The Stress-Free Mompreneur: 5 Techniques to Tackle Stress and Thrive in Business

by with No Comment HealthLifestyleMotherhood/

Being a mompreneur comes with its own set of challenges. The demanding nature of entrepreneurship combined with the never-ending responsibilities of motherhood can often leave us feeling overwhelmed and stressed. However, managing stress is essential for our well-being and our ability to excel in both our roles as moms and entrepreneurs. In this guide, we will explore five powerful techniques to help you effectively manage stress and find balance in your life.

Understanding Stress Triggers

As a mompreneur, it’s important to recognize and understand the triggers that contribute to your stress. Take some time to reflect and identify the common stressors unique to your situation. Is it the pressure to succeed in your business? The struggle to find a work-life balance? By pinpointing these triggers, you can better understand their impact on your mental and physical health.

Prioritizing Self-Care

Self-care is crucial for maintaining your overall well-being. As a mompreneur, it’s easy to neglect yourself while trying to juggle multiple responsibilities. However, carving out dedicated “me time” is essential. Make it a priority to incorporate exercise, proper nutrition, and adequate sleep into your routine. Set aside moments for relaxation and self-rejuvenation. Mindfulness techniques and meditation can be powerful tools for stress reduction.

Setting Realistic Goals and Boundaries

Setting realistic goals and boundaries is vital for maintaining a healthy work-life balance. As a mompreneur, it’s easy to get caught up in the never-ending to-do list. Learn to establish clear boundaries and communicate them effectively with your family and clients. Remember, it’s okay to say “no” and prioritize self-care and family time.

Building a Support Network

As a mompreneur, having a support network is invaluable. Seek support from fellow mompreneurs or like-minded individuals who understand the unique challenges you face. Online communities, networking events, and mentorship programs can provide guidance and a sense of camaraderie. Don’t be afraid to explore shared caregiving arrangements or outsource certain tasks to lighten the load. Remember, you don’t have to do it all alone.

Embracing Flexibility and Adaptability

Flexibility and adaptability are essential qualities for a successful mompreneur. Embrace the fact that life and business can be unpredictable. Plans may change, and unexpected challenges may arise. By cultivating a flexible mindset, you can adjust your plans and expectations accordingly. Develop strategies to handle unexpected circumstances, and remember that adaptability is your secret weapon.

Practicing Effective Stress Coping Mechanisms

Having effective stress coping mechanisms is essential for managing stress as a mompreneur. Find healthy outlets for stress, whether it’s through hobbies, creative pursuits, or physical activities. Engage in deep breathing exercises, visualization, or progressive muscle relaxation techniques to help calm your mind and body. It’s important to prioritize your mental health; don’t hesitate to seek professional help, such as therapy or counseling when the need arises.

Embracing and Celebrating Small Victories

As a mompreneur, it’s easy to get caught up in the pursuit of big achievements. However, it’s equally important to acknowledge and celebrate the small victories along the way. Recognize and appreciate your accomplishments, no matter how small they may seem. Cultivate a positive mindset and practice gratitude daily. By focusing on the positives, you’ll find renewed motivation and joy in your journey as a mompreneur.

Conclusion

Managing stress as a mompreneur is a continuous effort. By implementing these techniques, you can effectively tackle stress and find the balance you desire. Remember, it’s essential to understand your stress triggers, prioritize self-care, set realistic goals and boundaries, build a support network, embrace flexibility and adaptability, practice effective stress coping mechanisms, and celebrate every small victory along the wa. These measures gives you the power to thrive in both your business and your role as a mother in business. Embrace the journey, nurture yourself, and believe in your ability to overcome any challenge that comes your way.

Your kid is not watching too much TV…

by with No Comment Featured MomsMotherhood/Parenting

Do you think your kid is watching too much TV?

I recently visited the pediatrician with my son. It was his first time in the States so there were lots of questions asked.

The one question that stuck with me was about his digital content consumption.

The nurse asked “how many hours would you say he spends watching TV?”

“About 6 to 8 hours” I said.

Six to Eight hours! Six to eight hours is the entire day for a toddler who sleeps 12hours through the night.

Drenched in guilt, I decided I was going to minimize how much TV he watches from then on.But first, I consulted google (as always).

How much is too much?
Silhouette of girl watching tv

According to the American Academy of Pediatricians, children ages 2-4 years should have a maximum screen time of 1 hour per day. Anything above this means kids are watching too much TV.

