Pros and Cons of Working as a Floral Designer

advantages and disadvantages of being a floral designer

You think about becoming a florist but are not sure whether this career path fits your personal circumstances and to your strengths and weaknesses?

Stick with me since I will show you all the pros and cons of being a florist in this article.

After reading the following chapters, you will be better able to decide whether you still want to work as a florist or if you rather want to go for an alternative career instead.

Florist Job Profile

Job DescriptionFlorists make nice bouquets that you can buy in flower shops. They also decorate for weddings or birthday parties and make sure that their clients are happy with the look of the location.
Salary$43,000 per year on average, most florists make between $29,000 and $51,000 per year.
Job SecurityPoor since you will be replaceable pretty easily.
Job SatisfactionGood if you love to work with flowers.
Work-Life BalanceDecent since you will have free weekends and holidays and also don’t have to work at nighttime.
Physically / Mentally Demanding?Neither physically nor mentally demanding most of the time.
Future OutlookPoor since many jobs in this industry will be lost pretty soon.
RequirementsNo special educational requirements. Finishing high school will often be enough in most regions.

Advantages of Being a Florist

  1. Working as a florist is not that stressful
  2. You can work indoors
  3. You can avoid heavy physical work
  4. You will not have much time pressure
  5. Florists can be creative
  6. You can start your own flower shop
  7. Florists can make decent money
  8. You will not have to work many extra hours
  9. Floral designers have a standard workweek
  10. You don’t have to work at nighttime
  11. You can work in a peaceful environment
  12. You will have free weekends and holidays
  13. Floral designers can make people happy
  14. Florists can help out their loved ones
  15. You can start a side hustle
  16. You don’t need a college degree for becoming a florist

Working as a florist is not that stressful

One advantage of being a florist is that you will not have that much stress at work.

Yes, there will be times where you have to do many things at the same time to fulfill all the orders you get.

Yet, most of your workday, you will be able to work in a rather relaxed manner, especially in the early morning when not many people will be in the store.

Thus, compared to many other jobs out there in which you have to work with full focus all day long, floral designers will have a rather relaxed life in this regard and can really enjoy their time at work.

You can work indoors

As a floral designer, you will also be able to work indoors, protected from adverse outdoor conditions.

While many people take this for granted, you shouldn’t!

There are still many people who have to work outdoors, no matter how bad conditions might be.

For instance, garbage collectors have to collect our trash, no matter whether it rains or snows outside.

As a floral designer, you can work in a rather cozy environment indoors and will even be able to use air-con or heating to make your working conditions even more enjoyable.

You can avoid heavy physical work

While other people have to lift heavy things all day long, you will be able to avoid exhausting physical work as a florist.

Sure, you will also have to do some physical work.

Yet, compared to construction workers or other people who have to lift heavy stuff on a regular basis, you will have a much more relaxed life in this regard.

In turn, chances are that you will also not suffer from the same physical health problems as many people who work in physically demanding jobs do sooner or later.

This may include unpleasant things like back pain or disc prolapse.

Consequently, working as a floral designer can also help you minimize your risk to suffer from those issues in the long run.

You will not have much time pressure

Another upside to becoming a floral designer is that you will also not have too much time pressure.

Most often, you can do your work in a rather relaxed manner and can take your time to make your floral bouquets as nice as possible.

Hence, while many people who work in office jobs have to finish their presentations in time and have a strict schedule, you will have more freedom in this regard, at least if your productivity is still on point on average and you deliver high-quality work.

Florists can be creative

You can also be pretty creative at work as a florist. In fact, you need to be creative to make your bouquets look as nice as possible so that your clients will be happy to buy them.

While some people are not creative at all, others really love to work in such a creative work environment.

Consequently, working as a floral designer can be great for you in case you belong to the second group of people who needs to be creative to stay happy in the long run.

You can start your own flower shop

Another benefit of becoming a florist is that you will also be able to start your own flower business sooner or later.

In fact, many floral designers start out as employees, gather some experience, save some money and start their own flower shop after a few years.

Hence, don’t think that you have to work as an employee forever.

It is indeed pretty easy to start your own flower business and you will not need that much money for it.

If you are willing to work hard, have an entrepreneurial spirit and also have enough experience, chances are that you will have your own successful flower shop sooner or later.

Florists can make decent money

While you will not get rich as a florist, you may still be able to make pretty decent money.

Some florists make more than $50,000 per year.

If you work self-employed and have your own flower shop, you may even be able to make more than that.

As you can see, good florists can make decent money and you will also be able to afford some nice things, at least if you are willing to put in the work and also develop your skills over time.

You will not have to work many extra hours

As an employed florist, you will also not have to work that many extra hours.

While you might have to work some extra hours before certain holidays, you will not have to work many extra hours throughout the rest of the year.

In turn, you will have plenty of time to spend on your hobbies or for your family.

