The Komet Sales staff, from left to right: Fabrizio Jaramillo, Robert Trimbee, Sara Medina, Daniel Mazo, Daniel Londoño, Carlos Restrepo, John Saldarriaga, Sebastián Chalarca, Elena Mejía, Alejandro Pérez, and Daniel Giraldo.
The Society of American Florists’ membership includes all segments of the industry — and that community is the heart of SAF. This bi-weekly feature will spotlight SAF members sharing inspirational stories, professional insights, and the opportunity to form new industry connections.
It was pure luck that Alejandro Pérez, founder and CEO of Komet Sales, joined the floral industry. He was hired by a Miami-based importer, Galleria Farms, for a one-week project which ended up lasting almost three years. During that time he learned the operations of an import company and ran the IT department on his own. He also built online tools for the floral industry, as well as other industries. At one point, Pérez saw the opportunity to develop a web-based system that would address many of the shortcomings he had discovered in floral industry technology. He founded Komet Sales in 2010 to offer software for importers and wholesalers to efficiently manage their operations.
“It’s been a phenomenal journey full of ups and downs, with many challenges and obstacles along the way, but I’ve had the opportunity to meet a great deal of fantastic people who have all contributed in ways that they don’t even realize,” Pérez says.
Biggest Challenge. Like many floral businesses, employee retention is the biggest challenge for Komet Sales, where its software developers are in high demand globally, Pérez says.
“You have to come up with very good reasons for people wanting to stay,” Pérez says. “We’ve found that by having an off-the-charts culture where we first and foremost focus on our has proven great results. Listening to the team and quickly shifting based on their needs has been paramount to having this success with our culture. And we continuously work on it as we can always find something that can be done better.”
Key to Success. Pérez credits his success to the people around him. He feels fortunate to have a team of great people that he learns from every day as well as a great customer base that has been supportive from the beginning. “At the end of the day, Komet Sales is nothing more than the sum of many dreams from many different individuals and companies that have materialized in what the system is today,” he says.
Best Business Advice. The business advice that Pérez goes back to again and again came from the book, “The Hard Thing About Hard Things” by Ben Horowitz. The book says business owners should take care of the people, the products, and the profit — in that order.
What excites him. “Absolutely everything” about the job is exciting, Pérez says. He enjoys working with technology, but he’s also a people person so he appreciates the opportunity to interact with a variety of people, from customers to vendors, every day.
Why SAF? Pérez joined the Society of American Florists for the resources and the staff, whose focus is to add value to members and the industry. He enjoys going to SAF conventions and having the opportunity to volunteer and give back to the industry. Pérez served on SAF’s Wholesalers Council from 2018 to 2021 where he found sharing his experiences in the industry very rewarding.
Pérez was recently featured on SAF’s Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Do you know a member who should have a chance in the spotlight? Email Stephanie Brady, communications and event coordinator for SAF.
Stephanie Brady is the communications and event coordinator for the Society of American Florists.
