Working From Home

Okay last time I posted about being your own boss and the challenges. I learnt a lot from your comments and I have decided to put it into practice.
Today I meet a photographer who has her studio in her house. I had a little interview with her:

Me: How did you get into owning your own business?
Donna: I was laid off work and I decided why don't I go and do my own thing. I have a big house and working from home will give me time with my kids, little money for better education and have time to indulge in my fantasties, like playing lawn tennis on a Monday morning instead of slaving myself at work. I also decided to use my house, to save a lot on over-heads.
Me: How are you able to stay on track and stay focused?
Donna: I always think of what I want to accomplish when I am down. I started this to give my kids a better life, be there with them almost at all times. So this keeps me focused and I stay on track, and its also fulfilling doing something that makes you fulfilled. Remember I started off taking pictures for free, before I went professional.
Me: How do you joggle family and business?
Donna: I don't deceive myself that I am superwoman, so I do not do everything. As much as I am over protective of my kids I also teach them to be independent. I have a nanny who helps me around with the little ones, the cleaning of the house etc. This way I am not fagged out when the hubby gets home after work or when the kids want some little attention..if you know what I mean
Me: Thank you Donna really appreciate. Will look at the mark always not back down.

I hope you enjoyed my little interview, please let me know how you stay on track and stay focused.


P.S: "I have been off BB for almost a month now and I haven't died or fallen sick. Good to know I can switch the button on and off. Good to know that I can set my phone aside during work hours and concentrate.

Do take care of yourself and have a lovely week ahead.
Ciao. 

It's Hard Being Your Own Boss

I am so grateful, all the comments I got from my last post. I can feel the support and I love it. Thank you so much I really appreciate.
Anyways I have gone on and on about being your own boss, its fulfilling, doing what you love blah blah blah. Sometimes when it comes out of my mouth is sounds as easy as ABC, but it is not. I just realized that it is very difficult to stay focused when you are your own boss especially when you work from home and you have kids. I wonder how women cope with all these? I read a lot of stories about stay at home mums who have become millionaires from doing what they like and being able to take care of their families at the same time. But that has to do with mothers who live in Europe or America. What about the mothers that live in Nigeria where the basic amenities of life are hard to come by. If you are not dealing with the no light situation you are dealing with the tiring traffic or maybe the overbearing in laws who will refuse to leave your house in peace..etc. So tell me how do they do it?
Every woman I have meet has the same story they say once the kids come, your life is out the window. Is this true?
In recent years I have had a couple of friends who had traveled abroad for their masters. Some of them went along with their children, while some of them dropped the kids with their parents. Some have their school fees paid by their husbands, some paid their school fees themselves and some where fortunate enough to earn scholarships.

Seating down with all of them, the career mothers and the entrepreneurs, I have learnt a lot of things: "

1. Children shouldn't stop your dreams, they can and will definitely slow you down but if you take it a little at a time you will be surprised what you will accomplish in time. I have a Friend who started a catering/ baking business a year after her son was born. What she told me today shocked me. She still doesn't have the fancy bakery or restaurant, she still works from home and has a second child, but the proceeds of her business was able to take care of her family, pay the school fees etc for almost a year when it was financially tight in her family. Now I asked her how did you do it with you kids and a home to run? Her reply: "I just learnt to multitask and stop wasting my time gossiping".

2. Especially if you work from home, you have to be able to stay focus. Not because you are home, you think you can wake up any time you want to. One entrepreneur told me that she makes sure that every day by 7am she is in her little office, bathed, dressed up and set for work. She avoids all the social media during work hours unless it has to do with promoting her business. So no facebooking, no twittering, no BB chats, and she doesn't even receive personal calls, until she is off work.

Men that is a lot of focus and discipline. Even when I am writing and researching I am tempted to check my Facebook account to see what it going on, or twitter or even my BB, chatting with someone or looking for someone to gossip with. This has got to stop. I need to be able to take my work seriously and work it.

3. Another mother told me that a lot of Nigerian Christians are lazy. When I asked why she said that we spend all out time praying for financially breakthroughs and never do anything about it. Don't get me wrong I am not saying that praying is bad but I know that God isn't going to drop a million dollars from heaven on your lap, cos He knows that you will mismanage it as you didn't work for it. Now God will bless the fruit of your hands if you work diligently. Read Proverbs. As I learnt a lot of business men and women study the book of Proverbs diligently.


I guess it is time to stop here. I hope you learnt a lot or even something small from this looooong post.
Do stop by Myne whitman's blog post of today, inspiring if you ask me.

Thank you.
keep stopping by as I will try my best to drop business tips as regularly as possible.

Ciao.

I have a Sad Face Today

Hi everyone!!! Can you remember when I told you that my laptop crashed and I was so scared I had lost all my data? I am sure you can. Well I guess I have done that. With no back up plan my hardware has crashed and I am told, to retrieve my data I will have to spend $650 that is #105,300 naira. That's the price  of a new laptop. I am not bothered about the laptop at least I can work without one for a while till I get a new one or just buy a new one if the money is available but: "my work". There are a lot of short stories I had written and decided that I was going to work on them again and put them up for some writers competition. I have three complete books even thought they haven't been professionally edited, I have completely lost the second one which is absolutely so dear to me and actually the one I want published first. I didn't email it to Temi like I always do, or to anybody, so that is it. If I want that book out I have to start writing it all over again, its about 56k words.
I really don't know what to do, I have shed a couple of tears, but oh well I will have to learn to back up my data from now on. I will give myself this week or maybe this month to settle down and start rewriting that story again. I just have to let it out. I guess maybe my plans of coming out with a book this year will not work.

This is my lamentations for today. I am sulking and crying at the same time.
Thank you guys for listening to me.
Do have a lovely day.
Ciao.

Random Musings again

Hmmmm I guess I should be dumped into the ocean cos of all the apologies of not blogging....I am sorry again. The main reason I haven't posted anything in a while is because my brain has been blank. Couldn't find anything to post about...
Anyways after chatting with my friend and blogger Zainab Musa It came to me.. I now know what to blog about...lol..

I have just been thinking and even though this isn't new, it just re registered in my mind that life is short and its not worth it spending a lifetime doing what you don't like. Its not easy taking the stand of following your passion, especially with people feeling you are making a mistake... like for me I can't believe even after I have been married this long my mother can't wait for me to have a 9 to 5. She says she doesn't understand this being my own boss thing that I say I am doing.... hmmmm the things we have to fight against every day.
 But the bottom line is that I have to do what I love and I have to make everyone around me understand that life is all about being fulfilled.

P.S. my laptop has packed up and I have all my work in there.. I am just praying that I do not loose everything... God please help me...sobbing.
Anyways do take care dears and have a good night's rest.

Thumbs up to my friend Atilola good job with your writing and the marketing of your book. I am impressed.

Ciao.