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Following the outbreak of the coronavirus, Pearl lost her job as a teacher and resorted to selling noodles to make earns meet.
Pearl is the eldest child of her family, hence, she tells us how she is able to take care of her mum and younger siblings with the income she makes from her business.
Morning
I wake up at 6am and then I tidy my compound and where I sell my noodles and spaghetti.
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Then I clean my house, take my bath and then prepare breakfast and eat.
I sell sachet water at home too so, after this routine, I sell my water till about 11am then I set off to the market to buy the ingredients I use in preparing the food.
Because the business is a startup, I don’t have enough money to buy the ingredients in larger quantity so I virtually go to the market every day because I use the money I get from sales to buy the foodstuff. I spend at most 3hours in going and coming back from the market because I walk.
Afternoon
So when I return, I take something for lunch, usually some gari and then I rest small.
By 3pm, I wake up from my nap and then I prepare dinner for my family. I stay with my mum and 3 other younger brothers so I prepare the food this early so that I am able to finish in time and then I go to sell.
Within an hour or two, I should finish cooking dinner and then I tidy up the kitchen
I dish out the food for my siblings before I leave because they will come and squander everything especially if you think you can leave some so that we can eat the following morning.
Evening
By 5pm, go to the roadside where I sell my food. I sweep and clean around and even the things I use and then I chop my vegetables and put I them down and then wait for buyers to come.
Sales usually start around 6:30 to 7pm. Because it's a start-up, I have few customers and I am hoping more people will come subsequently.
So yes I begin selling from that time till 10pm. I sometimes exceed the time depending on the market.
So when I close, I pack my things and then head towards home. Mostly, my brothers come to sit by me till I close then they help me pack the things home. My business is a tabletop business so I have to pack everything to the house after sales and then bring them back when I am coming to sell.
By 11pm, I should be able to finish packing and then get home.
I immediately take my bath and then go straight to bed.
Best moments
At least I am a good cook so I get people to buy my food and I make better sales.
Where I sell isn't very far from home so I get some neighbours to come and keep me company till I close so I hardly fear that someone might harm me.
Sometimes too I get small tips that I save for future use.
Challenges
Starting a business is really not easy, I hardly can predict if people will come and buy or not.
Aside from that, it is stressful packing everything back home and bringing them back to where I sell. My brothers sometimes go to sleep especially if I don't close early and so I have to pack everything myself.
I am also a breadwinner of my family because my family is no more and my mum only sell the water, do I most of the time use the money I use in my business making it difficult to check my profit.
I am however glad that at least I could do something while I am home and I know this business will become very big.