FLOWERS and computer systems may seem a quaint pairing, but homegrown Far East Flora has shown how IT can be intertwined in its nursery business.

The irony: The person credited for using technology like a fertiliser for the business does not even know how to operate a computer.

Meet 57-year-old group managing director Danny Cheok.

Nurturing growth - Singapore Hongkong... next Malaysia? Photo/ AZIZ HUSSIN

He is a long way from the 14-year-old who dropped out of school in 1962 to help his brother-in-law peddle flowers and eggs from a van. They made about $100 a day, selling mainly to expatriates.

Today, he heads Far East Flora, one of Singapore's largest nurseries with revenue this year of $28 million, up 10 per cent on last year.

About a quarter of that revenue comes from its seven-year-old online arm, FarEastFlora.com.

The website - among Singapore's first to deliver flowers on the Net - is the group's fastest-growing subsidiary.

It has grown 42 per cent a year for two years running.

In June, with the help of the government agency Spring Singapore, Far East Flora expanded its virtual reach to Hong Kong at a cost of $1.5 million.

Now FarEastFlora.com.hk and its associated suppliers are set to start selling Singapore-style floral arrangements to Hong Kong folk.

Next up: Kuala Lumpur.

The way the group has tapped IT to develop its business is being held up as an example for other small- and medium-sized enterprises here.

The group's e-commerce arm is run by 36-year-old Mr Ryan Chioh, Mr Cheok's nephew.

Although the younger man oversees the group's IT development, he defers to Uncle Danny as the driving force.

He said: 'Danny may not be tech-savvy, but he has incredible business acumen to see the vast potential that the Internet offers.'

Mr Cheok himself puts it best. He told The Straits Times in Mandarin that he decided to go online because the usual way of selling flowers - in a shop, taking telephone orders and with catalogues - was too inefficient and did not reach enough customers.

He added: 'Not only would customers not know about our latest designs and promotions, but they would also never really get to see what it is they are ordering.'

A website, on the other hand, has immediacy. It allows the customer to view what is available, to place his order and pay online.

With that vision in 1998, he pumped in $20,000 and roped in his nephew Ryan, then 28 and newly returned from the United States, where he studied marketing and international business.

Day One brought in just one order. Today, FarEastFlora.com receives about 100 orders a day.

The florist's love affair with IT began long before the website. As early as the mid-1980s, Mr Cheok already saw how technology could replace manual work.

Although he had never laid hand on a computer mouse, he sank $20,000 to customise a software program for the company. But the software firm could not deliver.

Undaunted, he invested $70,000 in the early 1990s for another customised program. Again, nothing.

Two expensive failures - but this was Mr Cheok, a persistent suitor. He said: 'It was not the technology that failed, it was the companies that failed to deliver.'

So it was not until 1998, with the website, that his faith in IT paid off.

As the orders kept rolling in, Mr Chioh said he realised it was not enough to have the website.

They needed to throw more money into IT to integrate the sales office with the backroom.

In 2001, Far East Flora made more serious investments in an e-commerce infrastructure.

Pre-technology, the company hired 15 employees from front-end to back-end. Orders were taken by phone and written down on dockets manually filed in ring binders.

The flower stock was ordered entirely by 'gut feel' - which meant errors and wastage.

Today, with a much larger business, the group has 50 employees, but they handle everything from front-end to back-end electronically, seamlessly: When an order comes in via the portal, the customer relations officer confirms it with the client, and sends off an electronic chit to the backroom, so that the packers know which flowers to use and how many.

The order is tracked until the time it is sent out, and the client is informed when his gift has been sent.

The system can also track flower stocks and make projections based on previous years' sales records, so they always have the right mix of blooms.

An address-management program ensures that deliveries do not go astray.

For customers, it takes a mere five minutes now to place an online order. They can also track the status of that order, change it or re-word the messages to go with it.

The IT infrastructure cost more than $500,000, but Mr Chioh says the results are showing.

Mr Cheok - never one to rest on his laurels - says competition in the industry is stiff, so he is always thinking about what else he can do to stay ahead of the field.

He added: 'We may have been one of the first to go online, but look around, there are a dime a dozen online florists now. We need to keep up.'

To inject new blood into the industry, Far East Flora started offering scholarships in floristry last year. The $5,000 scholarship, tenable for a four-month in-house course, comes with an 18-month bond.

On the group's foray into Hong Kong, Mr Cheok said that while Malaysia may have been a more 'logical' place to set up the group's maiden overseas portal, he decided to give Hong Kong florists a run for their money first.

'The culture of giving gifts is a lot stronger in Hong Kong than in Singapore, so we believe we will do well,' he said.

His nephew added: 'We have noticed that Hong Kong people like to give new things, and coming from a different country and culture, we can design and offer them products which are different from those in Hong Kong. That, we believe, will be our biggest selling point.'

Once the Hong Kong website takes root, the group will head for Malaysia.

The eventual game plan is to rival Interflora, the global florist network.

Mr Chioh knows what Far East Flora is up against: 'We know they are big and it is not going to be easy to beat them. But, we are going to try. Wherever we go, we will be able to offer at least 10 times more flower types.'

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