Reading this worsened my plight. What a bad mother I have been. Armed with this piece of information, I set out to turn on the TV for just one hour a day.

Who was I kidding?

No…not because my toddler was throwing tantrums. Actually, he did not oppose as much as I expected him to. The joke was on me.

But the entire incident got me thinking. Is my son really watching TV for 8 hours? Is he watching too much TV at all?

Although we’ve pretty much settled into a routine, I decided to observe and possibly track our media consumption over the next couple of days.

Our Daily Routine

I’m a newbie to the States. My son is going on 3years. He has 3 more years before he can be enrolled in school and pre-school starts at 4years. We decided against Day Care mainly because of COVID and the cost ($250 per week is a lot of money).

So, I am currently a stay-at-home mom, with a 3-year-old, a 10-month-old and their father. Between catering to my needs and those of our family, I need the kids – the oldest specifically to be engaged so I can get things done.

The TV comes on at about 10:30am and stays on till around 9:00pm.

Between these 12 hours, we learn, play, eat and nap. Nap times can last anytime between 40mins to 2hours. Sometimes twice a day. At about 1pm every day, we often have a play/learn time where we use building blocks and colouring books. This can last anywhere between 15 to 45 mins.

Feedings are about 4 to 6 times daily including snacks. These can range from 10 to 30mins.

And then there is bath time, which ranges from 10 to 40mins at about 6:30pm each night. Around this same time, their father would have returned from work and taken over the TV. This is interspersed with family time, a reading session and a night snack until about 9pm when we all retire to bed.

Assuming we allocate 30mins to each of the stated activities, that’s a total of 3.5 hours off. Let’s add in 30 mins for each feeding time 4 times a day. That’s another 2 hours off. Leaving us with about 2.5 hours.

Research Vrs. Reality

Most studies on the effects of long hours of screen viewing cite 3 main concerns; physical activity, sedentary behavior and sleep problems.

Half the time that the TV is on, my toddler is on his feet, jumping, singing and dancing to some ditty about numbers, colours, and alphabets.

In terms of feeding, well you know how toddlers eat. I bet he burns all he eats whiles he is eating given the acrobatics that accompany each bite.

If that’s not physical activity enough…

For sedentary behaviour, my toddler follows me everywhere once I’m out of sight. So, if I have to pee 10 times, he is with me. Add that to how many times he has to pee and his sister needs a diaper change.

For all 4 or more times that I have to prepare his meal or snack, he follows me into the kitchen, using my utensils as toy drums. Definitely not sluggish or sedentary.

Finally, he gets between 10 to 12 hours of sleep through the night and naps at least once during the day, which is as expected for his age.

Of course, not all days are rosy. But on average, this is what a day looks like.

In essence, the 8 hours I bleated was no eight hours at all you see. And even if my son is watching a bit more TV than he should, he is getting enough sleep, physical activity and meeting his developmental milestones.

Not so bad after all

If we were in Ghana, he would have been in school by now, as is the case of most toddlers his age. Meaning, TV viewing would be limited to after school hours and weekends, which is not bad all.

So, if your toddler is in school, and you are worried they are watching too much TV…?

Breathe Mama. Take a step back. Observe it all. Take notes and monitor. It may turn out not to be as bad as you think, specifically when it comes to TV viewing.

“Beginning at about 2 years, quality TV—well-designed, age-appropriate programs with specific educational goals—can provide an additional route to early language and literacy for children”

National Library of Medicine

The fact is, many studies lump all screen time together. But there actually is a growing amount of evidence that co-viewing quality content with your kids can positively influence children’s social adaptive skills, sleep patterns and behaviours.

This is likely the case in most households as preschoolers are usually with a parent or designated caregiver.

So, TV is not so bad after all.

But if you still fear that your child is watching too much TV, look out for these signs.

Minimize , Monitor & Engage (MME)
Shot of an adorable little girl watching tv and spending time with her father at home

That said, I have done my best to minimize his screen time. The key is to minimize, monitor and engage (MME).

I have resorted to turning on the TV only after 12pm each day as often and as practical as possible. Try this if you can. There are good days and not so good days. In the end, kids are kids and they will find other ways to play when the TV is not on.

I also turn it off during learn/play times, nap times and sometimes meal times, thereby reducing the distractions from having it on in the background.

In terms of content, I mostly choose interactive and activity-based content. These are free and accessible through kids’ apps. My favorite is YouTube Kids (not listed), where you can find content on a variety of subjects and the ads are for kids so you don’t have to worry about their exposure to any adult content.

