Start a Business Growing and Selling Dried & Pressed Flowers

 A number of profitable opportunities present themselves here.  You can sell dried and pressed flowers direct to clients, craftworkers, flower arrangers and florists, or else take the whole thing a stage or two further and make craftwork arrangements, floral displays, and so on.  For instance

-    Make special occasion centrepieces for weddings, special celebrations, Christmas, christenings, etc.  Not only will you add a special touch to the day, your clients will also have a permanent souvenir of the occasion.  Sell through gift shops; from advertisements in the local press, or on commission through florists; wedding specialists, caterers, and so on.

-    Make a range of souvenir bookmarks, book covers and so on.  The idea is to use locally grown flowers and to include some appropriate crest, symbol or local view on the finished product.  Sell through gift and souvenir shops, local retailers and newsagents, from souvenir stalls, and so on.

-    Sell complete kits for craftworkers to make their own flower displays and other craft items.  Sell through craftwork publications, and through local and national craft shops.

-    Make bridal bouquets and other floral arrangements from silk and satin.  They look magnificent and provide a permanent memento of the happy occasion.  Advertise in bridal publications and local newspapers, and offer on commission to florists and wedding specialists.

-    Make artificial flowers for sale through gift shops, china and glass specialists, florists, garden centres and nurseries, wedding specialists, caterers, and so on. 

-    Offer a flower delivery service, with regular changes of display, direct to restaurants, hotels, offices, business centres, churches, doctors and dentists, hair salons, beauty clinics, sports and fitness centres, and so on.

To dry flowers yourself, you need a spare room, attic or shed or lines on which to hang the flowers for drying, and a source of dry heat.  Cut flowers in the evening just before they reach maturity and start drying them immediately.

A number of excellent books are available on the craft of drying and pressing flowers.  Look in libraries and book shops.  Equipment for drying and pressing flowers is available in craft shops, from mail order firms, and from specialist publications for the craftwork enthusiast.