Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Test Before You Launch: A No-Nonsense Guide for Nigerian Businesses

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Test Before You Launch: A No-Nonsense Guide for Nigerian Businesses · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

• 0:01
  Today on the podcast, we're going to be looking at some
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  ideas about how to test your products before you roll it out
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  to the general market. Again, I repeat today we're
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  going to be looking at how to test your product and make sure
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  that it is fit for consumption, that everybody can use it.
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  So test it before you roll it out.
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  Now, the reason why is because I made a prior episode.
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  Let me see OK, as at the date of this recording, I think I made
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  it sometime last week. And it was an episode where I
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  was talking to people in the in the tech space in Nigeria,
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  people who are rolling out tech, tech products about how you
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  should first come up with a prototype or come up with an
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  MVP. That's a minimum viable product.
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  A minimum viable product is the smallest version of your idea,
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  the smallest workable version of your idea so that people can
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  see, people can taste, they can't touch, they can't smell,
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  they can't critique, they can't criticize.
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  So that you will know that truly, truly before I send this
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  thing out, let me change this. Let me change this, let me
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  change that. Now, the reason why this is
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  important is because for some kinds of products, if you just
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  roll it out like that and in the market, they see that medicine
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  is crap, you would damage your reputation.
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  Seriously, people will look at you and say this boy is useless.
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  They'll say this babe, you know, not in the idea as in she's
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  fine, but nothing. So that's some things that
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  before you roll it out, test it first.
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  Be sure that this thing is working and in that podcast
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  episode, what I said is this for those of you who are in the text
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  space, because the text space you will normally you do your in
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  house testing first. You know, you create your app,
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  you check it yourself to be sure that the thing works.
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  You will give one or two of your friends who are quotas.
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  You know, you test it, you say, ah, correct.
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  I've designed something that is great.
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  You know what, I start trying to collect big money from people.
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  So what I said now first episode was this.
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  I look because the person in in, in that particular episode, the
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  person his target was in schools.
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  I told her, look, this is what you do.
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  First of all, you go and approach some schools.
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  You say, look, you know what, we're launching this thing and
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  we're doing it in beta mode. So you guys can do it for free
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  or for a small fee. And we're going to limit it to,
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  you know, 150 students per class.
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  And we're going to limit it to, you know, 30 days, you know, 15
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  days, 45 days, whatever. But the whole point was this,
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  you have created your app, you've created your website,
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  created your product in house. You don't test them.
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  You can see that it works, but how do you know that?
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  The moment you unleash 150 students on it, how do you know
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  that thing will not break down? Right now you don't know.
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  So do beta launch first stress test this thing, know the limits
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  of this thing. Iron out all the rings, the bugs
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  that are there, debug them. The problem that is there fix
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  them. It is.
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  Then you can now say, oh, you know what, we've rolled out this
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  product. You know, meats also standard
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  this that that that that we can guarantee you guarantee you that
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  I pay me millions. Then you can confidently tell
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  somebody pay me millions because you know that this thing works.
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  You can't know that if all you've been doing is in house
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  testing. So the reason why I'm making
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  today's episode is this. There's a listener of the show,
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  Elam. Elam, thank you very much for
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  commenting on the podcast. By the way, I thought comments
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  were supposed to disappear on the 3rd of September and this is
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  currently the 14th of September. And I'm surprised that some
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  people can still comment on Spotify.
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  Now the problem is this. I can see your comments, but
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  unlike before, before, I can't respond to your comments.
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  I can't reply on Spotify. So for those of you who see the
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  commenting options available on Spotify, keep on commenting.
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  What I'll do is I'll just come up here and then I'll make an
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  audio response since I can't type and respond to you guys in
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  the past like I did. But just so you know what
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  Spotify told us, Shah, we podcasters, at least in Niger
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  was that commenting on Spotify is going away on September 3rd.
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  Of course, that time don't pass. So I give my phone number in
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  every episode. If you'd love to connect
• 4:37
  questions, comments, queries, the phone number is 08064662140.
