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NYSC Deployment: Tips for Business Growth and Personal Development · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

• 0:01
  Hello and welcome to the show. I've been in touch with a bunch
• 0:05
  of you listeners of the show who are currently in that uni phase,
• 0:09
  you know, about to head off into NYSE.
• 0:12
  For those of you who are not Nigerian, that's the National
• 0:15
  Youth Service Corps. It's part of the mandatory or
• 0:20
  let's say paramilitary national service type thing now we have
• 0:26
  to do in this country. It's part of our own quota in
• 0:29
  developing the nation. So we all get sent off to
• 0:32
  different parts of the federation and we get to do
• 0:36
  things that develop local communities, working in schools,
• 0:39
  working in hospitals, working in different communities, apart
• 0:43
  from the communities of our birth.
• 0:44
  So for someone like me that was born in Makudin, Benway states,
• 0:47
  grew up in Abuja and Lagos, I got sent off to Kanu.
• 0:51
  And so that's the whole idea. And part of the whole idea
• 0:54
  behind the NYC scheme, the National Youth Service Corps
• 0:57
  scheme, is that it's supposed to help with national cohesion.
• 1:01
  You know, if we all float around great, wonderful country,
• 1:05
  Nigeria, get to live in different communities, do
• 1:08
  different things, helping national growth.
• 1:11
  So it's supposed to be something that supposed to build a greater
• 1:16
  Nigeria. And it's a scheme that has been
• 1:17
  running for quite a bit. I can't remember when the scheme
• 1:20
  started, but I know that my mother went through the scheme.
• 1:24
  OK. My dad is a decade older, what
• 1:27
  was a decade older than my mom. So he didn't go through part of
• 1:30
  the scheme, but my mom did. So now is that time when folks
• 1:35
  have received their call up letters and everybody's, you
• 1:37
  know, being shuffled about. So there are two listeners of
• 1:40
  the podcast based in Ibadan who have received the call up.
• 1:45
  One person going to Delta State, excuse me, another person going
• 1:48
  to Baushi. And then of course, I've also
• 1:51
  got young cousins who are also, you know, taking that that step.
• 1:56
  And so I figured I'd make a podcast episode today addressed
• 2:01
  to those of you who are moving on to this wonderful adventure
• 2:06
  of the NYSE. Just a couple of things to tell
• 2:08
  those of you guys, particularly those of you who have the
• 2:12
  yearnings to continue your businesses because like I
• 2:15
  mentioned, the two ladies in particular that listen to the
• 2:18
  podcast in from the University of Ibadan based in Ibadan.
• 2:22
  Sorry. Yeah, they're both, both in
• 2:26
  business as caterers and they're keen to continue in these new
• 2:29
  communities. And then of course, you know,
• 2:30
  some of my young cousins who have their own hostels, you
• 2:33
  know, wherever they are and wondering how to continue where
• 2:37
  you move off to. So today's episode is just.
• 2:42
  Today's episode just goes out to those of you who are going to be
• 2:45
  deployed soon for your NYSE and those who have been, those who
• 2:49
  received their deployment on Wednesday.
• 2:52
  I think that was two days ago. Yeah.
• 2:55
  So, yeah. So this episode is dedicated to
• 2:59
  you guys. Now, since most of us were
• 3:03
  heading off for the NYC thing, typically we're young, ish.
• 3:08
  You know, you enter university when you're about 1819, spend
• 3:13
  about 4-5 years. You know, you come out in your
• 3:17
  early 20s. So you know, it's that time of
• 3:19
  life when a lot of us have relationships on our mind.
• 3:24
  So the first tip I'm going to give to those of you who are
• 3:26
  heading off for NYSE. Yes, I know that this is a
• 3:29
  business show, but don't worry, I'll get there eventually.
• 3:30
  Well, let me just start off with the more juicy parts.
• 3:33
  So the first tip that I have for you guys running off to NYSE,
• 3:37
  and this is something that I tell anyone heading off into
• 3:41
  this phase, let's be realistic, this is going to be a year of
• 3:44
  adventure. So let's be honest with
• 3:46
  ourselves. Marriage not likely.
• 3:50
  So if you're going into this trying to pursue relationships,
• 3:55
  you know, no problem. But if you're thinking that
• 3:58
  you're going there to go and find a husband or a wife, you
• 4:01
  know, sorry to dash your hopes, but NYSE hookups that end
• 4:05
  marriage statistically not very high, but it does happen.
