I am blessed to be born into a family where our needs were always met.  I vividly remember my childhood. Luxuries were rare. We did not have money for "wants",  but then when it came to needs - God always faithfully provided for each and everyone of them.  One of those great blessings were that my mom, Flordeliza, seemed to have a knack for entrepreneurship. Somehow, she always knew how to produce and make extra money at home.

I guess it was a gift that she honed into a skill.  In my young innocent perception, I never had the inkling that we never had much money because all the essential needs were always met.  All of us never skipped a meal, and all of us 4 kids successfully completed our education with 3 of us even completing post graduate education in our respective fields.

So what are the things I learned from my mom? Let me break it down in simple business terms:

1.  Money not spent is money earned.

    a.  Don't spend cash just because you happened to receive it.
    b.  Don't buy items just because they are on sale.
    c.  Savings cushion the inevitable events in life.
    d.  Prepare for "wants" and luxuries by saving for them, not by spending on a whim.
    e.  Apply practical ways of reducing daily costs on food, fuel, other utilities, supplies, etc. whenever          possible.
    f.   Keep your savings where you can't easily access them whenever you're tempted to.

2. Don't spend money you don't have or that you haven't earned yet.

3. Capitalize on even small, practical opportunities to make extra money.

    a. Find out what specific groups of people are willing to buy from from you.
    b. Aim to get whatever that is at a lower cost due to quantity discounts or special deals.
    c. Repackage and offer the product or service at a reasonable profit margin.
    d. Ensure payments are collected and that records are in place and kept up to date.
    e. Manage your initial earnings not by spending it but by plowing it back to the venture.

4. Be on the look out for opportunities to make extra money, but don't "bite off more than you can chew", or "spread yourself out too thinly".

    a. Leverage your potential earning capacity with team efforts such as multi-level marketing.
    b. Strive to cultivate and maintain good interpersonal relationships with everyone.
    c. Aim and plan to succeed in all your undertakings.

5. Share what you have to others.

6. Never neglect spending time with or giving back to the Lord. You'll never regret it.

Just to give you an idea, my mom successfully sold many economical charcoal stoves and ovens as an alternative way of saving on utility expenses. She also widely distributed personal and household cleaning items, and even tried out repackaging milk and cocoa powder which her officemates willingly patronized.  She even sold life or memorial plans at some point. But her best hit was when she broke through the initial models of multi level marketing. The amounts on her monthly checks were not only inspiring - they were BIG! They helped sustain our family's needs at that time.

At present, she still manages to make extra money at home with a fleet of her rusty...I mean trusty pedicabs. (If you're not familiar with the term, a pedicabs is actually a bicycle attached to a side car and it is used to transport passengers over short to medium distance.) That's right- pedicabs, no fuel consumption, so it is even good for the environment. Is not that clever? That's my mom!

At present, she is no longer as quick and as nimble as she used to be. But her mind is still sharp and she still possesses a gentle attraction that draws one to her. If you were to ask her, I am sure she won't even mention any of the items I have written above using the terms I used. But in terms of fundamental business principles, I would consider her an expert. You see,  she wasn't trained formally in business as I was. But I guess experience is really a better teacher. No, I take that back....life experience is the BEST teacher.


Flordeliza Baldemor, who is now 74 years old. is the mother of the author.

Eden Laura Quirino is a graduate of BS Business Economics from UP School of Economics and also has an MBA from the Ateneo Graduate School of Business.  She  left her banking and finance career to be at home with her family, where she owns and runs CashConduit.net.  This site recommends tried and tested legitimate home based business opportunities that can enable even ordinary people to make extra money at home online. You can choose from free or paid membership programs. Her top recommendation is the Plug-In-profit site where you can get your own profit pulling website set up for you FREE and running in 24 hours.

Labels: entrepreneurship, make extra money at home, make extra money from home, make money, multi level marketing, pedicabs