My first Resignation..... Integrity in Business

Fast forward 2004……

All the highs of Tara systems started to wear off when my take home pay could no longer take me home. Something about me (can be good or bad, depends),  when I want a change, I want it so badly, I can’t see straight, I start to get very restless, like someone is choking me. It gets really bad and at this point, nothing else matters. So although no job offers had been made from the handful of interviews I had attended, I resigned! My very first resignation letter J, bye bye Seni Williams.

My colleagues then thought, “this girl is mad”. You don’t have another job and you resign, who does that! Oh well, I only sat at home for about 2 weeks, because believe it or not FCMB called me for a final interview, with my 2’2. The interview was with one of the Executive Directors at the time, Biodun Oyapero and I was so sure I wasn't getting the job! You see, I had this fancy CV template I got online and copied “summa cum laude” straight from it because I thought it sounded cool, didn't even know what it meant *embarrassed*. Well, Mr. Oyapero’s eyes went straight there and the discussion was about just that! Yikes! He asked me, were you top of your class and I say no and he goes so why do you have “summa cum laude” on your resume….. blank stare*. He could have thrown me out just then (some interviewers get that nasty), but he was gracious enough to explain what it meant to me before dismissing me. So it was a great shock, a pleasant one too when I got a call to come and pick up my letter. Yaaay me!

Life skills learnt

Don’t just sit there and wait, make a move:
You can seek advice from other people about life decisions, but in the end it all comes back to you. It’s about you, you have to know what you want and go for it. Don’t stay there if it’s not working for you, overcome your fear!

2013…. 04 June 3, 2013

Ok, I know this is not exactly the 4^th of June, but I typed most of this yesterday but didn’t get to post it because of other pressing issues like homework! Doing homework with my older son is like a huge task and I used to leave it to the lesson teacher till I realized he wasn’t really learning anything, yes the assignments were done, but more like a dictation. I am so firing him, but how to do this is a current dilemma I am in! Anyway, so we do homework now and the shouting and screaming that came with it initially has reduced (don’t look at me like that! It’s not easy). I had to tell myself, I survived engineering, I can do this! Yes!

So back to business, the delivery yesterday went well, eventually. The cake survived the long wait without falling apart. Delivering cream cakes is a lot of work. We picked up the cake and headed out but couldn’t reach the recipient to clarify her address on time (the thing with surprises ehn!). That was how we were left holding on to a cream cake in Lagos hot sun. Come and see panic! I had to find a solution fast; I buzzed people I knew in the area. SOS!! Who has a fridge to keep this cake while we try to reach the birthday girl? Luckily my good friend Okwudili has a fridge in his office and was reachable (this too is key in Nigeria, networks can kill you in an emergency).

After a few hours, we reached the birthday girl and guess what the address wasn’t too far from Okwudili’s office, whew! We delivered and were heading back when I reach for my hand bag and find a missing piece of the hair accessory themed hamper there!! Oh no! Not like she would have noticed, it was a surprise gift anyway and there were a lot of things in the hamper already but I couldn’t let it go. At first I thought, I can’t turn back joo, I’ll just keep it and put it in another hamper later but I was uncomfortable. So yea, I turned back. I tried not to look at my staff’s face, sure she was thinking, this madam sef get wahala too much! Whatever!  We were in Yaba and had to still go to Adeniyi Jones to customize a bathrobe but I had to give this back. Luckily, we hadn’t gone too far off and the road was free.

All in all, it was a good day; I didn’t open Xero to update my accounts though! Between homework, typing this halfway and dinner, yours truly more or less passed out on the couch.

Entrepreneur tips

1. Prioritize! In all of your business pursuits make time for the things that matter.
2. In business you are constantly looking for solutions to problems, apart from the overall problem that you built your business around in the first place. Your brain has to be alert, keep calculating, and keep planning. Perhaps I should call next time before picking the cake, maybe.
3. You need people, business is not a walk in the park and you can be tempted to bury your head in it and forget family and friends DON’T. After all is said and done, they’re all you’ve got plus, you can’t just spring up out of the blues to ask for help.
4. Integrity matters. You think you’re trying to prove something to someone else, but no, you need to prove it to yourself. Let it be part of you. You must be known for it if you want to build a sustainable business.

See Pictures below of the cream cake that almost gave up and the birthday hamper