Greenhouse Management

Before my interview with the greenhouse owner Rosy (who's actual name will not be disclosed for confidentiality purposes... hey, this is the Internet after all, and any Joe Schmoe or John Dohn or Sarah Palin can gain access to this blog!), I was always under the impression that managing a greenhouse required growing flowers in the production stage and then selling flowers in the retail stage. Before you start babbling, "Huh? But that's what you do though!", let me explain my initial perception of greenhouse management.

I'm sure many without a strong business background would agree that, without overthinking the situation, a greenhouse involves primarily just growing and selling. But there's much more to it than that kids - there are the seminars that must be seminared, the taxes that must be taxed, the managing that must be managed, and most importantly, the planning that must be planned (redundancy is key).

Having an overall business plan is essential, but what's even more critical to the survival of a floral business is understanding how to approach the entire situation - meaning, should I purchase this seed or that? When should I sell my flowers? Should I go with the soup or the salad? It's a very generally understood statement that excellent organizational and planning skills are required to succeed, but in the management of a greenhouse, containing these two traits are more important than you may imagine. Being able to efficiently plan your inventory and selling techniques can make a huge difference.

The greenhouse runs on a seasonal basis divided into different segments throughout the year, with the most critical and time consuming segment being preparation - studying what flowers to sell based on observation and gathered data, ordering seeds and growing flowers, and preparing your inventory for the couple of months in which you'll be reeling in profit. Planning and preparation lasts for approximately 4 - 6 months. Next comes the selling segment, and finally closing up for the season. It may sound simple, but there's so much work to be done, such as hiring employees, the labor of bookkeeping, managing costs for products, and so forth.

There's a very defined field of consumer demand when working in the floral business. For example, certain flowers have incredible selling value on Mother's Day, while the same flowers may not see another sale for days, and Rosy cites weather as one of the most influential factors in determining how many customers will show up on that given day. A sunny day may attract quite a few customers, whereas no one will want to be out shopping for flowers during a hailstorm or an earth-shattering tornado (except for maybe Dorothy or Auntie Em).

Managing a greenhouse takes time, effort, patience, dedication, commitment, organization skills, goals, ambition, aspirations, desires, adherence, objectives, targets, initiatives, logical thinking, planning, and devotedness (did I miss any) to succeed.