You’re a Blind Operator - not because you’re careless, but because the business runs without clear visibility. Based on your answers, you’re deeply involved in your shop. You care about the product, you show up every day, and you make dozens of decisions that keep the business alive. The limitation right now isn’t effort or ambition - It’s visibility.

Your shop operates without a few simple numbers that show:

• where profit is actually created
• where money quietly disappears
• which decisions help you and which slowly hurt

This is extremely common in flower shops. Perishable products and daily pressure push owners to rely on intuition instead of clarity. The good news: this is fixable quickly, without complex systems.

What this diagnosis really means.

Right now, growth feels risky because decisions feel uncertain. When you don’t clearly see margins, waste, and inventory speed:

• pricing feels emotional
• buying feels stressful
• marketing feels dangerous

The goal at this stage is not growth.
The goal is control and calm.
That starts with three simple calculations.

The 3 numbers that change everything (and how to calculate them)

1. Gross Margin - are your bouquets actually profitable? This shows how much money each bouquet leaves you before rent, salaries, and ads.

How to calculate it:
Selling price of bouquet
– Cost of flowers
– Cost of wrapping / ribbon
= Gross profit
Then:
Gross profit ÷ Selling price = Gross margin %

Example:

• Bouquet sells for $50
• Flowers + wrap cost $18

Gross profit = $32
Gross margin = 64%

What to look for:

• Below 60% → risky
• 65–70% → healthy
• 75%+ → strong

If you don’t know this number, pricing decisions will always feel uncomfortable.

2. Shrink (Waste %) - how much money goes to the trash
Shrink shows how much of your flower budget is never sold.

How to calculate it (weekly):
Value of flowers thrown away
÷ Value of flowers bought
= Shrink %

Example:

• Bought flowers for $8,000
• Threw away $960

Shrink = 12%

What to look for:

• 5–8% → normal
• 10–12% → warning
• 15%+ → serious profit leak

Shrink is not a moral failure. It’s a signal.

3. Days to Sell - how fast flowers move through your shop
This shows how long flowers sit before being sold or wasted.

How to calculate it:

• Write down purchase date
• Write down sale or discard date
• Count the days in between

What to look for:

• 1–2 days → excellent
• 3 days → acceptable
• 4+ days → danger zone

Slow inventory increases waste and kills cash flow.

Your 14-day focus: build clarity step by step

Days 1–2:

• Make numbers visible
• Calculate margin for 5–10 best-selling bouquets
• Calculate weekly shrink
• Estimate average days-to-sell

You’re not optimizing yet.
You’re simply seeing the truth.

Days 3–5:
Understand why waste happens.
Every time a flower is thrown away, note the reason:

• overbuying
• poor quality
• storage issues
• low demand
• slow response

By day 5, patterns appear. Waste stops feeling random.

Days 6–8:
Fix pricing leaks. Set minimum margin rules by category.
If a bouquet doesn’t meet the rule:

• adjust the price
• change the composition
• or remove it

This protects the business without killing creativity.

Days 9–11:
Bring discipline to buyingIntroduce two rules:

• 72-hour rule — every purchase must have a clear selling plan
• Impulse limit — only a small part of budget is unplanned

Buying becomes calmer and more intentional.

Days 12–14:
Lock in simple routines. 10-minute daily closing check

• One weekly review with one improvement decision

This prevents falling back into chaos.

• What success feels like after 14 days
• Waste feels controlled
• Margins stop surprising you
• Decisions feel calmer

You’re no longer guessing. Not because the business became simple - but because you finally see it clearly.