‘Seek opportunities’
IN order to thrive as a businesswoman, one must be able to go out and seek opportunities.
So says Peniana Matai, who runs a successful food business in Suva and at the Laqere market in Nasinu.
Despite losing her husband’s job earlier this year, her food business has provided for her family’s needs.
The 30-year-old of Cunningham Stage 4 believes all women in the village can achieve success if they leave their homes and go out to seek opportunities.
“Mothers like me who are still young should look for ways to succeed in life,” Ms Matai says.
“We shouldn’t depend on the whitecollar jobs only.
“You can become successful in any field of your work. You just need your family support and your will to work hard.”
Ms Matai sells at the market every day where no one is her boss.
“I am the boss of myself,” she stresses. “I wake up at the time I want to come, and I come over to sell and go back whenever I like.
“So, I would like to encourage every woman and mother at home not to just depend on their husband or family members for money, but to look for ways to generate your own income.”
Ms Matai says all women have some skills which could make them successful.
“You can do anything you like and have skills in, for example cooking and selling food, sewing, weaving, buying and selling vegetables.
“If your husband is working, that’s good but I think it’s not wise to just depend on him for everything.
“We have to look for ways to support him and our family because nowadays the price of everything is very high.” Ms Matai says there’s the electricity bill, the rent, the food, the water bill, clothes and bus fares.
“So, simply you have to pay for everything if you are staying in the urban area, and the cost of everything is going up.
“I urge our women to become smart and use your skills. Use your skills to become successful in life.
“If you work hard, you’ll of course succeed. Staying at home won’t help you grow.”
Ms Matai wakes up at 4am everyday as her cooking is done at home. “I cook everything at home and bring it here to sell from Monday to Saturday.
“I fry the fish and boil dalo and cassava at home every morning and make the parcels here in the market.
“I had one stall in the beginning, but now I have one stall at the Laqere market also.
“Monday to Friday, I sell in the Suva market and on Saturday, I sell at the Laqere market stall. My husband comes and sells in the Suva market on Saturdays.”
She says women just need encouragement and support at home and that she is blessed to have that.
“My husband and kids help me prepare the food and they support me in whatever way they can.
“I buy the fish from Laqere fish market and cassava and dalo from the Suva market on Fridays and Saturdays when people from the village come and sell it here.
“They sell at cheap prices in the afternoon. I feel encouraged and motivated when I see women from the village getting their produce early in the morning to sell at the Suva market.
“We should all learn from them.”