Snap Intro
My name is Miss O. Okafor (Oby Grace Nneka). I am a single mum of two (boys 8 and 12 years going on 9 and 13 years) and we live in London. I love being a mum and I also love being a business owner. Balancing the two sure can be an art form as some of you may know and others will be finding out.
A bit of history
I graduated with a B Sc (Hon.) in Medical Biochemistry and went straight into publishing. As a single mum, I could not afford the shift hours of working in a laboratory so I took up a job in a Medical Publishing company called Kingscos Medical Publisher (KMP). My time there was simply amazing. I was mentored by an amazing woman "Dr Comfort Osonnaya" who took me under her wings from the second I started working there and taught me so much.
I learnt a lot in a very short time. As it was quiet a small company, I got involved in everything. Within one month of working at KMP, I added the position of a Unit/Centre Manger to my hat as well as being the only Editorial Assistant. This meant a lot of hard work, long hours, taking work home, even working while on the bus or train. I was always taking meetings in the office or outside my office, perusing or editing vast numbers of research work or articles, going through proofs, negotiating sponsorship with Drug and Med reps etc. I found myself continually bringing food to work and taking it back home again because I didn't have time to eat it. A lot of you will be familiar with this life style. It was also very rewarding because it enabled me be a part of so much hence learning far more than I would have were I working in a large publishing company.
As an Editorial Assistant, I worked on Journals (e.g. IJM - International Journal of Medicine, Lancet - Supplement and External, BMJ etc), was involved in the distribution of the Journal NWLJGP - North & West London Journal for General Practitioners (e.g. to British Library & EMBASE) and carried out duties for other organisations under Lowcost Services Group (e.g. UMEC, IAES, Kingscos, IJM).
teaching in order to have more time with my kids and play a more active role in their well-being, learning and development. I enrolled and completed a one year postgraduate course in Education and another one year in a secondary school as an NQT (Newly Qualified Teacher) to gain my QTS (Qualified Teacher Status - an accreditation that would enable me teach in private, state-maintained and special schools in England and Wales). On completion, I taught science (Chemistry, Physics & Biology) to Year 7s up to Yr11 including 6th formers in a secondary school in London for a couple of years. I also worked as a science supply teacher in various secondary schools as I wanted to know what it was like in other schools. It was an invaluable experience and I very much enjoyed the classroom interactions with the kids.
Because I wanted to be more active in children's education, I took the position as a School Governor in a secondary school in London. This position meant I had to take up a lot of training to help me carry out my duties more effectively, it also brought me in contact with other business owners who were also School Governors in various schools. I was privileged to work with amazing Teaching and Non teaching staff, Head teacher, School Governors, highly skilled trainers and very intelligent, talented, wonderful kids. It was this experience that inspired me to pursue my dream as a business owner.
The dream
I've always known that I wanted to have my very own business but unfortunately in my family, we were raised to either be a doctor, lawyer, architect or an accountant. There was no room for dreaming of owning your business. Many Africans may be familiar with this either in their own family, a relatives or friend's family. My older brother became a lawyer, my younger brother a doctor and my younger sister a certified financial adviser except my immediate brother who courageously followed his own decision to become a business owner. Because of this, I was able to find the strength to follow my own path of becoming a business owner.
I knew I wanted to own and run my business but because I hadn't had the luxury of thinking it through that much, I didn't know which line of business to pursue. But I knew that whatever it is, it had to be creatively inclined something that complimented my personality type. I have a strong ability to process visual, spatial and mathematical information so, something that lets me be creative (use my imagination) and analytical would suit me well.
I had so many business interests (owning and running a nursery or an after-school centre, owning a retail shop, running a publishing company, becoming an event planner or creative writer - writing novels & children's stories) but it was going to be very impossible for me to do all of them at once (believe me, I tried).
