Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / How to Introduce Yourself, Network, and Grow Your Business

Transcript

How to Introduce Yourself, Network, and Grow Your Business · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

0:00
Hello and welcome to the show. Apologies for the noise coming
0:04
in through the background because today I'm not in the
0:06
audio booth today I'm going to be sharing a session that I had
0:10
with Stephen the drummer boy. Of course, not his real name, So
0:14
that's a code name now. OK, I call him Stephen the
0:17
Drummer Boy because he is a musician and he does some work
0:21
with the choir. And this is something that he
0:23
does in his past time. And the reason why he reached
0:30
out is because he is looking for more opportunities to network.
0:36
Not for the musical thing, but for what he actually does.
0:39
He's nine to five and that's because he's sorry, Forgive me.
0:45
I'm not even sure exactly what it is he does because he's one
0:48
of these tech guys who introduces himself as a full
0:51
stack, front end, back end developer, blah blah, blah.
0:55
You know, all that fancy stuff. And so in the conversation that
0:58
I had with Stephen the drummer boy, my first assignment to him
1:01
was that, look, Steven and all your other Niger guys, you know,
1:07
tech Bros and tech sisters, because they're also women who
1:11
are now going around talking about those themselves in these
1:14
terms, you know, putting on your LinkedIn profile that you're a
1:17
full end, front end, full stack, back end developer, JavaScript
1:23
something, you know, all that fancy technical stuff.
1:26
So my first assignment to him was that you tech people, you
1:30
need to look for alternative ways of introducing yourself so
1:33
that potential customers know exactly what it is that you do.
1:37
Now, I told him about an interaction that I had with one
1:39
of these folks on Instagram. The person reached out to me,
1:42
sorry, not Instagram or on LinkedIn.
1:44
The person reached out to me, the typical thing, you know,
1:46
full and back end, front stack, full stack developer something,
1:50
something, And I asked him a couple of questions and I teased
1:53
out what we're able to do. And so at the end of the day, I
1:57
just asked him, so OK, so if I need to develop a website for my
2:00
business, that's something you can do, right?
2:02
And he said yes. And then I said, OK.
2:04
And then if I need to develop a mobile app version for this
2:07
particular thing, that's something you can do, right?
2:10
And then he said yes. And then I told him that, look,
2:14
to be honest, because of the way that you're introducing
2:16
yourself, business owners like me in Nigeria who need these
2:19
kinds of services do not even understand and do not even know
2:22
what it is that you do. So one of the things that is
2:26
standing in the way of those of you who are technically minded
2:29
and those of you who have, you know, are technically proficient
2:32
in all these, you know, Web 3, online, digital, blah, blah,
2:36
blah, all these sorts of things. One of the things that you guys
2:39
are using too much jargon in the way that you talk with potential
2:41
customers. And so we have no idea what it
2:43
is that you do. So every time I keep seeing
2:47
these things on your handles, you know, full stack developer,
2:51
front and back end, this something developer that this
2:54
program, this excess CSL something, something, it's a bit
2:58
much. Now among all you technical
3:00
people, you guys see it and you know exactly what it is that you
3:03
mean. But The thing is you all are not
3:05
bringing business or trying to do business with each other.
3:08
People are trying to do business with ordinary people like me.
3:11
So you need to use language that shows the ordinary person what
3:16
it is that you do. Then it's also going to help if
3:20
you talk in potential benefits or potential problems that your
3:25
customers have. That way they will know exactly
3:27
what it's that you do. Now I understand that it's a
3:30
problem because if you use such simple language, you won't sound
3:35
fancy anymore. You won't sound as if you know
3:37
what it is that you have to do. Sorry, you won't sound as if
3:41
you're the Don. But The thing is, are you trying
3:43
to sound right or sound cool or are you trying to make money and
3:47
are you trying to get customers? So for the guy that I had the
3:51
conversation with and I found out that behind all that big
3:54
grammar, all that full stack front end, back end developers,
4:00
something, something, something, I was able to narrow it down
4:03
that he creates websites for Nigerian business people and
4:08
he's able to create mobile applications.
4:10
That's mobile app basically that goes along with those websites.
4:14
So if you're able to talk in those terms on your profile or
4:18
when you're networking, you're able to tell someone that I
4:20
develop websites for business owners and I build apps that
4:26
also work with that website as well.
4:28
You can see that it's going to be a different conversation if
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you start off the conversation like that while you're
4:33
networking or you put that kind of thing on your LinkedIn
4:38
profile or your Instagram handle, At least people can
4:40
start asking, oh, what kind of websites do you design?
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How much can you design? The apps you're talking about?
