– says consistency is key

WHAT started as a hobby for Shalena Callender has turned into a growing small business that gives her a chance to earn some extra cash, while at the same time being able to do what she loves.
Shalena has always been into craft. She’d buy random supplies whenever she goes to the mall and keep them, or she’d use the beads off of an old necklace to create something new and beautiful.

“For the longest while, I have always been into craft. I am always collecting beads or odd ends and keeping it and making stuff. If a necklace bursts, I would put the beads aside or if I go shopping, I am always looking for craft items. I would buy random stuff and put them aside; clips, hooks, beads, strings,” she shared in an interview with Pepperpot Magazine.
Her interest was boosted while doing craft with the kids in her church at Timehri. “For quite a while, we did it as craft activities. I started selling stuff within the church; I would do pop-up shops and then use some of the funds to go back to the youth ministry.

Shalena thought it would be a good idea to teach the skill to youths in the church. “I started teaching some of the youths how to make the items, but many of them do not have the patience to do it, but some do help me,” she said.
Eventually, she thought that perhaps she could conduct pop-up shops at other locations. The idea bore fruit when she started renting spaces at various locations to put her items on display.
To grow the business, Shelli’s Handmade, even further, she started marketing her stuff online, making her hobby more of a business to her now. Among the items she does are earrings, bracelets, gift sets, keyrings, tokens for events, bookmarkers, pens, and masks.

One of the things she especially likes to do is to partner with fellow small-business owners to get things done. For example, she would collaborate with Outside the Box, another small business, to do her printing or to help her personalise the items that people order from her.
Shalena, with a main focus on creating customised orders, has taken her business one step further by deciding to launch her own website, www.shellishandmadejewellery.com, last March at the Women in Business Expo. She plans to develop it further by adding all her products, pricing and focusing a lot more on the online marketing aspect of things.
“Online reaches a larger range of customers. For instance, I am in Timehri, way out of central Georgetown, yet most of my customers are out of my area. Marketing online helps me to reach all parts of the country. I’ve had instances where I had to do deliveries all the way to Berbice and Essequibo,” she commented.

The culture here in Guyana, though, when it comes to online buying and payments, makes it difficult for Shalena and many others who’d prefer to transact all their business online. “Even though you do the marketing online, you still have that issue of collecting payment. Persons are still not into paying online,” she said. On some occasions, customers make their payments via MMG.
Shalena, who likes to do lots of “one of a kind pieces,” has also found that not many people are into craft locally. “You don’t have a lot of persons investing in the craft business; you would find cosmetics stores having a way better customer base. But being consistent always helps; always trying to market the product whenever you get an opportunity.”

Shalena, who works full-time in the oil-and-gas industry as an HR specialist with Eldorado Offshore, wants to someday be able to have her own space for the business. At the moment, she is renting two shelves at the Me Time Store in Tuschen, and at the Elysian Store on Duncan Street.
She was selected to participate in the AccelerateHer programme recently with the Centre for Local Business Development, which helped her greatly to develop her business plan and network with other business owners. For the year so far, she has participated in the Women in Business expo at the Pegasus and the Retro Movie Night Flea Market.