By using kids’ apps, you are able to monitor what they watch and subsequently engage them in conversations about it.

Note that, though these tactics seem suited to stay at home moms with preschoolers, you can adapt them for use during the weekends or on vacations if your child in enrolled in day care or pre-school.

Check out for similar resources relating to your child’s age and current status (for instance if they are homeschooled) and fine tune them to your taste. You can even try this family media plan.

Whatever happens, don’t be hard on yourself. You love your kids and you are doing your best for them. There maybe excesses here and there but that’s ok Mama. They will turn out just fine.

So … do you think your kid is watching too much TV?

Diaries of a Momemployeneur: Know when to Outsource or Seek Expert Advise

by with No Comment Fashion
Sometimes in an attempt to cut down on cost in your business or your journey as an entrepreneur you may employ quite a number of Do-It-Yourself techniques. But sometimes this strategy may not work because eventually you realize you spent much more than you would have used if that task was outsourced. I had contacted quite a number of people to assist with a website but unfortunately the quotes were on a high side. One day whilst browsing online I chanced upon an advert which looked catchy “Build a website on your own for free in less than 48hours”.
“Wow I said that was my moment of saving some money”., I thought to myself.  I signed up on the site and went through the procedure . I chose my template , and started working on the interface design. But wait, now I had to choose a domain name and pay for hosting and that wasn’t free. But they never stated that in their ad. I went ahead to pay for the domain name and the hosting for a month to try it out first.
Went back to the website design but realized it was getting tough so I sought the advise of an expert to help and I made him aware I had my domain and hosting as well as template already. He went through the template I had chosen and checked out the package for hosting for a year.
Imagine my disappointment when he revealed to me the hosting alone cost much more than he was charging me initially for developing the website. Also getting plug-ins were going to be way expensive than the platform he had initially discussed with me to implement.

I tried to cut corners but eventually I could not even use the domain name and hosting site again. My money went down the drain.

Let’s check out some aspects of our businesses that play an integral role in its success and may function better when outsourced;

  • Graphic Designing:   Getting a good graphic designer for your business helps you to stand out in marketing campaigns and promotions. Especially for your blog and social media handles. It may be expensive to have a good graphic designer on retainer so usually small business outsource when they need to meet their graphic designing needs.
  • Book keeping: Book keeping is a commonly outsourced task for small businesses. It is essential to get an expert for this aspect for your business as it helps you manage your taxes, income statements and petty cash. All these help you to know how your business is progressing.
  • Website design: Your website is the face of your company online. Its essential to get an expert to handle this as it directly reflects on your brand image. If you are not a web designer you could outsource to a freelancer as this may sometimes be cheaper as compared to a website design company. As  business owners it is essential that we learn to outsource delicate aspects of your business which you do not have any expertise or seek expert advise if you want to Do it yourself. Eventually you are able to weigh the cost benefits. If it is something you can quickly learn on your own and work it out. Bingo! Then you are good to go

Author

Mary A.S.Sackey

HR/Operations Manager

NALO Solutions Limited.

WeMompreneur Feature: Novan Consult Empowers Women

by with No Comment Featured Moms

I am Jennifer Esenam Asare, a wife, mother and social entrepreneur. I am the founder and director of Novan Consult, a social enterprise that engages young people and women through social advocacy, empowerment and networking programs. I am particularly concerned about human resource development but not in the conventional sense (as in recruiting and training people for organizations). I believe everyone made in the image of God is not dump or incapable. You just need to identify that thing that makes them unique. Help them develop that unique quality and they are able to exhibit their intelligence and be their best. Therefore I seek to harness this in every way possible for people to live an empowered meaningful life.

I have worked in diverse organisations for a total of seven years mostly as an administrator or in the administration department. I have also served as secretary and organizing secretary in some non-denominational youth groups and churches.

I hold a Master’s Degree in Public Administration, a first Degree in Philosophy and a Certificate in Youth Development Work all from the University of Ghana. I also hold a Certificate in Project Management from IDPM.

Novan Consult which is barely a year old, currently operates actively the Inspired Woman Conference and the Next Level Mentoring and Grooming Clinic for Women and Youth respectively. We have had two sessions of engagement for each wing and the response and patronage is encouraging. Participants in our programs have given feedback indicating their satisfaction.

An upcoming I’m Empowered session of the Inspired Woman Conference is looking forward to inspire and empower especially women to rise up to the task of being informed on legal matters that affects them one way or the other. Ignorance of the law, they say is no excuse. So we are bringing in experienced lawyers to talk, discuss and answer questions on legal matters bothering on MARRIAGE, DIVORCE, REMARRIAGE and WILL.

