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Success Stories
 Asha’s Alteration
Being a seamstress is truly an art form in its own right. To be able to take a garment that is ill fitting and turn it into a wearable piece of clothing takes great skill and talent, and Asha Ramdhanie, owner of Asha’s Alterations in Rothesay, NB, knows exactly how to perform miracles with thread and needles.
On April 1, 2006, Ms. Ramdhanie opened her door for business at her location on the Clark Road in Rothesay, NB. Owning her own alternation company had long been a dream of hers as fashion had always been such a big part of her life. She had taken a basic sewing course before and later completed a design and a detail tailoring courses as well. Since she had over 30 years of experience in the tailoring industry, it was a natural progression for her to consider owning and operating her own shop.
She originally came to the Maritimes in February 2001 as a store supervisor for an alternations company. In February of 2001, Ms. Ramdhanie oversaw the opening of an outlet in Champlain Place Shopping Centre, Dieppe, NB, and then in August of the same year the company opened another outlet in Fredericton, NB, and Asha was again front and centre ensuring that the store opening went smoothly. Later, she was promoted to the position of supervisor and managed outlets in Saint John, NB, Halifax, NS and St, John’s, NL. Covering such a large territory and managing the workforce gave Ms. Ramdhanie terrific experience from which to draw from when she began her own entrepreneurial journey.
“I love fixing clothing, making it fit properly,” says Ms. Ramdhanie. “From doing simple hemming jobs to full alterations on a bridal gown or prom dress, I truly enjoy seeing the look of satisfaction on a customers face when they try on their garments and it fits beautifully. I love working with people and thoroughly enjoy getting up every morning and going to my shop. Every day brings a new person and a new challenge into my world and I take great pride producing a superior end product for my clients. There isn’t anything about being an entrepreneur that I don’t like,” she jokingly states.
Ms. Ramdhanie was fortunate that she had a strong support team that rallied around to help her get from the beginning idea of owning an alterations shop to actually having a physical store shop from which to operate her business. When she found the perfect location, her eldest son, his wife and other close friends came and helped her whip the space into tip-top shape. While she started out being the sole worker in her business, she promptly had to hire an additional employee to handle the large influx of incoming business. In the meantime, her daughter also came to give her a helping hand as Ms. Ramdhanie found out that the Rothesay area was very receptive to having their own seamstress shop in their community and her business quickly bloomed.
However, perhaps the biggest assistance she received came from the CBDC Charlotte-Kings County branch. “At one point I thought that getting my business up and running was going to be impossible,” says Ms. Ramdhanie. “I kept hitting the proverbial brick wall when trying to obtain the necessary start-up funding. Traditional banks weren’t interested in backing an alterations shop, but luckily for me, the CBDC came through for me with the help of their SEED loan program. They believed in me and my business plan, and if it hadn’t been for that show of faith and support, I know that Asha’s Alterations wouldn’t exist today. I only have one word to describe my feelings for their assistance and that is – grateful,” Ms. Ramdhanie emphatically states.
Today Asha’s Alterations employs 2 full-time and 1 part-time employees besides herself as owner/seamstress. Her store is open from Monday through Saturday and has a steady satisfied repeat customer business. Being able to do something she clearly enjoys is perhaps one of the best perks of being an entrepreneur for Ms. Ramdhanie. She is ‘sew’ happy (pardon the pun!) these days and thanks the CBDC Charlotte-Kings County branch for helping her in achieving and living her dream.
Copyright 2009 © Marlene Oulton
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