Mohini Lata had decided to invest in her own tailoring business a few years ago only to lose all her tailoring machine and materials in a fire which had destroyed the Suva Flea Market in May 2020.
Today the mother of three daughters is back on her feet and has reinvested past of the $7000 that she received as loan from the government.
Ms Lata is from Davuilevu and runs her tailoring business from one of the container stalls at the new Flea Market in Suva.
“After I lost everything in the fire, I stayed home for three years without any job but I had to put food on the table for my daughters so I used part of the government loan that was given to those women who were affected by the fire,” she said. Ms Lata opened her stall at the Flea Market in June this year and is slowly getting back her customers.
“I had lost my sewing machines in that fire but I managed to buy a second-hand machine which is already more than 10 years old and I need a new one to replace this.
“I am afraid this sewing machine will give up on me any day. I have seen a new machine which will cost me about $1900 and the company that sells it will also repair it in case it breaks down.”
Ms Lata sews sulu jaba, dresses, shirts, blouses and other fashionable attire.
“I mostly work by orders and most of my orders include kalavata. I get orders from community groups and office workers.
“Business is alright but not always good – there are days when I have a lot of orders and then there are days when I just sit here and wait for a customer to come with an order.
“I also have customers who will walk in and want to get a button fixed or clothes to be resized or something.”
On a good day she is able to earn more than $100 and on a not so good day she goes home with less than $20.
Ms Lata pays $17.50 a day as rent and remains confident that her business will improve overtime.
“We have the Hot Bread Kitchen here so the gate opens at 5am and closes at 5.30pm but we are allowed to stay back for a little while to finish our orders if they are urgent,” she said.
Ms Lata said it was not easy because customers only came with their materials for their garments while the rest of the materials needed are provided by the tailors.
“For example a shirt needs buttons, zippers for pants or dresses and etc and most customers do not provide these when they bring their orders so I keep these items with me. When I compare my costs from about five years ago to now – it has increased but the price of the clothes I sew are still the same – I haven’t been able to increase the price,” she said.
Furthermore there are a number of tailors in that same space and competition is also high.
“So I try to make sure I learn the new designs and fashions that are in the market and keep my work to a high quality so that my customers are happy with their clothes and continue to come to me with business.”
Like any other business entrepreneur Ms Lata too has plans to expand and improve her business and she is confident she will be able to make her dream come true.
