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There is a number that should make any florist who has spent the past few years watching margins worth a closer look: 24.6%.
That is the increase in the weighted cost of keeping an Australian small business operating between March 2020 and March 2026, according to the inaugural AMP Bank GO Small Business Cost Pressure Index, released in August.
The index is not a florist-specific measure, and it should not be treated as one. But the individual costs inside it tell a story that will be familiar to many florist businesses: insurance, fuel, electricity, rent, interest and wages have all become materially more expensive, while customers remain increasingly conscious of price.
AMP's index rose from 100 in March 2020 to 124.6 in March 2026. The report estimates that the weighted cost of running a small business could reach 127.1 by the end of 2026.
The increases vary significantly by expense. Since March 2020, insurance costs in the index have risen 52%, fuel 38%, interest costs 36%, electricity 26%, rent 23% and wages more than 20%.
The index gives wages the largest weighting because they are a major cost for labour-reliant small businesses. It is designed as a broad measure rather than a direct measure of any particular industry, so florists should not assume the percentages map exactly onto their own books.
The difficult part for a florist is that rising costs are only half the equation.
The other half is what customers will accept.
The Reserve Bank's August liaison report says businesses across Australia continue to report elevated cost inflation, while customer price sensitivity is increasingly constraining their ability to pass those costs through. The RBA says this is contributing to modest margin compression in some businesses.
Consumer-facing businesses have also reported that demand has softened from the start of the year, even though it remains positive. Households are described as more cautious and price-sensitive.
A florist has a particularly complicated cost structure because several different cost pressures arrive inside the same sale.
There is the flower itself, but there is also labour, packaging, rent or occupancy, refrigeration and electricity, delivery, payment processing, insurance, software and other overheads.
A bouquet can therefore look profitable when viewed only through the flower cost and selling price, while producing a much thinner contribution once the wider cost of operating the business is considered.
That is why a broad rise in small-business costs is less useful as a reason to simply increase every price by a set percentage, and more useful as a prompt to examine where the margin is actually going.
The ABS reported in June that 46% of businesses had experienced higher operating expenses over the previous four weeks. Among those businesses, 65% cited business overheads, 56% freight or delivery costs, 47% input costs for other goods and materials, and 40% staffing-related costs.
For florists, those categories can overlap heavily with everyday operations.
Freight affects incoming flowers and supplies. Delivery costs affect outgoing orders. Staffing costs affect production and retail coverage. Overheads cover everything from rent and electricity to the systems that keep the business taking orders.
The important point is that not all cost increases are visible when a customer looks at a bouquet.
Start with contribution, not just markup.
Review a handful of your most important products and calculate what each sale contributes after the costs directly associated with fulfilling it. Then consider the share of overhead required to keep the business operating.
The goal is not to create an accounting exercise for every single stem. It is to identify the products, services and order types where the gap between selling price and real business cost has become too narrow.
Delivery is one obvious example. If a delivery fee was set when fuel, wages and courier costs were lower, it may no longer reflect the actual cost of providing that service.
The same thinking applies to labour-heavy arrangements, corporate work, wedding consultations and other services that can absorb significant time without that time being obvious in the headline product price.
The RBA's findings are important here. Customer price sensitivity is making it harder for businesses to pass through every increase, but that is not the same thing as customers refusing all price increases.
It means the business needs to be more deliberate.
A price increase that is difficult to understand can feel arbitrary. A product that clearly offers better size, flower selection, presentation or convenience gives the customer something tangible to compare.
This is particularly relevant in floristry because the product is not entirely standardised. Two bouquets can have the same price and deliver very different experiences. That gives florists more room to communicate value than a retailer selling a highly comparable commodity.
The interesting part of the current environment is that inflation itself is no longer the whole story.
Even as headline inflation has moderated from its earlier peak, the cost base of running a small business remains elevated. AMP's index suggests the cumulative effect of several years of higher operating costs is substantial, while the RBA says businesses are still experiencing cost pressures and finding it difficult to pass all of them on.
That creates a different kind of business problem: margin erosion can happen quietly.
A florist does not need one dramatic cost increase to become less profitable. Small changes across wages, insurance, freight, electricity, software and delivery can add up while the retail price of a bouquet remains unchanged.
The useful question for a florist in August 2026 is not simply, “Can I raise my prices?”
It is: “Which parts of my business have become less profitable without me noticing?”
Review the costs behind your highest-volume products, delivery services and labour-heavy orders. Identify where costs have moved materially since your last pricing review, then decide where the business can absorb the increase, where efficiency can help, and where the customer price needs to change.
The 24.6% figure is a broad national measure, not a florist's P&L. But it is a useful warning: if the cost of keeping the doors open has changed, pricing based on what worked several years ago may no longer describe a healthy margin.
• AMP Bank GO — Small Business Cost Pressure Index
• Reserve Bank of Australia — Insights From Liaison, August 2026
• Australian Bureau of Statistics — Business Conditions and Sentiments, June 2026
• Australian Bureau of Statistics — Operating costs up for half Australian businesses