JUST before Gisile Tan signed up for a jewellery-making course with the South West CDC in September last year, she was despairing over how to support herself and her four-year-old daughter.

“After my husband and I divorced last year, I realised I had to depend on myself. I receive about $500 maintenance support every month, but discovered my daughter and I wouldn’t have enough to get by. I especially worried about medical expenses as she was so young. And although we stay with my parents, I didn’t feel it was fair to them to continue helping us all the time,” says the 37-year-old. “As a homemaker before that, I had very little savings, which I lost after venturing into multi-level marketing. I think I was just not cut out for it. I wanted to look for a job, but gave up eventually because I didn’t want to leave my daughter at the childcare centre or with anybody else.”

In fact, Gisile said she decided to attend the jewellery-making course because she could bring her daughter to class. Moreover, at $10 for eight lessons (which included
materials), it seemed like an affordable – and enjoyable – way to pick up new skills that could help her gain self-suffi ciency. Courses like the one Gisile attended are expected to be part of WEWorkz (Women’s Enterprise Workz), an initiative launched by the South West CDC in March 2008. It is a follow-up to the Candles By Moms programme, which taught needy women candlemaking skills to help them supplement their family income through part-time and fl exible home-based job opportunities.

WEworkz will adopt a holistic approach in reaching out to the women it aims to help. Training programmes, similar to existing candle and jewellery making classes, will
equip women unable to commit to full-time employment with the skills to run a small business. It aims to work with companies, schools and community groups to provide marketing and sales support to help increase the demand for these services and products.

Gisile believes such initiatives will defi nitely help. With the knowledge picked up in her class, coupled with a creative streak and an insatiable appetite for learning, she started designing and churning out her own line of costume jewellery. Initially, she peddled the pieces at the fl ea market at Holland Village, but since February, she has also been selling them at the Path Market @ VivoCity, run by the Social Innovation Park’s Pop and Talent Hub. Gisile admits the road to entrepreneurship is tough. To ensure she had enough items, she purchased her materials with $1,000 borrowed from an aunt. Although she tried to keep costs down by buying materials in bulk, they still took up a hefty portion of her expenditure. She adds, “Everything costs more in Singapore. For some elaborate designs, the materials cost $20. I also have to factor into the retail price the number of hours spent on the piece. Unfortunately, most customers are not willing to pay so much for costume jewellery. During the Christmas season, the most I took home was about $240, while on bad days, I earned as little as $7.”

Nonetheless, Gisile remains optimistic. Describing herself as “practical”, she treats each diffi culty as part of the learning process to become a better entrepreneur, especially since she had no experience when she started out. For instance, when she realised customers were more willing to pay $4 for a pair of earrings than $29.90 for a watch, she responded by producing more of the former.“I hope to turn the business profi table soon. If I have more money, I can go overseas to source for more cost-effi cient materials,” she shares.

More information on WEworkz can be found online at www.weworkz.sg.