Entrepreneurs Won’t Give Up On Their Dreams
Founder Efua Akumanyi on life in lockdown, how she stays productive and what opportunities lie ahead
This is the eighteenth interview in the Beyond Work series looking at how founders and innovators work from home during the global pandemic of Coronavirus. In this interview, we head from Denmark to London to speak to founder Efua Akumanyi.
Efua is the co-founder and Head of Technology at Furnishful—the innovative way to discover and shop for furniture and homeware online. She is also a tech consultant, based in London.
April 2020. London, England.
What does a “typical” day look like for you now?
At the moment, I typically get up between 7–8am (but this is very much informed by my young son!). Work involves a mix of tech consulting and my business — Furnishful. Sometimes, I’m coding which means I need a good stretch of time (at least three hours), sometimes I’m taking video calls to provide advice on other people’s tech builds.
I’m also putting together a course for women entrepreneurs to help them launch their online business — so my work day is very varied. I break for lunch (1pm-ish) and dinner (8–9pm) and will also try and watch an hour of a TV series in the evening. But otherwise, I pretty much work through the whole day and evening! I like what I do, so it’s not really a chore. Weather depending, I’ll be out in the garden every day for a break and at least every other day we will go for a short walk to try and get our steps in!
How has Coronavirus impacted your life/work?
I normally work from home, so it hasn’t had the same impact on me as maybe it has on others. I would usually be in central London once or twice a week at tech and startup events, so that’s been one of the biggest differences. Some of those have moved online but most are on hold during the Coronavirus lockdown. I live with my partner and son and have plenty to keep me occupied — so boredom isn’t an issue. One of the harder things has been not being able to see my family. We’re very close so that has been difficult, although we are all on WhatsApp and now have a weekly video call.
What productivity tips have you found useful whilst working from home?
Like most people I’m on Zoom and Google Hangouts much more these days. I’m also part of quite a few active WhatsApp groups for women business owners and coders — those really help keep me up-to-date. I get a lot of my news through LinkedIn and Twitter. To keep me mentally rested, I use daily reminders on my phone to prompt me to meditate. I also do Zentangle drawings which I find really relax me when I’m feeling stressed (see one on my desk! — in interview header).
What five books would you recommend during this time at home?
- Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado-Perez
- A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
- The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
- Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World by Rand Fishkin
When this is all over, what will the opportunities look like?
On the business front, I’m in the tech industry which doesn’t seem to have been hit as hard as other industries. There are still some companies who are actively hiring and expanding. Also, I think there will be a bounce back of sorts — people will want to get back to business, start trading again and launch new products and services. Human beings are resilient and entrepreneurs won’t give up on their dreams.
I think working from home will be much more common as businesses have literally had to adopt this. I’m hoping that the world will be a more loving, empathetic place when this is over. In my (and many people’s) lifetime there has never been a global event that has had such an impact.
Efua on Twitter
