As a bride or groom, if you are reading this, I have to apologize. You will probably be a little bored by this post.
Yup, it's another math lesson.
Well, sort of. You've all heard me say in the past that time is money. Will labor is money too. It's invisible and often not thought about but labor expenses are a huge component of a floral designer's total expenses. In fact, there's so many hidden labor related costs that I get so dizzy talking about it.
There's the actual wages and then there's
EDD
Worker's Comp
Employee Taxes
Perks
Meals, Uniforms for Laborers
Gas and Parking
Training
Errors and Losses
I can go on. Now, why am I talking about this issue?
Well, I'll tell you the truth. The other day a bride asked me to deliver her bouquet to where she was getting ready in the South Bay(1st stop). And in addition to that, the groom will be getting ready at his home in the city so we will need to add a 2nd stop (that's another stop). The wedding ceremony was to take place across town(within SF) which is the 3rd stop. With the reception in Marin that's a 4th stop. We have to clean up the ceremony flowers in the early evening(5th stop as the crew from Marin will need to return to SF to clean up the church) upon which we will need to redeliver all the ceremony flowers to the reception in Marin(6th stop). And of course, there is the clean up at midnight at the reception in Marin(7th stop) You can imagine that this is a logistical nightmare not just for me but there's a whole bunch of other vendors to coordinate.
Labor is money. If you need 1 deliver person to drive to the South Bay and back to SF, that's potential an extra 2 to 3 hours of labor expenses. Let's say that Employee X starts at 10am and ends the shift at 6:00pm, that laborer is heading into overtime category if the additional deliver in the AM is tacked onto the original 8 hour shift. I.e.: Employee X new start time is 7:30am to 6:00pm, that could definitely mean overtime for the additional 2.5 hours)
Of course, the argument is that you let this deliver person go after 8 hours. It's so much easier said then done. If you want to keep your help, you don't schedule them to come in to do a 2.5 hour shift. That's ridiculous. And to let them go after 4 hours is not productive to your set up day which is 8 hours long. Whatever you choose, it is your business decision and I don't want to tell you what to do.
If you decide to comp the "delivery the bouquet" because you decide that's part of doing business, that's your decision. However, let's just for one moment take a look at what that additional 2.5 hour of labor could mean when you look at all the components.
1 Van or Mini van Rental $80/hour
Gas to fill up car = $5
Parking - hopefully none
*Hidden costs of worker's comp, edd, etc
2.5 of Overtime at $30/hour
1 bouquet deliver = $75(2.5 of labor at 30)+$80(car)+$5(gas) = over $150
Now if you are a planner or a bride/groom, remember 1 additional stop could mean upwards of $150 if the destination is 1 hour away.
When a vendor adds fees like deliver charges, it may seem high or unusual but it's all part of the labor costs. And for small business owners, it's easy to ignore these expenses and deny that they exist but they do. So next time, if you are wondering where your time went or why your payroll increased, look at your labor expenses.
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