…as it celebrates 50 years of exceptional service
By: Devina Samaroo
Fifty years ago, insurance salesman Rajendra Persaud and his wife Prampattie “Silvie” Persaud, embarked on a humble venture to take care of their family by selling automotive parts, having recognised a major gap on the local market.
Today, that operation has multiplied substantially, with the couple’s youngest child, Bramanand Persaud, at the helm of the mega enterprise known as Silvie’s Industrial Solutions.
Officially registered in 1972, Silvie’s has its origin some five years prior when “Silvie” operated a small snackette on High Street, Georgetown.
There, she would also sell other items such as cosmetics. Having been dealing with large volumes of people on a daily basis and listening to their stories, Silvie realised that not many options were available for those who needed automotive parts.
As such, she and her husband engaged tradesmen to source those items overseas for resale on the local market. Persaud would then go on to travel overseas himself to procure items to resell.
As the business grew, the couple officially registered the company and eventually moved to their first official location at 44 High Street, Georgetown, under the name Silvie’s General Store, selling mostly automotive and motorcycle spare parts.
Several years later, they acquired the property at 31 High and Hadfield Streets, Georgetown, where they expanded their business into other markets including a pharmacy, sports store and stationery centre under the banner Silvie’s Variety Store.
Though successful, the latter three ventures were eventually closed down as Silvie’s decided to focus its investment in the area of gold mining, which was booming at the time.
In a significant rebrand, Silvie’s has since renamed its first location as Silvie’s Automotive Solutions, and its second location, Silvie’s Industrial Solutions.
Together, the two branches offer a wide array of services across many markets such as construction, agriculture, vulcanising, mining, wash bays, food processing, and of course, it’s flagship, automotive sector.
CEO of Silvie’s
“We offer hand tools, electrical power tools, we deal with brands like DeWalt, Bosch and Black and Decker. Under construction, we do cement mixer, compactor, power trowel, concrete vibrator, industrial ovens, industrial stoves, mixers for cakes. We do things like sugarcane juicers, fruit juicers, equipment to grind masala and jeera and spices,” Bramanand, who holds the position of Chief Executive Officer, detailed during an interview with this publication.
“For wash bays, we do a lot of stuff like pressure washers and all the accessories to go with it; the vacuums…under agriculture, we do a lot of tillers, we do all the different type of pumps in gasoline and diesel. We’re big into generators. We do a lot of engines, all the types of hoses. Also, a big seller for us are these chicken pluckers,” he added.
“We’re like the biggest company when it comes to backup spares for anything that we sell,” Bramanand confidently said. “That is a guarantee I can give you.”
Pride in customer & aftersales services
Silvie’s has distinguished itself in the market not only as an entity with a wide range of quality products but as an innovative leader in terms of customer service and convenience.
The company takes pride in the continuous training it provides to staff to better help customers, and its extensive aftersales services that leaves all clients satisfied.
“I think we have a group of folks who are quite more knowledgeable in selling what we deal with than most other places…the amount of training that we put into this team, they are way above par when it comes to being knowledgeable about our products,” he explained.
According to the businessman, customers who are not familiar with the items they wish to purchase will receive all the guidance they need from the sales staff in order to make informed decisions.
“It’s all about reaching the customer,” he noted.
In addition to this, the Silvie’s boss believes the company is one of the few, if not the only one, that boasts an almost 100 per cent guarantee on parts availability. Furthermore, it’s rigid stock and record keeping systems provide promptness and accuracy in product availability. Moreover, the company prides itself in having aligned with world-class suppliers to ensure proper standardisation in the products offered to its customers.
The company’s efficient repairs department is another outstanding feature that sets Silvie’s aside from its competitors. “And, we’ve committed to returning people’s items within three working days,” the CEO noted.
Moreover, the company’s online shopping division, which was launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, is managed by specially-designated staff to ensure efficiency and effectiveness.
With a variety of payment options through wire transfers, MMG or cash on delivery, and access across WhatsApp, Facebook and through its website, online shopping now accounts for 15 per cent of Silvie’s customer base and this is projected to grow exponentially. Even more outstanding is its delivery services around Georgetown for purchases exceeding $30,000.
Sacrifices, challenges
Having existed for half a century, Silvie’s has endured its fair share of challenges both within its internal and external environments.
During the years his parents managed the business, Bramanand recalled hearing stories of how they contended with major water and electricity woes that plagued the country in those times.
He also recalled all the personal sacrifices his parents had to make to ensure the success of the company.
“I was always working in Silvie’s. We used to look after the warehouse, packing up the bond, etc,” Bramanand recalled how he and his siblings spent their childhood. “My sister, when she was small, my mom used to have her at the store from morning till night looking after her and running this business.”
“Whenever we had a chance to go on a vacation, it was a single parent vacation [because the other parent stayed back to work on the business],” he added. “They went through a lot, they worked really hard.”
A major challenge which the company has had to overcome had to do with finding employees with a desire to do more than just a job. According to the businessman, when the company first started, there were a lot of family members on board. But today, while it’s no longer heavily family-centric, the firm aspires to treat all employees like family.
“They must be able to have a good family life and afford most of the basic amenities. We want an abundant life for this team and we wanna keep increasing their benefits and salaries and investing in them,” the CEO affirmed.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 also brought a slew of unprecedented challenges which the company, like many others, are still battling such as disruptions in the global supply chain which ultimately affect costs.
ISO certified
Nevertheless, the company has many notable achievements, the most recent and perhaps biggest being its ISO certification. Silvie’s became ISO certified on June 11, 2021.
“The ultimate goal of ISO is customer satisfaction,” Bramanand said. “And how can we align all our processes and keep them consistent to reach that standard, to maintain it.”
“We wanted to be able to hold ourselves accountable, if we lapsed.”
The future
With 50 fruitful years having gone by, the company looks forward to a brighter future – one that aligns with the country’s rapid development trajectory.
With his parents practically retired, Bramanand, his siblings and his wife, Shanti Persaud – who is the Operations Manager – are committed to continuing the legacy of Silvie’s.
The seasoned businessman said he is cognisant of the positive transformation Guyana is undergoing, and is determined to ensure the company his parents built from the ground up does not get left behind.
Silvie’s has major expansion plans that include establishing new locations across the country and it also has a vision of eventually tapping into the regional market as well as in oil and gas.
The company is currently developing a branch at Henrietta, Essequibo Coast in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) which is slated to be opened by the end of the year.
Moreover, it plans to construct a mega structure at Good Hope, East Coast Demerara (ECD) to better house its industrial division and repairs shop.
The company also has hopes of tapping into the regional market, having participated in the Barbados Agro Fest and witnessed the potential that exists across the Caribbean.
And while there are no serious plans at the moment, the company is also open to the possibility of directly servicing the oil and gas sector.
“With a new facility, we’ll be able to align ourselves better,” he indicated.
As it stands, a large number of companies that operate within the petroleum industry already does business with Silvie’s – but on a more generic basis through the purchasing of universal products.
But even with all these grand plans, Silvie’s assures that its quality products, competitive prices and stellar customer service will not falter.
“A small farmer can come here to buy a gasoline pump and then a gold miner can come to buy a six-cylinder diesel engine. We cater and will continue to cater for everybody’s needs,” Bramanand assured.
“We will be continuing to provide high quality products with high service and provide solutions for people’s problems. People must definitely have the confidence to say, there’s something different at Silvie’s, let’s go there.”
First Published in the Guyana Times
