Florista: Using franchise to spread flower business across the world

Florista specialises in designing exquisite flower arrangements that are made from exotic, fresh and beautiful flowers, sourced from all parts of the world including India. The brand has an established network of quality florists around the world, and delivers flowers to over 200 cities in India and has a deep penetrating network across 100 countries worldwide. Here are excerpts from the exclusive interview:

What is the USP of your brand?

Our USP is to deliver timely and new innovations in the product range.

Tell us about your business model?

We generate orders through our website and corporate bookings for pan India delivery. The delivery is processed through our franchisees and channel partners in the country. The franchise stores cater to retail walk-in customers and manage local corporate bookings.
Apart from delivery of flowers and gifts, we also cater to floral décor for functions such as weddings, festivals and corporate events.
Franchisees manage the orders in their respective cities and pan India deliveries are processed by the Florista customer care centre in Mumbai.
Products delivered are fresh and artificial flowers, cakes, chocolates, fruits, soft toys etc.
The entire revenue is booked by the franchisee and they pay a small monthly royalty to the brand.

Typically for an investor who is planning to invest in a flower shop, what are the factors that he/ she should keep in mind?

Major factors are:

• Location must be in a high street or large residential complexes with ample parking, malls, airports
• Franchise owner or a family member to be completely involved in operations
• Basic computer knowledge to manage systems and processes.

What kind of training and business support do you provide to the franchisees? Elaborate the same.

• 12-15 hrs of training to a franchisee after signing of the agreement
• Training on flowers, rates, brief of flower arrangements
• Training on running a Store, which includes store essentials, schedules, staff, inventory management, flower purchase
• Training on order management software and delivery process - local, national, international training on the order management software
• Provide trained manpower to be employed by the franchisees
• Seasonal creative’s, posters/danglers /emailer formats are sent across to all stores

What criteria do you follow for selecting franchisees on board and what steps do you take to evaluate your franchisee’s performance?

The following criteria are needed:

• The franchise who is managing the store should be a family member/ trusted personnel to the franchise owner
• Should have funds in place for at least a year of operations
• Should be professional in their approach and have basic technology knowledge
• Should have a good social circle

We conduct audits to ensure the working is smooth and as per guidelines.

Tell us about the receptivity of your business model as a franchise outfit? Which are the markets that have been more receptive?

Low investment, high returns need high involvement by the franchisee for the 1^st three years of operations.

Metros and Tier 1 towns are more receptive markets.

Franchise facts:

Investment: 12 Lakhs

Existing outlets (company-owned +franchise): 15

Area: 300 sq ft

Return-on-investment (RoI): Over 30 per cent

Breakeven: 10 months

Target cities: Delhi, Noida, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmadabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Goa, Cochin

Preferred location: High Street, large residential complexes, shopping centers

Year of starting franchise operations: 2007

Year of inception: 2004