Perks of being your own boss

By Sarafina Sanerivi 31 October 2016, 12:00AM

According to Peter Peter, from the village of Malie-Uta, there is nothing better in this world than being your own boss.

Peter says that being your own boss means beginning your day when you want to, taking as much time off when you want to, and working harder to earn more.

Peter has worked as a farmer for a while making as much as $300 a day while his wife makes handicrafts to sell.

“We have been growing crops for a while now,” he told the Village Voice.

“We have pineapples too at the back. It’s pretty easy growing these crops, once you harvest you just grow some more and sell what you have already.

“We make quite a decent amount of money. We supply a lot of people’s market stands and we sell one large pineapple at $10.”

With pineapples being their main source of income, they grow other produce in between harvest cycles to make money as they wait. “We grow a lot of our crops right throughout the year,” Peter said. “Pineapples are our biggest money-making crop but the waiting time is very long. That’s the only problem I can think of, running a farm like this.

“That’s why we grow other crops so that we can at least have something while waiting for the pineapples.

“We grow pumpkins, peas and other small crops.”

Peter says that there are many perks working as a farmer rather than in an office.

“To tell you the truth, I prefer working like this rather than working in the office,” he said.

“Our family also makes small handicrafts to sell so we have more than one way of getting money. No one in the family is currently employed but we still manage to make quite a bit with our farm and handicrafts.

With prices for everything constantly increasing, Peter says that they have to work harder to match the expensiveness of life.

 “We actually started with a small peanut farm but we left that. It took too much space but now we are able to grow a wider variety of produce on our land.

“I have five children and all of them are in school. Because of the work we do, we are able to live comfortably and have enough to cover our family’s needs.

“The reason we work so hard is because life is getting a little expensive these days.” Their handicraft business is also booming. “Right now my wife is making a lot of different things to sell,” Peter said. “She is making bags, table mats, jewellery boxes and many other things. She gets tired of sitting down and making the handicrafts because a lot of people order them.

“I understand because I know it’s not easy to make those things. She actually took a few days leave from her handicraft work so now we are just relying on the farm so she can have a break. “That’s the great thing about living this way, when we get tired then we can just rest. You are your own boss.”

By Sarafina Sanerivi 31 October 2016, 12:00AM
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