IF WAHEEDA CHOTHIA sticks to her plan, she will be operating Customised Craftz & Gifts from a store-front and not just online.
Using locally-sourced wood, she makes plaques, canvasses, signs, key rings, pendants, and other items which she personalises to suit her customers’ needs, whether colour, design, quotes or messages.
“It started as a hobby. I started making for friends and family, then I realised people were interested in purchasing and I decided to turn it into a business and it is going to be two years in August,” she told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY.
Depending on the items Chotia is crafting, she can spend as little as 30 minutes using random prints and colours.
“I usually have my wood pre-cut. If I know I’m going to an event, I would do all of my painting one time, then I would do all the prints one day and then the decorations the next,” she explained.
“I don’t do the cutting myself, I have someone who does the cutting for me. Other than that, I sand my wood, paint it and everything. I taught myself everything.
“I draw my designs out and then I give them to someone who cuts them for me: I can’t deal with the carpentry aspect.
“I get the glass cut how I want and the design how I want and then I put everything together,” said the businesswoman, who has no background in woodwork.
Chotia, who participated in Crop Over Craft Works at the Barbados Museum earlier this month, said the majority of the items she took to that event were generic to suit the various patrons.
“When I have stuff in my community or I’m catering for Muslims, I have stuff in Arabic,” she added.
Chotia said she did not have to get a loan to turn her hobby into a business.
“It was actually quite easy to start the business, I had everything already. I don’t have a store, the business is online and word of mouth [and] I would attend events. Over the Christmas holidays, I attended the [various] craft fairs and I’ve been to the farmers market a couple times.”
Recently, she started a line of Barbados-themed crafts and souvenirs which are geared towards tourists.
“I take my own photographs. I collage them using an online programme and then I do my own prints,” she explained, while showing some of them.
With the end of the school term and year four days away, Chotia has some plaques, pen holders and mirrors that would make great gifts for teachers. She said she thought of these items as a way for the students to say thank you to their teachers.
What are her plans for the future?
“Maybe one day open my own gift shop – Customised Craftz Gift Store. I also do edible treats – Halalicious Sweets and Treats – which is a separate business. I do all types of baking, and if you think it, imagine it, I can make it.
“I do cakes, desserts, cheese cakes and with my Customised Craftz, I do, edible arrangements like cake pop bouquets, cup cakes bouquets, [and] cookie pop bouquets,” Chotia said. (Green Bananas Media)
