The East Orchids: A Hobby Turned Business in UP Diliman Campus

The East Orchids is an orchid farm in the campus grounds of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. It was formally opened on May 31, 1989, by Mr. and Mrs. Max Prieto. East Orchids sold both cut flowers and plants. As a typical with orhidariums, the farm has a 3,000 sq. m. Canopy enclosure of green netting that covering a huge inventory of orchids.

HISTORY

The Prieto’s family was one of the prominent families in Davao, where Mr. Prieto was a former mayor. It was during the term of Mr.

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Prieto that his wife Princess became interested in orchids. The decision to breed orchids was very arbitrary and definitely not for the purpose of putting up a business. The East Orchids was started as a hobby of Mrs. Prieto before it was organized as a business. She got curious when her friends were into orchids. She bought a couple and decided to try to take care of them just for fun until she became obsessed with them. She treated the orchids like her babies that she felt that she just had to take care of them. Mrs. Prieto’s orchid collection grew.

Soon, the orchids filled the entire garden and were running over into their driveway and some of them had to place outside the house. Soon, neigbors and nearby flower shops were offering to buy cut flowers from her. At first, she simply gave the flowers but as the offer increased she began selling these. It was when the orchids alarmed to take over every living space in the home of family Prietos that Mrs. Prieto decided to sell the whole plants. Because of enormous money was coming into their way, they started to think about orchids as a business.

In 1989, when the Prieto’s family moved to Manila due to Mr. Prieto’s commitment, they also made up their minds to lease 5,000 sq. m. of land from University of the Philippines at the lease price of P12,000. 00 a year. They invested to clear up the land which was originally the garbage dump and for the net enclosure and putting other facilities to start their business.

OBJECTIVE

The Prieto’s family is planning for the expansion of their orchid farm in either Davao or Los Banos and Antipolo. The goal of this case is to determine if the East Orchids has the capabilities to exploit such opportunities.

S. W. O. T. ANALYSIS

The strengths the EAST ORCHIDS

• The price is a bit lower than other competitors which will attract more customers to buy on them.
• The overhead expenses are much lower
• The location is very accessible

The weaknesses of the EAST ORCHIDS

• No internal control in the business and the owner has no management background
• The owner is lenient in financial aspects of the business
• No business plan was made before starting the Orchids farm, just started out as the hobby.
• The workers are not well-trained

The opportunities of the EAST ORCHIDS

• The East Orchids has the greater chance to expand if just to have proper management and new technologies and skills to improve the cultivation of orchids at minimal cost
• It can compete to others because of low prices
• The orchids are saleable even the onset of the rainy season doesn’t seem to threaten a reductions in sales

The threats of the EAST ORCHIDS

• The workers might hike because they are not-well compensated
• There are no new technologies in improving the orchids growing
• The approaching termination of the lease contract to University of the Philippines.

COURSE OF ALTERNATIVE TO DETERMINE THE OBJECTIVES

Training program and study for the expansion of orchid farms. The owner should broaden her knowledge in cultivating the orchids though she already had personal experience in raising the orchids. The owner should attend proper training in order to cut costs and know some new technologies to improve her orchid’s farm. And also she should study on how to run a business and have basic accounting knowledge. She should know the operations of her business and focus on the financial aspects.

• If she will attend the training and seminars regarding orchids business it will be expensive and time consuming on her part.

Hire an expert or managerIn expanding the East Orchids, it should have a manager, who is knowledgeable about orchids business and have a management background, to help the owner in managing the business because it is already a big business to handle by an owner who has no formal training on orchid growing and business management. Additional employee which may ask for a high salary and the owner has no control to run the business all by herself because has to consider the opinion of the manager first.

• Evaluating the operations of the business and make a business plan for expansion

To determine business plan will make a business success. The owner should evaluate first the business operation if it is doing well and know what should have to do to meet the goal. In determining the financial aspects of the business the owner will see the capabilities of the company to expand or not. It will hold back the expansion due to procedure in evaluating and making a business plan and also it will be expensive

RECOMMENDATIONS

Alternative no. , there should be proper evaluation of the financial statements of the East Orchids to determine the cash position and the results of the operations. And SWOT analysis should be taken into consideration so that Mrs. Prieto should understand her business she would know what these are and how to improve such weaknesses and how to combat the threats on her business.

CONCLUSIONS

Some additional questions that must be taken into consideration that might help in expanding their business are:

Is East Orchids really a profitable enterprise? If it is so, do the margins justify the company’s existence?

If not, what justifies the company’s existence?

The East Orchids should so something about their business operation and what strategies to be apply for them to boost their revenues.

• How is Mrs. Prieto, who is not a trained orchid or businesswoman, able to compete with established orchid growers?

Mrs. Prieto has interest, skills and talents in growing business and she is able compete in the sense that she has this marketing strategy of lower prices which attracts the customers to buy orchids to East Orchids.

• Should the Prietos push through with their plans to expand their business?
• Would such expansion compatible with the Mrs. Prieto’s current method of managing the business?

I think the Prietos should hold back first their plans to expand their business until they see the problem with their business. Mrs Prieto’s current method of managing the business is not compatible if they will expand because it will require proper accounting system and competent manager who knows the orchid farms operation.

• Is she a true entrepreneur?

Mrs. Prieto is not a true entrepreneur although she has interest and skills in growing orchids but her attitude does not illustrate being a true entrepreneur.

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