Flowers speak more eloquently:

An entrepreneur through flower power

Ramani KANGARAARACHCHI

A flower speaks a thousand words on any occasion - may it be a happy or sorrowful moment in people's lives.

It also can reach people of any age, class or place without any barrier. At times flower power is stronger than fire power. The youthful Managing Director of Green Manufacturers (Pvt) Ltd, Nandana Maliyadewa also became a strong entrepreneur through flower power.

Artificial flowers which looks very natural turned out at his factory in Ja ela embellish the shops in almost every city in Sri Lanka.

He was interviewed by Daily News Business.

"I entered the University of Kelaniya after my Advanced Level examination at St. Sebastian's College, Kandana but could not complete the degree as a result of the closure of the university for a long period due to JVP problems in the country.

As I had encountered many hardships at the time I joined a BOI company as a management trainee giving up the idea of completing the degree, he said

Opportunity

"The company I joined manufactured artificial flowers for the international market. There I learnt everything about artificial flower making and gradually became a manager within a few years.

However, the company closed down abruptly after some time and the investors left the country. Then I was jobless and found it very difficult to find another job. Fortunately, I got an opportunity to work in Japan for a short while where I earned some money and returned to the country.

As I knew every technique of artificial flower making I decided to start a small business in this field," he said.

Maliyadeva bought some raw materials locally and manufactured flowers at home.

But later he found that imported artificial flowers in the market were cheaper than his products.

He could not even cover the cost of production by selling them. In 1994 he went to China and brought some raw material to manufacture artificial flowers investing around Rs. 200,000.

"My wife and I took our products to various exhibitions and sales centres and our cost of production was much less and we could face the challenge of maintaining competitive prices.

Large factory

We built a good network of clients in this manner", he said. Maliyadeva had a clear idea about the local market needs and he concentrated on better quality as well."

I handled money carefully and developed the business. Now we import a container load of raw material every two months", he said.

The company has a large factory in Ja ela on one acre of land where 30 people work and he has subcontracted to about 1,000 people through his distribution centres in Minuwangoda, Dunagaha, Marandagahamula, Bandigoda, Ja-ela and Dagonna.

Each sub contractor can earn a minimum of Rs. 2,500 every month from home. There are more than 200 varieties of flowers in the range which can be used for any occasion. They include Christmas decorations and bridal bouquets as well.

"The quality of my products is better than those imported because I have developed them to suit our country and people through my long standing experience.

This is a very sophisticated product where many tiny parts of flowers have to be assembled manually. Only our company does this in the country," he said. Asked about his future plans, he said that he can set up another factory elsewhere to manufacture artificial flowers and give employment to about 400 young people in our country.

Soft toys

If the Government could control the import of artificial flowers it would save a lot of foreign exchange as well. I pay the same taxes as the importers of finished artificial flowers which is not fair. I can invest on another factory if the Government can give me a helping hand by providing a tax exemption on the imports of raw material. I can increase production and export them to neighbouring countries and earn foreign exchange too, he said.

Maliyadeva has launched a new product of soft toys which has a big demand already and he wants to concentrate more on it in the future.

With the support of his wife and the service of his dedicated and hard working staff, he maintains a high standard of quality. Careful management of money is the secret behind his success, he said.