Competition can be the lifeblood of a healthy industry, and it certainly jump-started me out of complacency as a resident farmers market vendor. But what's fair and reasonable when it comes to competition depends on which side of it you're standing on. As a small-scale or seasonal grower, it's worth remembering that we don't fit neatly into the mass market industry, but we can thrive in our own niche, what I call the makers market.

Information and advice only takes you so far. What matters more is insight, and hard-won experience. Your own business acumen, built by making judgement calls and living with what happens next.

In the age of soundbites, economic data like this gets translated as news that times are tough and they're not getting any better soon. So what does this mean for flowers? A close look at the facts tell us people haven't stopped spending. They've become far more selective about what they spend their money on.

The consequences of weather patterns don't just affect your growing, they can have a profound effect on selling your flowers too. Whether it's flowers for your florists, market stall or local cafe - bad weather can be bad for business too.

It's fascinating how differing opinions unfold on what flower farmers in New Zealand and Australia most need to support their work.

Every flower grower is trying to bring as much certainty as they can to a business with this many variables. It's easy to miss how supply and demand shift together if you treat growing and selling as separate jobs, rather than one. Treating them as one means growing deliberately to your sales calendar, with careful crop planning, protection, and managed risk.

The thing about daydreams is that even if they don't turn out how you expect them to, they point to a deep want within you that can be hard to ignore. And what difference would it make if you allowed those daydreams, work experience and other roles you live with to breathe a bigger life into your business?

Time, money and kit are only half of what builds a business. Here's the other half most business plans forget to budget for.

The word retreat tends to conjure something formal - enforced time with colleagues, an away-day with a facilitator and whiteboards to fill. But a retreat can be as simple as a leisurely lunch, a walk on the beach, or a wander through the garden. The key is comfort.

The daylight hours are as important to flower farmers as the nutrients in the soil. It’s the fuel for photosynthesis essential for plant growth. So the winter solstice this coming weekend is a welcome turning point towards the light for next season.

There's a version of good business advice that goes: focus on what sells, cut what doesn't, grow a few varieties really well. That advice isn't wrong. But applied too rigidly to a growing practice, it can slowly drain the life out of it.

Most of us, if pressed, would say we're not florists. Florists have shops. Florists source from markets and wholesalers. Florists do weddings and events and walk-in customers on a Tuesday afternoon. We grow things. We're growers first, and sellers somewhere after that. But here's what's true at the same time.