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Why is Your Business Stalling? The 3 Stages of Growth · 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 look at how to grow a
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fashion business. And of course, when we answer
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questions over here on the podcast, you know that I might
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be talking about one kind of business in particular, but you
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know, the principles apply to other businesses.
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So you can just remove fashion and put whatever your own
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business is and you'll see that it's going to apply as well.
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Now, apologies, this is going to be a noisy recording because I'm
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making the recording at home. You know, it's early in the
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morning, holidays are still on, so people moving about.
0:32
So expect to hear some noise in the background.
0:36
Now my name is Tavishima Ayedi, I'm a former lawyer turned
0:39
business consultant. And if you like these sorts of
0:41
things, then subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, YouTube,
0:45
Apple, or any player of your choice so you can keep up with
0:48
all this business goodness that we'll talk about over here,
0:51
sales, marketing, those sorts of things.
0:54
And let's see what else. Yeah.
0:57
If you'd like to connect with me, then call, send me a text
0:59
message or A1 type message on 08064662140.
1:06
So today it's a very old question.
1:09
I just saw my notes. So this is something that I
1:12
should have spoken about on the podcast like months ago.
1:15
But you know, somehow I lost the, I lost this paper.
1:19
So I just, I just, I lost my set of notes.
1:21
I just found them again. So anyway, don't worry.
1:24
Eventually when I start making a bit more money that's from the
1:27
podcast and consulting, I'll hire a full time production
1:30
assistant so that I don't lose track of topics.
1:36
So I think the question came from Emma, who is based in
1:42
Abuja. She called on the radio show.
1:45
I can't remember when in 2025 and I can't remember what part
1:48
of Abuja she was calling from, but sure need to know how to
1:52
grow a fashion business. And like I said, the principles
1:56
that we're going to explore apply to any, any, any business.
2:01
OK, Although a small warning, I mentioned on the radio, I've
2:06
mentioned it here, but let me just mention it again for those
2:08
of you who are discovering the podcast for the first time, you
2:11
know, when it comes, when you're trying to send in a question,
2:13
the more particular, the more specific the question is, the
2:16
better. Because when you ask questions
2:18
like how do I grow a fashion business or how do I grow a
2:20
chicken business, or how do I grow an architectural business,
2:23
or how do I grow a legal business?
2:25
How do I grow a medical business?
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All those questions are very, very broad and they're very,
2:29
very general. Answering the question is going
2:32
to involve talking about things in a very general way.
2:35
But my thing, my stick is I try to be very, very particular when
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I'm talking to people. I want to give advice that is
2:42
going to meet a concrete situation and to give very clear
2:46
next steps about what it is, you know, to do.
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So if you're descending the question, like I've been in
2:52
fashion business for five years, these are the kind of clients I
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currently have, I've grown into this level, blah, blah, blah.
2:59
I'm trying to take the next step in 2026 and my business partners
3:03
and I think that we can do that by taking advantage of social,
3:08
you know, how do I overcome this challenge?
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You know, that kind of question is very, very specific.
3:12
You know, it's exciting for me and it's going to help lots of
3:15
people because you might think your question is unique to you,
3:18
but there are lots of people who are going through the same
3:20
thing. For instance, I have been
3:24
thinking I'm playing around traditional media and how we can
3:27
use that to grow a business. That is the reason why I'm I'm
3:31
on the radio and that's the reason why I'm trying to get ATV
3:33
show. So like I'm trying to be famous.
3:36
But I also think that too many of us have given up on
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traditional media too soon. And I think it works and I'm
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going to use my own business to validate that.
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Now, the more I talk about these things, I found out that there
3:47
are other Nigerian business owners who agree as well and who
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are thinking about how to get the business on the radio, how
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to get the business on the TV. But you know, if I just stand
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inside my shell, I'll think, OK, I'm the only one who is thinking
4:00
how can we take advantage of traditional media, not just
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social media to grow a business? So basically what I'm trying to
4:06
say is when you're sending in your questions, you know, the
4:08
more particular, the better, the more interesting it'll be for
4:12
me. And you'll be surprised that
4:15
lots of people are going to be able to relate to what it is
4:20
that you're going through. And there'll be lots of
4:21
applications for other people's businesses.
