Take a moment in Texas this morning with the down-to-earth and spectacular Elizabeth Fisher of Lizzie Bee's Flower Shoppe and Mechanical Florals! What...Mechanical Florals? What is Mechanical Floral... keep reading! What a delightful time with phones ringing, children talking, clients chatting, and flowers blooming. So is Lizzie and she's got lots growing on...
My name is Elizabeth, and my Mom and I created the name. It wasn't a big hoopla decision, but it was cute, and we liked it. Friends and family usually call me Liz, so if someone calls me Lizzie, it will probably be a client or business associate. We've been in business for six years; I was born in Kentucky and moved with my Mom to Dallas. I started designing at 16 and found I had a skill at 23, so I opened my own business, and we've been growing ever since.
Although Dallas is a big city, we are more of the "small town florist with the big city style"! I love the industry in this area, and we have a community-minded group; we share a healthy competition, and we refer business to each other and work together regularly. It makes for an enjoyable experience. Business is growing by leaps and bounds, and change is happening. It's made our business very innovative, and there's so much more to the floral industry than there used to be. Dallas is a great growing place with many opportunities, but the market is not saturated, which again makes for many opportunities. We have lots of farm and neutral spaces for events. We have an area photographer who has created and built his own venue...it's called The White Sparrow - an all-white barn, and it's a photographer's dream venue! Whitesparrow Barn, check it out!!
I love being creative and thinking outside the box. You are designing for someone who knows nothing about the floral industry. I love this because it brings me the ability to create and give my clients a plethora of knowledge. By listening, we can gather a vision from our client and then give them a visual lesson in creating and bringing their vision to life. This is a tough industry, but it truly has its high points. My goal and desire is to have the bride make happy tears when she sees that bouquet. I have an emotional investment to go above and beyond. Always!
Washing buckets!!! The fact is this work is so labor intensive. The industry is not given enough credit. People think, "Oh, I want to play with the flowers!" I always say, "Wash the buckets first!" Many people are aghast at the amount of money you might spend on an event. They can't see spending so many dollars on flowers...that would be the bride I don't want to work with! So again, the industry is not given enough credit for what goes on behind the scenes, the actual time and effort that goes into creating a design for the event, and then making it happen! All the details, design, order, create, set up and then it always comes back to the "wash the buckets" breakdown! I love the brides who appreciate the whole experience.
Organization! I am still trying to get organized! I think staffing is difficult due to the fact that this is a seasonal business, and some days, weeks, and months are much busier than others. Staff is so important. You have to have the basic staff with additional "freelancers" to assist you on a regular basis. If you have no work, you have no hours, and you will lose some of your necessary staff. We are fortunate at this time as we have a pretty steady flow, and we are able to keep our freelancers. I love keeping my staff and freelancers, and when someone says they are moving on...I stopped, I have to have freelancers, and I don't like any of them leaving. We have a great team.
My favorite and precious design story is when my daughter, who is seven years old, asked me if she could make a boutonniere. She had been asking for quite some time, and this particular day it presented itself as a teachable moment, and we made boutonnieres. It was a particular bonding time and emotional happiness for me. She is now quite happy making little bouquets. It was a special moment in time, and yes, by far my favorite design story!
When it comes to our weddings - my biggest success was when I could design, create, and help do a minimal set and the BIG moment came when I didn't have to break it down! (You know, the wash the buckets)! I really would prefer to do one large wedding than doing 10 small weddings. I have found that another success I feel is that clients are willing to pay more for my designs. They are willing to pay for my knowledge and skills. This, to me, is a success! Personal success!
I value their customer service! The ones that go above and beyond. I appreciate their information (detailed information) and their knowledge of what's available and the kindness to inform me that "No you don't want this, it will only last a day...let's look at this, I think it will be better!" This type of customer service is invaluable. They are our eyes! I love open communication with the customer.
My Family! My kids. I want to be successful! As we grow we become able to share the success with our families and enjoy our times together. Trips, vacations, and special times! No better motivator!
Using Details Flowers Event Planning Software does just that...improves my bottom line! It enhances my business, it provides confidence when I am invoicing, and providing proposals. It's a time-saver and as we all know time is priceless. Overall, I am able to meet with a bride and the time we spend in Details offers a awesome experience. It helps to qualify our brides. I can email my invoices - everything I do looks better, presents better, and is such a successful part of our business. I have found Corrine to be such an innovative personality. Something else I really appreciate is that Details is constantly growing. I love that. Details is always asking for feedback and then creating additional items in the program that save us more time and effort!
We also do a lot of corporate business. I appreciate how the Details Flowers Professional Event Florist Software adjusts to this end of the business.
If the question is - How can we make this better, Details!!
I will be a multi-millionaire!
We will be Growing! Doubling our business and also the number of weddings that we do. I want to start a workshop. I have already begun a new business it's called Floral Mechanics! Currently, we design and make flower walls and chandeliers. These are items, that as a design studio, you can utilize quickly being a one-person setup (for a woman or man) easy assembly with a dynamic addition to any event. We actually had a workshop in August 2017 - check us out at FloralMechanics, You can check out Lizzie Bee's website or Instagram or Facebook.
About Lizzie Bee's Flower Shoppe
Lizzie is the inspiring leader of Lizzie Bee's Flower Shoppe - where her team calls her the Queen Bee. She's been in the floral industry since 2005, and founded Lizzie Bee's in 2011.
Since launching, she has been featured in the national magazine Florist Review as one of the top 35 Florists Under 35, and has had her work published in magazines across the US. When she isn't designing wild installations or crunching the numbers, you can find her hosting educational workshops and investing into her community, volunteering her time with local nonprofits such as WiNGS, which exists to empower and provide resources for women in business.