The journey (rough road, less travelled)
January 2011 to March 2012
I went to Prospects and researched these businesses(Media & Publishing/Retail & Sales/ Teaching & Education/ Business & Management), self employment, work experience, internship. I made a list of the pros and cons of each of these businesses. I then made a list of my personality and tried to match them to the businesses I also made a list of my work skills, experiences and knowledge gained as a result of working in a publishing company and schools. I then matched these to the different businesses.I also completed the Prospects Career Planner which helps you identify what jobs suit you based on your skills, motivations and desires. You can then view your matched job profiles.
Based on my research and checks and cross checks, I came up with:
First choice: Publishing/Creative writing, Second choice: Nursery/After school club,Third choice: Retail &Event Planning
But because Publishing and the Nursery required a large capital (start up cost), I decided to table these business ideas and go to my third choice: Retail and Event planning.
January - June 2011
Read the posts "All Work and No Play" and "Process of Elimination" for in-depth information.
June - November 2011
My initial plans between January and June did not work so I had to go back to the drawing board. I decided to talk to people, visit my local library, job centre and do a lot of research.
Visit my local library: I found out they were running a lot of short training courses. I enrolled for Small Business Start up. I borrowed business books, studied childcare books, researched nurseries.
The Business Lounge for small enterprises: a free service that offers information and inspiration to help you start your business or plan for growth. Business Link: where I could find out about Money & Tax, Working/ Jobs & Pension, Business & Self-employment, Employing people
Talking to people: A lot of people encouraged me to start a nursery because of my knowledge in the educational sector. I also discussed this with a close friend of mine who was an Ofsted Inspector. She advised me to start small as a Child-minder in order to build my income. She informed me that the new law now required all minders to run their business/setting as a nursery would.
I called up my local authority to find out more and soon after enrolled in some short courses (Paediatric first aid training, Safeguarding, Food Hygiene etc) required to apply to Ofsted.
November/December 2011
Unfortunately, the courses were too widely spaced out and until completion, you could not fill out an Ofsted application. Anyway on completion, I applied on-line to Ofsted to speed up the process, completed a health declaration from Ofsted with my GP (pages and pages of document to complete) and police check. While I waited, I created from scratch my working documents, polices, contracts and the forms I needed to run the business.
January - April 2012
Finally in February 2012, I had an inspector come to interview me. After literally 4 hours of questioning, looking through my policies and documents, inspecting my house and setting-equipments was finally granted a certificate of registration. I then started studying further, advertising (in the library, shop window etc) and giving out leaflets. I also registered with the borough and childcare.co.uk
Visit my local Job centre:
In January I learnt about a training ran by H & R Training Professionals. I attended the 5 weeks Business workshop. The information I learnt there built upon the knowledge I 'd already gained from doing the Small Business Start up.
In March, I got enrolled on the 6 to 8 weeks New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) scheme by Job centre (DWP). In this scheme, participants gain access to a volunteer business mentor who would provide guidance and support as they develop their business plan and through the early months of trading. You also had access to various one day training. At the end of the scheme, participants had their business plan approved, start trading and are able to access a business loan.
This scheme was good for me because I:
- learnt about the Business 2012 at the O2.
- was offered three one day trainings in which one of them, I met Marcia Dixon Director and Editor of "Keep the Faith" magazine and founder of MD Public relations. After chatting with her, I decided to privately work on my publishing dream (starting with a business plan) while I carried out the NEA & DWP requirements.
- was able to really work on my Business plan and do an in-depth analysis of my market.
Unfortunately, I slowly started to find out that the child minding business I was embarking on wasn't a viable business to set up in my area due to large amount of unemployment and redundancy that was still going on. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I could not run it in other boroughs either. I discussed the issues I found with my NEA mentor and the possibility of exploring my other business ideas but was discouraged and told that Ididn't have enough time plus the fact others weren't successful did not mean I wasn't going to (therefore to continue with what I was doing). As I was sent there by Job centre, I had to tow the line and continue to prepare my business plan against my better judgement.
On completion of the eight weeks, I submitted my business plan, was told it was approved and to apply for a business loan for the child care service. As my business still hadn't taken off, I did not apply for the NEA business loan. It did not make any business sense to apply for the business loan so I didn't. I also did not get the promised support after the scheme just the occasional phone calls once every other month by an Admin staff to enquire how I was faring.
