The
greatest advantage apart from the convenience of working from home is
keeping your overheads as low as possible. However finding a space in
your present situation is the most immediate task & to manage
this is in is the first challenge you will face.
The
second is a simple idea that you are able to do with a little capital
& which is fairly easy to do practically that is desirable to
others.
I
had the advantage of being self-employed almost from the beginning of
my working life at a very young age. I was interested in style &
fashion which made me was open & aware to new trends.
I
was a young married mother determined to work from home so that I
could bring up my own baby. My husband had potential but was still at
varsity in his third year.
We
living in a rented flat & my first idea did not take up a lot of
space. I had made some Tie & Dye T Shirts as gifts for my family
as Christmas Presents after experimenting from a book on myself with
a kaftan. This was at the end of the 1960’s when it was an
alternative fashion, which I was becoming interested in exploring.
This
only required limited resources ~ Stock of ready-made T shirts, dye,
fixative, elastic, a big pot, a stove, rubber gloves, a stick, a
bucket, an outside washing line, an iron & ironing board.
I
had very little money & I needed some more to buy raw materials.
I realised that I had a small inheritance from my mother & with
evidence of a plan I may be able to negotiate the interest from the
bank.
I
made an appointment with a buyer at Truworths, Salisbury in Rhodesia
& I took some samples of the t shirts & to my surprise &
delight they gave me an order for 6 dozen! The advantage of starting
young is that nothing is impossible yet!
I
booked an appointment with the Bank Manager showed him the order &
asked for the interest to be available to me. It worked!
Immediately
I worked enthusiastically to fulfil the order, but this craft has a
life of its own which is part of its beauty & it is not
predictable! I completed a variety of styles of tie dye in various
colours successfully but my husband on returning that evening found
me in disappointed tears.
Garth consoled me &
assuring me that it was only a matter of taste, asked me which ones I
liked & disliked. I then received my first valuable lesson in
marketing when he kindly packing them neatly for delivery. He added
the finishing touch by kindly by saying “Now you can deliver them
with a confident smile.”
This
was the beginning of my entrepreneurial career!
Fine Feathers Sewing School
