of the rules of art 

 into one's employees; the fragility and 

 delicacy of our wares, which increase all 

 the difficulties of purchase, transport 

 and delivery; the losses from careless 

 packing and handling; the excessive cus- 

 toms duties on flowers from the United 

 States; the inadequate supply obtain- 

 able at the Christmas season; the eternal 

 vigilance required to avoid monotony 

 or sameness in the store arrangements; 

 the kickers who demand immediate serv- 

 ice and special attention; the efforts 

 to get competent help; the enormous 

 expenses, with the constant fear that 

 these might eat up the profits; the sad 

 experience^ with giving credit which all 

 retailers have. 



Naturally, the ambition of every re- 

 tail florist is that his business shall in- 

 crease from year to year, and his prob- 

 lems must be related to the securing of 

 that end. In the short time allotted to 

 me it is impossible that I should deal 

 with the thousand and' one problems 

 which the retail florist has to face. I will 

 simply tell you a few of the main prob- 

 lems which I have encountered in our 

 business, and the ways in which I have 

 attempted to solve them. I will speak 

 of buying, of the management of the 

 store, with special reference to account- 

 ing and to deliveries, and of some gen- 

 eral rules to be followed in the securing 

 of new business. 



BvLYing. 



One of the big problems of the retailer 

 is successful buying. Nothing but expe- 

 rience makes the buyer, and on him de- 

 pends largely the success or failure of 

 the business. 



The first problem in buying nowadays 

 is to decide whether one shall deal 

 through a commission man or go direct to 

 the grower. Trading direct with the 

 grower is becoming more difficult every 

 day. The reason for this is that the 



FRANK J. McKENNA 



Author of this paper, read before 

 the Canadian Horticultural Associa- 

 tion at Montreal, August 9, 1917, is 

 managing director of McKenna, 

 Ltd., of that city. What he says 

 embodies the experience of fourteen 

 years' management of a business 

 which had annual sales, at the be- 

 ginning of that time, of $12,000 a 

 year, and which had in the year just 

 closed sales amounting to $142,000. 

 These sales were all made in the 

 retail business, and Mr. McKenna 

 thinks it justifies him in claiming 

 that it shows the business to be the 

 largest in the Dominion. 



specialist is producing the best stock, 

 and most growers are specializing to- 

 day. That is a process through which 

 all business is passing, and, though 

 the difficulties of direct dealing increase, 

 one can hardly quarrel with a process 

 which produces better stock. It is a 

 costly affair to secure a day's supply 

 direct from the growers now. There are 

 the telegrams and express charges on 

 each shipment, and there is the cost of 

 each box. Some growers even want to 

 make profits on the box. Many disap- 

 pointments ensue, and often unsatisfac- 

 tory stock is received. 



These considerations force us to the 

 conclusion that we should buy from the 

 commission man. No doubt he charges 

 more for the stock, but we see what we 

 are getting, and pay according to qual- 

 ity. It also cuts out our expenses for 

 telegrams, express charges and the cost 

 of boxes. Some say that flowers brought 

 in from the growers last longer, but ex- 

 perience does not show this to have been 

 always the case. Carnations and roses 

 bought in Boston, and cut many hours 

 longer than local or western stock, will 

 at times be hard and sturdy after the 

 home stock is asleep or fallen to pieces, 

 even though the latter may have only 

 come from three to fifty miles, and is 

 supposed to have been cut the same day 

 or, at the earliest, on the previous eve- 

 ning. More particularly is this true with 

 regard to carnations. Boston stock ap- 

 pears to be better cured before ship- 

 ping, and it will at certain seasons out- 

 last by two or three days Ontario-grown 

 or local stock. 



It may seem hardly believable, but it 

 is nevertheless true, that I have found 

 it more profitable to pay twenty-five per 

 cent duty on American stock than to 

 buy locally. The reason for this is that 

 what the American commission man has 

 not he will endeavor to secure for us, 

 whereas the grower simply replies too 

 often "Impossible to ship," at an hour 

 too late to buy elsewhere, or else he 

 simply short-ships. 



The idea of a local market deserves 



encouragement and support if only for 

 the reason that short-stemmed or open 

 stock may be obtained at a low figure 

 should the requirement arise. 



Management. 



Of all the problems confronting the 

 florist, I believe the necessity of good 

 bookkeeping is most neglected, and 

 at the same time is the problem which, 

 to my mind, it is most essential he 

 should solve. It is notorious that a good 

 florist is seldom a good accountant. Art 

 and mathematics are poor mixers, and 

 many men who are enthusiastic in their 

 business cannot be convinced that they 

 are neglecting a department vital to the 

 success of their business. There are in 

 the trade, however, some exceptions in 

 men who have recognized the advan- 

 tages of accurately systematizing costs 

 and profits. These men state confidently 

 that it is of primary value to them in 

 being able to increase tjieir business to 

 know always at the end of each year, 

 quarter or month, as the case may be, 

 how much they can safely spend or put 

 aside. The man who wa^ts two or three 

 years or longer to make a statement of 

 his business deserves to find himself 

 where he usually does, and that is no- 

 where. In all probability he will owe 

 more than he is owed. In this connec- 

 tion, let me say that it is most important 

 to keep personal and housekeeping ex- 

 penses separate from your business ex- 

 penses. I mention thig because it is 

 the most common mistake both of grow- 

 ers and retailers. 



Keeping Tab on Business. 



Just to illustrate my point, let us sup- 

 pose your total sales for the year amount 

 to $1,000, and that your books show the 

 total cost of goods bought to be $600, 

 or sixty per cent of the total sales, the 

 business expenses to be $300, or thirty 

 per cent of the total sales, and your 

 profit to have been $100, or ten per cent 

 of the total sales. Having discovered 

 that your purchases last year were sixty 

 per cent of the total sales, you could 

 base your calculations on that. At any 

 future time you could get a rough idea 

 of your gross profits by deducting sixty 

 per cent from your sales, and get at the 

 profits approximately by deducting the 

 actual expenses. If the next annual 

 statement shows your percentage of the 

 total sales for purchases to be higher, 

 then you will know that you have sold 

 your goods cheaper, and that to make 

 the same profit you must get your ex- 

 penses under thirty per cent, or increase 

 the selling price. 



Credit is the great bugbear of the re- 

 tailer in any line of business, and is 

 more so to the florist, who is usually 

 lax in his accounting. The only satis- 

 factory solution — I cannot urge it too 

 strongly — is to employ a competent 

 bookkeeper or accountant. If the latter 

 has any ability he will soon show his 

 worth in results achieved. If your 



