The Mother Behind a Design Enterprise that Generated over $400,000 in Income in 12 months
Are you curious about design and are tech savvy?
Properly, we talked with Chisom Okwulehie and he or she shared her story of how she began a joint enterprise together with her husband, Juntero Design and Junero Know-how whereas working her full-time place as a Senior Architect within the authorities.
Chisom tells us concerning the challenges she faces operating her enterprise with two younger kids and provides tricks to all working mothers.
She is one busy mama and we’re so impressed with all she has been capable of accomplish!
1. Are you able to inform us about your journey in founding Juntero? What impressed you to start out it?
I excelled at my full-time job, however the want to run my very own enterprise lingered inside me. When the pandemic struck and the world slowed down, I noticed a chance to make my dream a actuality. Nevertheless, I made a decision to start out small by taking over freelance tasks on the facet.
The journey started humbly. In 2021, I launched the corporate with my cybersecurity specialist husband. Juntero is an integrated firm that owns Juntero Design and Juntero Know-how. I personal Juntero Design, whereas my husband owns Juntero Know-how. My first gig concerned designing an advert for Certainly.com, which paid a mere $20.
Initially, Juntero Design’s gross sales comprised principally one-off graphic design tasks. Nevertheless, the corporate progressively attracted bigger tasks, equivalent to creating floor plans for small companies. I juggled nights and weekends between Juntero and my full-time place as a Senior Architect at my authorities job.
2. What specific challenges did you face as a mother whereas launching and rising your organization?
2021 turned out to be each satisfying and demanding, albeit in a constructive manner. I discovered myself inundated with requests and tasks, all of which I dealt with solo. Balancing this workload was difficult, particularly whereas caring for my daughter and holding down a nine-to-five job.
Within the early days, I devoted my daytime hours to my authorities job from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Then, I transitioned to engaged on consumer tasks from 4 to seven within the night or throughout the early mornings on weekends. Managing this alongside caring for my little one proved to be fairly demanding.
Regardless of the after-hours workload, I needed to refine my prioritization abilities and handle my time meticulously to make sure I accomplished every part. I owe a lot of Juntero’s preliminary development to my supportive husband, who has been a useful co-parent all through this journey. My husband performs a pivotal position in my achievements. Together with his hands-on method, I by no means really feel like I’m navigating this journey alone.
3. What does a typical day appear like for you?
As Juntero expanded, I transitioned to delegating a lot of the workload to a group of designers. Basically, it operates as an company the place I oversee a pool of gifted people and assign them duties.
Within the yr of 2023, I discovered myself personally dealing with solely about 10% of the workload, whereas over 30 expert architects, inside designers, and 3D modelers handle the remainder. Today, my position at Juntero primarily entails interacting with purchasers, managing advertising efforts, and supervising the group’s progress.
Throughout a typical week, I commit roughly five to 10 hours to Juntero, making certain that every part runs easily and that our purchasers are satisfied with our companies.
I don’t have a typical day. I juggle the roles of being a mother of a toddler and toddler, a spouse, an worker, and an entrepreneur. My days are in a relentless state of flux, filled with various tasks and ever-changing duties.
4. How do you stability the calls for of operating a enterprise with household tasks?
Balancing my household, a full-time job alongside operating a enterprise isn’t a stroll within the park; it usually results in burnout. Sustaining a wholesome work-life stability is essential for skilled success and private well-being.
From my expertise, mastering time administration is vital. For these managing a household alongside entrepreneurship, prioritizing time administration is crucial.
It takes appreciable group, confidence in a single’s talents, and efficient time administration abilities to maintain every part in test.
Studying to prioritize duties ensures productiveness whereas safeguarding towards exhaustion. It’s about finding concord between work and private life to thrive in each realms.
5. How a lot do you earn with your enterprise?
Final yr, I generated over $400,000 in income and earned a $37,500 wage. This yr, I intention to double final yr’s income whereas elevating my wage to $60,000, allocating half of it to investments.
Along with my pension, I plan to maximise contributions to my 401k and different funding accounts to safe long-term monetary stability.
By specializing in doubling income and growing private revenue, with a good portion directed in the direction of investments, I intention to fortify my monetary place and guarantee a affluent future for my household by creating generational wealth.
6. What do you assume are a very powerful qualities or abilities for a profitable entrepreneur, particularly for mothers within the design/tech trade?
