By SHIRLEY MAULUDU - The National
IN what started as a hobby during her time as a student at Divine Word University (DWU) in Madang is now a business idea that Jane Sirias has pursued.
About 10 years ago, Sirias developed a hobby of shopping at Kalibobo second-hand clothing in Madang with her friends.
They would shop for outfits for events or nice t-shirts and pairs of jeans for casual wear.
The mother of three is now the proud owner of MeniKala Clothing, registered with Investment Promotion Authority and operating out of Madang.
They would shop for outfits for events or nice t-shirts and pairs of jeans for casual wear.
The mother of three is now the proud owner of MeniKala Clothing, registered with Investment Promotion Authority and operating out of Madang.
“I saw the turnover of the stock at second-hand clothing in Madang was very good and thought to myself, why not try it out. That was where the idea of starting and owning a small business began,” she recalled.
“MeniKala Clothing started in August 2016 with the retailing of second-hand clothing and is trading as PNG MeniKala Crafts on Facebook.”
Sirias graduated with a bachelor’s degree in information systems from DWU and has been employed full-time with the DWU ICT Services as an IT support analyst for 10 years.
“I am married with three children, age two, four and six,” she said.
“We reside in Madang and basically do our business online via social media (Facebook page).
From East Sepik, Sirias, 32, said the business name “MeniKala” was derived from her home village Meni in Wewak. ‘Kala’ was added to relate to the different clothing colours.
“We ordered our first A grade clothing bales from Mausgras Pacific Trading Ltd in New South Wales, Australia. We managed to clear our (clothing) bales at Lae port and the shipment went straight to Wewak for sales,” she said.
“We successfully made two shipments and the sales went well until we encountered the challenge of the decreasing kina value in 2017.
“The shipping cost was a real challenge as we were unable to restock.
“The devaluation of currency did not stop our dream of owning a small business as we looked into other marketing opportunities in PNG.
“After a bit of research on what was trending on the market especially in clothing, and art and craft, we found out that a lot of Papua New Guineans today wanted to have a little bit of their tradition incorporated with fashion.
“The market niche for us is to do with art and craft. That is something Papua New Guineans today blend well, with different fashion styles.”
Sirias further noted that in June 2018, the Facebook page, PNG MeniKala Crafts was launched to sell PNG themed items ranging from necklaces, bilums, earrings, blouses, purses and fabrics. “With the aid of technology, we managed to sell our products right across PNG. We took the risk to give it a go and to our surprise, we were able to secure a good number of customers with their requests and orders.
“We have orders every day. We are currently operating from home. Our demand is always high and we try to keep up with our supplies too.
“MeniKala Clothing started in August 2016 with the retailing of second-hand clothing and is trading as PNG MeniKala Crafts on Facebook.”
Sirias graduated with a bachelor’s degree in information systems from DWU and has been employed full-time with the DWU ICT Services as an IT support analyst for 10 years.
“I am married with three children, age two, four and six,” she said.
“We reside in Madang and basically do our business online via social media (Facebook page).
From East Sepik, Sirias, 32, said the business name “MeniKala” was derived from her home village Meni in Wewak. ‘Kala’ was added to relate to the different clothing colours.
“We ordered our first A grade clothing bales from Mausgras Pacific Trading Ltd in New South Wales, Australia. We managed to clear our (clothing) bales at Lae port and the shipment went straight to Wewak for sales,” she said.
“We successfully made two shipments and the sales went well until we encountered the challenge of the decreasing kina value in 2017.
“The shipping cost was a real challenge as we were unable to restock.
“The devaluation of currency did not stop our dream of owning a small business as we looked into other marketing opportunities in PNG.
“After a bit of research on what was trending on the market especially in clothing, and art and craft, we found out that a lot of Papua New Guineans today wanted to have a little bit of their tradition incorporated with fashion.
“The market niche for us is to do with art and craft. That is something Papua New Guineans today blend well, with different fashion styles.”
Sirias further noted that in June 2018, the Facebook page, PNG MeniKala Crafts was launched to sell PNG themed items ranging from necklaces, bilums, earrings, blouses, purses and fabrics. “With the aid of technology, we managed to sell our products right across PNG. We took the risk to give it a go and to our surprise, we were able to secure a good number of customers with their requests and orders.
“We have orders every day. We are currently operating from home. Our demand is always high and we try to keep up with our supplies too.
“We were privileged to partner with Maku Gifts (another local business operating out of Kokopo, East New Britain) to resell the original ‘wheel tabu’ and ‘crocodile print’ fabrics right across the country. We have customers also from mining towns like Porgera, Tabubil and Lihir with few of our items sold to our customers in Fiji, China and Australia as well.”
Sirias was recently part of a 32-member group of women from throughout the country that graduated after 14 weeks of undergoing the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) online business course. The AWE is a pilot programme in PNG which is also run in East Asia and Pacific region. AWE participants used DreamBuilder, an online course on women’s entrepreneurship developed through a partnership between Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management and global copper mining company Freeport-McMoRan.
“I have gained the skill set knowledge of creating a business plan including outlining business objectives, refining a prototype, sale and marketing, developing partnerships, securing funding and managing resources,” she said.
“After completing this course, I am now tidying up my financial records which is very important when you want to seek loans or apply for grants and other financial help to keep your business going.
“I am privileged to be part of this pilot project and I humbly thanked the US government for the opportunity given to the Women Entrepreneurs of PNG.”
“It is an ongoing project so I would like to encourage all women who engaged with SME in the country to apply when the applications are open.”
The local business woman further noted that with the aid of the affordable smart phones and data rates and right success habits, business was at her fingertips. “One can have a full-time job and at the same time juggle your business at the comfort of your home.”
Sirias said her faith also played a part in her success by keeping her grounded.
“Last but not the least, always make time to thank our Creator because this is where our wisdom and knowledge comes from. This is where our strength comes from when we are tired in this journey of life. Do your best in whatever you do in life and God will do the rest.”
Sirias was recently part of a 32-member group of women from throughout the country that graduated after 14 weeks of undergoing the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) online business course. The AWE is a pilot programme in PNG which is also run in East Asia and Pacific region. AWE participants used DreamBuilder, an online course on women’s entrepreneurship developed through a partnership between Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management and global copper mining company Freeport-McMoRan.
“I have gained the skill set knowledge of creating a business plan including outlining business objectives, refining a prototype, sale and marketing, developing partnerships, securing funding and managing resources,” she said.
“After completing this course, I am now tidying up my financial records which is very important when you want to seek loans or apply for grants and other financial help to keep your business going.
“I am privileged to be part of this pilot project and I humbly thanked the US government for the opportunity given to the Women Entrepreneurs of PNG.”
“It is an ongoing project so I would like to encourage all women who engaged with SME in the country to apply when the applications are open.”
The local business woman further noted that with the aid of the affordable smart phones and data rates and right success habits, business was at her fingertips. “One can have a full-time job and at the same time juggle your business at the comfort of your home.”
Sirias said her faith also played a part in her success by keeping her grounded.
“Last but not the least, always make time to thank our Creator because this is where our wisdom and knowledge comes from. This is where our strength comes from when we are tired in this journey of life. Do your best in whatever you do in life and God will do the rest.”
Go to this link for more: https://www.thenational.com.pg/sirias-turns-hobby-into-business/
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