• 4:44
  Send a text message, send a WhatsApp message, you know, I
• 4:47
  always respond. And then of course, YouTube, now
• 4:50
  that's 2D, you can comment there and I will see them.
• 4:54
  So any Elam, Elam, thank you very much for contact, for
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  commenting. Now Elam says that he's a fan or
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  she, I'm not sure because the only Ilems I know are Ilemona.
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  So and the only Ilemona I know is a guy.
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  So that's why I'm assuming is, you know, Ilem is a guy.
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  So he says he's a fan of in house testing.
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  And of course you're a fan of in house testing.
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  Believe me, everybody's a fan of in house testing because in
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  house testing is fun and in house testing always works.
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  I come with an idea and I go and talk to my brother and my
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  brother says, ah, that's a good idea, good idea.
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  I talked to my wife, mom. We said, oh, it's a good idea,
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  good idea. I'll talk to mom.
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  See mom, she'll be like, ah, wonderful idea, my son, you're
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  very, very smart. That's in house testing.
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  No, Abby, it always works is when you now go outside and you
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  jump people in the field. You know that.
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  OK, I didn't quite think of this aspect or I didn't quite think
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  of that aspect. So trust me, Elam, everybody
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  loves in house testing. Everyone.
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  It's easy, it's good, it shows that your idea works.
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  The problem with in house testing is it doesn't help you
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  stress test your thing. Stress test just means under
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  what conditions will this thing breakdown?
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  How strong is this thing? What is the limit that we can
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  push this thing to? You need to do that.
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  It's not just for engineers who are building bridges to stress
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  test and see that OK, what is the maximum load before this
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  bridge breaks or people who make cars now, what are the maximum
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  conditions under which this car will not fall apart?
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  It is for those of us too, who are doing businesses and our
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  business is not a matter of life and death.
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  We still need to test. So for that guy who is doing an
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  app in education space, you need to know what is the limit.
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  Can you handle 150 customers confidently?
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  Not in there. But if you try to upload 950
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  customers, is that when the thing will break down?
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  Or is it that at 950 students on the app the thing will function
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  fine but the moment you hit 1223 the thing will start to break
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  down? You need to know for some things
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  it's the other way around, that if you load up 900 users, the
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  thing will work fine, but then if it drops below 26 users, they
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  think we're going to be informed.
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  So you need to know. Those of you in the tech space,
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  in house testing is not going to tell you these things.
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  You will only know the realistic expectations, the realistic
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  limits for this, your app, your website, your whatever, how your
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  product is going to work in the real world.
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  When you follow this simple formula or follow this simple
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  philosophy of I have made the thing.
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  Now before I go and collect big money, I need to be sure this
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  thing works. If I leave it to my own simple
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  tests and the tests of my friends and my family and, you
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  know, my professional colleagues, of course we will
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  say the thing works. But it's when we go outside and
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  I'll try and get some feedback from the market, real life, that
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  we'll know for sure whether this thing is a hit or whether this
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  thing is a dud. So in house testing, Elam, Yeah,
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  you're a fan, which I'm a fan of in house testing.
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  I've just found that by the time I go outside and my ideas
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  receive real world contact 1212 by time customers give me buzz
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  boost, I now know that Oh, OK, this thing I didn't really think
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  this thing too well. Now let me give you an example.
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  Let me use my photography days so you see that it applies any
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  which way. So early on now when I started
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  taking photos in Scotland, I was a genius Abby.
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  I was a weed, I was a weed, I was an artist.
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  I got skills Abby. I show up with a camera.
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  I'm taking pictures of my children is all good.
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  Pictures of my girlfriend is all good.
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  My brother and his children is all good.
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  Birthday party, You know how students are celebrating party.
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  I'll just come by camera. Tavishima don't show.
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  You know, it was all good. I was a * I was a superstar.