• 4:09
  Just so you know, you have realistic expectations in that
• 4:13
  sphere. You know, you get sent off to
• 4:16
  wonderful, maybe KB for instance, and the village is
• 4:20
  nice, it's cool, it's rustic. And you're there, you find
• 4:23
  somebody, you think she's the love of your life and you guys
• 4:25
  are there for a whole year. And you know, you're wondering
• 4:28
  what it would be like to start off life with this wonderful
• 4:31
  girl or this wonderful, wonderful guy.
• 4:34
  And just letting you know anyway, so relationships, no
• 4:37
  problem. Marriage, not likely friends
• 4:40
  with benefits. I mean, hey, I'm well, adults,
• 4:43
  I'm not going to judge. I'll just say be responsible
• 4:45
  about these things, you know, So go into these things
• 4:48
  deliberately, cautiously, honestly, because some of you
• 4:52
  have girlfriends back at home and you're thinking, OK, I'm
• 4:55
  being posted to Lagos, let me go and see what Yoruba girls feel
• 4:57
  like. Or you have a secondary school
• 5:02
  boyfriend from, you know, Anambra and you've never left
• 5:06
  your village and now you're being posted to Abuja and you're
• 5:08
  like, oh, let me see what these northern boys feel like.
• 5:10
  So yeah, so that's it. Be mature about it, be honest
• 5:15
  about it, and just know what you're getting yourself into.
• 5:20
  So that's tip #1 so tip #2 community.
• 5:25
  You guys are leaving your old environment.
• 5:27
  Like I said, I was born in Makudi, grew up in Abuja and
• 5:30
  Lagos, and then I was shipped off to Kano.
• 5:32
  So community is very practical. But for some reason, people
• 5:36
  don't think about these sorts of things.
• 5:38
  So we need to think about the communities that we're heading
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  into. We need to be very practical
• 5:42
  about this and the reason why I need to be practical is because
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  it's a new environment. So we need some form of
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  grounding and we need some form of community, some form of
• 5:50
  security, and we're going to have to try and sink new routes
• 5:53
  for the new year. If you're going to try and build
• 5:55
  a community of your own, it's going to be time consuming.
• 5:58
  There's going to be plenty of trial and error because you guys
• 6:02
  are coming from different parts of the federation.
• 6:04
  You're all being thrown together.
• 6:05
  It's a new city, you don't know who is who.
• 6:07
  If you want to try and build your own routes, it's going to
• 6:09
  take a lot of time. So my practical opinion to those
• 6:13
  of you are heading off for NYC, especially those of you who have
• 6:16
  dreams of continuing your business, you know, so let's say
• 6:19
  you are in Lagos, you are doing wedding photography, you're
• 6:21
  being posted to Bauchi, you want to continue as a wedding
• 6:24
  photographer or you've been doing your catering hustle in
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  Ibadan and you're being shipped off to Zamfira and you want to
• 6:31
  continue with your catering hustle while you're there.
• 6:34
  It's something I think you should do.
• 6:36
  I don't think your cooking hustle or your wedding
• 6:38
  photography hustle or your computer design hustle or your
• 6:42
  coding hustle or whatever hustle, I don't think you need
• 6:45
  to stop because you've been sent off to a different part of the
• 6:47
  federation. So my own opinion is for those
• 6:50
  of you who especially are business minded, let's get in
• 6:53
  there quickly. Let's get grounded in the
• 6:55
  community and then let's get going.
• 6:57
  So my practical advice for those of you who are not Nigerian, we
• 7:04
  in Nigeria, we live in a secular state, but yes, the religious
• 7:07
  instinct or the religious sentiment or the religious,
• 7:09
  whatever it is that you want to call it runs high.
• 7:12
  So my advice to people typically is, you know, talk to your
• 7:15
  pastor, make sure that there's a parish in the place that you're
• 7:19
  heading to and just go in and don't waste time.
• 7:22
  Just slot yourself into that community and then just
• 7:24
  continue. I know you all want to go and
• 7:27
  start off and it's a brave new world and build our own
• 7:29
  communities and then break free and everything.
• 7:32
  But look, you have a business to build.
• 7:33
  You have a hustle to continue. So just get in there.
• 7:35
  The community is already there. Slot yourself in and then just
• 7:38
  continue. So talk to your pastor or talk
• 7:40
  to your imam. Is there a parish there?
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  Or is there another church or another mosque or whatever that
• 7:46
  has local affiliations to where you are now?
