From stay at home mom to entrepreneur
Who am I?
I often write in the we-form but Islam Inspired is actually a one-woman business run by me, myself and I - Ellen - Thirty-something. Wife of. Mother of pubescent twins and a 9-year-old bouncing ball. But above all: Muslim since 2002.
The story of Islam Inspired begins in the summer of 2019. My dear grandmother had passed away and a few days later my husband left for Hajj. My three children had summer vacation and walked the walls with me for two weeks. That month is etched in my memory as an emotional rollercoaster. To clear my mind, I focused on my husband's welcome home party. That's how I came up with Hajj inspired gifts and place cards for the guests. I enjoyed doing it so much that it tasted like more.
A dream
I have always had a passion for writing and graphic design, although I never studied in that direction. In fact, at that point I had been a stay-at-home mom for 12 years, but I sometimes designed worksheets, invitations or giveaways for myself or family. My children were all in primary school by then and needed me less and less, which made me feel the urge to get 'more out of life' more and more. Motherhood is a wonderful job. I am happy and grateful that I have always been able to be there for my children, but I dare to admit that I occasionally felt like I was on the verge of a parental burn-out and dreamed of an office job among adults. Turning my love for writing, graphic design and my faith into a real job seemed quite unrealistic to me at that point. Having been at home for so long, it would be difficult to find a place on the labor market, in that sector, with a headscarf. Becoming self-employed seemed a complete no-go to me, since you pay yourself blue in taxes and social contributions. In short: if you want to be self-employed, you have to earn well to stay afloat. If I didn't remind myself of that, my husband who is a self-employed accountant did.
A plan
Because I am against black work, I shelved my plans for a few months, until I finally Googled again and ended up on a blog about becoming self-employed under article 37, which exempts you from social contributions. “You do realize that you are not allowed to earn more than a certain amount and that you do not build up a pension?” I did not do the latter anyway and for me it seemed like a financially safe way to start a business and be legally in order with everything. If at some point it were to yield more financially, I could always switch to being self-employed as a main occupation. Starting a sole proprietorship under article 37 was a piece of cake. There was not a lot of paperwork involved. I also immediately exempted myself from VAT, which means that I only have to file a return once a year. Then came the real work. To be able to start, you not only need a dream, but also a financial plan and start-up capital. I am often asked whether I can put a figure on that. Because I find that a bit too personal and it also depends on what you are going to sell, I can only answer that question partially. Becoming self-employed is - especially in the beginning - not the way to get out of financial difficulties. If that is your goal, you are better off becoming employed, possibly in combination with a side job. After all, you cannot build up a client base in 1,2,3.
Showtime
On 2/02/2020 I launched Islam Inspired. I started quite modestly with products that have a low material and production cost: greeting cards, bookmarks and posters. In a webshop that I built myself. Everything from the living room and two square meters of storage space in the garage. I borrowed my capital from our private and systematically paid it back. When the shop started to run and I made a little profit, I could start investing in new products and work materials.
It is important that you first draw up a plan of action. What are you going to sell? How are you going to sell it? Through which channels? Are you going to be able to distinguish yourself from others? Is there even a need for your product? How do you get brand awareness and how much can you invest? In any case, you must be 100% convinced and passionate about what you do. If you are not convinced of yourself and your product, how are you going to convince others to buy it?
Setting the right prices is essential. Find out how to calculate a correct sales price. Of course, you can ask more for unique products than products that are already offered by dozens of competitors. And last but not least: never adjust your prices when you see that unregistered entrepreneurs are cheaper. They do not have the costs that you have.
Social skills
On 2/02/2020 I launched Islam Inspired. I started quite modestly with products that have a low material and production cost: greeting cards, bookmarks and posters. In a webshop that I built myself. Everything from the living room and two square meters of storage space in the garage. I borrowed my capital from our private and systematically paid it back. When the shop started to run and I made a little profit, I could start investing in new products and work materials.
It is important that you first draw up a plan of action. What are you going to sell? How are you going to sell it? Through which channels? Are you going to be able to distinguish yourself from others? Is there even a need for your product? How do you get brand awareness and how much can you invest? In any case, you must be 100% convinced and passionate about what you do. If you are not convinced of yourself and your product, how are you going to convince others to buy it?
