Over the course of the Stabroek Business’ coverage of the small business sector it has not been uncommon to find that teachers, among other professionals, having removed themselves from the relatively routinized environment of the classroom, tend, in a great many instances, not to simply drift off into simply putting their feet up. Good health and adequate resources permitting, retired teachers, not infrequently, opt for a pursuit that might favour ‘the outdoors,’ gardening, all too frequently, being their favoured choices.
If there used to be a time when pottering around – perhaps in a small flower garden – might have been one of the favoured pursuits of the retired teacher, there are far more worthwhile options at their disposal these days. There is, resources and inclination permitting, the option of agriculture as a post–retirement pursuit from which a measure of both material profit and emotional satisfaction can be realized. Not infrequently, this might serve as a means of ‘topping’ up what, in the country’s now oil-driven economy, still remains disturbingly modest pensions.
Given the ever climbing cost of living, post retirement employment options are in huge demand in Guyana. Malba La Goudoue opted for one of those which she felt could be both emotionally and materially rewarding. Thereafter, having wasted no time in putting the confines of the classroom behind her, she immersed herself in the creation and marketing of craft items, under the trading name ‘Genuine Products’.
The transition from the classroom, Malba says, amounted to a proverbial ‘walk in the park’ on account of the fact that she had spent time ‘grooming’ herself for the change. Recognition for her craft came quickly. In 2016, she was invited to display and market her ‘offerings’ at Fashion Designer, Sonia Noel’s first Women In Business Expo at the Pegasus Hotel. If, by her admission, sales were sluggish, the former Science teacher marked the experience down to entrepreneurial exposure rather than dismiss it as a failed undertaking.
Determined to remain anchored to business Malba began to look outward. Farming emerged as an option, largely on account of the fact that she had been earlier linked to a family farm in the Canje Creek. Farming and the returns it has realized in Guyana over the years can hardly be denied, what also remains true is that the absence of linkages between ‘the soil’ and the technology to support a profitable agro processing industry, has been, in many instances, a serious challenge for the sector.
It was the wastage that she witnessed on the family farm (un-harvested fruit simply dropping and rotting) that helped to steer Malba in the direction of agro processing. Her own substantive science background too led her to move in the direction of research into the agro-processing potential which wasting fruit represented. Straightaway, Malba embarked on a regime of conducting research and pursuing experiments to determine the various optional uses to which limes – one of the crops cultivated (and afterwards left to drop and rot in considerable volumes) on the family farm – could be put.
The outcomes of her studious probes were to be realized at the next year’s Sonia Noel’s Women in Expo event at the Pegasus Hotel where the public’s response to her Lime Juice Concentrate (swank) which she had learnt to create in a manner that proved to be pleasing to the palate. Buoyed by her success with limes, Malba began to probe more deeply into the practice and potential profitability of agro processing, the eventual turnout being the creation of thirty one products including a range of (sweetened and unsweetened) fruit juices and concentrates.
Encouraged, Malba dug deeper into the value-added potential that reposed in the use of fruit as a condiment, this pursuit being sufficiently successful to have enabled her to expand her manufacturing pursuits. The most prominent public acknowledgement of Malba’s efforts, up to this time, came in July this year when eight (8) of her products were ‘decorated’ with the ‘Made in Guyana’ Award, a citation bestowed by the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) which acknowledges while positioning recognized products for high-profile marketing opportunities.
Up to this time Malba’s concentrates are marketed as Sorrel, Lime and Ginger, Turmeric and Ginger, Pepper Fusion, Caramel Coloring, Sweet and Sour Hot Sauce, Mustard Pepper, Lime and Mint Syrup, all given product names. Malba’s current entrepreneurial pursuits, she believes, have their origins in her ‘hanging over’ her grandmother’s shoulder whilst the elder was preparing pickled fruit for sale to school children outside the gate of the Berbice High School.
Her products now armed with the ‘Made in Guyana’ mark, Malba is envisaging ‘moving on,’ readying her products for a bigger external market in the Caribbean and further afield where, she hopes, her dreams of becoming a successful post-retirement entrepreneur can be realized. The ‘Made in Guyana’ Mark Certification, Malba believes, positions her products for export-readiness, an ambition which is uppermost in her mind at this time. One of her current preoccupations is with having the range of her products all export-ready for regional and extra-regional markets in the very near future.
Unsurprisingly, Malba is also currently preoccupied with having her products measure up to the various standards /requirements associated with acceptability on the external market. Some of the more critical considerations that impact product appeal are packaging and labeling and choice of marketing environment. Malba says that acquiring the ‘Made in Guyana’ mark has enabled her to understand more about “the business” of product promotion. The GNBS ‘Mark’ she says, reminds her of the manufacturer’s obligations to both product quality and product presentation. Particularly, she says, she is reminded of her obligation to ensure that her products are manufactured in a ‘controlled’ environment.
Her post-retirement pursuits, Malba told the Stabroek Business, have been life-changing. She believes that her conversion to entrepreneurship is arriving at a stage of completeness. At the beginning of her entrepreneurial adventure she had tapped into to both her substantive savings and her gratuity apart from which she had ‘rounded up’ contributions from other family members for the venture. These financial resources allowed her to establish her factory which includes areas for product testing. The facility was established at a cost of eight million Guyana dollars.
Asked about the challenges that she faces in the process of her operations Malba responds unequivocally that the acquisition of sufficient volumes of high-quality packaging material is a major stumbling block to sustain success in her line of business. The company requires about 800 – 1000 bottles per month, which, though a relatively small number, can sometimes be challenging to acquire. It was this, she told The Stabroek Business, that precluded her from taking the full range of her products to the August 31 to September 1 UNCAPPED event at the National Stadium.
Still, Malba soldiers on, seemingly enjoying the transition from the classroom to the factory. Imparting knowledge over several years has imbued her with a sense of accomplishment insofar as she has, over time, helped to mold many lives. In her new dispensation’ Malba appears preoccupied with the realization of altogether different ambitions. Her products now armed with the ‘Made in Guyana’ mark, Malba is envisaging ‘moving on,’ readying her products for a bigger external market in the Caribbean and further afield where, she hopes, her dreams of becoming a successful post-retirement Agro Processor (and perhaps even more), entrepreneur, will be realized.