I believe that, it is not for the fun of it that the church ensures that, marriages conducted by the church is certified under the laws of the state. Even though marriage is a God idea and instituted by him according to the bible, the church cannot conduct marriage as a spiritual entity.

Just as Jesus paid taxes to the state, and his parents having to travel to participate in a census resulting in his birth in Bethlehem, there are laws in every society that governs its people. Hence, there are laws in Ghana governing our actions and inactions including Marriage, Remarriage, Divorce and Will among others.

Novan Consult seeks to equip people with the right information to help them make intelligent decisions on issues that affect their lives.

We shall therefore explore questions such as:

What are the legal implications of marriage?

What must one do /know when marrying someone with kids?

What is disclosure in marriage?

Are there legal rights /responsibilities?

At what point can one seek for divorce?

What is a WILL?

At what point should one make a WILL? And many more.

To support the program kindly contact Novan Consult on +233262773300 / +233509044091.
Follow them on Facebook at novanconsultgh and on instagram on @novanconsultgh.
Email them on : novanconsultgh@gmail.com

Mother’s Day Interview: Bayabs Enterprise

by with No Comment Featured Moms

Meet Yvonne Rashida Bakuri, the creator of Bayabs Enterprise

 It has been quite a journey for Yvonne– it wasn’t until her maternity that she discovered she had a passion for fashion and creative designing.  In our May feature Read her interview to learn more about her and her business Bayabs Enterprise.

How did you start your journey as a Mompreneur?
I was home on maternity and bored. At that time, I had made and worn an african print shoe with a matching clutch bag to a wedding and friends,  family and friends of friends were texting/contacting me to make some for them so I decided to indulge them and gradually that become a business.

What inspired you to take that path in business?
Friends and Family were and still are my inspiration.

A little bit about your company and what you do?
Bayabs Enterprise is the company. The brand Bayabs is a clothing and accessories brand that makes contemporary clothing and accessories with African print. The businesses started in April 2015.

 

A little background about yourself?

My name is Yvonne Rashida Bakuri. I’m a wife and a mother of 3. I hold a BSc. in Development planning from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. I’m also a resettlement expert. I am the creative behind Bayabs.

How you manage your day to day activities?
Listing down what I need to do and at what time I have to do it.

How are you able to balance taking care of your family and manage the business?

For me, Family comes first. I can only concentrate on work when my family has been taken care of. The kids leave for school and then I get to work. I don’t have help. So I need to be home before they get home. I try to do what I cannot do at home quickly before it’s time to get home. I plan with my head tailor on what needs to be done before getting home. I respond to emails and Whatsapp messages, take pictures, prepare orders for shipping /posting at home. When I cannot go to the post myself, i make arrangements for them to be picked up by a delivery company/person so delegating even though it is difficult for me, I have learnt to delegate more of my responsibilities with close supervision. I also have a very great support system. When my husband is in town, he helps a lot. My mom and siblings are especially helpful when I need them.

What are the challenges you face?
Cashflow: Like most small businesses, the money won’t stay. The bulk of the money you make goes into paying bills.
Balancing quality with growth. As we grow and we employ more hands, making sure employees pay attention to detail without having to micro manage that aspect is  a great challenge for me but I’m working hard towards my quality control.
Shipping/Delivery, when you do not control delivery, it is difficult especially with shipping outside the country. Delivery has not been too reliable so i have had to factor delivery periods into completing orders

Most Ghanaians not too trusting of online shops. I do not have a brick and mortar shop. I take orders via Whatsapp and through the website. Most of my clients are based outside the country. I realized Ghanaians resident in the country have issues shopping online. They do not trust the online system from my observation.
Power supply. Even though dumsor (erratic power outage) has ended, we still get occasional power outage.

What are the processes and systems that have helped you in your entrepreneurial journey?

To do lists! I try to write down the days work the previous night(Invoices i need to send out, emails and whatsapp messages I need to respond to, follow ups, fabric shopping or sorting, design and pattern cutting, shipping, calls to make, orders to fulfill on the website etc) Listing them down helps a lot.I rely on technology a lot and that has been very very helpful. Apps help a great deal. Those that help with scheduling social media posts, creating invoices on the go, having meetings through WhatsApp calls and skype videos etc.Delivery/Dispatchers are a welcome.Getting photographers for photoshoots.

