Fashion designer eyes companyowned factory space in five years:
MICRO-ENTREPRENEUR MARVALYN Ledgister has big dreams for her fashion designing company, hoping to move her small manufacturing operation from her home base in Cumberland, Portmore, St Catherine, to larger operating space.
The talented seamstress, who also enjoys designing, has sewed for clients ranging from dancehall stars to corporate Jamaica, but has found it difficult to grow over the years.
Now, she has taken the bold step of seeking the help of a business development specialist to guide her on her way.
Registered as Markers’ Fashion and Beauty, Ledgister has tapped training and business development support from the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) which, through its financial inclusion programme, is reaching out to small operators.
The DBJ, in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), is targeting 2,500 micro-entrepreneurs and small business owners in a project themed Promoting Financial Inclusion in Jamaica ( FETA).
The objective of the project is to assist in creating financial stability for micro-entrepreneurs, specifically the unbanked and underbanked.
Ledgister, who is among the entrepreneurs selected for the programme, says her existing business has been through “ups and downs” with several shops opened in Kingston over two decades. She also tried partnerships, but those have failed.
She opened shops at Old Hope Road and Waltham Park Road in St Andrew, but subsequently closed them due to criminal activities such as shootings and extortion.
Ledgister told the Financial Gleaner in an interview that she is a graduate of the University of the West Indies, where she qualified to teach English and Literacy, but also did a course in interior decorating with the Human Employment and Resource Training Agency, but when it comes to sewing she is self-taught.
“I have been doing this from I was small. My mother and aunt were dressmakers. I was fascinated by it,” she explains.
Early beginnings
Ledgister started out making and selling shirts, then ventured into baby wear, followed by dresses and suits. In her 20s, she took on dancehall fashion, opening a shop in Stony Hill, St Andrew, from where she caught the attention of Reggae Sunsplash organisers.
That was big business until she faced some family problems and decided to leave Stony Hill.
“I have been getting so much work, especially after Sunsplash. I sewed for a lot of people who were well known. I hired workers to do the cutting and showed them what to do. I even started doing a project for the in-bond shops in Ocho Rios, which paid on 30 days’ credit,” she said.
Today, her at-home operation is comparatively small.
Help from the DBJ has come through Ryan Saddler, a senior business development officer with the business growth unit of DGS Limited, chartered accounts and business advisors.
Saddler says that Ledgister’s business has growth potential, which he intends to assist her in developing.
“Ms Ledgister’s business has massive potential because she has actually been doing dressmaking for a number of years and has experience working for many different types of customers. She has done work for National Housing Trust (sewing uniforms), the credit unions and for young children that go to school. She does uniforms and has worked for people in the entertainment business. The business has a lot of potential because she is able to cater to various types of
customers,” he said.
Saddler said, however, that the business lacks structure and focus. “One of the challenges we notice with her is that she is having a challenge setting prices for her services. It’s a small business and sometimes she underprices.”
Through the business planning process, Saddler aims to show Ledgister not only how to structure the business, but how to properly price her services so she can be profitable.
“We don’t want persons to be charging too cheaply. We will help her to price at a point which is competitive but profitable, and will allow her to grow,” Saddler said.
The business development service has provided Ledgister with software that will allow her to track her inventory and “will allow her to know everything happening in terms of daily transactions. She has admitted a challenge with keeping up with daily transactions and just being more organised,” Saddler noted.
Need for funding
Yet another challenge is the need for funding. Saddler said that after restructuring, Ledgister will be assisted in approaching a local bank for the money needed to purchase raw materials and to pay workers.
“She has a lot of work coming in, but she needs more material and needs to hire staff,” the business development officer said.
He explained that “when she goes to the bank, she is going to be looking to obtain credit so that she can pay her staff on a monthly basis. She is looking at getting an overdraft facility through the bank, as well as a business credit card and also a loan. The facilities will put her in a position to keep up with production.”
Saddler said formalisation includes development of a strategic business plan, which is like a roadmap. This plan is what is taken to the bank for funding. Ledgister told the Financial
Gleaner that “I am waiting for them to finish with the business plan. It will help me to control what I do. Right now, it’s just ‘chakka chakka’ (disorganised).”
She said she has constructed a room at the front of her home for sewing and design, but it is too small, noting that “the business should be profitable enough so in the next five years, I can have my own building. Instead of paying rent, the business should be able to buy its own premises. I should also have a school, where I am teaching younger people so they, too, can develop themselves”.
Commenting on the process under way, Ledgister said she has put together a five-year plan, but within the next year or two “my business should be on track, where I will have people working for me, with me doing the cutting and administrative work.”