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  That one is in house testing. I want to do this photography
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  thing, so I do in house testing. My girlfriend, my brother's
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  wife, my brother's children, my friends, people in the same
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  dorm, people in my class, you know, that's in house testing.
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  Everybody says you're a correct guy.
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  The thing works. I'll be on till I go back to
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  Nigeria and I say let me try my hand one time, just one small
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  time. My cousin's wedding.
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  This is not a full playing client.
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  This one is my cousin. That is when my eyes were opened
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  when I shot my cousin's wedding in Makudi.
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  It was then I realized like, oh, is this what photography is
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  about? First of all, we drive to
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  Makudi. We drive down.
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  It's not that long and it's just a four hour drive.
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  We drive down or trust me, as a wedding photographer, wedding
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  photographer, you'll be driving plenty, at least until you make
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  good money and then you can hire a driver or buy a bus.
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  By the beginning, there's plenty of driving.
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  So you're in Lagos, you start off in Lagos, somebody's paying
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  you good money. This thing is in a Korea.
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  How you get to a Korea? He's driving shiny, driving down
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  to my goodie. Then timelines and expectations.
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  People want to know what, when, how, you know, when I was
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  shooting, just casual girlfriend, brother's wife,
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  kids, friends, you know, that kind of thing.
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  You know, nobody has given you money, so they leave it to you.
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  It's on your own schedule. So when you're done, you're
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  done. Nobody, nobody would distress
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  you anyhow. But my cousins were Dean, you
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  know, people are not asking you a question.
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  You know the in laws are asking you like, oh, when would the
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  photos be ready? Like listen, I'm doing it for
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  free now. Why do you are giving me
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  expectations, asking me a question?
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  So just written my cousin's wedding, a real world contact,
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  real life contact people give you bass boost.
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  What is the timeline? What are we expecting?
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  What are you delivering? When are you delivering?
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  That was my first glimpse into the world of professional
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  photography. What is demanded of a
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  professional photographer? I mind you, like I said, that
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  was even my cousin. Oh, that was not even total
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  stranger. So you see the difference
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  between in house testing? You just try it out yourself.
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  You ask your close colleagues, He asked your close friends how
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  far will this thing? Does this thing work?
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  What do you think? Is it looking good?
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  In house testing is sweet and in house testing always works.
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  By the time you receive small bus boots from the market, you
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  will know that. OK, I didn't quite think of
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  this. I didn't quite think of that.
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  I need to recalibrate this, you know, I need to set expectations
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  here differently. In house testing, to be honest,
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  there's nothing on the line. So in house testing is very
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  smooth, very fun. Go and face the reward small
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  like I said, whether for free or for a fee.
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  This one was my cousin. I was doing this thing for free,
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  but sure, he opened up my eyes like OK, when I start doing this
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  thing and when I start collecting money, these are the
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  things I need to look forward to.
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  These are the things that I need to plan for.
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  These are the questions that I need to have answers ready for.
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  This is how I should organise my workflow or change my workflow
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  or change this or do this. So Elaine, I agree with you.
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  You're a fan of in house testing.
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  Yes, I'm a fan of in house testing too.
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  In house testing is fun, but real world scenarios are not
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  always fun. And that is the point of doing
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  this sort of thing of coming up with MVP first or coming up with
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  prototype 1st and then testing it in the real world before you
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  collect money because some of you and see well LinkedIn.
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  So let's not I want warm blogs now on social media.
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  Let's not pretend that these things it happens all the time
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  every month. We're hearing it.
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  So, so, so and so went to go and raise 10 million U.S. dollars
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  dollars or for this idea decided this idea.
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  Next thing in six months you will hear so, so, so and so
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  start up winding down returning $2,000,000 to to investors.
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  We see this thing all the time. And then your mind, you're
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  wondering, ah, isn't all these people that raised 10 million in
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  January, June, July already they're winding up the only
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  returning 2 million, $8 million. Where, where did that thing go?
