Sparkling Treasures
Rebecca Puente

Rebeca Puente assisted a friend one year with her wedding, and really enjoyed the process.  She always had an eye for all the little details some people take for granted, so she let her creativity take over.  Can you guess where she ended up? — On the World Wide Web!  She found that by searching in the right places she could accessorize anything, from a wardrobe outfit to a complete wedding, with a theme right down to those little sparkly earrings that seemed to match those purses just perfect.  However, there wasn’t a place in the city where she could go to find what she needed; so, Rebeca reasoned that if she could have a little shop that does all the shopping for you, it would be a hit.  Sparkling Treasures was born out of these shopping expeditions and she opened her first store in the Corpus Christi Trade Center. 

After a year she felt it was time to do this on a full time basis, with a real storefront.  Rebeca knew the demands of office work in a busy insurance agency would eventually be a detriment to her Rheumatoid Arthritis, and with her own store, she could pace her work day.  As the demands of working full time for an insurance agency started playing havoc on Rebeca’s health, she knew that with the right business plan, and a better location, she could expand her business, which would also allow her to have some time off her feet.  

In October 2008, she began working with the SBDC and business counselor Paul Russo.  Rebeca had purchased jewelry and fashion goods from several different suppliers, and already had a history of sales in her smaller venue at the Trade Center, which assisted in the development of sales projections for three years.  Using detailed records of her sales history, a “Basket of Goods” approach was initiated to capture her cost of goods sold and develop a base point for her sales projections.  In November 2008, Rebeca presented her business plan to Betsy Geddis of First Community Bank and obtained an SBA Community Express loan. In December 2008, Rebeca opened the doors to Sparkling Treasures on McArdle, right next door to a lifestyle retail center.  She is now modifying her “Basket of Goods” approach using actual sales figures to help fine-tune the business and bring on new product lines.