FRANCES OKORO: REDEFINING FINANCE 2

Continued from the last post...

Uzo Orimalade of Uzo’s food labs – She used to be an investment banker and made the transition from the 9-5 job to entrepreneurship.

What steps made it easier? – She started transitioning when she was still working.

She knew she was good in home entertainment and so she decided to turn it into a business.

Then when she just started, she would go to work, bake overnight, deliver early in the morning before work.

She also cut down on a lot of expenses and started saving a year’s equivalent of her salary and the deal with priority really helped her.

She cut off stuff she didn’t need, food and all what not and it’d actually amaze us as to how much we can save when we cut off the chop chop.

Aurora Moneyi (Brand manager)

She spoke from the 9-5 job aspect of managing our finances.

First things first, she deals with delayed gratification. Never get what you don’t need. Take away part of your salary, save it, have a budget plan, no impulsive spending.

You don’t have to have everything, food, clothes, etc, you just need what can get you through the day.

Shop on sale, don’t spend your interest from your investment anyhow. Don’t pay rent that’s above your 3months salary, eg, if you earn 200k, your rent shouldn’t be more than 350k per year.

Live as close to your place of employment as possible.

There is nothing like class or status, no one sits and thinks about what shoes you wore to work yesterday.

Do what you need to do to get your finances on track.

And as for investment, even if you work in a 9-5 job, you can invest in businesses that are doing well, have an agreement as to your percentage and grow your money.

Uzo Orimalade

How do you see your goals through in business?

(1) Save enough for your business capital and look at your resources around you, eg, family, having sellers who will have an agreement with you to pay later, etc.

(2) Know the kind of business you want to go into.

(3) Invest in things that you know won’t disappear.

(4) Do what you will give up any part of your day to be a part of.

Diversifying Interests/Business

You must start with cash, and what you can do first of all to boost your business.

Having multiple streams of income is very necessary, you must balance your passion with your business. Become known for something even as you diversify. Don’t be a jack of all trades.

Aurora Moneyi on being single and waiting for marriage before we save and have our own investments…

Our cash isn’t meant for us to just chill and wait for the man to come. We should live in the now.

You should aim to cut off rent as soon as possible. If you can get a land or business, get it. Get your own stuff and start investing in stuff you can trade for more value.

And cars, shoes, bags and all aren’t assets, anything you get and trade for less than what you got it for isn’t an asset at all.

Elaine Shobanjo (CEO Shomya Cosmetics) on being married with kids and managing your finances…

It’s a whole different ballgame when you are married and have kids.

She used to save right from when she was 15 and already had the saving culture locked down but it becomes a different thing altogether when the kids are here.

You might have a fixed income and it will be gone for nappies, kids funds, schools, etc.

So the easiest time to even develop the habit of saving is now.

The other seasons of our lives come with their own challenges.

(my thoughts- Don’t wait for when you are married and say I will have more money then, no, you will even have many more people entitled to your money. The little you save will only be by plenty grace. So START NOW)

Uzo Orimalade on women having bigger dreams for themselves…

Women must aspire to be more and have a bigger goal.

Realign your mind set with sound financial principles and you will be amazed as to how things will align – your spending habits, friends you keep, etc.

You should have people-friends around you that have sound principles about money.

And so it went on and on and on.

Sound amazing principles about money.

It was real talk and practical solutions all through it all.

We had people talking about losing their jobs to sharing ideas on how to make a business work.

And this post will be too long if I cramp it all here.

Like Arese said, don’t get it twisted, you spend 10k anyhow, you’ll spend 100k anyhow.

I believe that if you aren’t faithful in little, there’s no way you can be faithful in much.

So I’m learning to work my way up there to much starting from now.

How can I control the multi million naira business I desire to have if I can’t control the 10k business?

Ladies, gone are the days when we have lots of shoes and bags and feel fly.

No, our mates have lands, stocks, houses, assets worth something and no, not from Aristo things, but from sound financial principles that they have adopted.

I am not too small to have enough funds to help out disadvantaged kids.

I am not too small to have enough funds to travel all around schools and spread forth the message of their living forth purposeful lives...

But this I can only do when I adhere to using my finances the way that I should.

So yes, the RedefiningFinance event was meant for me and you.

We can do better with our finances.

All it takes is discipline and a mighty shift in the way we think.

Our mentality is basically what is holding us back and till we start seeing savings and money in a new light, we will keep going around the same broke mountain.

Hopefully, this post on notes from the event gave you a light bulb moment.

You can start implementing changes that you can make in your finances now.

If you have to open another account to save, do it.

If it’s just 1000naira you can save a month, do it. It still comes to 12000naira a year which is more than nothing.

#RevampYourMoneyMentality.

Have a redefined week of your finances ahead,

Much love,

Frances.

Writer's Bio

Frances Okoro is a Lawyer, writer and blogger.
She dreams of living a full life, complete with traveling the world and sharing her beautiful smiles with everyone she comes across. She is however, more enraptured with a desire to fulfill her God-given purpose on earth.
It is her utmost desire that everyone know that they are on earth to fill a niche, impact the world and manifest their light.
She tries to spread this message across to everyone(mostly ladies) by speaking to young girls in secondary schools and hopes to advance this goal further with her current status as a Nigerian Youth Service Corp Member(NYSC).

You can read more awesome words from her on www.imperfectlyperfectlives.com

You can keep in touch by liking her page on facebook at Imperfectly Perfect Lives

Follow her on twitter @FrancesOkoro/

And on instagram @frances_okoro