Setting the right prices is essential. Find out how to calculate a correct sales price. Of course, you can ask more for unique products than products that are already offered by dozens of competitors. And last but not least: never adjust your prices when you see that unregistered entrepreneurs are cheaper. They do not have the costs that you have.
Growth
Two self-employed people and three growing children under one modest roof started to weigh. Especially in Corona times since my husband often worked from home. That was one of the reasons why we started looking for a new home where we could both set up a full-fledged office and studio without getting in each other's way.
When you have worked in your living room for two years, you have a very good idea of what your new workspace should look like and the end result was exactly what I had in mind. I am still a happy egg with my home office. The extension of my studio meant that in addition to storage space, I also had more space for new machines and materials. This allowed me to expand my range considerably with, among other things, printed baby clothes, mugs, tote bags, key rings and more.
Ups… and downs
In September 2022, I was all set for a re-launch of Islam Inspired. However, the difficult economic situation threw a spanner in the works. With a name like Islam Inspired, I have a very limited target audience. Initially, this name felt familiar and safe, but in the long run it became a limitation. I exclude a whole group of potential buyers and sticking an advertising sticker on my car is almost asking for damage in the intolerant climate in which we live.
On top of that, I don’t sell essential products. People are now buying less or no products that they don’t really need. Which is very understandable with energy prices that are going through the roof. And let’s be honest: a significant group within our community likes to get the most out of it and that implies that they often expect unrealistic prices. Prices that I can only meet if I do myself an injustice and no longer charge for working minutes.
I had a strong feeling that there was no more room for significant growth under the name Islam Inspired.
I actually only had three choices: Stop, change the concept and name or take my husband's advice to heart and open a second webshop with neutral gifts & goodies that does not only focus on the Dutch-speaking, Islamic market. I chose the third, even though I had to start from scratch and saw my fixed costs increase.
Mompreneurship
Is it possible to combine entrepreneurship with housework and motherhood? Most of the time, yes. When I drop my children off at school, I spend 1 to 2 hours on household chores. Then I work for the web shops until 3:30 p.m.
I do my best not to work or work less during the holidays, I can always pick up and drop off my children at their school and activities. If they get sick at school, I don't have to go through great lengths to pick them up and keep them home for a few days.
I never have any childcare stress and that is also the reason why I wanted to do something from home. When we chose to have children 15 years ago, we wanted to be able to take care of them ourselves. That was also a condition when I started this adventure. My family still comes first. Alhamdulillah, I am grateful that this is also financially possible. I realize that not everyone is in this position.
The first half of the year is always very busy with Ramadan, Eid ul Fitr, Eid ul Adha, the Hajj and the teacher's presents. The second half is quieter and I have more time for custom work that I can plan better. During busy periods I get up a bit earlier or work through when the children are asleep. Then it is really hard work and that work-life balance is sometimes lost. I am not a reseller so it is not just quickly throwing some products in boxes and sending them. I still produce each product with my own hands.
The naked truth
Have I become rich yet? Absolutely not. It is a nice side income in the meantime. The first year you can be happy if you break even. And if becoming rich was really my goal I would have stopped already. I keep saying that to other stay-at-home moms who approach me with the question how I did it because I notice that many Muslim women have the idea that becoming independent is the only way to be able to stay with the children, to remain in line with Islam and also earn a good living. Especially the latter takes time.
Do I get satisfaction from it? Absolutely. I am proud of the fact that I think up, design, produce and sell everything myself. I truly love what I do and inner wealth is my priority. My goal is to inspire and motivate others and myself. To keep the thought of Allah and His messenger alive, in an accessible, positive way. For young and old. Not only through my products, but also my blogs, quotes and printables that I write and develop with just as much passion.
However, over the years it has become my ambition to one day make it my main profession.
Entrepreneurship is daring. Stepping out of your comfort zone. Dreaming, but also being realistic. In the three years that I have been working, I have learned so much. I have fallen a few times due to errors in judgment, but I have also gotten up again. Those experiences, those lessons are priceless and indispensable in my growth process on a business and personal level.