Probably the most essential qualities for profitable entrepreneurs, significantly for mothers within the design/tech trade, embody adaptability, resilience, and efficient communication.
As a mother navigating this field, multitasking and time administration are paramount. Being adaptable to market modifications and technological developments is crucial for staying related. Resilience helps in overcoming challenges and setbacks inherent in entrepreneurship.
Efficient communication fosters collaboration and consumer relationships. Moreover, creativity, problem-solving, and a development mindset are invaluable property.
Balancing enterprise tasks with household commitments calls for flexibility and prioritization. In the end, the flexibility to innovate, persevere, and join with others varieties the cornerstone of entrepreneurial success.
7. What platform/instruments do you employ for your enterprise?
My main communication instruments with my various group, comprising native and worldwide professionals, are WhatsApp and textual content.
For consumer coordination, significantly with builders, builders, and design-related corporations, I depend on Slack for ongoing mission requests associated to their month-to-month, quarterly, or annual subscriptions.
Interactions with owners and fellow enterprise house owners who require one-time cost fashions usually happen through textual content or e-mail. For digital conferences, I are inclined to depend on Zoom or Google Meets.
Manufacturing work is facilitated by varied instruments equivalent to AutoCAD, Revit, Lumion, Adobe Suite, amongst others. To successfully arrange and handle tasks, I depend upon Monday, a complete mission administration platform.
This array of instruments ensures streamlined communication, environment friendly mission coordination, and efficient manufacturing workflows inside my enterprise operations.
8. What recommendation would you give to different mothers who aspire to start out their very own enterprise?
To fellow mothers aspiring to start out their very own enterprise, I provide these insights that I realized from my journey:
- Define Your Imaginative and prescient: Clearly define your enterprise objectives and imaginative and prescient, aligning them together with your passions and strengths.
- Begin Small, Dream Massive: Start with manageable steps, progressively increasing as you achieve momentum and confidence.
- Embrace Flexibility: Flexibility is vital when balancing household commitments and entrepreneurship. Adaptability helps navigate challenges.
- Prioritize Self-Care: Guarantee to prioritize your well-being amidst the calls for of entrepreneurship and motherhood.
- Search Assist: Encompass your self with a supportive community of household, buddies, and mentors who uplift and encourage you.
- Steady Studying: Keep curious and dedicated to studying. Search data in areas related to your enterprise and private development.
- Have fun Progress: Acknowledge milestones and achievements, irrespective of how small. Have fun your journey and embrace the training experiences alongside the best way.
9. Wanting again, is there something you want you had recognized earlier than beginning your personal firm, significantly as a mother in your trade?
Reflecting on my journey, there are some things I want I had recognized earlier than beginning my very own firm, particularly as a mother within the trade:
- The Significance of Delegating: Initially, I underestimated the worth of delegating duties. Studying to belief others with tasks may have alleviated a number of the preliminary stress and workload.
- In search of Mentorship: Having a mentor, particularly somebody who has navigated comparable challenges as a mother entrepreneur in my trade, would have supplied invaluable steerage and assist.
General, whereas there have been challenges alongside the best way, every impediment has supplied useful classes and alternatives for development. Embracing the journey with openness and a willingness to study has been instrumental in navigating the complexities of entrepreneurship as a mother in my trade.
10. What’s your imaginative and prescient for the long run development and growth of your enterprise?
So far, our most outstanding consumer at Juntero is a property developer who utilized our inside design and 3D visualization companies to efficiently market a portfolio of houses, leading to multimillion-dollar gross sales over asking worth.
Wanting forward, I intention to propel Juntero’s development by forging strategic partnerships with builders throughout the US. Regardless of this focus, I stay dedicated to working with owners and small companies on smaller tasks.
I find pleasure in fixing individuals’s issues and can proceed to offer personalised service to people and small enterprise house owners searching for our experience, making certain that Juntero maintains its dedication to each large-scale ventures and particular person purchasers.
11. How can others discover you- as we’re all followers of you now?
It is a fairly superior story of a husband and spouse duo. We love how they teamed as much as construct a profitable enterprise that works for his or her household. Thanks Chisom for sharing your story with us.
We can be following Juntero to see what occurs subsequent. Ensure you take a look at Juntero’s social hyperlinks listed above to seek out out extra data.