Single Mother Inspired By Sewing to Start a Tailoring Business.

Single Mother Inspired By Sewing to Start a Tailoring Business.

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BY ALADDIN EVO

“INVESTMENT on yourself and time is the most important value I have learned.”

These are the words of Annet Faith Upa, a passionate Solomon Islander, custom designer, and tailor, who had strived through difficult times to reach her business dream.

In her late 30’s, the single mother of two (a 12-year-old son and a 10-years-old daughter), now opens her tailoring business – “Annet Tailor Shop” – located at Tuvaruhu, Central Honiara.

It was in 2001, after completing her Year 11 (Form 5), she has that inner determination to step up and prove herself.

“During those days, I had nothing much to do around the house but could remember watching my bigger sister sewing clothes for friends and other people,” Annet who is part Simbo, Western Province and East Are’are, Malaita Province told Solomon Women.

Annet Sewing Clothes for clients

It was during that stage that Annet started assisting her sister especially with simple projects such as window curtains and pillowcases.

She noticed that through assisting her sister, she had earned something in return. Not only that she had gained some knowledge, skills, and experience but she had seen a little bit of money.

It was not long before she began to hook up to sewing and finally find a passion for it.

“I had no formal training on sewing but I finally find my passion for sewing as I grow and spend more time on it,” she recalled. “It had taken me around a year to gain confidence and improve my skills in sewing.” She added: “I can notice this from my clients as the numbers grow and more frequently they have given me their orders.

“In 2014, I applied and was accepted to Solomon Islands National University for Diploma in Business Studies, Business Administration. Which I have completed successfully after two years. I was not interested to get a job from my studies. The purpose of my studies was to gain knowledge on how to properly administer and manage my business,” she said.

Annet said starting business operations after acquiring her qualification was not easy but a life-changing experience and a challenge in her new business career.

“At first, I did not know how to properly administer and manage my business. Time management was not considered and I had little knowledge of the operations of the business. Acquiring a Business Administration qualification had changed my life and this business as I become more aware of the knowledge in Business Administration and Management. The operation of the business is now running smoothly as expected.”

“Apart from this, during my studies, I gain more clients as they become aware of my business. These include students and staff from Solomon Islands National University. At times, these had given me sleepless nights, I have more clients which means more orders and demand now had increased,” she recalled.

Talking about her plans, Annet said that she wants to keep on growing in his business career.

“I believe that the business depends entirely on myself. It depends on my time and effort. I have a lot of plans and goals. One of my goals is to set up my business in a location that is centralized and is easily accessible to my clients.

“Currently, my business is situated at Tuvaruhu in my residential area. However, I have a lot of clients and it is still growing even though my current location is quite far from a number of my clients, I can still have clients’ visitation every day. Because of this, I would like to relocate my business to a central location in the central business district,” she noted.

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