Making a business work

Lexton Williams has come a long way from his early crafting years, but he is the first to admit that business isn’t easy and he’s learned a lot over the years

Fashion accessory designer and leatherworker Lexton Williams of LW Designs, a local company whose designs and manufacture include wallets and clutch purses,declared in an interview with Sunday Times Magazine, that his major life’s lesson“is that I failed so many times at trying to do business I’ve lost alot, but the real truth is that while I’ve failed, I learned, and what I’ve lost, I’ve gained more, and my joys of winning are still greater that my fears of failure.”

Born Nov. 6, 1988, he grew up in Grove, East Bank Demerara with his single parent mother and his sister. His mother died when he was 12 and Lexton went to live with his aunt.

He was transferred from Friendship Secondary on the East Bank Demerara, toAlleyne’s High School, at the time on Regent Street in Georgetown.

“When you’re 12 years old and you lost your mom, there is no one that would really give you the attention and direction you need,” he recalled of those school years, “and while there were persons that really desired my good, that daily contact with direction wasn’t there.”

However, he stuck it out in school for several more years and discovered leather working when he was given his first wallet when he was “about 13 or 14”.

“I had an uncle that was leaving the country and he give me his wallet – it was made with synthetic materials – that was my first wallet,” he said. “After using it I realized it was tearing, so I got a piece of leatherette from the store owner around the corner from school, and I did a repair to the wallet and after I saw that it was good I went on to making one just like it, sewing with my hand. My lunch money sometimes would be spent on buying half and quarter-yard leatherette or thread or needles.It’s like I was obsessed with this new discovery of creativity and it consumed me.After that I began sewing pencil cases for my school mates, and paste on their names on them. After my mom died, money to go to school didn’t come by easy, some days I had none, so I sold my pencil cases.”

His early years of crafting were a time of experimentation. “I would try different things to see how they will work; they were rough and hand sewn, and by today’s standards, ugly, but it was a labour of newfound love. My big hit was passport cases, and at lunch time I would leave school and walk down Regent Street and market those to people nearby,” he revealed.

He dropped out of high school at the end of his fourth year.His mother’s death still had a strong impact upon him, and unfortunately he saw his life becoming directionless. “… it was up to me to take charge if I wanted to make it in life, and I knew I wanted to be somebody and not just another sad story,” he related.

“After I dropped out of school I was pushed in other career areas, but I was already touched and turned by my creative products and ideas I already knew, or had a fairly good idea of what I wanted to do, and that was to start my own business designing and creating products for people to enjoy using,” he added.

The 27-year-old displays much grit and gusto despite the pitfalls of doing business in Guyana, saying of his business plans then and reality today, “Heck! I thought by now I would be a billionaire! I thought by now I I’d have a big factory employing a thousand persons – but I’m not a billionaire yet and don’t employ a thousand persons yet – but I’m well on my way to living my dreams!”

His satisfaction with his work is also unflagging: “Knowing how and where I started, and how the products have evolved, and how my life has been enriched by doing something that I love – and getting paid for it – I can still say I’m satisfied with the decision I made to start 12 years ago.”

Today he has a family and says his outlook has changed, “My perspective on life is much more fantastic and way more realistic than it was before, so my plans for our future is to live life as fully and as wonderfully as we can; to create the circumstances we want, and use our businesses as the vehicle to take us where we want to go.”

His business perspective has also undergone some transformation. “Gone are the days,” he noted, “when business for me was just making pencil cases and wallets and selling them.Business for me now is more than being emotional about what I do – but greater focus is now on how it’s done to better fulfil my ultimate goals. Business for me is about balancing the personalities that makes a phenomenal entrepreneur. Business for me now is investing in any business idea that will not chain me to the “doing” of the work but to further enrich my experiences…

“My advice is to educate yourself; start; be persistent and have some faith. All I knew then was that if I make a couple wallets and I sold it I’ll be good. It wasn’t that simple. A lot of heartaches could have been avoided if I had really understood what a business was and how it works, or if I knew what to expect instead of winging it… or if I understood what was the  difference between owning a business and being self-employed – or even what I wanted my business to look like when it’s finished. Everything starts with an idea; get as much education as possible   about what you want to invest in and then start. Education is good, “great even” but starting is just as important.For if I had waited to learn everything before I started, I don’t know what I would have done. There are somethings you’ll never learn until you start.

“When I started my business, I had not the slightest clue what I was in for …yet I live without regrets because I learned from my mistakes and was determined to get it right, and it mattered not how many times I failed miserably, I was persistent and it always pays off –  sometimes it looks like  “that’s it, you’re finished”,  and something happens just then, and the music begins to play and the dancing starts and how it all worked out marvels you beyond comprehension and it motivates you to keep going…there are many things that you’ll have to try on your own. It’s hard sometimes for others to see your dreams and help you. We live in a country that is crowded with people that can’t see beyond their nose; for them nothing will ever work. Stay away from that kinda vibe and have faith in your ideas, believe in yourself first and then you’ll find the people to believe in you.”