Social media(social media ads) has helped with marketing my products to new customers since I do not have a brick and mortar shop.

These are processes, procedures and systems that have been very helpful to me.

9. Advise to any young one who wants to start a business.

Dream big. Don’t be shy to start small but be ready to sacrifice and WORK.  HARD!!!!

To learn more about Bayabs Enterprise visit their website on www.bayabs.com. Contact them on 0208404882 or through email on bayabsgh@gmail.com. Follow them on Instagram on bayabsaccessories.

Our  Mompreneur Monthly Features are open to Mothers in business who would love to share their experiences with upcoming and budding Mompreneurs. If you would love to feature on our blog contact us on 0249879525 or through email on mompreneurgh@gmail.com

WeMompreneur Interview: HIREghana- Irene G. Addison

by with No Comment Featured Moms

We had the opportunity to interview Irene Gloria Addison of HIREghana and we learnt quite a lot of things from here concerning Human Resource Management. She seems to an expert in what she does and does it very well. Let’s read on as she shares her journey as a Mompreneur with us.

Tell us a bit about yourself?

Of course, I am a mom of plenty of boys and I am loving it!  And we are a multilingual & multicultural family.

I came to HR from Educational Project Management, where I started slowly getting more and more involved in HR & Recruitment over the years.

I started HIREghana (www.HIREgh.com) almost 3 years ago out of my strong belief that bringing the right candidates and the right organizations together, is what makes the difference in great organizations and also in delivery of successful projects.

I have always envisioned the Recruiter’s relationship with any Client as a strategic partnership (than just a plain Stakeholder) where we connect them to the genuine talent that will make their organizations outstanding and that’s what we do.

What does it take to be a successful working mum?

Definitely good planning of both your workweek and your weekend.

Disciplined kids make life easier; so does a supportive husband/ partner, family and neighbors.

And if possible leave your work issues there when you go home and keep home items from       interfering with your work- environment.

Basically, strike the right balance between motherhood and entrepreneurship please.

What led to your decision to become an entrepreneur?

Having worked in the Recruitment & Staffing industry, I knew that I could be nicer to candidates and I can really add value to employers: to the best of my knowledge, we are the only company that pre-screens candidates and only if qualified spends their CVs with their explicit permission to clients. We never engage in the art of ‘CV -Spamming’.

What are some of the challenges playing a dual role as a mother and entrepreneur?

Working long hours – I mean really long hours, including weekends.  So, I have learnt when it is time to do any family activity, that is the priority of the moment and it did never gets postponed.

I might never be the World’s best entrepreneur but I will be the World’s Greatest possible mother – that simple!

How much capital do I need to begin life as an entrepreneur?

As a philosophy, we are against raising capital – at least in most cases. If you can manage to operate with no borrowed money, you will be exposed to the full spectrum of all possible business risks and you will make the mistakes than no business school could ever teach you; so you get all this valuable lessons early in the life of your Start-up. When you ‘play’ with borrowed money, you become by ‘nature’ risk averse, and possibly end up postponing making several mistakes at a point in time where they are most costly. Please do remember that a big risk could also be a great opportunity)

We subscribe to the idea of organic sustainable growth. On purpose, our investment ‘seed’-capital was the Registrar’ fees to become a legal business and those needed to acquire a domain; originally we even used a free-hosting website before investing in a normal webhosting solution.

Our emphasis was placed not on finding money to finance our growth, but on finding the right intellectual capital, both in the people who work for us and in our candidates.
Our growth and success has been based on the classic word- of- mouth, a strong branding effort and the way we respectfully treat our customers and our candidates.

OK… let me summarize please:

  • Invest the time to develop a solid Business Plan, instead of eternally chasing capital.
  • Grow organically in a sustainable and scalable manner. Don’t get caught up in the ‘find financing’ rat-race please- run on your own ‘steam’ instead of running with all the restrictions coming with someone else’s money.
  • Love and face business risks – but prepare for them (risk management & contingency)

Practical Fact: You will face a lot of social bias and there is very limited & restricted capital/ funding for mother- entrepreneurs.

What are some of the challenges you faced starting your own business?

As any Start-up, we at HIREghana had to develop a lot of new relationships and work extremely hard to gain trust of our clients and candidates in the shortest possible time. We decided to differentiate ourselves not on price but on high quality and high impact recruitment. We prescreen all our candidates (usually twice) and we perform random employment and reference checks before we introduce any candidate to a client- we never blindly flood a client with CVs the way other competitors do.