4:24
OK, so how to grow a fashion business?
4:26
Remember, this applies to any business, every business.
4:29
And the reason why is because if you're going to grow your
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fashion business, you have to run through some simple
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frameworks that are, how do I say no required or that are
4:38
necessary or that are normal for any business.
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Just some simple framework for growing a business.
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Now, the way that I like to break this down so it's not too
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hard to follow is think of business in an organic sense.
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You know, it has a beginning, a middle and an end.
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It has an early stage, a middle stage and a mature stage.
4:59
Then in the early stage, obviously we are just starting.
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Your primary focus is just traction.
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Traction just means sales, revenue or adoption.
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I repeat, traction in the early days just means sales or revenue
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or adoption. So it just means how many people
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are buying my thing or how many people are using my thing.
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So in the early days, that is just all we're trying to do.
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Traction that is a focus. Then in the middle part of a
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business, the focus now becomes scale.
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Scale means a couple of people are now using this thing.
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How do we get more people to use this thing?
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So back to the fashion example in the beginning, attraction.
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So let's say you know, your friends, your family members,
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they're all on board. You've now established a name
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for yourself in your neighborhood.
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Scale will now be, you know, how do I reach out to other
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neighborhoods, other parts of the city, other states, you
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know, So scale is growing beyond where you currently are.
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Then maturity, that's when like, how will I put it?
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Now your business is a big boy, your business is a big girl.
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There's no other room to grow up per SE.
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So you're starting, you're now starting to use strategy to see
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how you can move into other spaces.
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So like Coca-Cola, for instance, you know, they are mature
6:26
business, you know, like how much more Coke can they sell
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really realistically speaking. So what Coca-Cola is now doing
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is they're branching off into other things.
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You buy another brand, You buy another drink.
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You buy another this, You collaborate with another person
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so that you have access, you know, to newer markets.
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But it's not as if Coca-Cola can, you know, drastically,
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like, grow their sales from 2025 to 2026.
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You know, they don't mature. They're a big company now.
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They're all over the place. Sahara Desert, you'll find Coke.
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My father's village, you'll find Coke.
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Your mother's village, you'll find Coke.
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Everywhere you'll find Coke. If Atlantis was real, you know,
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if we go to Atlantis, we'll find coke.
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So that business is not mature. So the only way for them to grow
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now is, you know, sideways. You know, you look to your left,
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look to your right, your right name would be expand, small,
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small. So stages of business growth,
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remember beginner middle and end, early middle, mature, you
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know, whichever way you want to look at each other.
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And the focus always is traction, scale or strategy as
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you grow. So now what you need to grow
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your fashion business or your whatever business depends on
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what stage that you are in. Are you in the early stage?
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We're going to be looking at ways of getting traction so that
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we go move. Let's get this thing moving.
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Let's get the blood pumping. Let's get the thing flowing.
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Are you in the middle stage? No problem.
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Growing the fashion brand will now mean how do you scale then
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if you're in a much more mature stage, then the focus is going
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to be on how you can get come up with different strategies for
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growing or expanding a mature business.
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So the answer to the question how to grow your fashion
8:16
business will depend on what stage are you at, what do you
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need. So like I said at the top of the
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episode in the early days, traction, that's what we're
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trying to do. Traction or validation.
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Validation just means the market likes my idea, the market
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appreciates this idea, There's demand for this idea, There is a
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need for this idea. So we can achieve that either by
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sales or like I said, adoption. So sales revenue just means
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people like it. People are paying for it and
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they pay for it. They pay enough so that there's
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a little bit leftover to plow back into the business and so
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you can flex as well. Then adoption, especially for
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those of you who are in the tech space, adoption just means, you
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know, people are using your stuff.
9:05
So back to the usual people that everybody talks about,
9:09
Zuckerberg Dem. So in the early days, for
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Zuckerberg Dem, there was no question of revenue.
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It was a question of adoption. OK, so this fancy app that you
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have, how many people are using it?
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So in the beginning, I think Zuckerberg, I, I think it's a
9:25
Harvard boy. I can't remember anyway, so
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let's just assume he's a Harvard boy.
