The idea came to me from an e-mail,” said Muhammed Mazin, a Saudi in his 20s, who started a novel business that involves printing on flowers in December 2005.

“I received an e-mail illustrating and showing new inventions in the Chinese market. One of the inventions was a flower printer, which drew my attention,” he said, adding that he contacted several manufactures in China, signed a contract with Spring Sun Ltd. and established Mody Flowers.

By taking out bank loans and through contributions from his brother and friends, Mazin opened his first outlet in Dhahran. “It was no more than a 3.5 square meter kiosk,” he said.

However, since it was expensive to keep the kiosk, Mazin needed more customers and resorted to other alternatives, including the Internet, to sell his flowers.

Being ready for all challenges, Mazin started a new business in which he had no previous background. “I took a big risk and started a business in which I had little knowledge of; limited to buying flowers from the florist on special occasions,” said Mazin, who strongly believes that “failure is the only means of reaching success.”

In order to develop himself and his knowledge of flowers, Mazin read several books and researched how successful flower shops operate. “My graduate studies in accounting and management gave me the confidence to start this business,” he added.

Eventually, Mazin and his brother, opened a Mody Flowers shop in Dhahran Mall. “Initially a lot of my customers — some who came from Riyadh — were referred by family members. Sales in the western region was minimal. We focused only on large quantity orders,” he said.

Mazin said that they are in the process now of franchising their products to well-known flower shops in major Saudi cities and in the Gulf region.

Customers have the option of placing orders through phone or e-mail. After finalizing a design, colors and type of flowers, the printing takes place. “The printing itself does not take more than 30 seconds per flower. However, the whole process — design, graphics, preparing the flowers and printing — usually takes between 5 to 15 minutes per flower,” said Mazin.

After this, the flowers are delivered within 24 hours; large orders require more time.

Speaking about his company’s achievements and future plans, Mazin said, “Our goal is to ensure that our products are available throughout the Gulf.”

Mody Flowers makes sure that its customers are satisfied. “Our job does not end when we receive money from our customers; we try to make people aware of the meaning of love, feelings and passion. We show people how to take their negative experiences and turn them into positive karma,” he said.

Mody Flowers also prides itself for supporting ambitious and passionate Saudi youth. “Our company’s policy is to hire only Saudi nationals and provide them with a suitable environment to work in. We do not limit ourselves to male employees. We also have women employees, who work from home and marketing agents who exhibit Mody Flowers at seminars, bazaars and other events,” said Mazin.

“Most of my customers are women and between the ages of 18 and 24. This was because we were located in a mall,” he said.

“However, we have received a lot of orders over the phone from elderly people looking for new ways to express their love to their spouses,” he added.

Mazin said that, at first, he did not think the Internet would be an effective means to market flowers. However he quickly changed his mind after he placed an advertisement for a week on the popular social-networking Web site Facebook. The business he received was phenomenal.

“E-business has exceeded my expectations. I had to pull my advertisement from Facebook after one week because we were overwhelmed with orders and could not keep up with the demand.”

Mazin is now planning an e-flower portal where customers will be able to design and order flowers online in a few clicks. The Web site will be launched in a few months.

“I believe what made us special is our direct interaction with our customers, where I, as an owner, have the pleasure to serve my customers, know their needs, and provide them with the best services. I believe this sort of interaction builds trust and a bond between Mody Flowers and our valued customers.”

For further information contact: [email protected], 0558084111.