Elizabeth Ampiah & Emma Myers Batiker, Cape Coast, Ghana
			Click for     more Photos
	Best friends Emma Myers (left) and Elizabeth Ampiah (right) started Eli-Emma Batik and Tye-Dye in 1992, but always struggled to earn consistent profits.
		Description: Emma and Elizabeth met as employees on an assembly line in a factory 23 years ago and became instant friends. They decided to enroll together in school to learn batiking, and upon graduation opened their business, "Eli-Emma Batik & Tye-Dye." Soon after, batiking in Ghana became a highly competitive industry with few small-scale batikers surviving. Eli and Emma struggled to maintain their business as larger customers, such as schools and churches, delayed their payment for months. Elizabeth is married with two daughters and two sons. She dreams of finishing the house her family is currently building outside of Cape Coast. Emma is married with five children; three of her own and two from her brother and her brother in-law, respectively. She hopes to be able to afford a car in the next five years. They continue to work relentlessly to make their business succeed, as they both love the independence of running their own business and the creativity of the craft. Result: Since joining the Global Mamas cooperative, Elizabeth and Emma have: Increased revenue five-fold as a result of orders through Global Mamas. Able to command higher prices for their high-quality cloth through exporting. Opened a small retail shop in the Cape Coast castle and began selling their batik to tourists in Ghana, allowing them to earn more than what the local market would yield. Hired three full time workers and took on four new apprentices. Mastered classroom bookkeeping training and were then able to create an approach specific to their business. Learned how to use a computer and how to conduct Internet research to generate new design ideas. Saved enough money to invest in a plot of land and built an independent batiking workshop outside for larger-scale production. Began offering batiking workshops to tourists. Procured larger quantities of raw -material (2 bails of calico), which reduced expenses and allows them to fulfill larger orders. Sent all of their children to school and paid overdue utility bills. Hired a part time sales representative to manage the shop. Enrolled in the National Health Insurance plan. Saved to open a store above their workshop. close window