Floral designers have a standard workweek

Most often, you will also just have a standard workweek as a floral designer.

You will go to work between 7 and 9 a.m. and come home between 4 and 6 p.m.

This means that you will have the typical life that most people out there live.

Sure, this is not for everyone and if you are quite driven, you may want to start your own flower business where you can work considerably more hours and can also make more money.

Yet, if you are the average person, those working hours can be pretty convenient and give you plenty of time to spend on other things you like.

You don’t have to work at nighttime

Another advantage of becoming a floral designer is that you will also not have to work at nighttime. While some people love to work at nighttime, most others don’t like it at all.

In fact, working at nighttime can cause all sorts of problems and can also adversely affect your sleep.

Hence, while waiters or many other people out there have to work during those unpleasant hours, you will be in your cozy bed and enjoy a nice sleep.

In the evening, you will also be able to meet up with friends instead of having to work and this can help you maintain your social connections.

You can work in a peaceful environment

Flower shops are also often quite beautiful and working in them can be quite nice.

In fact, if you are surrounded by flowers and by their taste all day long, you will soon realize that you get a feeling of peace and that your stress level will decline significantly.

In turn, also your overall quality of life may greatly improve and you may just be happier in various parts of life.

You will have free weekends and holidays

Another benefit of being a floral designer is that you will also have free weekends and holidays.

While you may take this for granted, many other people have to work during those unpleasant times.

Consequently, while other people have to work, you will be able to make nice weekend trips with your family or enjoy your leisure in other ways you like even more.

Floral designers can make people happy

Working as a floral designer can also give you meaning in life.

In fact, many florists are not working just for the money. Instead, they are really passionate and committed about what they are doing and want to provide the best possible products to their clients to make them happy.

In turn, you will go to work with a good feeling most of the time since you know that you can make the lives of people better with what you are doing.

Thus, chances are that you will also stay motivated and driven in the long run while many other people will secretly not like their jobs at all and will not have any motivation to keep going.

Florists can help out their loved ones

As a florist, you will also be able to help out your family and friends with nice flower bouquets for weddings, birthdays and so on.

Instead of buying those bouquets from stores which can be pretty expensive, you can do the work for a rather low price and your loved ones will therefore be really grateful for your support.

You can start a side hustle

If you are really good at what you are doing, you may also be able to start a side hustle around flowers.

For instance, you could just start your own flower business and do some work on weekends.

You may also want to start a blog or a YouTube channel that shows people how to make their own nice flower bouquets.

In the long run, you may be able to make serious money from those channels and may even be able to quit your job and to go full-time on your own projects.

Hence, if you are really driven and are willing to put in the work, you may also have various additional career options that come along with your job as a florist.

You don’t need a college degree for becoming a florist

Another upside to becoming a floral designer is that you will also not need any fancy education.

You will not need a college degree nor will you need any certificates.

What you need is passion for this field and you also need to be creative.

This is much more important than any degree you could get.

Hence, don’t be discouraged if you had been terrible at school.

Chances are that your grades will not matter that much as long as you are able to convince someone that you provide a true added value to his or her business.

As you can see, a career as a floral designer can have many important advantages.

Yet, there are also many downsides related to this career path that I want to address in the following chapter.

Disadvantages of Working as a Floral Designer

  1. You will not get rich as a florist
  2. Floral designers have rather low job security
  3. Questionable future job prospects
  4. You may get bored in the long run
  5. Many short-term contracts in this field
  6. You will have a rather low social standing as a florist
  7. Social stigma for men
  8. Clients can be difficult
  9. Floral designers don’t learn many hard skills
  10. Hard to find work in a different field
  11. Limited promotion options for floral designers
  12. Many flower shops will have to close in the near future
  13. Constant insecurity can be mentally demanding
  14. You may struggle to get a mortgage for buying a home

You will not get rich as a florist

One downside of becoming a florist is that you will just not get rich.

While you can make decent money from what you are doing, you will never have the same income prospects as lawyers or dentists.

Therefore, make sure that money and luxury are not that important to you before you decide for a career in the flower industry since you will simply not have much of both of them.

Floral designers have rather low job security

Since you will not need a college degree and barriers to entry in this field are rather low, you will also suffer from rather low job security as a floral designer.

In fact, you will be replaceable pretty easily and this means that you could lose your job from one day to the other.

Hence, you will always have to deal with this financial insecurity and this can really lower your quality of life quite a lot since you will always have to worry about how to pay your bills in case you get unemployed.

Questionable future job prospects

There is also nothing positive to expect when it comes to future job prospects for floral designers.

In the future, most of the work will be outsourced to cheap countries and robots will also do most of the design work.

This also means that many jobs in the flower industry will vanish pretty soon and that you should rather go for an alternative career path if you want to have decent job security in the long run.

