Lexton Williams follows his entrepreneurial dreams
Locally made wallets on sale
Locally made wallets on sale

LEXTON Williams is an entrepreneur by heart who has utilised his creative skills to turn his hobby into a small scale business.

Lexton began making wallets since he was in school and out of pure coincidence. A young boy at the time, he realised that his own wallet was worn and faded. Not wanting to part with it, Lexton revamped his wallet by sewing over it with new fabric.

Lexton Williams.

Later on, he started sewing pencil cases for his school friends and from there on he started to experiment with the sewing machine. It was at this point that the idea of making wallets for sale was conceptualised.

Williams is the face behind L. W’s Designs, a local brand he created for the wallets, side bags, passport cases, menu covers, hotel room directory folder, and notepad holders that make up his brand.

The 29-year-old told the Pepperpot Magazine that most of the materials are imported and some are sourced locally, but that he mostly uses synthetic materials.

GROWING HIS BUSINESS
Williams related that he is hoping to expand his business in which he is aiming for his products to be manufactured in China so that he could tap into the international market.

He added that he started from scratch and developed his business by taking loans and having his newly-bought, heavy-duty sewing machines, modified to cater to his sewing needs.

A sample of the meals prepared.

His main supplier is in Trinidad and Tobago, but he revealed that for the past three years or so, orders have decreased significantly though he still has a few businesses that would make small orders at present.

“Locally sales have dwindled as well, and it is sad to see a business I invested in heavily 13 years ago is slowly dying,” Williams lamented.

Lexton’s wallets and passport cases are sold at a few places in Guyana such as Giftland Mall; Vinu’s Shoebox at City Mall; Regent Multiplex Mall; Payless Vreed-en-Hoop Branch; Medicare, Hinck Street; Marriott Hotel; Guyana Stores; GPOC; and Gajadhar Singh Store in New Amsterdam, Berbice.

But due to the sloth in business, he knows he must sell his products on a larger scale, which is why he looking for Chinese manufacturers.

Some of the ladies’ wallets made by Lexton Williams

DIVERSIFYING
Despite his difficulties, however, Williams said he is not doing away with his ‘first love’, which is his wallet business but is seeking to add more businesses to expand his income.

He explained that with quantity comes price and he is looking for an investment that doesn’t require too much of his time.

Back in the days, he had four persons in his employ but had to scale down and transfer them to his restaurant business, Sharpy’s, located at 39 Public Road, Grove, East Bank Demerara.

Williams said that when Sharpy’s first opened in 2015, it only operated only on weekends, but in February this year the business opened its doors on a full-time basis.

Sharpy’s is managed by Williams’ wife along with himself and two employees. The young entrepreneur said that the creole restaurant aims at providing customers with a fresh and exciting variety of dishes.

Williams hopes that his business ventures will allow him to continue in his passion to create and sell his wallets and other items to an international market, sometime in the future.

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