Sarah calls her roommate, Ella, beautiful names because she thinks Ella is really beautiful. They do not agree on certain topics but get along well enough to keep renewing the rent with each other after it expires.
Source
One of those days as they planned on how to save up so they could renew their rent, Ella brought out her diary. Sarah knew that was a book holding sacred information about her personal life so she didn't expect her to flip through and give her a page to read. It was boldly titled; BUSINESS PLAN 2023.
"Here is the list of businesses I want to try out; Thrift wear, Tote bags…"
Sarah lifted her eyes and saw that Ella had hers fixed on her in expectation.
"What do you think?"
"I like the thrift wear idea. How much do you need as capital?"
She shrugged "Start-up capital would be expensive, I would need about $100 - $150"
Sarah knew that was a lot of money for Ella to come up with so she asked her to write how much the start-up capital was for each of them then make comparisons.
"But which of them do you think you would enjoy doing the most?"
She shrugged again.
"I would prefer the Thrift wears too but I am scared of the financial risks. You know students; what if they don't want to get clothes? I could be making slow sales"
"Then widen your scope. You don't have to sell to only students."
Sarah saw the hesitation in her eyes and felt really sorry for her. She didn't like being involved in businesses too because she was scared of financial risks, plus she didn't know how to convince someone to get an item he or she wasn't sure they needed.
"Maybe I can just leave the thrift wear and concentrate on selling tote bags. I would want to eventually combine both businesses if I can go through with one and succeed first…." She rose to pace the room, she was obviously excited about the idea. I was impressed.
"Okay, so what's the capital cost for tote bags?"
Sarah knew she would shrug again. "I can't really place a finger on it, but I know there's reasonable profit in it. I just have to get quality material from the market and sew the bags together then take it for branding if that's what the order instructs"
Sarah nodded her head, that was a better plan.
"And in that case, your sewing machine is an asset. It's going to help you generate income and help your business to grow."
"It's going to reduce my expenses, most especially " Ella added pausing to stand akimbo.
"But come to think of it though, how about I start sewing again and include tote bags as a "Thank you for sewing with us" gift?"
Sarah slapped her palm on her face and bit her lower lip. Ella was a great tailor but she wasn't keen on self-improvement and it hadn't gone down well with her clients.
"I don't think you're ready to start sewing again" Sarah made sure there was a serious look on my face.
"But I would be sewing tote bags, all sewings are the same thing," Ella said in pidgin, the Nigerian creole.
The conversation was over for Sarah so she picked up her phone and made to leave the room.
"Wait now, I was joking. I know I cannot start sewing yet. I'll find out about the tote bags and update you. Would you help with my publicity?" She raised her lower lip and tucked her upper lip into it, trying to play cute.
"Yes ma" she shrieked in excitement and we both fell into fits of laughter.
Ella started her business a month later and it was going quite well. Her profit was impressive and within four months, she had doubled her start-up capital.
"Sarah, I want to give someone my profit for last month to help me trade" Sarah raised her head sharply wondering if it was her roommate talking. When did she become so financially enlightened?
"Okay… And who is this someone?" She stressed the last word by lifting her fingers to make quotations in the air.
"Kingsley " she crawled into her spot beside her friend on the bed. Everyone in my class knew Kingsley for his posh and extravagant lifestyle, most of us also knew he was a very good trader and collected a token to trade for other people.
"That's a good one." Sarah was still lost in thoughts
"You think it would go well?" It was her time to shrug, she told her there was a huge possibility since they were dealing with Kingsley.
"There's no harm in trying," Sarah told her. She saw how pensive her friend was throughout the first day, she almost couldn't get herself to sleep. She pleaded with her to remain calm and trust the process. Eventually, as the days rolled by, she became calmer and decided that if it didn't work out, she wasn't going to get involved with trading again. At the end of that week when Kingsley called her, Sarah heard a scream and rushed to her side to know what was happening.
"Kingsley made $200 for me!" She was tearing up. Sarah drew her into an embrace and congratulated her.
"I'm officially a trader and an investor," Ella said grinning.
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