Hello everyone, hope y'all had a fulfilling and restful weekend from all the craziness of the week, well I did, I took time to rest and recuperate.
In this day and time, experts and everyone says you must have more than one stream of income to be able to survive in the prevalent economy, when I saw the prompt for #hivenaija, I decided to talk a little about my entrepreneurial journey, while looking for a side hustle to settle for.
What side hustle have you tried before and failed in it? Which did you try out and it worked for you? Explain how each of them made you feel.
So I haven't been a business kind of person,to buttress this statement, I mean that there are some person you meet, who right from childhood, always enjoyed or wanted to do something related to selling. I don't know if the fact that having parents who were entrepreneurs could also influence a person's inclination to the business way of life.
While for some of us, it doesn't come so naturally, or it might be because they were introduced to the business world early enough, I might never know.
So the first side hustle I engaged in involved the production and selling of coated peanuts. It all started during my NYSC, during this period, I had to look for something extra to add to what I was struggling with as a stipend which was barely enough to go by.
Mind you before I embarked on this journey, I had to try to watch some videos on YouTube to add to the little knowledge of how to make coated peanuts, which I had from my cousin some years back.
Off I went to get the stuff I needed to embark on my venture. Upon getting the ingredients, I decided to make only a little batch, to see how it would turn out. When I finished, I decided to call on my lodge mates to come have a taste and then give feedback about it. While they each took turns to have a taste, I held my breath for their response.
After they had all had a taste some said the peanuts were almost burnt, and the others also made observations and I took it all and began my journey.
After frying like 3 more times after my first attempt, I began producing and packing for sale, I took permission from the Proprietress of the school where I was serving to sell, and she granted me, and that was how I began making coated peanuts, and selling to students and teachers alike during break periods and outside school hours.
I was selling out initially but wasn't making any real profit, so I sat back and asked myself some questions, and I discovered that it was how Iww I portioned it that was the problem, so I had to re-strategize, and it got better for the while. I sold these peanuts until COVID-19 struck, and we were all asked to go back home, so I couldn't continue, that was how my little side hustle came to an end.
I also started a mobile data retail business some years later, I did it for some months, but the rates kept on increasing, and I couldn't just keep up with selling at different prices all the time, so I also ended this side hustle.
I really felt bad that I wasn't able to sustain these side hustles, but it has given me an idea of how to better run any business or side hustle I might go into in the future. I'm grateful for the lessons I was able to learn during the process.
So this is my response to the #hivenaija prompt.
Thanks for stopping by
