Beyonce takes bold step with décor business venture in Essequibo

Oct 30, 2022 News

By Romario Blair

Kaieteur News – The COVID-19 pandemic was undoubtedly one of the most devastating periods in modern history. As the virus swept across the globe, industries collapsed as lockdowns and quarantines became mandatory. The economic pressure was felt in every corner of the earth, including here, in Guyana.

Some of the creative décor done by Beyonce Da Silva

Despite the global economic decline, some businesses emerged from the ashes. On the Essequibo Coast, for instance, came the birth of a new service in the décor industry; ‘All Things Sweet,’ which is the first of its kind in the area. This bold, yet risky idea was conceptualized by Beyonce Da Silva, a young entrepreneur from Charity on the Essequibo Coast.

Kaieteur News understands that ‘All Things Sweet,’ specializes in event decorations. Areas of expertise include birthday parties, weddings, anniversaries, Halloween parties and even home decorations. This publication was told that every event has its own unique theme, and can blend in any settings, which may include from a mere room to an elaborate hall or even the beach.

DISCOVERING TALENT

During an exclusive interview with Kaieteur News, now eighteen-year-old, Beyonce Da Silva revealed that the idea was first developed in September 2020. When her secondary school, the Charity Secondary, shut its door due to mandatory lockdowns in 2016, Da Silva found herself at home, with little to do. This publication was told that Da Silva’s mom, Coleen Prince, is the proprietor of a general store that also happens to sell decorative items.

Inevitably, as COVID-19 measures were set into place, so also demand for party items decreased. As a marketing strategy, Da Silva, who was just sixteen years old at the time, hatched an idea. As she chronicled the start of her business idea, she said, “So we already had opened a party store, where people will come to pick up balloons and other small things for their parties and other events. So one day a customer, who is also well known to us, came in and he bought everything from us to keep a little party at his home.”

Talented Entrepreneur, Beyonce Da Silva

She added, “Since he bought everything from us, as a bonus we offered to set up the event for him. So, we went ahead with the idea and to the surprise of everyone. it was done exceptionally well… Although it was just a simple balloon décor, it was enough to impress the customer, to the point that he encouraged us that there’s some money to be made from the service.” Da Silva said that after giving the idea much consideration, she concluded that the it just may work, and may be an additional means of income for her single parent family.

Growing from a balloon backdrop to a beach wedding.

Over time ‘All Things Sweet,’ took off and gained quite a reputation for its quality and creative service. What started out with a kind gesture in the form of a balloon backdrop, underwent a significant metamorphosis over the past two years. Beyonce told Kaieteur News that the business success is a collective effort between her mother, sister and herself. She explained further, saying, “Customers will contact my mom and they’ll explain what they are looking for, then she’ll forward the information to me. Once I know what the customer is looking for, I would do my research and come up with the best theme that suits what they’re looking for in the event.”

She went on to say, “If it’s a case that it’s an event that needs costumes and a touch of makeup artistry, then my sister and a close friend comes into play, because she does the makeup to suit the theme of the event.”

When asked if there were challenges along the way, Ms. Coleen Prince said that sourcing materials for event planning was once an issue. “When we do events, we try to pick up cute little miniature bits and pieces to go with them. So some of the stuff we can easily source decors, pieces for your homes including decanter sets that are unusual, jewelry, toys for kids, and bubble guns.” Ms. Prince went on to say, “Along the way though we had some challenges, one of which was because of the complexity of some our events, we had to source some of our resources, from Georgetown and getting them here on the coast was exhausting, because you had to find the transportation, and the ferry crossing was taxing and time consuming… Now it’s much easier because we have learnt from those events we’ve had how to make it easier for us and our customers.”

When asked if there’s any specific event that the décor team is especially proud of, Ms. Prince went on to detail the efforts put into a beach wedding. “We did a lot of events over the years, but one that we’re especially proud of was this wedding we did once for a doctor. The venue was Lake Mainstay and they had this huge elaborate idea that they wanted. At the end of the day, we placed a lot of effort into that event, and we managed to pull off a really beautiful wedding with no challenges… When people know what they want, it makes it so much easier to work with them because all we have to do is come up with the resources and expertise to perfect that idea.”

THE EXPANSION PLAN

Though All Things Sweet has attracted quite a clientele over the years, Ms. Prince and Ms. Da Silva revealed that there are plans to continue expansion in the near future. In describing some of these plans, Ms. Prince said, “For the near future we are hoping to have a hall of our own to do all these events, expanding on staffing, catering and décor, we’re hoping to have the entire package having everything that comes directly from us but still being able to employ other people.”

As for Ms. Da Silva, her plans include her academic pursuits, while at the same time supporting her ever growing business. “I wrote nine subjects and I got all nine of them, so my next step academically is to do two more subjects in January, and then to later pursue studies in law or piloting.” She added, “Along with the décor and catering business, I love cooking, so I would bake, cook…as an additional income. We’re also hoping to expand on creating decorations at Christmas, where we decorate and sell Christmas trees, along with our service where we offer home decorations for persons who may need their homes decorated.”

All Things Sweet is also available on facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063528520516