Time went by and I still had no customers and I knew why - Nobody needed my service (even when I had reduced my charge to below minimum wage) as they were unemployed/ been made redundant/ are struggling financially and making use of families and friends for childcare.
As the business was still not picking up, I decided to look into other self employment to earn money while I worked on my publishing company business plan and building the childcare business. I spoke to a lady who was an Aloe Vera Product Supervisor - attended their welcome event, it seemed like a good business so I requested for a pack. Unfortunately, I got the same problems I had with the child care. Although, the products were very good, a lot of people could not afford it because of the cost.
I was beginning to feel frustrated.
Business 2012 at the O2:
It was at the Business 2012, that my entrepreneurial spirit seed was deeply and firmly sown. I feel in love with business and if you 've never attended, are running or starting a business, I strongly recommend you attend the 2013 business events.
I got referred to INGEUS by DWP where I met my new mentor, John Theodore who is a jewel. After chatting with him and setting up my goals, I attacked the publishing business with renewed spirit. I set to looking into some of the information I had gained from the Business events and chatting with Marcia, from attending webinars, researches and networking, I started coming up with cost effective way of running the publishing business, I gradually started saving up my money.
I kept in contact with John Theodore. Some days, are quite hard and you forget there are people you can talk to, it's okay cause it's normal. Some other days, you are so overwhelmed with the work load, you start putting other things aside in order to get on top of this work load - again that's normal. But remember to pace yourself, take a break sometimes - like in base ball: you focus..focus...focus, you look away and refocus then throw the ball (works wonder, try it)
DIY (Do It Yourself)
I realised I could not run the publishing business as a self-employed person due to liability issues so I set about trying to incorporate my company. I researched company names and finally came up with a suitable name for my company but it needed protecting. I tried a few formation agents to register my company with Company House and an attorney to register my company name with the Intellectual Property Office as a trademark but could not afford their costs and fine prints.
So I set about learning everything I could about registering a company with Company House and protecting my company name with Intellectual Property Office.
On the 31st of July 2012, I registered Obygrace Publishing Ltd with Company House for £15 (saving myself £50 to £100) and registered my company name as a trade mark with the Intellectual Property Office for £220 (saving myself £30 for applying on line and between £569 to £1000 trade mark registration fee with an attorney). This does not mean you should do same yourself, am just saying that it's possible to do them yourself but be wise as not knowing what you are doing can cost you more money in the end.
Be wary of agents offering £12 to £15 to register your company and lawyers offering you less than £250 to register your trade mark. Company House fee is £15 and Intellectual Property Office (IPO) charges £200 (£170 if applying on-line) for one class and extra £50 for each additional class so find out how they intend to make their money or cover the remaining cost for Company House and IPO fee. Everyone is in business to make money, be wise and find out all the hidden costs.
As I plan to work from home and needed my privacy, I also got a virtual office. Again, I researched the market and got value for money. I then bought the domain names for my company.
Please note that buying a domain name or registering your company with Company House does not protect your company name. You must register it with the IPO to protect it.
These done, I officially then registered my company with HMRC - Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs.
I attended more business events.
I researched various magazines and their websites. I then set about designing what I wanted my blogs to look like, including colours and what each blog would offer before I created my blogs (Grace's Diaryz, Lipstick Mouth, 4ever Woman and Afro Reveal). I used Blogger because of its ease of use when creating the overall look I wanted for each blog. I did a lot of practice on Blogger ....tried various designs and colours before I arrived at the look online now.
Blogs created using blogger:
(Grace's Diaryz, Lipstick Mouth, 4ever Woman and Afro Reveal)
Websites created using webs include:
(GCA International, F.G.C. Okigwe Alumni)
Website created using Adobe Dreamweaver but hosted by Webs
(ObyNnekaOkafor) ~ note this site is incomplete as I was using this to practice designing with Adobe Dreamweaver
HMRC
To watch Webinars - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/webinars/topics.htm
Register a new business with HMRC - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/businesses/iwtregister-a-new-business.shtml
To download HMRC Basic Paye Tool for free - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/payerti/payroll/bpt/paye-tools.htm
Selling or Closing a business - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/dealingwith/changes/close-sell-business.htm
Now
I own the following company, blogs & newsletters
Final
I hope the insight into my journey can help you on your long road to financial freedom. It is not an easy road to travel neither is it for the faint heart but if you persevere, the rewards are great.