Unfortunately, at least in West Africa (we have different experiences with European and East Africa companies) employers do not yet realize how expensive is to hire the cheapest recruiter or the cheapest employee; we should all aim at long-term strategies.

We also invest time (at our expense) in teaching the prescreened how to interview, something that seems not to be a common nor prevailing skill in Africa – at least in our experience. We even come across quite frequently of highly educated and experienced professionals who lack those skills. Maybe that was the past, but why the majority of new graduates, can’t write e CV or lack interview skills?  What do the people in the University Career Placement offices do?

We once in a while get rejected by newcomer organizations because they wrongfully assume that we are not big enough to handle massive recruitment. We decided to keep our niche and remain a small (less than 15 employees) but high-impact recruiter.

Once in a while, we get faced with unethical situations (e.g. if you find a job for my nephew or myself, I will give you this recruitment assignment) but we always -as a matter of principle- walk out of it and we always walk tall !!!

Our focus –from Day 1- has always been in creating value for our Clients and our Candidates too.

How were you handling your life as a mother and a corporate lady if you have ever worked for someone?

Good communication and clear expectation between the employer and me, resolved all issues; also, I have been lucky to have employer- support which never take it as a given.

What has always been a grave open issue -according to my own experiences and humble observations-  is that both to- be- mothers and employers (including colleagues) are not prepared to address pregnancy and any related absence from the work floor (especially in the case of complicated pregnancies).

If we have internships, traineeships, etc., … then why we can’t have ‘momships’ (or even ‘fatherships’) to help an employee prepare to the parenthood transition and then smoothly come back to work?

Obviously if you are away for several weeks/ months and you keep no contact even for a few hours per week, you will return to a work environment that could be drastically different. Wouldn’t that make any returning mother feel awkward and influence her productivity?

Please tell us about what you do and how we can get in touch to patronize your products / services?

HIREghana (www.HIREgh.com) is a Leading Human Resource Management and   Recruitment Agency and a HR & Organizational Development Consultancy providing intelligent and high quality human resource- and recruitment- solutions to business and institutions in all parts of Ghana. HIREghanaprovides the full spectrum of Human Resource Solutions and Services.
Besides classic active headhunting, we also offer Career Coaching and Executive Mentoring. Over the last year, we have also started been involved in Recruitment for Startups, Board Member Selection & Setup of BoDs for SMEs (as part of our OD consulting activities)For Employers- we could:

  • help you find the right employee or perform various checks.
  • organize the right Customer Loyalty training for you
  • or help you with all sorts of HR matters if you are a Start-up or a SME.

You can contact us please at Clients@HIREgh.com or at +233 266 555 907 and +233 50 228 5155.

For Candidates – you can contact us at CV@HIREgh.com for services such as:

  • registering your CV with us (Word files only + please include a cover letter)
  • 1- on- 1 CV & Interview skills workshops
  • Career Counselling & Executive Coaching.

Final words of encouragement to any mother out there struggling with combining work and housekeeping.

Maybe it would sound too trivial, but I will strongly advise to talk to your partner or your family members (if you are a single mom) and even to your neighbors and explicitly explain to them what kind of help and support you need from them and why.  Don’t underestimate the kindness that people could exhibit if they understand why they are asked to do something to help you. Your partner should share all house-keeping chores – in 2017, you should not be coming home from work and having to cook, clean the house, feed the kids, while someone has launched themselves on the couch consuming colossal amount of fufu and beer while successfully watching TV or facebooking…  And once in a while your family & neighbors could help by watching after your children or getting things for you whenever they go to the market, etc.

And always have the grace and kindness to return / payback all that help, ideally by going the extra mile.  And remember… that extra mile, is never crowded! And it always pays off to drive there!

Finally, I am most thankful to God for blessing me with extremely supportive family, friends, neighbors, associates / employees, partners, clients and candidates too.

Thank you,

Irene

About the Author: Irene Gloria Addison is the owner of HIREghana [Human Intelligence Recruitment], a Leader Recruitment Agency and HRM & OD Consultancy. Irene -who has a LinkedIn footprint of 30.000+ connections- and her team have also been constantly mentoring and coaching candidates on how to improve their job-hunting & career- planning skills.

