Bina Harkishan has seen a lot of changes within Navua Town since starting her business in 2008 with her late husband.
The mother of two said they had started the business on a small scale at the far end of the town.
“In 2015, we moved into a much bigger space here because it was more spacious and there was a lot of movement,” she said.
“However, when we started up, a lot of wholesalers had supported me, those who used to give me stock on credit.
“We had a well-known business when my husband was alive; after his death, I had to run the business on my own.”
Ms Harkishan added wholesalers would give her stock and allowed her to pay later.
“So when I moved my business, half the shop was empty as we didn’t have much stock and we were renting too.
“The building owners were really supportive as well.
“At that time, my daughters were also small and through the support of wholesalers, I have managed to grow my business a lot more.”
However, she said, since they moved closer to the town entrance, sales had picked up for them.
“We mostly have a clothing line, ready-made clothes and garments, we have cosmetics, jewellery.” She said the outlet had a variety of products for her customers, except groceries.
“A lot of my customers are happy that they can buy groceries from the supermarkets nearby and then come next door to get other products.”
Ms Harikshan said they were busy on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays, depending on the occasion. She also said they sold school uniforms and they were busy during the back-to-school shopping period.
“We have all the uniforms of schools in the Navua area, as well as bags and schools bags.
“And we usually provide materials to a factory and they produce certain items for us as well.”
Ms Harkishan said some of the major changes she had seen were the developments of supermarkets in the town.
“The area has become a little crowded now and the movement is good which has picked up a bit.
“However, during COVID, business was down because most of the people would only go for groceries.”
She said during the COVID lockdown, it was quite difficult to operate as the shop had to be closed as only essential stores were allowed to open. Ms Harkishan had to use her savings to pay for rent which was a struggle for a few months.
She said as local and international borders had opened, business had improved, especially from the Diwali to Christmas shopping periods but the activity wasn’t what it used to be.
Her advice to other women who wanted to open up their own businesss was to have confidence. She said there was no need to doubt oneself.
“If you have self-confidence, then you can achieve anything,” she added.