Business is not some thing you rush and it's not something you just talk about.....do something about it. It requires:
Remember the buck stops with you. You can delegate but in the end it's still your business so take care of it. Be involved in every aspect of your business no matter how small especially in the early days. The more you know about your business or are aware of your business, the easier to spot any problems and carry out damage control.
Learn basic book-keeping and accounting - be wise with your finances. Do not hand over your money completely to someone else to take care for you. Most importantly, sign all your checks and documents yourself.
Never completely trust someone with your business. Remember:
If your business goes bankrupt, it's on your head.
If your business owes money, especially to the HMRC, it's on your head alone.
If your business is fined a penalty, you alone will carry the blame.
If your company is signing bad check or providing wrong documents or not paying taxes etc, you alone are liable.
I wish you all the best with your business :-)
Oby Grace Nneka
(I am my hopes and my dreams)
UPDATE 2016
My blogs have been revamped and more blogs added under my publishing wing.
Here are some of the new blogs
Bevy Hive - General Literary Blogzine for short stories, plays and book reviews
Obygracenneka Crafts - to view or order handmade cards
Grace's online shop - to buy handmade greeting cards
Personal Page
Cook With ObyGraceNneka Youtube & Blog - Videos on how to prepare and cook healthy nutritious
dishes with little or no oil, grease or fat while
retaining maximum nutrition in your food
I know, I have been busy :-)
At the Business 2012, I meet and learnt from amazing people like Richard Branson, Mark Nathwani, Warren Knight (Gloople), Cathy Presland, Nikki Hesford (of Misfit UK) and a host of others. Their seminars and workshops were not only inspiring, they were life changing. It was at this event my mind set changed - I slept, dreamt, ate, lived business.
I learnt a huge lot and started attending webinars and other business events afterwards like "The Business Show" a two day event which was hosted at the Olympia, London in November 2012 . It was also this event (The Business 2012) that also lead to the birth of this blog and the subsequent blogs. Read the post "Business 2012 at the O2 Arena, London" for more information.
I learnt a huge lot and started attending webinars and other business events afterwards like "The Business Show" a two day event which was hosted at the Olympia, London in November 2012 . It was also this event (The Business 2012) that also lead to the birth of this blog and the subsequent blogs. Read the post "Business 2012 at the O2 Arena, London" for more information.
May - September 2012
I kept in contact with John Theodore. Some days, are quite hard and you forget there are people you can talk to, it's okay cause it's normal. Some other days, you are so overwhelmed with the work load, you start putting other things aside in order to get on top of this work load - again that's normal. But remember to pace yourself, take a break sometimes - like in base ball: you focus..focus...focus, you look away and refocus then throw the ball (works wonder, try it)
DIY (Do It Yourself)
I realised I could not run the publishing business as a self-employed person due to liability issues so I set about trying to incorporate my company. I researched company names and finally came up with a suitable name for my company but it needed protecting. I tried a few formation agents to register my company with Company House and an attorney to register my company name with the Intellectual Property Office as a trademark but could not afford their costs and fine prints. So I set about learning everything I could about registering a company with Company House and protecting my company name with Intellectual Property Office.
On the 31st of July 2012, I registered Obygrace Publishing Ltd with Company House for £15 (saving myself £50 to £100) and registered my company name as a trade mark with the Intellectual Property Office for £220 (saving myself £30 for applying on line and between £569 to £1000 trade mark registration fee with an attorney). This does not mean you should do same yourself, am just saying that it's possible to do them yourself but be wise as not knowing what you are doing can cost you more money in the end.