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  Just get there, look for a community that is close to the
• 7:52
  community that you had at home, slot yourself in and then
• 7:55
  continue. If you're going to use NYSE
• 7:57
  about this whole adventure thing and no what not, then yeah,
• 7:59
  sure, no problem. Go spread your wings, explore,
• 8:02
  you know, whatever. But if you have a hustle to
• 8:04
  continue, please just get there, find the community, slot
• 8:08
  yourself in, continue with life. Of course, yes, we'll have your
• 8:11
  adventure. So from the business angle, my
• 8:17
  advice, continue with the business hustle as you're
• 8:20
  heading off for NYSE. The reason why I come up with
• 8:29
  this whole, I continue with this whole community angle is because
• 8:32
  people love to support enterprising youth.
• 8:36
  So if you are based in Abuja and you've been shipped off to Lagos
• 8:40
  and you quickly blend in with your local church community,
• 8:44
  people are going to love to support this enterprising young
• 8:47
  man who is out of state, a member of the community, out of
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  state, but he's going to be with us for a whole year and he wants
• 8:55
  to be in and around and help church and things like that.
• 8:58
  People are people love to support an enterprising youth.
• 9:02
  I mean the same thing for you girls as well, like the ladies
• 9:04
  in the battle. And I keep telling them, hook up
• 9:07
  this whole church thing because you get to the community, you
• 9:13
  know, you're nice, you're friendly, you're helpful around
• 9:16
  church, everybody likes you, people want to support you.
• 9:19
  This is where you're going to get your first set of customers,
• 9:23
  your first set of referrals, the support that you need, I mean,
• 9:30
  all kinds of stuff. So I mean, I'm talking about
• 9:32
  these things from a from a purely practical standpoint, if
• 9:37
  you can put it that way. So continue the hostel, get to
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  this new place, look for the community, slot yourself in and
• 9:44
  just continue as normal. People love to support
• 9:46
  enterprising youth. Take advantage of that.
• 9:49
  So if you're a wedding photographer, this is the scope.
• 9:51
  If you're a software developer, it's still the scope because you
• 9:54
  have been sent to Zamfara and Zamfara sounds like it's in the
• 9:57
  middle of the Sahara Desert. It's not by the way, but I'm
• 10:01
  just saying that when you grow up in Lagos, people hear Zamfara
• 10:03
  and they think Sahara Desert, but you know, it's not that far.
• 10:07
  So the fact that you've been sent to Zamfire doesn't mean
• 10:10
  that your career as a software developer or your business as a
• 10:13
  software developer has to die. Or the fact that you're in a new
• 10:16
  environment doesn't mean that your business as an online
• 10:18
  caterer has to die. So inject yourself into these
• 10:21
  communities and quickly let people know who you are, quickly
• 10:24
  let people know what you do and quickly let people know that you
• 10:28
  would appreciate their support in you continuing their hustle.
• 10:32
  So take advantage of this whole NYC sympathy, sympathy.
• 10:35
  I mean, milk it for all it's worth.
• 10:37
  I believe me. It is there because I'm
• 10:38
  surprised that in Kano, I was getting ready to head off to my
• 10:43
  place for primary assignment and I was in my uniform and an Okada
• 10:48
  guy stopped and I hopped on, negotiated, got to my place and
• 10:53
  I wanted to pay him my horse. Like, Oh no, no, no, no, no.
• 10:55
  And you know, for him, he was doing his charity because he was
• 10:59
  doing a, a copper, an act of kindness or an act of charity or
• 11:03
  an act of something, you know, I don't know what it is, but I'm
• 11:06
  not saying that I've been a recipient of some of these
• 11:07
  things, whether it's Okada drivers or other people who just
• 11:11
  wanted to help out a young lawyer like, oh, oh, barrister,
• 11:14
  you know, do like this, do like this, come here, take this.
• 11:18
  You know, so I've been a recipient and I'm just saying
• 11:20
  take advantage of it. So I guess it's somewhere.
• 11:23
  What I'm trying to say is that this NYC year doesn't have to be
• 11:27
  a waste because some people think that NYC is just a waste
• 11:31
  and some people think of NYC as a paid vacation.
• 11:34
  So do not waste your NYC year. Some people use the NYC year to
• 11:39
  try and cure the congolitis. And if you want to cure your
• 11:44
  congy, that's not a problem. I'm just saying that there are
• 11:46
  greater things to life than all those sorts of things.
• 11:49
  So don't waste your year, you can do a whole lot better,
• 11:55
  excuse me, than make this a paid one year vacation, even though
• 11:58
  the pay is not fantastic, especially now that we're
• 12:01
  dealing with hyperinflation in Nigeria.
• 12:04
  So whether you're being sent to Bauchi or being sent to
• 12:07
  Maiduguri or Zamfara, or if you're from Zamfara, you're
• 12:10
  being sent to Lagos or whatever, use this time to build
• 12:14
  transferable skills. If you've been attached to a
• 12:19
  school, I know that's sort of like suicide, especially for
• 12:21
  those of us who did highly cerebral stuff.
