By November, Christmas is already in the air — the music can be heard, holiday cleaning has begun or is being contemplated, as is the purchasing of decorations, toys and customized gifts. It is on the latter front where Melia’s Creations is ready to assist customers.
Owner of the business, 23-year-old Amelia Raghunath, hand paints items that make unique gifts. She began with painting witty thoughts and beautiful designs onto ceramic cups, but now also provides art on canvases, customized bookmarks, keychains, water bottles and wooden letters.
Raghunath, a former teacher at Zeeburg Secondary School, began experimenting with painting techniques through YouTube videos back in 2018. She enjoyed painting as a hobby, particularly ‘dotting art’ and was satisfied doing it as a pastime until mid-last year. That was when her close friend Shaneeza Khan’s boss wanted some gift ideas and Khan asked Raghunath to hand paint some cups, having previously seen and admired her work.
“I refused at first because I didn’t have any experience in this… She encouraged me and bullied her way until I said, ‘Okay, I’ll go ahead and do it.’ So, I painted a few cups for her. After that, I posted the cups on social media, then people started asking me to do cups for them and they wanted gift ideas as well. When I realised that people started liking my work, I decided that I should do this as a business so that’s how it all started,” shared Raghunath.
The entrepreneur recently resigned from teaching to pursue a degree in Environmental Studies as she hopes to follow her passion for working with animals. She is relying on Melia’s Creations to get her through university financially. Her father is a farmer and she said while she cannot expect him to cover her tuition expenses, she knows she can count on his support.
As a full-time student, Raghunath creates at night and on weekends. She lives on the East Bank Essequibo and travels to Georgetown once a week to make deliveries, but she also has a pickup location at Hague, West Coast Demerara.
Though the business was established more than a year ago, things started looking up in August this year after she completed an art course she did as part of a scholarship. In September, Melia’s Creations was showcased at UpMarket Guyana and she began receiving more sales and orders. Raghunath is enthusiastically looking forward to the holidays, because she has been getting all her best design ideas together.
In the early stages, she said, “Business was really slow and sometimes I thought about not doing it anymore. I had friends mainly supporting me back then [but] now I have people from all over supporting me.
“… At first, I had to use my teaching salary to invest in the business. The business wasn’t turning over fast enough but I was encouraged by friends and family to continue…
“I also do vinyl details for the cups; this is not painting, it’s similar to a sticker that you add on to the cup that stays on permanently that you use a machine to cut the designs. So, I had help again from my family and friends to purchase that machine; we had to import it.”
Things have now turned around for Melia’s Creations.
“I never planned on becoming an entrepreneur, but now I’m mostly proud because I never imagined I would have been able to start a business [let alone] be going this well. When I first started, I remember telling myself, I want to be like this and I want to do this but now to actually be doing them, I sit and look at them and can’t believe that I’m the one creating them. I’m happy I’ve come this far,” she said.
Customers have the option of coming up with their own designs or letting Raghunath create for them. Most times they trust her to create her own designs, but would often choose a colour, inform her of what the person receiving the gift likes and share whether it is for a birthday, anniversary or other occasion.
In a few years Raghunath hopes to have a storefront where items are readily available to customers who might need a last-minute gift. If business flourishes, it could very well be in one of the bigger malls. Having a storefront also means being able to do business on a full-time basis and to make this possible she knows she will need to employ staff as by that time she also hopes to be working in the environmental field and eagerly looks forward to making it all come through.
Raghunath encouraged aspiring entrepreneurs to remain steadfast in getting an education. “It is very important that you have an education,” she said. “I never had a business head… I studied science in school then went on to teach science. And for my business I was really going with the flow but now that I am in it, I have to keep wondering what next. I find myself doing research on how to go about doing certain things, on how to succeed. I am always trying to find new ways to market and new strategies to get my business out there. So it is important to be educated before getting into a business because you might end up making a loss. I experienced that at the beginning but then I began taking a step back, thinking it through more and doing research and it helped.”
Having a business, Raghunath said, is really a 24/7 job because you are always thinking of ways to make it better, replying to messages on social media, marketing on social media, filling orders, making deliveries, and researching among other duties. Creating a design on a single cup takes an average of four hours, she noted.
Customers are required to place their orders at least four days in advance. The earlier the better, the artist said as more time allows her to explore additional ideas and make intricate designs. Designed cups start as low as $3,500 while keychains go for $1,000 to $1,500.
To follow the business and place orders, Raghunath can be reached via Instagram and Facebook @Melia’s Creations.
