Red Isle Web

Websites for small businesses.

Your to-do list

The list

• Talk to Peter at VK'sTap below for what to find out while you're there.

  What to find out

  • Would they even buy from a local grower next season, and roughly what are they paying now for zinnias, dahlias, sunflowers and snapdragons.
  • What's hard for them to get, or to get fresh.
  • How they'd want it: buckets of one variety or mixed, how many stems, how often, what day.
  • When their busy stretch is, and if they'd take anything early (daffodils in May) or late (dahlias into September).
  • A small order in July with no commitment, to see how your stems hold up in the shop.
  • No price yet. If he asks, you're still working it out and you'll get back to him.
• Keep cutting and hanging the staticeDried stock for the Valentine's baskets.
• Make the Facebook business page and add me as an adminText me when it's done.

  More

  • On your phone, open Facebook, tap your profile picture, then Pages, then Create.
  • Name it Bloom Where You're Planted Flower Farm, category Florist, and add the address and phone.
  • Once it exists: Settings, then Page access, then Add new, and search levi@redisleweb.ca.
  • Connect your Instagram in Settings, Linked accounts, so one post goes to both.
• Post on your personal Facebook pointing people to the new pageA couple of bouquet photos and the page link.
• Register bloomwhereyoureplanted.ca at NamecheapAbout $15 to $20 a year, in your name.

  More

  • Go to namecheap.com, search bloomwhereyoureplanted.ca, add the .ca to the cart.
  • Say no to everything they offer at checkout: hosting, email, SSL, all of it. Just the domain.
  • Make the account in your name with your email, and turn auto-renew on.
  • Text me when it's done and I'll take it from there.
• Open a business account at your bankText me which bank you're with and I'll tell you which account to ask for.

  More

  • Keeps farm money separate from house money, so tax time and the grant claim are one statement instead of a highlighter job.
  • E-transfers to Bloom land under the business name instead of yours.
  • Bring your registration certificate. Most banks want it to put the business name on the account.
  • Sales in, expenses out, nothing else through it.
• Send me 10 to 15 photos before the field is doneRows, buckets, bouquets, the stand, you working. Phone photos are fine.
• Send me the list of annuals with when each one blooms, and the pro-cut sunflower info
• Photograph your receipts from April 1 onwardFor the 15% equipment grant. Anything before April 1 is likely out.

  More

  • Anything bought on or after April 1, 2026 that lasts: hoses, landscape fabric, posts, tools, the fertilizer pump, the row covers.
  • Seed, tubers and fertilizer don't count. Cards and signs go on the other grant, not this one.
  • One clear photo per receipt, date and total readable. Text them to me in batches or drop them in a shared album.
  • This is the 15% grant, so it's a bonus, not a reason to buy anything.
• Settle with Randy: consignment or wholesale at the standsSort this out before the first bucket goes.

  More

  • Start with the three or four stands closest to you, not all eight.
  • Consignment: you're paid on what sells, and unsold bouquets are your loss. Wholesale: he buys them outright at a lower price and the unsold ones are his.
  • Wholesale is better for you. Say so before the first bucket goes.
  • Ask how much walks out of a stand unpaid, so the split accounts for it.
• Approach Burnside Community Care about a standing orderEvery week or two next summer. Keep the price reasonable for the families.

  More

  • Offer a standing order: fresh flowers every week or two, you bring the vases and take the old ones, nothing for staff to do.
  • Price it so the families can say yes, and start with one home before you go to others.
  • You already know the owner, so keep it casual.

• Submit the Innovation PEI applicationWaits on the written quote from me. The guide below has every answer.Waiting on Levi
• Call Mike Gillis at Innovation PEI and book a meetingAfter you submit. He meets everyone in person first. 902-393-3676.Waiting on Levi

  More

  • He'll ask what the business is, whether it's your main work, and what the money is for.
  • Tell him about the church cleaning yourself: part time, ending when the building sells.
  • Bring your registration number and the quote. He meets everyone in person before approving.
• Send the Google review link to everyone who bought flowers this summerI'll send you the link once your Google profile is up. Reviews are a big part of who shows up first when someone searches.Waiting on Levi

  More

  • Text the link to anyone who bought from you this summer, one at a time, with a line saying why it helps.
  • Ten reviews would put you ahead of Island Meadow, who have seven.

Done

• Send me your registration number, the date you registered, and a rough sales number

On my to-do list

• Write up the quote
• Order a small run of business cards
• Set up your Google Business Profile and send you the review link
• Add the cost rows to your grant guide
• Update the site: flowers page, DIY wedding buckets, U-pick FAQ, sign-up list

How the grant works

1. I send you the written quote.
2. You apply online. The guide below has every answer written out.
3. Mike Gillis calls you and sets up a meeting.
4. Once it's approved we sign the agreement and I start.

Don't pay for anything on this page before you're approved. The small run of business cards is the one exception, and I'm keeping it off the application on purpose.

You pay the full invoice, then claim half back once the work is done.

There are two pots, professional fees and marketing, and each pays back up to $2,500. Marketing is first-year only, so the application goes in before next February, and sooner is better.

The quote

Every number here is an estimate, confirmed after we sit down, and nothing is owed until the work is done.

Half of all of it comes back to you if the application is approved.

The year, roughly

• SeptemberApplication in. Small run of cards. Dried flowers cut and hanging.
• October to NovemberSite built. Facebook page growing. Next-season posts going out.
• DecemberSite live. Sign-up list collecting names over the winter.
• Late January to February 14Valentine's pre-sale. Subscriptions and gift baskets.
• April to MayMother's Day push. Daffodils at the stand.
• Mid-JunePotato stands open. Season-opening ads.
• Mid-JulyU-pick opens. Subscriptions start.

Rough dates, we adjust as we go.

Contacts and links

• Levi250-641-6123  |  levi@redisleweb.ca
• Mike Gillis, Innovation PEI902-393-3676  |  mggillis@gov.pe.ca
• Innovation PEI, general line902-368-6300

• The application
• Program page