• 12:24
  You know, you can imagine going through medical school and blah,
• 12:28
  blah, blah, or law school and then you're attached to a
• 12:30
  primary school that's a year of primary service.
• 12:32
  I know it sounds like you know, it's, it's, it's beneath you,
• 12:36
  but this is the time to build transferable skills.
• 12:39
  So go in, do your best, transfer how you can function in the
• 12:43
  primary school, transfer how you can function in the community.
• 12:46
  Try and see how you can exercise leadership skills, leadership
• 12:51
  skills, problem solving skills, what else?
• 12:56
  Just try and build transferable skills basically.
• 12:59
  And for those of you who still have your hustle, try and
• 13:01
  continue the hustle as well. So you're supposed to buy at
• 13:04
  your place for primary assignment.
• 13:05
  You've been assigned to the primary school.
• 13:07
  By all means, make sure you teach at the primary school, but
• 13:09
  nothing says that you can't teach at the primary school
• 13:12
  during the day and then after school closes by two, you grade
• 13:16
  your papers until 4. Nothing says that you can't
• 13:19
  continue your baking practice from 5:00 until 8:00.
• 13:25
  So nothing says you can't continue your catering practice
• 13:29
  or your wedding photography practice.
• 13:31
  You know there's nothing. As far as I know, there are no
• 13:33
  rules. Well, for those of you who are
• 13:36
  versed in these sorts of things and if the rules have changed,
• 13:37
  please let me know, right. So I don't give bad people
• 13:40
  advice so they don't do anything illegal.
• 13:42
  But the best I know, yeah, you can serve in your primary
• 13:45
  school, in the hospital where you've been posted, but nothing
• 13:48
  stops you from going out and still continue your hustle.
• 13:52
  So, yeah, that's I guess that's just some of all the things I've
• 13:54
  been trying to say today. So congratulations for those of
• 13:57
  you who were deployed on Wednesday and for those of you
• 14:01
  who are going to receive your deployment letters soon.
• 14:05
  I wish you guys safe travels. And I hope that the NYC year is
• 14:10
  going to be a time of growth, a time of development, a time of
• 14:14
  adventure. And for those of you who
• 14:16
  continue who decide to continue to grow your businesses, whether
• 14:23
  it turns out good or whether it turns out bad, whether you make
• 14:26
  customers or you don't make any customers, you're still going to
• 14:31
  benefit from, you're still going to benefit from it.
• 14:35
  Coming into a new environment, knowing nobody and trying to
• 14:38
  raise customers from scratch, trying to raise a book of
• 14:41
  business from scratch, you're definitely going to benefit from
• 14:43
  the experience. So it's my prayer that
• 14:45
  everything goes well with you guys.
• 14:48
  And back to the relationship thing, because people go through
• 14:51
  this and come out with unnecessary heartbreak.
• 14:53
  Just be open, just be honest, be adults about the whole thing.
• 14:59
  So if you're leaving Orca, maybe Orca is where you grew up,
• 15:04
  you've never left your small town before, you're heading to
• 15:06
  Lagos, You think it's all exciting and everything be I put
• 15:13
  it, just be wise. Let me put it this way, I'm not
• 15:16
  saying, I'm not saying don't go and have your adventure and see
• 15:18
  what Lagos boys are like, you know, but just be wise.
• 15:22
  And for the young boy too, who has the girlfriend back in the
• 15:25
  village and you're thinking you want to explore and everything
• 15:27
  like that, you know, just be wise.
• 15:30
  Well, first of all, I appreciate what it is that you have back
• 15:33
  home because the fact that this person is your primary school
• 15:36
  boyfriend or your secondary school girlfriend doesn't mean
• 15:38
  that it's not a relationship that can't blossom or can't
• 15:42
  carry you through into other things in life.
• 15:45
  But anyway, there's no relationship podcast.
• 15:47
  But you guys got the business, Jisha.
• 15:49
  So just continue hostel, continue your business, build
• 15:52
  transferable skills. And yeah, that's all.
• 15:54
  So I'll catch you guys at the next episode.
• 15:56
  Connect with me on WhatsApp. The phone number is 080
• 15:59
  64662140. The country code is +234.
• 16:03
  For those of you who are not Nigerian, then connect me on
• 16:07
  LinkedIn. The name to look for is
• 16:09
  Tavishima Agede. I'm the host of the show.
• 16:12
  You can confirm the spelling of my name from the link.
• 16:14
  We're currently listening to this podcast, so thanks for the
• 16:17
  time and attention. I'll catch you guys at the next
• 16:19
  episode.