You may get bored in the long run

You should also make sure that you have a real passion for flowers and for the job as a floral designer before you decide to work in this field.

Otherwise, you will get bored pretty soon.

In fact, if you have no passion for what you are doing and just want to make some money, your life will be rather miserable and chances are that you will quit your job quite soon due to that.

Many short-term contracts in this field

Another problem with being a florist is that you will often only get short-term contracts.

This can be a real issue since those short-term contracts will not allow you to plan way ahead.

Instead, you will have to search for a different job pretty soon and this can be really annoying, especially if you never get a long-term contract and always have to look for new work again.

You will have a rather low social standing as a florist

You should also not expect to be admired by many people.

Sure, some people will be really grateful for what you are doing since they really enjoy the results of your work.

Yet, you will just not have the same social standing as doctors or other people who can save lives.

Some people may even belittle you and try to bring you down since you are just a floral designer.

Social stigma for men

Many men who work in this industry also have to deal with snarky comments since this industry is still dominated by women and men often have a difficult standing.

Thus, if you tell your friends about your job as a floral designer, they may just make fun of you since they may not think that men should do those jobs.

Clients can be difficult

Sooner or later, you will also have to deal with pretty difficult clients.

While many people will appreciate your work, others can just be annoying and will always find something to complain about.

Hence, make sure that you are also able to deal with this type of people in an emotionally healthy manner since those things can eat you up otherwise.

Floral designers don’t learn many hard skills

Another disadvantage of working as a floral designer is that you will also just not learn that many hard skills.

Apart from learning how to place flowers in a nice way, you will not learn many other things along the way.

This may not only be sad, but it may also prevent you to succeed in other fields of the job market.

Hard to find work in a different field

Due to your lack of hard skills, you will indeed have a pretty hard time switching fields as a floral designer.

In fact, many florists get stuck in this industry and will never be able to exit it, even though they may no longer like their work at all.

Limited promotion options for floral designers

There are also not many promotion opportunities for floral designers.

Quite often, you will do similar tasks for decades without any hope that things could go better or that your job will be more exciting in the future.

Hence, if you are really ambitious and want to climb the career ladder, chances are that you should work in a different industry instead.

Many flower shops will have to close in the near future

Over the past decade, more people have ordered flowers online and this trend will likely continue in the future.

This also means that small flower shops will have a quite hard time keeping their clients and many of these shops will have to close.

Consequently, your job prospects will also be quite poor as a floral designer and you may also get fired and will not find a new job anymore.

Constant insecurity can be mentally demanding

Due to the low level of job security, you may also have to worry about your future all day long as a floral designer.

In fact, many people who work in this field develop mental problems due to that in the long run and you should really ask yourself whether your job is worth it to you to suffer from those issues or if you want to go for something more stable instead.

You may struggle to get a mortgage for buying a home

Due to your poor job prospects, banks will also be quite reluctant to grant you a mortgage.

In turn, you will just not be able to buy a home and rather have to rent forever.

Top 10 Being a Florist Pros & Cons – Summary List

Being a Florist ProsBeing a Florist Cons
Florists have a good work-life balanceYou will not get rich as a florist
You can make decent moneyRather poor job security
Floral designers don’t have much stressUnclear future job prospects
You can work in a nice environmentYou may get bored pretty soon
Florists can make people happyHard to switch fields as a floral designer
You can be creative at workShort-term contracts are a problem
Not much time pressure for floristsClients can be difficult
You can help out your loved onesAlmost no promotion opportunities
You can avoid hard physical workSocial stigma for male florists
You don’t need fancy educationMany flower shops will have to close

Should You Become A Florist?

As you can see, there are many advantages and disadvantages of being a florist.

In the end, it is on you to decide whether you still want to work as a floral designer or if you want to go for a different job instead.

If you are still interested in a florist career, you should also get detailed information on the salary, career prospects, future outlook, educational requirements, job satisfaction, work-life balance of floral designers and much more.

Also make sure to check out the following articles:

Advantages and disadvantages of working as a childcare worker

Advantages and disadvantages of working as a call center agent

Advantages and disadvantages of working as a faller

Sources

https://www.statista.com/statistics/197719/annual-florist-sales-in-the-us-since-1992/

https://thefloristguide.com/average-florist-salary/

About the author

My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people about the different career paths that are possible in our current state of the world. In my opinion, people often make the mistake to choose their profession solely based on how much money they can earn from it instead of doing what makes them really happy.

This is quite sad and I just want to give people a more objective picture of how a fulfilling career could look like. I did the same when I started working in consulting after finishing my Master’s degree in Economics. However, I’ve quit pretty soon after that since I haven’t found true meaning in my job.

Now I can do what I really love to do and I want to enable as many other people as well to go this exciting path towards happiness instead of money.

I conducted various interviews with employees to give you a good impression of what working in different fields will look like and that you can make the best possible decision regarding your future career choice.

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