Five years ago, Daniel James decided to turn his attention to a trade his father was already involved in — furniture making. He said his father, Frederick James, who is differently-abled and loved working with his hands, had always been making furniture, though mostly for relatives.
When James felt the tug and started up R9 Furniture (the R is for region) at St Ignatius, Central Rupununi in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), it was with his father as co-owner. The younger James is at the business part-time, mostly at night and on weekends as he is employed full time elsewhere.
“Business really picked up two years ago. Before that, I was really struggling. This business that I’m doing, I didn’t start it on my own. My dad was the one who started it,” said James. He added that the older James, a determined and diligent worker, has been an inspiration for him in many ways. A year ago, the older man suffered a stroke but has been recovering well and is back to working along with James creating smooth pieces. With the help of crutches, his father is able to move about as he likes.
James explained that although he never cared for furniture making before the business came along, he was already skilled in construction which he did outside of his full-time job.
With a loan from the Institute of Private Enterprise Development, he was able to build a workshed and purchase some tools. His savings took care of the other tools he needed. James has since paid off his loan and noted that whatever profit the business now makes is shared between himself and his father.
The furniture maker sources his materials from Osbert Lumber Yard, one of three in Lethem. James likes working with Water Cedar, Brown Silverballi and Angeline Rock. “Angeline Rock is my favourite. It is the one I use to build my tables. If you look closely at my table pictures, you’ll notice some nice designs on the wood,” James pointed out.
Sometimes he has a challenge getting materials as they are not always available because there are various ongoing projects in Lethem which means contractors would purchase the lumber before James gets there. To avoid this happening too often, James would make down payments to have the owner save the lumber for him.
Another challenge is not having a proper drying system set up, which on occasion has seen him lose customers. James explained that to build the best furniture, he has to ensure that the wood is dried properly. He depends on the sun for this and Angeline Rock in particular takes at least two weeks to dry. Sometimes his materials take as much as a month to dry.
Not drying the wood properly could lead to problems like shrinking and creases in the furniture, which would give his business a bad name, he said. As such, James would rather wait for the wood to dry, even if it means losing customers. In most cases, however, his customers understand.
Earlier this year when Guyana suffered major flooding, the entrepreneur said he felt the impact. The heavy rains posed an additional challenge to drying his lumber and he explained that he had to pack the wood a particular way to allow air to pass through.
James said, “I have most of the machines and tools except one called a thickness plane. I usually buy dressed wood from the lumber yard but many times it is not done to the thickness I like. But these guys at the lumber yard, they have so much work packed up there, they don’t do it properly. When that happens, I have to take it to another furniture guy. He’s been in the business for a very long time and he’s a friend of mine. Sometimes I take the lumber from the lumber yard over to him so he can take his time and dress it how I want it then I carry it to my workshop at home. But obviously, it costs me extra money for transportation and of course I have to pay him to dress the wood; he doesn’t do it free for me so those are some of the challenges I face.”
Though business picked up two years ago, the pandemic brought with it new challenges. Many of his customers, James said, had difficulty paying for his work and had to do so in installments. This impacted his business drastically, but the furniture maker was able to cushion this impact and provide for his household expenses with his other job.
Most of the pieces he makes are done on order. However, sometimes his father, with the extra time would make a piece. Recently, he made a centre table to put on display.
Referring to the two tables and four chairs he recently finished, James shared that after the drying process, the pieces took less than two weeks to be completed.
Despite having a full-time job, the entrepreneur believes, “It’s important to know a trade, whatever it may be. It can be a retirement plan for persons who choose to retire from a [9-5] job early. … As the saying goes, ‘If you can be hired, you can be fired’. However, if you have a skill, nobody can take that away from you. You can earn an honest living from it. You can lose a job at any time. … Look at what happened to our neighbouring country, Venezuela. They’re going through a crisis. A lot of them would have had office jobs and highly paid jobs too. Then having to migrate to another country, they can’t use their qualifications in another country. But, if they know a skill, they can develop quickly, so it’s really important to know a trade.”
He also applauded the government’s plan to build a technical institute in the region expected to materialize some time next year.
James is working towards someday operating his business full time from a fully-furnished workshop. By then he hopes to train and employ several youths from his area. He hopes that by then his business will be recognized and he can be awarded bigger contracts in Region Nine and Guyana at large.
The Jameses have created wardrobes, tables, chairs, chest of drawers, centre tables, beds and cupboards that are capturing lots of attention on social media.
James can be reached at 672-7059 while his father can be contacted on 604-6099.
