Outstanding medic takes floral company to the helm

by Surekha GALAGODA

Floral designing and medicine are two different fields and it is rare to find a person who excels in both equally.

Chairman and Managing Director Lassana Flora, Dr. Lasantha Malavige, is also a specialist in sexual medicine and was also awarded a TOYP award for the best researcher in medical science for year 2010.

Dr. Lasantha Malavige

"I was a third year medical student at the Colombo Medical faculty when I wanted to do something creative and after much thought decided to open a flower shop.

It was a challenge for me to create and design wedding decor as I was still engaged in my studies" said Dr Malavige. However, his breathtaking floral designs and his passion to do the best for his clients, made Lassana Flora the number one wedding flower shop in no time.

His journey to make Lassana Flora number one was not an easy task. He had to face many challenges and difficulties.

Meepirimana

He said, "One of the difficulties I faced especially during the busy wedding season was to supply good quality flowers.

I initially went to Meepirimana in Nuwara Eliya to find suppliers. It was quite a remote village at that time.

After going into great details about the difficulties they faced, with the aid of an NDB loan, I managed to help them by giving better planting material and other resources to improve their production.

Now Meepirimana is a developed village with people who have their own vehicles and houses.

I am extremely happy that I was able to make a difference to their lives and help them become economically more stable.

I firmly believe that success of any business is to help everyone directly or indirectly involved to grow along with the business", said Dr Malavige.

"The happiness that is brought about by seeing others doing well and that I was at least partly responsible for it makes the achievement worthwhile".

Dr. Malavige is also very grateful for the help he received from his parents and sister.

Lassana Flora would not have been what it is today without their help and the commitment of the professional staff. "My whole family helped me and stood by me at all times, especially taking the burden away from me at crucial times when I had my examinations".

He had wanted to specialise in surgery, but thought it would be impossible to run a business and engage in surgery as well.

"I did my internship at the Homagama hospital, after completing my internship I resigned from the Government service and joined the Family Planning Association as I wanted to specialise in sexual medicine.

I also did research work on the subject at the University of Sri Jayewardenapura. I was offered a place at the University of Oxford to do further research from where I obtained a Diploma in Psycho Sexual Medicine as well as a PhD in Sexual Medicine from the University of Oxford and Sri Jayewardenapura.

TOYP award

He has presented his research in 15 international conferences and was awarded a Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) award for the best medical researcher in 2010.

After his return to Sri Lanka he has conducted many workshops and lectures and has educated many doctors on the subject.

During his five years of specialist training in Oxford, he was managing the business remotely.

He says although managing the business while in a different country was one of the biggest challenges he faced, it helped him to master the art of time management.

He says his studies in Oxford was only possible because of his sister Maduwanthi and her husband Aruna Perera who helped in running the business. "Even now they help me immensely".

Speaking of his business he said that initially his idea was to create unique decorations that are affordable and reliable. Floral solutions used to be a household industry where an individual attended to all the aspects of flower decoration.

Lassana Flora revolutionised the wedding and floral industry by bringing in professionalism.

At Lassana Flora each step is carried out by some one well trained for the specific task.

There are checks to ensure total customer satisfaction at all times.

We have developed systems and procedures from ordering to execution. These have helped us to improve the quality and reliability of our services while reducing costs.

Lassana Flora is the first and only ISO certified florist in the South Asian region.

"As we always strive to improve the quality and customer satisfaction through proper systems and procedures when the audits were done for ISO certification everything was in place", he said.

Speaking of future plans he said that he wants to streamline the processes further, expand retail flower sales and move into high-tech floriculture.

The expected boom in tourism and the improved per capita income will make retail flower sales soar. "Therefore we are concentrating on this sector", he said.

Satisfied

At Lassana Flora we ensure that each client gets what they want and until the client is satisfied the Operations Manager will not leave the venue of the wedding. After the wedding we get a detailed feedback.

Dr Malavige enjoys personally handling every aspect of 3-4 unique weddings every month and said that it is always a pleasure to work with nice clients.

Lassana Flora has a staff of over 100 who are extremely dedicated and love their job. Each and every member strives to do their best. Dr. Malavige also works as a specialist in Sexual Medicine at Asiri Surgical Hospital and enjoys seeing patients and considers sorting out their problems as the greatest satisfaction in life.

A father of two children he is married to Senior Lecturer and specialist in Immunology, University of Jayewardenapura Dr. Neelika Malavige.