To his jobs, large and small, Justin Marcus Hamilton of J Hamilton Residential Design and General Construction brings the same studious intensity and care.
The treasurer of the General Contractors Association of Guyana (GCAG), Hamilton has learnt his business from the ground up, working construction in Guyana and Trinidad while having studied at the Government Technical Institute (GTI) and the University of Guyana (architecture), but he would not start his business in 2012 until after he resigned from teaching at St Rose’s High.
His name first came up after the last carpenter/contractor hired to do work at my home left a bigger leak in the roof than the one he was hired to fix, and friends who have had their own contractor trouble recommended him. “He is good,” one plain-spoken colleague and friend said enthusiastically.
On first meeting, the bespectacled Hamilton seemed more the teacher he was for 10 years than a typical contractor. One meeting and several phone calls later – after he was convinced he would not be left “high and dry” with only part-payment once work was completed, work began on my project, which turned out superb and was completed one day early, just a little over the estimated cost (because of price fluctuations) and with no stress.The 38-year-old former St Mary’s and St Rose’s student, who was born in Herstelling and raised in Bagotville, West Bank Demerara, where he lives to this day, is meticulous in listening to clients before offering his expert advice. He stressed that the clients’ needs and wants must be satisfied and agreement reached on a project outline before work starts, although he is amenable to later changes.
As he measured and remeasured the angle at which to cut the fence posts to ensure they were all even, his sub-contractors spent hours straightening individual links in chain-link fencing so that they laid straight.
“For me, success is being able to accomplish a set outcome for my business, a project I’m doing, or my family…it’s being able to do those little things that combine to bring about those big end results,” he later said.
“I have learnt there is a certain amount of failure every business must endure before it experiences huge success and that failure is good; in fact, failure helps one to intelligently begin again. Also, to grow a business, one must take risks and be willing to start from the bottom and grow or as we say ‘one one dutty build dam’. I learnt to grow, a business must come out of obscurity, because people only do business with you if they know you….”
“No business just starts and takes off….when you hear people say that they are lying. My business has had its share of ups and downs. Business at times has been gruelling for me, but my best year was last year where I did my largest project through the Ministry of Public Health. My business is still young, but the response is OK for its scale.”
When asked why he started a full-time contracting business after teaching for so long, Hamilton explained, “I always felt that I can do more with what I know and that there was more for me to do than I was doing while teaching. That with my dream of having a family and being able to have the freedom to do the things I love is what got me started…”
While advising budding entrepreneurs to “go out and meet people, tell them about your business and the convenience it offers; to be willing to be flexible and to read daily in your field of business”, Hamilton said Government departments and agencies needed to focus on the problems faced by entrepreneurs and develop effective policies to cater for small businesses.
The proud father of one said his goal was to be the dominant design and general construction company on the West Bank with outlets all over the country. “I see [my business] capitalising on the opportunities in the emerging oil and gas sector; also providing housing for low-income families…I want my business to dominate in this sector at every scale, so as a small business it must be the number one and likewise, when the scale changes.”
He cited William Harris, Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA) and Guyana Institute of Architects executive and university lecturer, as his biggest inspiration. “I got my first break in architecture and construction through him after completing GTI during 1999-2000…I worked for one year as his assistant.” Hamilton also acknowledged the many other persons who have mentored and encouraged him, including civil engineer Selroch Belfield and fellow GCAG members.
Contact: 676-6667; facebook @ J Hamilton Residential Design & Construction
