From all the research I have gathered I have come to the realization that most of the online companies in Jamaica are services based. There are however some product base online entrepreneurs. Crochet Eye Candy JA by Michelle Walker is one such company that features handmade crochet products online.
A lot of people were
born with talent some people develop their talent over time. Whatever the case
is you just have to be passionate about something in order to do it. For
Michelle she always had a passion for design and for the arts. As a child
growing up in Portmore St Catherine she use to design her clothes by doing
alterations in the form of adding and subtracting things from the.
At the age of 19 and
Michelle Walker is already developing into a very successful entrepreneur. She
is currently in her first year at the University of the West Indies and a past
student of the St Andrews High School for girls.
Michelle also had a
passion for sewing and started to sew at a very young age. She later learned
how to use the machine through watching videos and YouTube and started to buy
fabric and sew. She then branch off into learning how to do crochet, while in
Sixth form, at around 17 years old. She first bought a brown yarn and made
different stuff from it. Because of the expense of these yarns she
realizes that she could not make a lot of things from it. So she got help from
family and friends abroad who would send bulk yarn and crochet thread. She
started to make key rings and water bottle carries and take them to school.
From there other students and staff started to ask her to make thing s which
they would then purchase from her and there began the launch of her business.
She made a Facebook
page and started to show her crafts on Facebook. Initially she made sure to
tell everyone that she did not make shoes or clothes. Ironically she is known
today because of her slippers wear, even though she just started making
slippers in December 2014. Since then
the business has grown a lot, mainly through direct marketing and social media.
One of the main
challenges that she currently faces or that she see becoming a big issue is the
influx of new clients. Currently she is working mostly by herself, hence the
larger the business become the more clients she will have and the more products
she will have to make. She consider one
of her greatness achievements as taking the time out to watch YouTube videos
and learning how to crochet to now turning it into a successful business. For
the time being she considers herself an online entrepreneur especially since
most her products are custom made.