4:50
What kind of apps are those? Will the app work for someone
4:53
like me who is a fashion designer, you know, blah, blah,
4:55
blah. You'll be able to start having
4:56
fruitful conversations. So my first assignment to Steven
5:01
the drummer boy was, you know, sit down, use ChatGPT or Gemini
5:06
or something. Ask yourself a couple of
5:07
questions, narrow down to the problems that you solve or the
5:10
benefit that you bring to the marketplace and look for an
5:12
easier way of introducing yourself.
5:15
Because this full stack front end back end developer OCIS XL
5:20
something it, it means absolutely nothing to someone
5:23
like me. Now for someone like my brother
5:25
who studied information systems management.
5:28
So my brother is he's he's one of you guys.
5:30
He's a tech geek. My brother will see full end
5:33
front and back end developer something and he'll know exactly
5:36
what it is that you do. But for ordinary people like me
5:39
who could be your customers, we have no idea.
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If I go and tell my mom, see now, hey mommy, what is a full
5:45
end front end, back end developer, full stack OCISX, you
5:49
know, blah blah, blah. Moms will be like, what is that?
5:52
If I go and tell my wife babe, what is a full and front and
5:56
back end developer full stack something XOIOCIFXI JavaScript
6:00
something something my wife would be like what is that?
6:04
If I go and tell my guy my who helps run my video for me?
6:11
Two of them Abel and then Shagun.
6:12
If I go and tell them Abel Shagun, what is a full and front
6:16
back end developer, full stack programmer something JavaScript
6:20
EXE, of course, that's my and funny enough, we are the people
6:25
that you should be talking to to do business with us because we
6:28
are the ones who need websites. We are the ones who need apps
6:32
and we are the ones who need all the services that you provide.
6:34
So just look for simpler ways to introduce yourself.
6:38
So stop talking about yourself in all those technical terms.
6:42
Then I also had a conversation with Steven the drummer boy
6:45
about what he means when he says networking because this is
6:48
looking for more opportunities to network.
6:50
So 1 moment, let me get my notes because this is a conversation
6:55
that I had. I think it's up to like 2 weeks
6:59
now. So, so I'm running on memory on
7:01
some of these things. Let me see.
7:05
So networking now, he said for him, networking means looking
7:09
for more people to talk to and trying to find out which people
7:12
are interested in him and to try and find out which people are
7:15
willing to support him in his endeavours.
7:18
And let me repeat, Steven, the Roman boy said that networking
7:23
is about looking for more people to talk to and finding people
7:26
who are interested in him and also finding out people who are
7:29
willing to support him in his business endeavours.
7:32
And in a sense, I see where he's coming from.
7:34
And when you talk to a lot of Nigerian people starting off
7:37
businesses, these are the kind of ideas that they have.
7:39
You're heading into a room or you're heading into a context,
7:42
you're heading into a situation and you're looking for people to
7:44
talk to. You're trying to find people who
7:46
are interested in you and you're trying to find people who can
7:49
support you. So I had to level with Steven
7:52
drone boy. And I told her, look, your ideas
7:55
and your messaging is too me, me, me, me, me.
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And in this day and age, it's not cool and it's going to be
8:00
off putting for lots of people because you show up, especially
8:03
as a young man, you know, like I am, If you show up and it's all
8:06
about me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, people just
8:09
tune off and and they're not interested because after all, we
8:14
all have other things to do with our time, with our money, with
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our attention, with our resources.
8:20
And you know, if you think you're the ish we like everybody
8:25
has their own problems. Let me just put it that way.
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So I told him that his elements of networking, yes, they are
8:30
correct. Talking to someone, seeing
8:32
people who are interested and seeing who is willing to
8:34
support. But I just told him that he
8:35
needs to flip the focus just a little bit.
8:40
When you're doing networking, it's not about talking, It's not
8:43
about talking at people. It's about having a conversation
8:47
with people and trying to figure out who those people are.
8:50
So we have to be other focused. Then his next leg of seeing if
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the people are interested in him.
8:55
I told him that look, nothing is also off.
8:59
You should be trying to figure out who these people are and try
9:04
to see if you are interested in them.
9:08
It's not about whether they are interested in you, it's about
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whether you are interested in them.
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And you should be interested in them to the extent that your
9:15
goals are aligned. So you already know your own
9:18
goals. So when you step into a
9:19
networking situation, remember that Steven drummer boy, he's a
9:24
musician at church. But what he does as a business
9:26
is he's a full end. Sorry, how do you guys say it
9:30
again? He's a full full stack, full
9:33
stack, front end, back end developer, programmer,
9:36
something, something, something. So where was I?
9:41
So when he's in church and he's trying to network in church or
9:45
around those sorts of circles, it's not about figuring out who
9:48
is interested in me, but it's about figuring out who is this
9:50
person? What goals do they have our
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goals aligned. And then instead of figuring out
9:55
how those people can support you, you have to figure out how
9:58
you can support them. That is how you get networking
10:02
going. Because when you show up and
10:04
you're other interested, especially if you're a bright
10:06
young man like this guy is, obviously he's very sharp.
