Tired of 2% interest rates, how about a 25% return per month?

The 10 year U.S. Treasuries have now hit an all time low. That means your local bank (may) pay your 1% on the cash you have deposited on hand. 

How about if you could make a 25% return on some of your assets? We are talking about each of your delivery trucks of course.  

The average florist spends about $4,000 a month to put a full-time driver on the road (salary and benefits), plus vehicle lease/loan, fuel, and maintenance. 

That is a $48,000 resource per year just waiting to generate income. The average florist says we hope to "break even" on delivery charges. Why is that so? Does anyone think Fed Ex and UPS just hope to "break even" on delivery charges? It does not have to be that way. 

If a florist moves from a fixed flat delivery charge per zip code to a variable delivery charge based on priority (such as by 10:30am, by noon, etc.), they will normally see a 20% increase in delivery revenues. Add to that same truck an optimized route planning trip tool, and you will save another 10-15% on fuel and labor per month.  

Before: 

·      $12 for delivery to 90210

New:

·      $12 for delivery by 6pm

·      $14 for delivery by 4pm

·      $18 for delivery by noon

·      $29 for delivery by 10:30am

·      $39 for exact time delivery

All of the sudden, that $4,000 resource is now generating an extra $1,000 a month in revenue. Bingo, 25% return without investing a single dollar. 

 Don't settle for "break even" on delivery services. No one else in the delivery service industry does, nor should you.  

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How the "On Demand" Economy is Shaping the Flower Business

How long does it take you to deliver flowers?

Can you tell people you deliver all your orders within 90 minutes? Most florists would say that is ridiculous and not even physically possible. Really?

There are already venture-funded startups that are doing just that. Take a look at BloomThat in San Francisco.  Some investors gave them 5M to prove it. They did. Now they want to take as many orders away from tradition flower shops as possible.  

If your local customers have a choice between 90 minute delivery and six hour delivery at the same cost, which one do you think they will choose? Which one do you choose when you are shopping at Amazon? Correct, why would your customers be any different?  

Fed Ex learned long ago that speed is essential in coming out of nowhere to dominate the overnight package business, in spite of major players like UPS that were already in the market. It has taken UPS decades to catch up to Fed Ex. 

Amazon is learning the same thing with Amazon Prime, same day delivery, even same hour in some major markets now. 

If you are not offering one hour delivery to your customers, you are losing a lot of new business (especially young people that only order on smart phones). 

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