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This article is not one of the “How To Manage Your Finances” or “How To Live On Low Funds” but this is one of my financial stories that became a success and I hope this can help to motivate or give you some bit of cheer wherever you are especially in this recession facing the nation at the moment.
The year 2020 was a very trying year for everyone especially me from the month of February down to December. I was dealt with financially and at some point, I was struggling to make ends meet and it affected me emotionally and psychologically. I could barely afford to feed and pay bills.
Mind you, I just got a teaching job in January of that year, and before you come asking me what happened to my two months salary, you need to know that my salary was nothing to write home about. I taught in a private school that was still up-and-coming. After I had spent almost all the little savings from my salary, it dawned on me that the lockdown restrictions and ban wasn’t about to be lifted by the government and schools weren’t going to be reopened either, because the virus just kept spreading and spreading like wildfire so the whole state was in total lockdown. I had to come up with something if not, my finances were going to become worse for the wear.
I approached parents and guardians about the need for their children and wards to be taking some home lessons so they will be kept busy and won’t forget about their school lessons and at least I will be paid for my services which will help provide some basic needs. Some told me politely that they would be unable to afford my services as they were also trying to keep body and soul together, others told me they already had someone taking their kids before the pandemic struck and they wouldn’t want to change their tutors while the rest collected my contact number and promised to call me to discuss further when I can begin.
Days turned into weeks and weeks became a month but I received no call from any parent. I was so sad and I became frustrated. I was about to lose my mind. One day, the teachers and management of the school had an online meeting and we decided to start teaching online via WhatsApp and Zoom class for a fee but a majority of the parents wanted no part of it because of no funds and I couldn’t blame them so we had to scrap that and wait till the lockdown will be lifted but nobody knew when it was going to be lifted.
For the first time in my life, I had to borrow money from a friend and it was hard asking for help not because of pride or ego but because I had never had any reason to. One sunny Tuesday afternoon on my way to the ATM, I met a youth member in my church. Seun[name changed for personal reasons] is a bag maker and she was putting a sample outside her gate. One of the bags caught my eye and after exchanging pleasantries, I went on my way. While on my way, an idea struck me which I tried to wave aside but it kept nudging me and I figured that it wouldn’t do any harm if I decided to play it out.
I approached Seun on my way back and told her that I wanted to be a ‘retailer/distributor’ for her female bags business. She readily agreed and gave me some samples of different colors to display to prospective customers. I carried the bags and I went home. To be sincere, I was uncertain and scared I wouldn’t be able to sell those bags because folks could barely afford three square meals, and yet I was about to approach them to splurge on some vanity. A lot of “what-ifs” were running through my mind but seeing the balance in my bank account gave me all the courage I needed and I was able to banish those thoughts from my head.
The next day, I went down my streets and showed the bags to my friends and some women but I did not get any positive response from them. They all admired the bags but didn’t purchase any. I did not allow that to deter me, every day I went out and showed familiar faces and strangers but no one bought any.
I was already becoming tired of having no sales and Seun gave me a deadline as to when I could return the bags if the deadline date passes, I will have to pay for the bags. It was two days to the deadline and I had yet to record a sale, I made up my mind to go out for the last time, and if it also unsuccessful, I would go return the bags to Seun. That day I chose to go to another neighborhood, I met a family friend, and I displayed my wares to her. Before I could say one thousand and one reason why she should purchase one bag, Miss T[not her real name] collected four bags and transferred the money to me before I could recover from my shock. Miss T did not stop there, she called her sister to show her the bags, her sister got two but there was one bag that was available and I promised to bring the remaining one the next day and she paid for both.
Once I was able to sell those bags, I went back to Seun to get some more bags to sell and those were sold off in less than no time. Moving forward, I became a wholesaler and started supplying the bags to some people who wanted to start up a bag business. From my earnings, I was able to repay the loan I borrowed from my friend and was also able to afford some basic items. In the course of selling the bags, a parent from the school reached out to me so I could take their ward for online lessons and the pay was fair. Soon, I was able to put money in my savings for later use.
The lockdown was finally lifted and schools were reopened. I was excited to resume work and also excited that I was able to survive through the pandemic lockdown and still have extra cash in my savings.
I didn’t stop selling the bags even after schools were reopened, I advertised the bags to my colleagues and parents of the students I teach and most of them were able to patronize me.
WRAP UP
So to that person who for some reason has been laid off from work or has a lot of financial responsibilities and you are unsure of where to start to relieve yourself of those responsibilities or how to make an extra source of income, you can try the following:
- Firstly, do not waste all your time wallowing in your hurt because the more you do that, the more time slips away from you and the more your financial situation remains the same or worse.
- You can start something on the side, maybe a business offline or online, some businesses require little or no capital like dropshipping for somebody, e.g. fashion accessories, items of clothing, bags like I did, etc.
- If you have practical skills like barbing, hairdressing, or baking, you can put them to good use by advertising them to your colleagues and friends and maybe even giving one or two free haircuts or charging less to them.
- Learn to live within your means, this is very important, and if you can do this, your finances will be better.
If you are/were motivated by my success story and would like to share yours, please drop a comment and I will reply as soon as possible.
Thank you!