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  Some of you in the tech space, you will get caught up with all
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  these sweet ideas and you are not testing things through, you
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  wouldn't have plans for taking these your ideas and subjecting
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  you to real world, real market conditions.
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  You just think this is a good idea.
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  This is a good idea. You go and raise plenty of money
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  and then like that you damage your reputation.
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  Then on LinkedIn, people will now be dragging your reputation
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  up and down. On Twitter, they'll be dragging
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  your reputation left and right. We see it all the time.
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  This thing happens every single month.
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  In house testing is not OK. I have shown you that when it
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  comes to artistic things like photography, in house testing is
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  not OK and we definitely is not OK for those of you who are in
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  the tech space. And that is the benefit of, you
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  know, Zox, Mark Zuckerberg, then that's the benefit of how you
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  know, you are rolling out their stuff.
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  In the old days. You make this thing.
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  Everybody in my class likes it. You know what?
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  Everybody in your class, everybody in the in the dorm
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  they like is you on board? Everybody.
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  Before I knew it, the whole uni is using it.
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  But then you're running a small, small, small open up to this
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  other uni because I felt was universities open to this uni,
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  open to this uni. That's the whole thing.
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  You start your thing in Unilac, you do like people like it open
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  it to last protect, last protect like it open it to lasso, lasso
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  like it open it to owe you small, small, small.
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  With a test time like that, like that, like that, stress testing
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  the thing. Then by the time you go and meet
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  investors, you cannot start talking big grammar.
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  This is my app and this is my idea.
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  This is the performance. These are parameters.
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  This is the level of traction we have.
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  We've gone from here to here to here to here to here.
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  Then people would like, OK, this guy is correct, this baby is
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  correct. And they can drop money and you
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  won't your reputation because when they drop money, your thing
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  won't go out. Fumble Who say that they have
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  bet on the right horse. They bet on the right person.
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  So my brother Elam or my sister, in case you're Elam owner as
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  well and you're female or, you know, whatever Elam your own is.
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  So my sister, yeah. In house testing.
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  You're a fan of it? I'm a fan of it too.
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  I've just found that it's not very practical if you want to
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  grow a big business at the end of the day.
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  So please, you don't have to follow the exactly how I said.
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  We need to come up with a way of saying that, OK, this is my
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  idea. How far can I push it before it
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  breaks? Then run that test first before
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  you start charging big money for your product or for your
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  service. It's for your own protection.
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  Protect your own reputation because you, you mean well.
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  But if you don't stress test this thing and you roll it out,
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  by the time you think F up, it is your own reputation to be
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  dragging up and down. You'll be there to defend
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  yourself, to say I meant well or I tested it before I wrote it
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  out. And in my test, everything
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  works. You will not be there.
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  What they will just say is that Elaine, her mouth's too sharp or
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  the boy likes to run faster than his shadow.
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  This is what the guy did to me. So anyway, that's it.
• 18:41
  So it's not like I'm trying to insult you, Elaine more.
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  I'm just, you know, I see your comment and I love that you
• 18:47
  listen to the podcast and I love that, you know, you have a take
• 18:52
  on things that I've said. I really, really love it.
• 18:56
  I just don't want anybody who listens to this podcast to go
• 18:59
  and injure themselves. So that's the reason why I'm
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  making this podcast. But thanks for listening.
• 19:04
  Thanks for commenting again. If you'd love to connect, the
• 19:07
  number is 08064662140. Thanks for your time and
• 19:12
  attention. I'll catch you at the next
• 19:14
  episode. And remember, even though you
• 19:19
  are leaving a comment now, please just know that I can see
• 19:23
  it. I just can't respond to it.
• 19:25
  You know, Spotify has done their thing.
• 19:29
  Yeah. So I'll try and make episodes
• 19:30
  like this where I respond to people's comments, but then you
• 19:33
  hit me up on WhatsApp or if you comment on YouTube, yeah, I'll
• 19:36
  be able to respond directly there.
• 19:38
  So I'll catch you on the next episode.