DOING multiple jobs to make ends meet and support her three children is a priority for small business owner Abiola Archer Clarke, who remains optimistic that she will succeed.

With the motto “Happiness is a clean and organised environment” included as part of her logo on her business card, Abiola Archer Clarke from Wismar, Linden is the small business owner of Spick and Span Cleaning Services and Supplies and would like to continue on the path to successful entrepreneurship.

The mother of three resides in Silvertown, and her small business idea was realised when she began writing grocery lists with cleaning supplies on a separate list. It started as a hobby before she began shopping for her home.

Clarke reported that she birthed the idea of creating a janitorial small business from her home. They had an unused verandah, and she converted it into a store for cleaning supplies.

Back then, she explained that she started writing shopping lists as a form of coping mechanism in 2020, but she didn’t have the funds to stock the store fully.

She, however, registered the small business with Small Bureau for a grant of $300,000 as a starter for her business and established a cleaning service where she employed a few persons to professionally clean offices, businesses and homes.

She advertised her small business on social media and ‘word of mouth’ as news of her small business spread, and she got a few jobs.

Clarke reported that she couldn’t stock up her store with cleaning supplies, but the cleaning aspect of her small business was established, and it is still operating with four full-time staffers and two part-time workers.

She noted that she will be able to fully establish her cleaning supplies store one day, having garnered sufficient funds to do so. In the meantime, she is trying to keep the doors of her cleaning business open since she has to pay employees and manage it efficiently.

Clarke explained that whenever the cleaning services are needed, they would visit the location and assess the cleaning supplies/equipment needs and the pricing before the job is done.

She pointed out that getting contracts to do regular professional cleaning at offices has been challenging, but she has been getting a few jobs here and there, although there is nothing permanent in the small town of Linden.

Clarke added that her small business is still growing and she is hopeful of getting permanent contracts to do professional cleaning so she can better sustain the business.

The entrepreneur told the Pepperpot Magazine that she has since registered with the Local Content Secretariat to see if she can benefit from the oil and gas sector for professional cleaning services, but so far, nothing has materialised.

Clarke, however, remains hopeful that her small business will blossom as time goes by and that she will be recognised for providing professional, efficient, reliable services.

She would like to launch a laundromat business in Linden, but for now, she will concentrate on her cleaning service business.

Clarke is a native of Linden, and she attended McKenzie High School and after exiting the school system, she went to Linden Technical Institute for one year before she enrolled at the University of Guyana (UG), where she obtained a degree in Sociology.

Her passion was social work, and she wanted a career in that field, but due to circumstances of gaining employment in that area, she had to seek other jobs.

Although she applied to the Welfare Department, Linden branch, she could not gain employment there but hopes for a permanent job in that field where she can put her expertise to use.

Clarke stated that she is not giving up on her dream career and has been seeking employment since she graduated from UG in 2016.

However, between 2017 and 2021, she worked with the Bureau of Statistics based in Linden and had some part-time work with Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

“I never thought of becoming an entrepreneur, but as life happened, I had to pursue it since seeking employment is challenging and non-existent in Linden,” she said.

Clarke is a freelance writer for INFO 10, an online news outfit in Linden operated by a local journalist, but she is still looking for permanent work in sociology or other fields.

She explained that with a government job, she would be paying contributions to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), etc., and could open a bank account to get loans to expand her small business and build a network.

If it fails, she is willing to become a teacher to be gainfully employed full-time while still managing her small business.