KENYA · GUIDE 0873 · EDITION 4.7
Pressed flower art in Kenya: Startup Budget and Quotation Checklist
Editorial update: 28 October 2026 · Business planning reference · Review scope
Define what must be funded before the first order
Build a startup quotation schedule for Botanical material, Frames and backing, Mounting kit; separate setup, operating inputs and working cash.
This is a planning reference for pressed flower art. The order below is an invented teaching case. It is not a completed customer job, an operating approval or a prediction of demand or earnings.
The example offer and its boundary
Fictional botanical-art order: assemble five A5 pressed-flower pictures, each in a frame accepting a 148 × 210 mm backing. Use a 100 × 150 mm visible composition window centred on that backing, leaving 24 mm side margins and 30 mm top/bottom margins. Plan approximately twenty-five small pressed petals/leaves per composition, with spares. This is decorative artwork with natural colour variation, not a promise of permanent colour, a scientific specimen or a service that preserves any supplied bouquet unchanged.
A quotation checklist for this business
| Resource | Exact request to price | Check before accepting the quote |
|---|---|---|
| Botanical material | About 125 dry sale elements plus twenty-five spares, from traceable permitted sources. | Inspect for complete drying, pests and brittleness; never buy a colour assortment without seeing the actual tone variation. |
| Frames and backing | Five frames for 148 × 210 mm backing, five compatible boards and 100 × 150 mm layout guides. | Measure the real rebate and depth; nominal A5 packaging may describe outer frame size instead of insert size. |
| Mounting kit | Suitable absorbent pressing paper, tweezers, tested mounting adhesive and five protective boxes. | Test adhesive and paper compatibility on spare plant material rather than on the customer’s only meaningful flower. |
Keep the budget categories separate
- Botanical material: About 125 dry sale elements plus twenty-five spares, from traceable permitted sources. Confirm the quantity, landed quote and inspect for complete drying, pests and brittleness; never buy a colour assortment without seeing the actual tone variation.
- Frames and backing: Five frames for 148 × 210 mm backing, five compatible boards and 100 × 150 mm layout guides. Confirm the quantity, landed quote and measure the real rebate and depth; nominal a5 packaging may describe outer frame size instead of insert size.
- Mounting kit: Suitable absorbent pressing paper, tweezers, tested mounting adhesive and five protective boxes. Confirm the quantity, landed quote and test adhesive and paper compatibility on spare plant material rather than on the customer’s only meaningful flower.
- Record equipment acquisition OR an appropriate use allocation, plus the full stock/minimum-order cash requirement; do not count both as the same per-job expense.
- Obtain actual labour, premises, transport, energy/water, rework, payment and ongoing overhead amounts relevant to this activity. Identify deposits, receivables and payment dates separately.
- Resolve the guide-specific evidence gaps listed in section 10. Any activity-specific permission, testing or specialist costs require actual scope and quotations, not an invented allowance.
What the selected teaching bill includes
| Selected line | Example quantity | Assumed rate | Selected cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| A5 insert-size frames | 5 | KSh 700.00 | KSh 3,500.00 |
| Backing boards | 5 | KSh 100.00 | KSh 500.00 |
| Prepared botanical elements including spares | 150 | KSh 5.00 | KSh 750.00 |
| Mounting adhesive millilitres provisional | 25 | KSh 15.00 | KSh 375.00 |
| Protective boxes | 5 | KSh 120.00 | KSh 600.00 |
| Press handling and assembly hours | 8 | KSh 350.00 | KSh 2,800.00 |
These selected lines total KSh 8,525.00. They are a fictional operating example, not the full cash needed to start pressed flower art. Batch cost = KSh 8525; allocated cost per sale unit = KSh 1,705.00; assumed revenue = 5 × KSh 2100 = KSh 10500; pre-tax scenario surplus = KSh 1975. Five framed works are sale units. Passive drying time is not charged as eight full days of labour; the eight hours are actual planned handling/design time. Rates and quantities are hypothetical. Press purchase, rejected flowers, delivery and tax are extra. A customer’s unique bouquet needs a separately scoped trial and loss policy.
Close the budget before spending
For each actual quotation, record the delivered quantity, specification, cash due date, hire/purchase option and quote expiry. Keep an unknown cost blank. Reusable equipment purchase, an appropriate use allocation and refundable deposits are different records; do not count the same item twice.
- Plant identity, actual drying readiness, adhesive and frame compatibility require samples.
- No archival permanence or indefinite colour retention is established.
References and their limits
RHS: How to press plants and make herbarium collections
Plant pressing and recording reference; decorative work below is not a scientific herbarium specimen. Reference check recorded 2026-10-26.
Kew: How to press flowers
Plant selection and pressing reference; no guarantee against fading or mould in unknown framing conditions. Reference check recorded 2026-10-26.
Recorded references support only the scope stated beside them. They do not prove current supplier stock, a local quotation, actual buyer demand, operator competence or the feasibility of this particular business. Later editorial changes do not refresh earlier source-check dates.
Prepared by Business Starter Guides using AI-assisted drafting and desk editorial checks. Independent operator trials and specialist certification are not claimed. See the editorial method for the review scope.
Editorial method and evidence limits