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60 June | 2023 Business When you determine the products you want to sell, reach out to printers to create the labels. You can go with a local printer, but you can also fi nd print-on-demand companies online that specialize in private labeling. Many people make a living selling private label brands from their storefronts on eBay, Etsy, Amazon and other online retailers, so you should be able to fi nd a number of places that would be eager to work with you as far as manufacturing products and creating labels. Once you have all the costs, do some accounting and fi nd out what your bottom line will be. Open a spreadsheet, and record expenditures and income related to this endeavor, including taxes, shipping, and projected project margins. Keep in mind that you can often sell private-label products at fi ve or six times their laid-in cost. Check out comparable items at other places to see what the market, in general, bears in terms of price, and then customize your pricing for your specifi c clientele and marketplace, as well as the quality and uniqueness of the products you off er. Figure out your strategy for fulfi lling orders. What's your plan for when things go wrong? As with almost everything, Murphy's Laws often come into play : "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong," "Nothing is as easy as it looks," "Everything takes longer than you think," "If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway," and so on. at's why it's a good idea to keep alternate suppliers or printers in the hopper, just in case. DRAWBACKS TO PRIVATE LABELING Currently, the two biggest drawbacks of private labeling are trouble with supply chains and changes in the businesses with which you partner. "Companies change hands, so you have to revamp," Hurst says. "A lot of businesses went out of business during COVID, and that was a tough hit for us. We're still trying to get production ramped back up. Again, we could have bought our products from people outside Arkansas, but we don't want to do that. So, you need to fi gure out which companies can get your products and labels and put it all together for you. at just takes time." Also, smaller fl orists might fi nd the cost prohibitive. Some items, such as candles, can be run in small batches that don't cost as much. But packaging can be another story. As an example, Hurst wanted the Mountain Valley Spring Water that he sells to be under Tipton & Hurst's private label. "Water is not cost eff ective unless we order a palette, which is about 800 bottles," Hurst says. "We have four locations at which we can sell those, but for smaller fl orists, it could be prohibitive. And, they have to print labels and buy the boxes and packaging, and those services can be expensive. On the other hand, the rise of small retailers on the internet has led to a number of businesses that now cater to print-on- demand and small-shipment manufacturers, so you might be in luck. Straightforward choices for private- label products for florists could include a curated line of permanent botanicals and/or a "private" co ection of permanent botanical designs and fresh flower a• angements, houseplants, te• ariums and products for cut flowers.

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