It is often said that, when you start a business, do it with passion or not at all, and this is one piece of advice Jamaican Sandrene McKenzie, the owner and operator of San’script, a customisable gift giver does not take lightly.

From as far back as she can remember, two things have always been clear to her.

The first is that if she ever started a business it would be one built on love so it never felt like work and the second is that there is no box big enough to fit her multidimensional personality and that was quite okay.

At only 20 years old and with a sense that the time was ripe for her to go into business, the St Ann native did what any good prospective business owner should do.

She gave serious thought to exactly what type of business she wanted to start then sought to engage in research.

Speaking on how her business came to being, Sandrene told Our Today: “I wanted to do something that I loved so it wouldn’t seem like work and I’d be enjoying what I’m doing.”

At first, she thought, “I wanted to design, make and sell planners, and I did all the research regarding that”.

Unfortunately, however, she did not complete her research until January of this year at which point she thought, “Who’s going to buy a planner at the end of January? The year has already started. “

Making the decision to put the start of her planner business on hold, the University of the West Indies, Mona student went back to the business drawing board to, as Jamaicans say, “wheel and come again”.

After two months of evaluating the many things she loved in search of a viable business idea, staring her right in the face of her family house, there it was, the secret formula to the perfect business.

“I always loved giving customisable gifts to persons,” said Sandrene. “My dad actually started a tradition at my household so if you look around our house now you’d see customizable gifts from key rings to bracelets to plaques.

“He started that whole thing and since then every year we’ve tried to give each other something customisable along with whatever we’re giving as a gift and I just loved doing that.”

A testament to her passion, love and drive for her five-month-old business, Sandrene relayed: “I can say without the shadow of a doubt that since I’ve started my business I’ve been happier.”

A level of happiness she said has even been reflected in her grades.

“When I just started med school it was a lot. Starting med school in a pandemic came along with itself a lot of challenges,” began Sandrene.

Many of which were compounded by the fact that she began school late. She noted, however, that her overall happiness since starting her business had had a positive impact on her second-semester grades.

“In my second semester (of University) which would have been earlier this year having sat those exams… . I got better grades and I attributed it to the fact that I was happier.”

With five months of business now under her belt, Sandrene said both she and her business had already experienced significant growth, a feat she attributes to her level of professionalism.

“When I first started obviously I started from a research point of view and from the get-go, I made my spreadsheets and you know typed up my documents and my ideas and stuff like that and since I’ve started I’ve seen where professionalism has really allowed me to actually garner more customers,” stated Sandrene.

She explained: “The same effort I would pour into a stranger’s order I poured it into those who I know or those who had a closer connection to me and I think from that they’ve just allowed me to grow because they’ve shared my business with a lot more persons and I’ve just been receiving the blessings.”

Recognising that there is still even more room for the growth of her business the San’script owner stated: “In five years, I can see the business definitely evolving and offering more variety in terms of the services that we offer and definitely employment.

“It is my dream to actually create employment for somebody and so I think the moment I am able to do that… the moment I am able to offer employment or create employment for somebody else it would definitely be a good sign in terms of growth.”

To utilise San’scripts customisable gift-giving through vinyl printing or embroidery service you can reach out to its Facebook or Instagram page at san’script_designs via direct message, utilise the order form available in its Instagram bio or call 876-510-1684.

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