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You have to be sharp to be a sorry, to be a full end, sorry,
10:15
full stack, front end, back end, developer, programmer, blah,
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blah, blah, blah, blah. So you obviously have to be a
10:21
very bright fellow. So if you show up as a sharp guy
10:25
to a networking event, talking to people, schmoozing, finding
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out who they are, what their goals are, seeing areas of
10:32
alignment and then proposing that, oh, with my skill set,
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this and this and this is how I can improve your business,
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improve your personal situation, improve your this, improve your
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that. Can you see how this is going to
10:42
lead to profitable networking, profitable business
10:45
opportunities in the future? So in a sense he's correct, but
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you just need to tweak it small. It's not about you when you're
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networking, it's about the other people.
10:54
Now, when it comes to growing your business, I'm all in favour
11:01
of continuing what it is that you already do because if you
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try to go outside your comfort space, it's hard.
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And so let's start with the easy stuff first.
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So I told him that look, you're looking for more avenues for
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networking, so let's not invent anything new.
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You're Steven, you're the drummer boy, you're already
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drumming in church. People already know you.
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So let's just start there. Let's start with the church
11:25
community. There's nobody saying let's try
11:28
Chamber of Commerce, let's try this, let's try that, let's try
11:30
that. If we start taking outside of
11:33
your comfort zone, it'll be too much of A stretch.
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So let's start with what you're comfortable.
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And this advice that I'm giving to those of you who are
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listening to this podcast who are in a similar situation, you
11:42
want to start networking. You don't have to start thinking
11:45
far. You don't have to start thinking
11:46
of networking sessions that are holding in Sheraton Hotel.
11:49
This eventually you'll get there, but you don't have to
11:51
think that far yet. Start with where you already
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are. So if you're like Steven the
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Drummond boy, you play in the choir.
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I mean, that's, that's good choir people, a good place to
12:01
network, church people, good place to network, other
12:05
departments in church, good place to network.
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You start there first, you beef up your networking muscles
12:11
within the church community. Later on, you'll now be able to
12:14
stray and go towards other avenues.
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So my assignment team was this, since you're already in the
12:23
church circles and you're looking for new avenues to
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network and you happen to have these specialties around full,
12:33
sorry, around front end, back end, full stack developing and
12:38
programming and coding and everything.
12:41
You need to look for ways of interacting with people,
12:45
figuring out who they are and figuring out who is going to be
12:49
able to, to benefit from these coding skills that you have.
12:54
Then we also went into, let me see what else, OK.
12:59
We also spoke a bit about his schedule.
13:01
He gave me his schedule for the day and Stephen, drummer boy, I
13:05
must hail you because man, you are disciplined.
13:09
He wakes up at basically summaries Stephen a drummer boy,
13:15
apart from when he's playing in church.
13:16
This guy is coding 247 basically.
13:20
And for that I have to give you props because from one young man
13:23
to another, not not many of us are disciplined to run things
13:29
the way you do. I mean, like, think about it,
13:31
this podcast, my goal really is to be podcasting every day.
13:37
But because of some personal issues, you know, I've been gone
13:39
for the last three or four days. I know for those of you who
13:42
listen every day, you'd have noticed.
13:43
But for those of you who just come here maybe once or twice a
13:46
week, you wouldn't have noticed. I've actually been gone for
13:48
about, excuse me, for about 3 or 4 days because you've been
13:52
moving house. We found a house, you know,
13:54
we've moved in and then, you know, small, small challenges.
13:57
Yeah. And there, you know, Carpenter
13:58
today, electrician tomorrow, furniture next tomorrow, all
14:01
these sorts of things. So I've been thrown off my usual
14:04
rhythm. So to meet someone who can
14:06
actually say this is what I'm going to do and then do it every
14:08
day, you know, I give props to you.
14:11
So you have the discipline, Stephen, Drama boy, keep up with
14:14
that. It's a strength, it's an asset,
14:16
and it's something that's going to take you far no matter what
14:19
it is you do, whether it's drumming for the church or
14:21
whether it's continuing your business as a coder and as a
14:24
developer. So continue with the discipline.
14:27
So basically he calls all day. Let's see, he's coding morning
14:34
till evening. He calls until 7:00 PM.
14:37
Then he goes to the gym, I think until about 8:00 PM.
14:40
And then he decides to relax and he's relaxing.
14:44
His listening to podcast, my own podcast is one of those podcasts
14:46
he listens to, you know, personal development, business
14:50
development, personal development is, is really,
14:52
really important. So he listens to this sort of
14:54
material until about 10:00 PM at night and then he starts coding
14:57
again. And then he stops at about 2:00
14:59
AM and then he repeats the process every day and has some
15:03
discipline ish. So Stephen Drummer boy, props to
15:06
you. You know, you have lots of
15:07
discipline. So well done, well done.
15:10
But then I also told him that look, Stephen, Mr. Drummer Boy,
15:15
if you're going to be serious about this coding thing, you
15:17
actually cannot live your life like this. 247 You can't because
15:22
the technical expertise is one thing.
15:24
Building the business is something else.
15:27
And I gave him an example that those of you who are full stack
15:31
front and back end developer Coda, programmer, OCI, FXC,
15:37
JavaScript, something something one example that you guys can
15:40
relate to is the man himself, Zuckerberg.
15:45
So in the beginning, Zuckerberg had to be coding 247.
15:48
He had to be doing the full stack front and back end.
15:54
You know, something, something developer Coda, blah, blah,
15:56
blah. In the beginning he had to do
15:57
that. So excuse me, the weather here
16:01
in Abuja, Hammatan. So eventually, so in the
16:04
beginning year, he was doing programming 247.
16:07
But then eventually when the business starts getting off the
16:10
ground, you know, Facebook, his focus had to shift.
16:15
He had to now Start learning fundraising, investor relations,
16:20
toasting people for their money. You have some other programmers.
16:25
He also needed to learn delegation, supervising, team
16:28
management, time management, capital allocation.
16:34
Eventually things were building small, small, small.
16:36
He even needed to Start learning media relations or bringing
16:39
somebody who can handle PR. But you can see that as his
16:43
business was beginning to grow, was his business ideas were
16:47
beginning to develop. The number of skills and the
16:50
number of things that he had, the number of skills that he had
16:52
to acquire were increasing. The number of things that he had
16:55
to do were increasing. And so he was going to be having
16:58
less and less time for coding. So I told him, look, I'm willing
17:03
to bet right now that I don't think currently Zuckerberg, I
17:08
don't think he's coding up to one hour a day now.
17:12
That's just my guess because his time is spent doing other
17:16
things, managing other coders, managing other departments,
17:20
managing other teams, talking with accountants and lawyers,
17:25
talking with public relations people, talking with marketing
17:29
and branding people. He's doing lots of other things.
17:33
So I told him that if you want to get better at networking, but
17:37
247, this is all you do. Wake up in the morning, call
17:41
until 7:00 PM. Go to the gym until 8, then
17:46
relaxing and personal development until 10 and then
17:48
coding until 2:00 in the morning and then starting all over
17:52
again. You only take a break on the
17:53
days that you're you're you're playing in church is no BM.
17:58
It's not. It's not going to cut it.
18:01
You will have to set aside some days where you break this coding
18:05
thing and you say I am going to go and talk at this Ave. or I'm
18:08
going to go and network at this Ave. or I'm going to go and try
18:11
and draw more business by doing this or by doing this or by
18:14
doing that. So for those of you who love the
18:17
keyboard, you know, you have the latest HP something, something
18:22
blah blah blah, the latest iMac something ibook pro, something
18:26
15 inch whatever. I wake up in the morning, you
18:30
sit down, you start doing your magic, you write your code, you
18:34
do your full stack, front end, back end, developing something,
18:38
something programming, coding, JavaScript, OXF, something back
18:43
script, this Python, Python plus plus plus you know you do all
18:47
your magic. If you guys are serious about
18:50
building the business, eventually the coding is going
18:53
to go down Small, small, small, small, small.
18:56
You have to learn how to recruit other quotas.
18:58
You have to learn how to delegate.
19:00
You will have to learn how to interact with customers.
19:01
You will learn how you have to spend lots of your time doing
19:05
sales and marketing activities, interacting with customers,
19:09
making presentations, trying to close the sale.
19:12
So excuse me, you know, regular stuff that other people have to
19:14
do. So you quotas, I'm sorry.
19:18
I know you started because you love this thing.
19:20
You love the magic that you can do.
19:22
You sit down with the keyboard, you do click the clack, this,
19:25
this, this, that, that, that. And then next thing you have
19:27
invented something which is, you know, magically can take the
19:34
database of an entire organization and structure it
19:37
and store it and upload it to the cloud and do this.
19:39
And I understand it. It must be really evigorating,
19:44
really empowering you boys and girls when you sit down at the
19:47
keyboard and you just work your magic.
19:50
Well, unfortunately this is about building a business, so
19:51
you can't sit down and work your magic forever.
19:54
Except if you're going to be like Wozniak, you sit down and
19:59
work your magic and then you look for Steve Jobs and then
20:02
Steve Jobs goes and does the selling.
20:04
So you sit down and you know, clickety clack keyboard every
20:07
day and then the other guy does the selling.
20:10
So yeah, it can't work. But if you're not in a situation
20:14
where you found somebody who's like a Steve Jobs, who's going
20:16
to be selling your magic on your behalf?
20:19
Then please realize you have to make some changes to your life.
20:22
This whole thing of coding 247, you're going got it.
20:25
It's not going to work. So let's see what else?
20:32
OK, so back to the networking thing.
20:33
So I told him, let's just start with church.
20:35
You're already in the church community, so there's no need to
20:38
go and be looking for any other kind of place.
20:41
Then you're already in the, you already work with certain
20:45
departments within the church. So you're a drummer boy.
20:47
So that means you're with the choir.
20:49
He says correct, and it's OK since you're with the choir.
20:52
I also know that Aspire, since you're a drummer boy, you have
20:55
to set up the kit and take down the kit.
20:58
So because of that, you also liaise with people in the
21:03
protocol department. Well, you know, back when I was
21:05
in university with the Nigerian Federation of Catholic Students,
21:09
that's what we used to call it, protocol people who come and set
21:12
up and then sit down. He says, yes, that's correct.
21:15
OK, so cool. So choir, you have a leg there.
21:19
Protocol, you have a leg there. You said correct, although he
21:22
says they don't call you protocol.
21:23
And I don't know what it's called nowadays, but back in my
21:26
day, yeah, that's what I used to call it, protocol.
21:29
Then he also says that he's also cool with people in the digital
21:33
department, you know, people who set up the cameras, people are
21:35
doing After Effects and then, you know, stuff like that.
21:38
So it's OK, cool, no problem. So that means now you have a leg
21:41
in three communities. You have a leg in the choir or
21:45
the music department, you have a leg in the digital department.
21:49
They also have a leg in the protocol department.
21:51
So you're already embedded within these communities.
21:54
So these are places that you're going to start networking in.
21:57
Now Please remember, I am not saying that this is the only
22:02
place you should network with network in.
22:05
I'm just saying that this is where he should start now
22:08
because he's already embedded in these communities.
22:11
So it will be easy for him to network because within these
22:14
communities, because there will be less stress and emotional
22:20
angst. If you haven't built up your
22:22
muscle, it is kind of scary to walk into your room, fresh room,
22:28
40 faces, total strangers. You haven't met them before.
22:32
You don't know anybody. It can't be overwhelming if it's
22:35
your first time. So that's the reason why I'm
22:37
saying he's already embedded with these communities.
22:39
Start here. By the time he builds some
22:41
muscle talking to people that he already knows, the first time he
22:45
has to step into a room where it's 4050 people, all of them
22:48
total strangers, won't be a problem who know how to gather
22:51
himself because he has had some practice before.
22:55
So the challenge now is to interact with people in the
22:58
musical department, with the digital department or the
23:00
protocol department, have conversations with them, figure
23:04
out who they are, get to know them.
23:06
It is from then it's from there that you'll be able to figure
23:09
out who could benefit from your skills as a developer, as a
23:13
programmer, and as a coder. So that is how it works.
23:20
Then we also had some conversations around his
23:26
business. OK, well, we also were not clear
23:28
about how he intends to the well, I see the business model
23:36
because when we're talking, I assumed that he was a
23:38
freelancer. So like freelancer just means
23:42
like you're you're a work for hire.
23:44
OK, let me put it this way. If you're an assassin and you
23:47
set up your Instagram handle and anytime somebody wants somebody
23:50
killed, you know, they call you, that is freelance.
23:53
You're there just doing your thing.
23:55
You're a contractor. When people need your services,
23:56
they call you, you go and do it and you know, that's it.
24:01
So I assume was a freelancer, but it looks like he has some
24:04
startup ideas. So we did settle it then.
24:07
But I told him that, man, it would be hard to be running
24:09
these two things at the same time.
24:12
You know, one of them has to take preeminence at some point,
24:15
as in one of them has to be the leader at some point.
24:17
You can't run the things 5050. It doesn't work that way.
24:21
So it can be that maybe now you're going hard into
24:25
freelancing services because you're trying to make money, You
24:29
know, while you're doing your freelancing, let's say you're
24:32
charging people maybe like 400 K to build website or something,
24:35
and then maybe 600 K to build apps.
24:38
You're trying to see how many websites, how many apps can I
24:41
do? So that maybe by the end of
24:43
2025, by the time I do 44400 Ki do maybe like 10 jobs, I'll be
24:49
400 K in 10 jobs. How much is that?
24:51
Is that 4M 400 K 10? I think that's like 4M and then
24:56
600K. If I do maybe like 10 of them
24:59
that should be like 6 M. So by the end of the year I
25:02
should have like 10 M in my bank account.
25:05
So maybe I use like 5 M, you know, house rent flexing daily.
25:10
You know what you have it the remaining 5 MI can now use as
25:13
capital for my startup. So you see, if you're going to
25:17
be doing this thing, 5050 will be hard, but if you're going to
25:20
say, let me just devote 2025 to freelancing and let me rack up
25:25
as much money as I can so that 2026, this startup, we would die
25:30
on this startup. You see, that's how you do it.
25:33
Or you say, look, you know what, this thing is a startup.
25:35
So let me start, let me start looking for investors, you know,
25:39
blah, blah, blah, and or what not.
25:41
But you can't be this 5050 thing.
25:44
It doesn't work. You're just dissipating your
25:46
energy here and there. So I'm not saying pick one, drop
25:50
the other, but one has to lead, one has to increase, and the
25:53
other has to decrease. You know, one has to be
25:55
preeminent. So it depends.
25:58
But that's a conversation that Stephen the drummer boy has to
26:01
have with himself at a later date.
26:04
Then let's see. OK.
26:06
I also tried to find out about interesting projects that
26:10
Stephen Drummer Boy had done before so I could come up with
26:14
concrete ideas about the kind of conversations you'd be having
26:16
with people. And what he has made in the past
26:19
is he has done something that, sorry, excuse me, he has done
26:23
something that with a different church Where the app or Abby,
26:29
was it an app? OK, I didn't write it down
26:32
anyway. But there was a way that they
26:33
were tracking church attendance so that you'll be able to see
26:37
who came this week, who didn't come this week.
26:40
So the people who came last week came the week before.
26:43
They didn't come this week. They don't come next week, you
26:47
know, know that. Oh, OK, we need to follow up on
26:49
brother so so so and so or sister so so so and so.
26:53
And I told them all fantastic. That's really good community
26:56
building. So you have used your skills as
27:00
a full stack front end, back end developer, JavaScript, Python
27:07
something something called a programmer, blah, blah, blah,
27:09
blah, blah. And you have created something
27:13
for churches in Lagos that helps them to track attendance.
27:20
But look, it's not really tracking attendance actually
27:22
what you're doing there. That is community building.
27:26
That is a community building solutions that you're providing.
27:29
So in other communities that you are networking in the future,
27:35
these are some of the conversations that you can be
27:37
having. If you're having a conversation
27:39
with pastors, it would be oh, oh, your pastor.
27:41
So, so and so. Oh, nice to meet you, Sir.
27:43
Blah, blah, blah. Tell me more about your church.
27:45
Oh, this is what you do. This is where you are.
27:47
Oh, oh, bless you, Sir. May God continue to reward your
27:50
effort. It looks like we were doing
27:51
very, very well at, at social school ministries.
27:57
Oh, by the way, pastor, have you people been having a problem
28:00
with community building? Have you noticed that sometimes
28:04
services are full, sometimes services are not say, well,
28:07
actually, yes, we have. And it's something we've been
28:09
praying about and something, something, something.
28:11
Well, Pastor, I think I might have a solution for that.
28:15
There's something that I developed for XYZ Ministries
28:18
that we used to use to track church attendance, and we're
28:22
able to use that in close conjunction with people in the
28:26
visitation department. And after doing a campaign for
28:30
four or five weeks, we're able to notice that church attendance
28:33
was able to improve from 70% to 82%.
28:40
And we also notice that now that church attendance was now at
28:43
82%. We also notice that that tithing
28:48
also went up by 3%. Pastor, if you're free, I can
28:54
come by your office next week Monday so that we can talk about
28:59
how these sorts of solutions can work for your ministry.
29:03
So is that, is that something you'd be interested in, Sir?
29:06
Man of God and I keep quiet. I know you hear whether man of
29:09
God is interested or not. If man of God is interested,
29:14
good, you're making progress. If he's not interested, no
29:17
problem, on to the next. Look for somebody else to talk
29:20
to. Well, you guys can see how it
29:23
works and that's why I was asking him about what he has
29:25
done in the past and how it's going to influence the kind of
29:29
conversation that we'll have in the future.
29:31
Then he has also come up with a solution where although this was
29:37
for businesses, you'll be able to create cloud storage for
29:42
contacts and passwords and then things like that.
29:44
And I told him I think that's a good a cool idea.
29:46
Although I admitted to him that, look, man, I'm never gonna do
29:48
that. I don't trust putting my
29:51
passwords in the cloud, but there are lots of people who do.
29:55
So OK, that's also another benefit there.
29:59
Then let's see what else, OK. He has also worked on something
30:03
for a food website that helps with ordering food.
30:06
And then I told him that the benefit there is that he's
30:09
making businesses much more in efficient.
30:13
Basically, I'm just trying to figure out what have you done in
30:15
the past? What is the value it is that you
30:16
provide? Those will influence the terms
30:19
in which you talk with people while you're networking.