Be wary of agents offering £12 to £15 to register your company and lawyers offering you less than £250 to register your trade mark. Company House fee is £15 and Intellectual Property Office (IPO) charges £200 (£170 if applying on-line) for one class and extra £50 for each additional class so find out how they intend to make their money or cover the remaining cost for Company House and IPO fee. Everyone is in business to make money, be wise and find out all the hidden costs.
As I plan to work from home and needed my privacy, I also got a virtual office. Again, I researched the market and got value for money. I then bought the domain names for my company.
Please note that buying a domain name or registering your company with Company House does not protect your company name. You must register it with the IPO to protect it.
These done, I officially then registered my company with HMRC - Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs.
I attended more business events.
I researched various magazines and their websites. I then set about designing what I wanted my blogs to look like, including colours and what each blog would offer before I created my blogs (Grace's Diaryz, Lipstick Mouth, 4ever Woman and Afro Reveal). I used Blogger because of its ease of use when creating the overall look I wanted for each blog. I did a lot of practice on Blogger ....tried various designs and colours before I arrived at the look online now.
Blogs created using blogger:
(Grace's Diaryz, Lipstick Mouth, 4ever Woman and Afro Reveal)
Websites created using webs include:
(GCA International, F.G.C. Okigwe Alumni)
Website created using Adobe Dreamweaver but hosted by Webs
(ObyNnekaOkafor) ~ note this site is incomplete as I was using this to practice designing with Adobe Dreamweaver
HMRC
To watch Webinars - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/webinars/topics.htm
Register a new business with HMRC - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/businesses/iwtregister-a-new-business.shtml
To download HMRC Basic Paye Tool for free - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/payerti/payroll/bpt/paye-tools.htm
Selling or Closing a business - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/dealingwith/changes/close-sell-business.htm
Now
I own the following company, blogs & newsletters
- Obygrace Publishing Ltd (Company)
- Afroreveal (Kid's Literary Blogzine children's stories, plays, poems, comics & Newsletter)
- 4ever Woman (Women's Literary Blogzine for shortstories, plays, book reviews & Newsletter)
- Lipstick Mouth (Creative Blogzine for illustrations, comics, poems & Newsletter)
- Grace's Diaryz (Blogzine for Entrepreneurs)
 |
| Follow me on Twitter |
Final
I hope the insight into my journey can help you on your long road to financial freedom. It is not an easy road to travel neither is it for the faint heart but if you persevere, the rewards are great.
Business is not some thing you rush and it's not something you just talk about.....do something about it. It requires:
- lots of patience,
- surrounding yourself with appropriate people,
- finding ways to constantly motivate yourself,
- setting yourself little achievable targets,
- never stop educating yourself (learn your craft, hone your skills),
- be proactive - remember procrastination is not your friend
Remember the buck stops with you. You can delegate but in the end it's still your business so take care of it. Be involved in every aspect of your business no matter how small especially in the early days. The more you know about your business or are aware of your business, the easier to spot any problems and carry out damage control.
Learn basic book-keeping and accounting - be wise with your finances. Do not hand over your money completely to someone else to take care for you. Most importantly, sign all your checks and documents yourself.
Never completely trust someone with your business. Remember:
If your business goes bankrupt, it's on your head.
If your business owes money, especially to the HMRC, it's on your head alone.
If your business is fined a penalty, you alone will carry the blame.
If your company is signing bad check or providing wrong documents or not paying taxes etc, you alone are liable.
I wish you all the best with your business :-)
Oby Grace Nneka
(I am my hopes and my dreams)
UPDATE 2016
My blogs have been revamped and more blogs added under my publishing wing.
Here are some of the new blogs
Bevy Hive - General Literary Blogzine for short stories, plays and book reviews
Obygracenneka Crafts - to view or order handmade cards
Grace's online shop - to buy handmade greeting cards
Personal Page
Cook With ObyGraceNneka Youtube & Blog - Videos on how to prepare and cook healthy nutritious
dishes with little or no oil, grease or fat while
retaining maximum nutrition in your food
I know, I have been busy :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment