Marcela Flores Newburn

Rico Mexican Kitchen

Marcela decided to launch her business after a few drinks in the pub one afternoon with friends. Her home-made Mexican salsas and sauces have proved a big hit amongst friends and at local food fairs in Belper, Derbyshire and beyond. Following one particularly successful recent food trade show that her sauces are now stocked in Harrods and are being trialled at Selfridges!

However, Marcela is still preparing the salsas and sauces herself in the home kitchen as well as trying to manage all other areas of the business. Can she juggle the demands of the business, the cooking and being a mother of two and take advantage of these fabulous business opportunities? Follow Marcela in Fishbowl 2 over the coming weeks and months to see.

http://www.ricomexicankitchen.co.uk/

Tuesday, 12 January 2010

Workhaolic Anonymum

I love having my own business. I love the fact that I develop my own products, I meet people who are really good at their jobs and generous with their advise who can help me with aspects I haven’t got specialist knowledge on- for example, testing my products in a lab for shelf life, or how to design a website. I love the opportunity, the dream that I can bring a new product to market and that hopefully people will love it too.

I also like the feeling that I can contribute to helping improve other people’s lives through generating jobs and purchasing goods at fair prices to all, and be a positive role model to my children.

There is no denying that this keeps me busy. I sometimes have to be away from home a lot and work very long hours. Yesterday, my husband and I were stuck at the Belfast airport as our flight back from some friends’ wedding was delayed, we set up camp at the comfy sofa at the coffee shop and started planning next steps for 2010. We talked business strategy, learning needs, project management tools etc... and the fact that it looks like I’ll have to work away from home a lot. “Do you think the children feel that I am not around enough? I asked him. Conflicting thoughts... I have heard them speaking about the fact that their mum is an entrepreneur and has a business, and that I sometimes appear on the paper and on websites. But then they are growing up really quickly and I say to them that though I may not be physically at home, they can contact me and I am around to talk to them.

Can you work really hard, be away from home sometimes and still be a good mum? I ask my children. They both say “yes” and I sigh with relief. They tell me that they know that I care for them and this is, I think, the bottom line. I ask them what they are learning, if anything, about the fact that I have to put a lot of time into my work. “It’s a lot of time, but hopefully if I try really hard at something I really want to do, I can be successful”, my daughter says, and well, I think this is a good lesson...

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