30:25
So sorry, let me check my notes. Let me see what else did we talk
30:28
about? Sorry, this is a rambling
30:30
episode of like I said, this was a conversation I had I think
30:33
maybe about two weeks ago. I think, I think this is all I
30:39
can remember for now. But basically, it's just this
30:44
number one, if you're like Steven drummer boy and you're in
30:47
the technical field, your full stack front and back end
30:52
developer, Python plus coding OCIX, JavaScript, something,
30:58
something, something, please stop putting on your LinkedIn
31:01
profile that you're a full stack front and back end developer
31:04
something something because your potential customers do not know
31:08
what that means. Think about it.
31:11
Steven the drummer boy is drumming in church.
31:15
How many people do you think in the congregation know what the
31:18
full stack back end developer something something is?
31:22
So even if they see that on your profile or if you introduce
31:24
yourself to them after service, I say, oh sister Dollar Bo, I'm
31:28
a full stack front and back end developer should say oh OK, OK,
31:31
that's nice, that's nice. She won't ask.
31:34
What does that mean? Because the average Nigerian
31:36
doesn't want to appear stupid. So they won't ask 'cause I don't
31:39
want to show that they don't understand.
31:40
So OK, OK, OK. Well that sounds exciting.
31:42
Oh bless you brother. Bless you brother, bless you
31:44
brother. And then she will leave tomorrow
31:47
if she needs to refer. How would she refer you when she
31:49
doesn't understand what full stack front end the back end
31:53
developing is? So put something else in your
31:56
profile. Look for other ways of
31:59
introducing yourself that shows the kind of benefits that you
32:02
provide. Even if you're trying to be
32:06
cocky and you say, oh, I'm a computer whiz kid and I help
32:09
design software for churches that help them raise more money.
32:13
You can see that that one is fairly specific, so that the
32:16
next time Sister Dolapo is talking to another pastor who is
32:20
complaining about church attendance and about tides in
32:23
their church, at least she'll remember you that oh, Steven,
32:27
drummer boy in my church was talking about how he helps
32:30
churches raise more money with his coding skills, as you might
32:34
say, Oh, pastor so and so, there's this guy in my church.
32:38
Why don't you talk to him? This is something he might be
32:40
able to do. So.
32:43
So excuse me, simplify how you introduce yourself, simplify how
32:48
you talk about yourself. And this applies to everybody
32:51
who works in a technical field. So if you are a member of the
32:55
Association of Forensic Accountants of Nigeria, and yes,
32:59
it is a real thing. Their office is in in what's
33:05
this Plaza called. It's in Area 11, It's behind
33:08
NNPC. So on NNPC, Yeah, NNPC, NMPC
33:14
quarters is behind NMPC quarters and this is MMM, IB F AB F AB F
33:20
AB mall or something like that. So they are there.
33:23
Forensic accountants, if you go around telling people you are
33:26
forensic accountant, the average Nigerian does not know what a
33:30
forensic accountant is. We know that accountants exists.
33:34
We kind of have an idea what accountants do, but the average
33:38
person has no idea about what a forensic accountant is.
33:42
So instead of going around proudly boasting I'm a forensic
33:45
accountant, why not look for ways of speaking in terms of the
33:49
benefits that you provide? So now people ask you, what do
33:52
you do? I'm an accountant.
33:54
Say, oh, OK, really? Yeah, I'm an accountant, but I'm
33:57
not an everyday kind of accountant.
33:59
My own specialty is I know how to figure out where money is
34:06
being stolen and who is stealing the money in your organization,
34:11
that kind of thing. People will remember, their ears
34:13
will perk up. You are surprised that the
34:15
person will say ah, you are the kind of person I need.
34:19
I have a business, I have 20 employees every single month.
34:23
I'm dropping 800K into the business every single month.
34:27
This is what is coming out is looking to me as IF400K300K
34:33
every month is missing and I don't know what it is that is
34:35
going on. Please can you help me?
34:39
If you go around saying I'm a forensic accountant, half the
34:41
people you're talking to will not know.
34:43
But then if you go around saying that, oh, I'm an accountant, I
34:45
specialize in finding out who is stealing your money and how much
34:50
is being stolen, that is a different conversation.
34:53
The person will now be able to know when to refer you the next
34:57
time he's talking to someone else.
34:58
If the person says, oh, these my employers, oh, Shagun did this,
35:02
I did good, need that. Hamza did this.
35:04
Something, something, Oh, I'm not even sure the best will now
35:07
remember, ah, the last time I was at so, so, so and so I spoke
35:12
to Tahir. He said he's a forensic
35:15
accountant and their specialty is they figure out who is
35:20
stealing money inside the business.
35:23
You say, ah, please give me that person's number and then don't
35:25
call. So please.
35:28
This is a disease that is suffered by those of you who are
35:30
technically proficient. You love your titles, you love
35:33
your technical words. Simplify.
35:35
When you're talking to your technical people, please use all
35:37
the big grammar so that all your technical people will know that
35:40
you're legit. When you're talking to everyday
35:42
ordinary people like me, simplify it.