Irene welcomes your feedback/ comments/ remarks/ suggestions via your email message to Press@HIREgh.com

Our website is http://www.hiregh.com

International Women’s Day Feature: Matilda Serwaa Frimpong

by with No Comment Featured Moms

Our Mompreneur Special Guest feature for International Womens Day is Matilda Serwaa Frimpong neé Sarkodie. She is a Logistician , wife , mother of two and manager of a restaurant  . She is a proud product of Holy child school cape coast and KNUST Business school alumni . She loves music , loves traveling and is a huge lover of foods .
Enjoy as she shares her Entrepreneur Journey with WeMompreneurs……………..

I started Fruggies granola as a result of search to find healthy yummy snack to back my healthy lifestyle after the birth of my first son . So I researched and boom 💥!!! I love oats , I love nuts and seeds then GRANOLA here we go . I never decided or thought of building an empire from granola . I got my inspiration from my lecturer on campus whom I gave a bottle to him and his wife on Val’s day when i was in the university. Then he kept asking me “Tilly when is fruggies granola hitting the markets ? You must consider selling this to folks who want to keep snacking healthy ” . So I told my husband who was already and still a fan of fruggies granola ! He gave and still gives me 100% support and invested in the business . Then we started 3 years ago .

At Palmat Fruggies Enterprise , we are a small batch homemade granola . Our granola is made of oats , nuts like cashews and almonds , coconuts and other healthy seeds with spices and syrups ! We are located in Kumasi but have suppliers in Accra , Tema, Kumasi  and make nationwide deliveries always . Officially I have one staff who is Very helpful ! But my husband is unofficially the quality control manager . He just love testing every batch ! You already know why ! *winks* we are the best no doubt ! We hope to employ more ladies and gentlemen on board very soon .

My typical day begins with God first then preparing the family for school and work.  I get into our mini kitchen or factory by 8 am with my assistant and begin mixing our batches of granola . By 11 am , I am off to the restaurant to make sure things are in place.  By 5 pm off to pick my toddler from school . Then mid week service  at church will be attended if any . If not , family time 😊.  As a wife , mother and also a worker else where , balancing is a huge issue . I need more than 24 hours in a day . Haha ! But on a serious note to be a super woman , you need to ask for help sometimes ! So I do ask for help when I need it !  Human resource is key to every successful business too ! It may sound cliche but trust me
that is it . That makes balancing good for me .

Some few challenges : work space , finances and human resource ! I pray to get a bigger space God willing but that comes with money haha ! I pray government gives more attention to small business owned by women especially mompreneurs.  What has really helped in to get this far ? Consistently making sure we produce Quality Granola and make customers happily healthy by serving them with great Customer Service .

Any lady who wants to do a business this is my advice to you . ” Do not sell products ! Sell solutions ! And make sure you give nothing but the best ! Start small . Start where you are and You can be inspired but do not copy . Be consistent, I repeat, be consistent and be focused “Our email is palmatfruggies@yahoo.com
Instagram: @fruggiesgh__
Facebook : Palmat Fruggies
Call: 0247509522

Ghana Mompreneurs Club organizes first Mompreneurship Success Clinic

by with No Comment Featured Moms

It was a beautiful moment when Mothers in Business gathered on the 21st of February, 2018 for the first Mompreneurship Success Clinic organized by Founder of the Ghana Mompreneurs Club, Mrs. Ethel Adjorlolo Marfo.

The event brought together over 40 mothers in business who are passionate about growing and nurturing their business right. These mothers fall within various industries Fashion, hospitality, maintenance, IT, Business and Accounting, Film Production.

 

It was a nice gathering sharing ideas and experiences as well as having mothers share with us their business successes since the year began.

 

 

The topic for discussion at the clinic was cultivating a compelling business personality.
The Founder of the club shared some tips on how participants could use their personality to the advantage of their businesses

She shared some  tips on how to horn our personalities in this regard;
Participants were admonished by the founder to  have an inner peace in what they do. Having peace within enables one to relax, think and plan.
We also learnt that sharing our life’s  experiences is also a great way to sell and market our brand your brand. It could be an experience that led us to beginning the business, It could be another side of you that people do not know. It could also be a hobby or another passion you have aside your career or business.
In as much as every business would like to make money, we were advised to choose impact over the income. Leaving an impact indirectly would lead us to the income.

After our discussion session, GMC awarded the Top five mompreneurs who harnessed their social media to create awareness for their business

The first went to Mompreneur Jennifer of JQ Essentials , dealer in home ware, shoes and appliques for clothes.

Second award went to Mompreneur Millicent of Milly’s Vibrant Creation, known for their beautiful hair accessories for women and children. Stitchwear Ghana, Serwaakoto Naturals and The Delse Shop took the third, fourth and fifth positions respectively.

