With our taxes done, and the first quarter of 2013 over, I wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on the impact our little, local, business had on the world last year. I’m not talking about all the people we made happy with local flowers (we did that too!!), but this is about our FINANCIAL impact on our community. We all know the top 10 reasons to buy local, but the impact of buying local is real-and pretty amazing.
Last year was our 5th year in business. It was our busiest year yet and we brought in more revenue than ever before (still not a TON, but good for us!).
Here’s how Local Color Flowers spent it’s income last year.
Local Growers: The largest part of our budget last year went to local growers. 38% of the money spent in 2012 went to paying 17 growers for flowers, foliage, succulents, herbs and more. We’re excited to to increase that number this year.
Locally Owned Businesses: 37% of our money spent went to locally owned businesses. Many of these were small businesses that provided construction services for our new building. Other small business we patronized included the Baltimore Food Co-Op, Zekes Coffee, Atwaters, Grand Cru, the Dogwood, Eddies, Lucy and Amelia, Second Chance and of course the Evergreen Café (my office for the past 4 1/2 years).
Local Designers: As we expanded, our local designer pool expanded. We worked with 7 amazing designers in 2012 and we paid them 13% of the money we spent last year.
Things We Need to Work On: 12% of the money we spent last year went to “miscellaneous stuff”. Most of this category was filled up with purchases at places like Home Depot for supplies for the space, Pennock for floral supplies and Michaels/Joann’s for ribbon and crafty crap. We’ll continue to shop local for these types of products when we can.
As we start or 21013 season, we’re excited to continue contributing to our local economy. Investing in local business and local workers is what helps our community grow. We’re looking forward to continuing to do our part.
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