Stop...And Sell the Flowers

From the beginning, Bouwman, Meltzer, and Duurland were determined to have TulipWorld distinguish itself from other sites by serving as, essentially, a personal garden assistant. They were convinced that if they could walk a customer from the bulb selection through planting, flowering, and beyond, they would not only build site traffic and orders, but also create word of mouth in the gardening community.

"The most important thing for the Web site was to take the gardener's perspective," says Bouwman. Van der Kloet advised the three on what varieties paired well together, which needed sun and which thrived in shade, which worked well in warm climates and which needed cooler conditions. They then set to work building an extensive database that encompassed not just growing information, but also the histories, legends, and breeders of the 300 types of bulbs offered on the site.

As Bouwman, Meltzer, and Duurland sought to get the business up and running, they counted on each other's strengths. Duurland is the detail man, obsessed with the fine points of shipping costs, quality control, and site maintenance. Meltzer is the strategist, working out pricing models, figuring out ways to maximize site traffic, and negotiating deals with suppliers. Bouwman is the idea man, finding ways to get the site noticed and striking marketing partnerships and collaborations. The arrangement is ex-actly what Bouwman and Meltzer had in mind at Arthur Andersen, when they dreamt about building a company.

"When we started TulipWorld, we wanted to make a company that demonstrated what we really think works," says Bouwman. "We thought that by having complementary teams with a common goal, people could better achieve what they're passionate about."

Low-cost, high-impact marketing has been a particularly strong point so far. The company has struck a promotional deal with the Netherlands Board of Tourism, introduced a line of organic bulbs, and sealed a partnership with a grower to supply exclusive, limited-edition varieties.

One of TulipWorld's most successful marketing strategies has been to team up with an American nonprofit group, the National Family Partnership, to offer red tulip bulbs to drug-education programs. The company supplies the bulbs, which schoolchildren plant in October during Red Ribbon Week. TulipWorld then donates part of the proceeds to NFP-sponsored drug-education programs. In 2002, TulipWorld supplied 500,000 bulbs for this effort and, more important for the site itself, gained access to more than 70,000 email addresses that the company can contact for future sales. This past February, the company struck a similar partnership with the organization Take Charge! Cure Parkinson's.

Needless to say, all of this activity has drawn attention from investors. One venture-capital group was prepared to invest $2 million for expansion, but the financing came with draconian terms. If the site didn't reach its revenue targets, the investors' shares would increase dramatically. "They wanted to make a lot of money and make it fast," Meltzer says. "They said they wanted us to 'have our balls on the block.' " Mindful of what happened to Garden.com, the Web site that flamed out after burning through $100 million, the founders graciously declined the offer. "It's not that we don't want to grow fast," Bouwman says, "but we know that if we do, we're likely to make mistakes."

Another advantage, they point out, is that they're playing from a position of strength. TulipWorld has no debt, a core of dedicated investors, and a growing reputation in the bulb industry. "We had a conversation recently with a supplier, and his enthusiasm and forecasts were way bigger than we ever imagined," says Meltzer. "He said we were really a threat to Brecks [one of the big bulb companies]. I was shocked, but he said, 'I'm very experienced in this world.' "

And word of mouth about TulipWorld is growing in the gardening community. "Finally, a Web site that might make it worth learning to surf the Web," crowed the garden writer at the Oregonian. And the Minneapolis Star Tribune declared, "There's no excuse not to have showy flowering bulb gardens this spring. A new online store called tulipworld.com will do just about everything for you except plant the bulbs." Last year, TulipWorld won the prestigious Quill and Trowel Award from the Garden Writers Association of America.

Bouwman compares the business's growth to the life cycle of the tulip itself. It takes five to seven years to grow a flower from a seed, he says. "There's an old saying," he adds. "It takes nine months to make a baby, no matter how many men you put on the job." So, too, should a business grow organically. "Our goal is not to be one of the biggest players," Bouwman says, "but one of the most profitable and the best."