From the doors of her first flower shop in Washington, DC, to her current two locations in her native land, Yasmine Deonauth of Nesha’s Flowerland has been providing beauteous creations of flowers, nature’s jewellery, to lift hearts and 
spirits for decades.
Her entrepreneurial spirit was evident early on, as she opened Nesha’s, so named because of her mother-in-law, right after high school in a business space the family owned. “It was right after high school and I was looking for something to do and I decided hey why not open a flower shop in the business place we already had.”
Her inspiration? The flowers her husband would bring her on weekends. These beautiful blooms were very affordably priced compared to the US$10-US$15 charged for bouquets and Deonauth saw and seized the opportunity to enter the market.
When she remigrated to Guyana, Deonauth decided to set up several ventures outside of a florist shop including wood processing and furniture making operations as well as a farm in Canal Number One Polder, West Bank Demerara. However, after being unable to source reliable labour, she decided to return to flowers and opened up her first flower shop in Hunter Street, Albouystown. “It was a nice adventure,” she said. “I really liked what I did there, because I introduced so many young people to flowers…”
“Flowers have held various symbolic meanings throughout history, dating back perhaps much longer than the 17th Century. They are still used to communicate feelings much easier than we ourselves might be able to. Indeed, flowers are the quickest way to show that you care,” the business explains on Facebook.
“At Nesha’s Flowerland, we take flowers personally. Every bouquet, corsage and floral arrangement is made by experts who are passionate about flowers and gift giving. Each arrangement is imbued with an exceptional touch and every gift item is hand selected with the special needs of our customers in mind.” Deonauth believes that customer service, as well as quality, is of paramount importance and her advice to would-be entrepreneurs is to ensure you take care of your customers and satisfy their needs. “Money is not everything. Be as nice and pleasant as possible, because if you treat one customer nice, that person will tell 100 persons and you will always have customers.” With that philosophy, the soft-spoken Deonauth has built Nesha’s Flowerland into a powerhouse of floristry in Guyana, one of the go-to local flower shops, providing beautiful arrangements, from the grand to the simple and elegant, for weddings, birthdays, parties, Valentine’s Day and other special occasions or “just because”. Her clientele has stayed loyal and grown through location changes and the destruction of the business by fire, and she recently opened a second location at Guyana’s largest mall, the Giftland complex at Pattensen, Greater Georgetown, which is open until 09:30h for those last-minute flower emergencies. The shop also offers several options, including delivery and ordering on Facebook, to make it easy to get your flowers, which customers are very appreciative of, with one woman raving on Facebook: “I have been receiving flowers from Nesha for over five years now; great flowers, would recommend anyone… Hubby does overseas purchase ‘n I get it delivered to my address…” You can even choose from a wide variety of vases to hold your bouquets. Quality, business acumen and great customer service – an unbeatable combination.Contact: 78 Church and Carmichael Streets, Georgetown, (opposite St George’s Cathedral); 227-3553; Facebook @neshasflowerlandguyana
