This post is for stay-at-home moms in Nigeria, some parts of Africa and other places that are not fully industrialised and don't have a system that works. I write this post with my full chest as we like to say in Nigeria, and for readers from other countries, it means without mincing words.
Being a mom without a job or a trade is difficult, not in the way it is for other moms in countries that have access to the most necessities but have not positioned themselves to take advantage of it. Let me give you a background picture of what it is like.
The real story
There is a reason why a lot of Nigerians excel when they go abroad to further their studies, especially those who had their first degree back home. Back home, most people have to go fetch their water because they don't have access to water in their homes. The power supply is poor in a lot of areas and you depend on petrol or diesel generators to power your phone, laptop, press your clothes, pump water and everything else that needs electricity. This applies to the vast majority of our people.
There are times you want to withdraw some money from the ATM and there is a long queue already, there is no service or the machines are powered down.
When our young people travel abroad and see that they do not have to spend time fetching water or running to and fro for services that are automated, it's a game changer. There is more time to spend on their studies, and they can do a part-time job on the side, they give their attention to what took them abroad in the first place, that is most of them anyway.
Stay with me here, please.
Back home, if your job needs electricity you can imagine the amount of money you will spend which will eventually fall back on your clients. If you are working, you receive a salary monthly but pay house rent for a full year and some landlords demand two years' rent. Not every business idea can survive in our clime if you don't have money to keep it afloat or get someone who can sponsor the project until profit begins to come in.
Take blogging, virtual assistance or any other online job or business, for example, you need access to power and internet service. Aside from when mom duties call, I cannot write as often as I would like to because of the erratic power supply and then my phone's torchlight will serve to light the room for my kids until they are asleep and by then the battery would be low. We also know how much we pay to subscribe for data and before you know it, it's finished.
When you watch the news, you see children who achieve great feats academically and in technology and a few weeks later, you don't hear about them anymore. Life returns to what it was before that. It's no wonder many people are talking about japa and those who have the opportunity to japa don't want to come back (japa means to travel abroad).
This is what life is like for the vast majority of Nigerians.
The dilemma confronting stay-at-home moms in Nigeria
Do you see how the situation looks for a stay-at-home mom? Your husband's income alone is not enough to pay house rent, feed the family, pay school fees, and buy clothes and other necessities.
If you don't have a side hustle, your kids will suffer in the long run. If you don't want to do it for yourself, do it for them, please. There are too many young kids hustling on their own on the streets; they are being taken advantage of and lured into a life of crime. It is our job to take care of them until they have come of age to do so on their own and not the other way around.
Being a stay-at-home mom means you have the odds stacked against you almost sky-high. The good news is that if you put your mind to it, there is absolutely nothing you cannot do. Your education is more than an avenue to get an office job, it prepared you to think outside the box and apply creativity to what you choose to do. Don't let your many degrees make you look down on side hustles that can put food on your table. Remember, work is honourable. Besides, being a mom has equipped you with skills you may not be aware of - time management, managerial skills, budgeting, communication, problem-solving, etc.
What I do
Take blogging for an example is not a get-rich-quick scheme, it's work and it does not pay immediately. It's something you have to keep at for a while as opposed to the hype. In addition to blogging, I also have other side hustles. I sew and also retail peanuts burgers and kuli kuli. For our non-Nigerian readers, kuli kuli is a crunchy snack made from groundnut (peanuts) paste and a blend of spices.
I buy at wholesale prices from Angees Foods and supply at supermarkets, kiosks and hotels. The profit is not much at first but there is a lot of demand for it and I make more money from the turnover translating to daily income. When I don't have clients' clothes to sew, money still comes in from my peanuts burger and kuli kuli sales.
What you can do
There are a score of ideas you can choose from; learn a skill, and if you cannot afford to pay for it, you can ask to work there without pay in exchange. Offer home lessons, use your smartphone to drop ship, take advantage of the Facebook marketplace, and learn about mini importation or other mini businesses you can do from home.
By all means, please do something. Selling food items never goes out of style, it is and will always be in demand because we eat every day. Use your verandah to sell foodstuff or put a table out front where more people can see you and patronise your business. Be consistent and you will see the difference; don't keep changing from one line of business to another, rather, keep at it until people know they can always get that item from you.
Set some money aside for savings no matter how little you can save per time. It can come in handy to reinvest in your business or take care of an emergency.
Until we have a working system in place...
...the way startups work right now is through person-to-person marketing. If you don't have a shop or your location is quite a distance from where your business thrives, you will have to go talk to people. Take my peanuts burger and kuli kuli supply, for example, I started by going to the shops on my street to share samples and talk about the products. From there I went through other streets around and branched far and wide from there.
Collect phone numbers from the people you have spoken to and given samples and give them your contacts too. If they don't call after a week, call and find out if you can come and supply or if they are not interested in your product. You have to be sure who is in and who is out.
There is no room for giving up, you have no idea how strong you are or how resourceful you can be until you get out of your comfort zone and face your fears. You can do this. Whatever your choice of hustle as long as it is legit, you will scale through. There will be disappointments and setbacks but the most important thing is that you get back on track again. You got this.
Final words
You cannot afford to be a stay-at-home mom and be idle. Even if you are married to a rich man, the tides can change for anyone at any time. Many rich men don't prepare their will beforehand and you would think education and exposure will stop greedy relatives from claiming the deceased properties. Some men do not encourage their wives to work, learn a trade or do anything to earn an income and yet cannot meet their family's needs either. If you are in such a situation, don't give up on yourself and don't give in to everything that is working to break you down. You are a mother and there is nothing you cannot do for your kids, let this be your mantra as you work your way to the top. Cheers to our success!
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