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Extra Features and Video Online FloristsReview.com R E A D O N L I N E 59 1 HOW MUCH SHOULD I SPEND ON A WEBSITE? People ask this question thinking this will be a "one and done" expense, much like buying a cooler. Nothing could be further from the truth. Your investment in fl oral e-commerce is an investment in your business and your brand. We go so far as to say it is even far more important than your physical location these days. Most people buy fl owers online these days, not in stores; let that sink it for a bit! Our advice to most fl ower shop owners is that whatever you spend on rent each month is what you should budget for your e-commerce strategy—each month. Your e-commerce strategy starts with a great website, but it also comprises online advertising, content development, social media and search-engine optimization (SEO). For a small to medium-size fl ower shop, we normally suggest that a fl orist budget $3,000 to $5,000 a month for all these diff erent components and work with an experienced webmaster or web-development fi rm. 2 DOES THE WEBSITE INTEGRATE WITH MY POS SYSTEM? If your website, no matter who the vendor is, does not interface with your POS system, you are in for a world of pain. Re-keying orders one at a time is extremely time consuming and error prone, and this is multiplied many times over at each fl oral holiday. Every website order must go seamlessly into your POS system. SOFTWARE IS ALL ABOUT TIME AND MONEY e fi rst question we ask fl ower shop owners is, "What is your time frame and budget?" is will narrow the choices quickly in terms of what is a good fi t. You can spend $0, $500, $5,000 or $50,000 on a website; what is your specifi c budget? Some websites can go up in 24 hours while others can take two to three months to build out and integrate with your back-end point-of-sale (POS) system. You need to be upfront with your vendor/webmaster, and let him or her know what you have in mind. In the software world—specifi cally, websites and website templates—a software vendor can do absolutely anything you wish; the question is, "What are your specifi c needs?" You can get a free website/web page at Wix, GoDaddy, Facebook and a few other online vendors right now. What you will quickly fi nd is that none of these are specifi c to the fl ower business, none integrate with POS systems, and you have to do all the work. e reality is you get what you pay for, and most of these free "DIY " choices are a waste of time. BUT MY COUSIN, SON, NEIGHBOR, FRIEND CAN BUILD ME A WEBSITE … Yes, they can, but why stop there? Why not have him or her build you a delivery vehicle at the same time? e point is that some things make no economic or practical sense; just because you can do it does not mean you should do it. e reality is that a properly functioning and modern website is a major investment that should not be done by amateurs or people with no history or track record of building websites—especially for fl ower shops. We also go back to "You get what you pay for." We have seen many cases over the years where a fl ower shop owner spends tens of thousands of dollars on a custom website, only to toss it out in frustration after a year of work. Would you have him build you a delivery truck, too? 12 KEY QUESTIONS TO ASK

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