The give aways for the day were by kind courtesy KNICS services Limited, your home for all your customized corporate and gift souvenirs and Gyapiaba a handcraft company.

Tickets were given out to the premiering of a movie by one of the Mompreneurs Ama D. Oduro Tamakloe. The Movie Premier is slated for the 3rd of March, 2018. Mompreneur Ama is the founder and CEO of Food 101 , Real Adverts and Co-founder of Kairos Productions.

Some Mompreneurs had the opportunity to exhibit their products. After the event we took the opportunity to do some shopping. After all, If we don’t support each other who will?

 

To participate in the Ghana Mompreneurs Club monthly success clinic follow them on Facebook on Ghana Mompreneurs Club and on Instagram on ghana_mompreneurs_club for all updates.

MUM & KIDS CHARITY SHOW 2018

by with No Comment Featured Moms

OJeanne in collaboration with Women Everywhere (W.E) Projects, is once again excited to host thesecond edition of Mum and kids Charity show at Alisa Hotel, in Accra, on the 10th of March, 2018.

 The idea of Mum and kids show is to support and give back to important causes and charity organizations that are making an impact in the lives of women and children. This year, the event falls in line with the celebration of International Women’s Day with the theme : PRESS FOR PROGRESS.

The event will draw over 150 loyal customers who are influential decision makers and female CEO’s of trendsetting and diverse leading brands in all genres of businesses.

It is supported by Ghana Mompreneurs Club which also seeks to bring the most reliable support network for Moms in Business; also known for elevating budding Mompreneurs through strategic business promotion.

 

The Evening

The event consists of a fashion runway show and a few musical performances which is poised to receive exceptional press exposure and bring more women and families together to impact the lives of the less privileged annually. There will also be a Raffle Draw, Auction to benefit CANCER CONNECT GH, which is the beneficiary chosen for this year’s edition, and many prizes to be won.

Fashion designers in attendance include OJeanne, RowRachel’s stitches, Milly’s Vibrant Creations and Bijou Lfashion.

The event organizers anticipates 150-200 guests in attendance. The majority of guests are femalesbetween 28 and 59 years old and children between 2 and 14 years.

Find below full details to the event

Date: Saturday, 10th March, 2018

Time: 3pm – 7pm

Venue: Alisa Hotel (Asante Hall)

~Runway presentation

~Cocktail session (30 minutes after event) .

Book your tickets by sending mobile money payment to 0244503147. Add “name” to the reference column. Tickets are going for GHS50 for adults and GHS20 for kids.

Follow OJeanne Clothing on Instagram and Facebook on OJeanne Clothing.

For further enquiries 0244503147

How to Optimize your Business Presence on social media

by with No Comment Business

Social media is gradually changing huge advertisement budgets which we once incurred in our business especially for start-ups. Currently with as little as about $1 you are able to run a paid ad to reach quite some number of people within a specific chosen target group. Social media has come in at the right time as we in the era of entrepreneurship. Lots of people are now  turning their passion into a business which means we look forward to more individual businesses in the years ahead.

Owner of Babybliss GH, Mompreneur Alexis Antwi shares her experiences on how she used social media to win in her business. She uses some simple strategies which has now given her a lot of followers on Instagram and Facebook. . Read on as she shares some of these simple  strategies with us on our blog;

1. DISPLAY PRICES- I’ve had customers who have said that’s why they chose to buy from me as is saves them the hassle of calling or messaging for prices.

2. SALES –I have sales n reduce prices on some items on special holidays for a limited period.

3. FREEBIES – I deliver for free when customers place an order for the first time and it’s over a certain amount. I give free products and samples or sometimes just little pack of sweets or a chocolate bar. You will be amazed the difference it makes.

4  FREE ADVICE/CONSULTATION – I don’t just sell baby food, I eat some too and have tried the varieties with my boys so I am able to advice parents and I usually get it right.

5. RESEARCH! RESEARCH! RESEARCH – I’m constantly looking for discounts and offers when doing my purchasing online so I can always afford to sell some products cheaper than my competitors and still make profit. I research on the use of products and child/pregnancy related issues  to give better advice.

6. NETWORK – If I meet people anywhere I give a card. I have joined groups as well to connect with others.

7. CARE – I check up on customers a lot. I recently started saving most kids birthdays so we can send out birthday greetings as well.

Getting customers on social media could be easy after- all. You need to get the right content for the right target group. Engage your customers everytime on your page and make sure you adopt very  good visuals also to get their attention.