35:45
Don't go around saying I'm a full stack, front end, back end
35:47
developer. Don't go around saying I'm a
35:49
forensic accountant. Talk in terms of the benefits
35:52
you provide, the problems that you solve when you're talking to
35:54
everyday ordinary people so that they will know what you do,
36:00
whether you can help them, or whether they should refer you to
36:02
someone else. So that's summary #1 let's see
36:07
#2A lot of you have fallen in love with the tanker aspect of
36:11
your business. This is not just for coders.
36:15
It's the same thing with people who cook or people who bake.
36:17
So you love cooking. Everybody tells you that you are
36:21
a masterful cook. You've been cooking since you
36:23
were four years old. So your identity is wrapped up
36:27
in being a chef. Unfortunately, chefing is not as
36:31
what's going to make the business grow.
36:33
The business is going to grow. When you hire a team, you
36:38
supervise the team. You make sure that the team is
36:40
chefing to your standards, and then you start spending your
36:45
time networking, marketing, talking to people, sending out
36:50
proposals, making presentations, trying to close deals.
36:54
That is what will move the sale forward.
36:55
So yes, you fell in love with photography.
36:57
You fell in love with chafing. You fell in love with computer
37:01
coding. You fell in love with whatever
37:04
it is. Even if you're a bodybuilder,
37:06
you fell in love with bodybuilding.
37:07
Lifting weights in the gym is not going to build your business
37:10
as a personal trainer. Your business as a personal
37:13
trainer will grow when you come with a method for going out or
37:19
using your Instagram or whatever, looking for clients.
37:22
Eventually you need to build a team around you, people who you
37:25
have certified, people who you've trust.
37:27
You trust in your methods because you can't scale this
37:29
business around yourself 'cause let's face it, the problem with
37:32
physical training is while you're training this.
37:35
Let's say you're training Missus Uchechuku in the gym and her
37:38
session last two hours. For that two hours, you can only
37:41
be with her. You can't be with anybody else.
37:43
The real money is going to come when you're spending two hours
37:45
with Missus Uchechuku, but then you have also trained six other
37:49
guys and girls and each of those six other guys and girls are
37:52
training other people for other two hour sessions.
37:56
Or maybe you're giving them, I don't know, maybe 20 or 30% of
37:59
the money, but you're the one bringing in the customers.
38:01
So you see, that's how we think skills.
38:03
So stop falling in love with the technical aspect, start falling
38:06
in love with the business aspects.
38:07
That is what is going to make things grow.
38:09
So that's number two. Then let's see what else?
38:14
Let's see then #3 or the final thing is, if you're looking for
38:19
more avenues to network, sorry, let me wrap up on my notes.
38:24
If you're looking for more avenues to network, please don't
38:28
give yourself high BP by looking for new avenues to network in.
38:32
Start with the circles that you are already are in.
38:35
Start there. So if you're like Steven the
38:37
drummer boy, you're already in the church community.
38:40
Start in the church community. Get comfortable there.
38:44
Keep networking there, eventually you build up your
38:47
networking muscles and then you'll be able to now start
38:50
moving to Lagos Chamber of Commerce, Abuja Chamber of
38:53
Commerce or International Trade Fair or BNIBNI is a business
38:58
networking international or you know different networking
39:02
associations or like is it lions or something?
39:06
Lions, I had lions, Lagos Lions, Leki chapter or what else?
39:13
What other networking bodies are there?
39:14
But you get my point. So start where you are.
39:17
So if you are a member of church, start there.
39:21
If you're a member of Parabol, you know descendants of Umwaha,
39:27
Umwaha United Abuja chapter, start there.
39:33
Or you're a poet, you're a member of some poetry, painting
39:37
something. Click in Abuja or Lagos, start
39:40
there, start where you are, network there first, build the
39:43
muscle, get comfortable and then you can expand to other circles.
39:47
So that's it for today, pretty much.
39:50
If you'd love to connect for a business audit or a strategy
39:53
session, then the phone number to call is 08064662140.
39:59
The country code is +234 for those who are not Nigerian.
40:04
And that is my WhatsApp number as well.
40:06
So you can send me a WhatsApp message.
40:08
Then if you'd love to connect with me on socials, I'm on
40:11
LinkedIn as Tavish Shima Ayede. You can also find a bunch of
40:15
this stuff from me also on YouTube.
40:19
So thank you very much for your time and attention.
40:20
I'll catch you guys at the next episode.
40:22
Hopefully, it's not going to be another three or four days
40:24
before you hear from me again. So enjoy the rest of your day.
40:28
And I hope I've been able to deliver some value from the
40:30
conversation that I had with Steven, the drummer boy.
40:33
And I hope that we've got good Nuggets for you guys there to
40:36
move your businesses forward. So thanks for your time and
40:40
attention. I'll catch you guys at the next
40:42
episode.