9:28
I'll be, he's a Stanford boy, OK?
9:30
I think it's Stanford. But anyway, for those of you who
9:32
know, when you reach out, correct me.
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So in the beginning, they start this thing, how many people in
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the faculty are using it? How many people in the
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department are using it? How many people in the universe
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in the whole university are using it?
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Then the business starts to grow.
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They are able to reach out to other campuses, other
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universities, because in the early days, well, Facebook was
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mostly a was most mostly a college thing, mostly a
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university thing. So that was the level of
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traction in the faculty. How many people in the
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department, how many people where we have Concord, Stanford,
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how we go into Harvard, OK, we don't conquer Harvard.
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How we expand to this place, how we expand here, how we expand,
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expand, expand on T even or buffer me at Willow University.
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That's my own university at the time.
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You know, eventually you enter over you.
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But by then, of course, Facebook was kind of like global, but
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progress was not being measured on how much money are you making
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was being measured in how much adoption are you getting?
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How many people are using this thing every day?
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How many people every week? How many people every month?
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How many people every quarter? How many people?
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So in the early days, that's how we will judge traction.
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So traction validation and we're looking for sales or we're
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looking for adoption. Now in the early days, you got
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to go your fashion business or you got to go your whatever
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business. What you need is effort.
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Effort just means physical worker and we can't run away
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from that. So for Zuckerberg, them, you
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know, physical worker is involved.
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You tell one or two people, you send one or two message, you
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share the link, there's some efforts, there's some hustle
11:07
that is involved. So the same thing to grow your
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fashion business. If you're in the early stage, we
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can't run away from the fact that effort, physical effort is
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required. Now, the problem is lots of
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people are trying to sidestep this thing.
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You want to grow your fashion business, but you want to stay
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inside the house. You actually don't want to talk
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to your uncles and aunties to say uncle.
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You know, I'm starting, I appreciate the support.
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Introduce me to one or two people.
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You don't want to go and talk to your auntie and say auntie, I
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started introduce me to one or two people.
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You don't want to go and talk to your neighbors to say neighbor.
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This is what I do see. This thing is necessary.
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Like when we moved into our neighborhood, really nice lady
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downstairs, you know, within two or three days she told me that
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you know how far, you know how they sell palm oil.
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She told me straight up, and that's how you grow your
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business. In the early days, you're a
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trader in palm oil. You make sure all your neighbors
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know that you trade in palm oil. And then you know, small, buy
12:02
small, buy small. Even if our neighbor doesn't
12:04
buy, one day a neighbor might jam somebody and the person
12:07
might be complaining that I'm tired of buying palm oil from
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the market. The price is not good, the
12:12
quality is not good. They say, my neighbor does
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wholesale. Maybe I can have, you know,
12:16
maybe I hook you up. You can buy from her.
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They say, Are you sure? Say yes now because she, she
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sells big, big, she sells 25 litres, 50 litres, you know, so
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that's how things move. So at the beginning, effort,
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physical effort, we can't run away from it.
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And that's why I always talk about friends, family members
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and associates. They'll be the easiest class of
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people to talk to because you know, these are people that you
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already know. You know they love you, they
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respect you, they support you. So too many of them will not
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reject you. So it's a good way to get this
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thing going. Start talking to friends, start
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talking to family members, start talking to associates.
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Whether you're growing the fashion business, whether you're
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growing the tech startup, whether you're growing the palm
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wine, I say palm wine, palm oil business, even palm wine
13:02
business first, you know, but we can in the early days, we can't
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get rid of this effort or the physical part.
13:10
Now, I know we're all trying to avoid doing hard work, but don't
13:13
worry, that time will come. So now Zuckerberg is not doing
13:16
physical, physical, He's not going, he's not going to
13:19
networking meetings again, he's not talking to people again,
13:22
he's not sharing the link again, you know, blah, blah, blah.
13:24
You know, so things have changed.
13:27
But we all pass with that stage where physical effort is
13:32
required when you're talking to people, when you're sending
13:35
messages, where you're visiting people, where you're booking
13:37
meetings, where you're doing this, where you're doing that.
13:39
And so we can't run away from it to grow your fashion business.
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If you're in the early stage or any other business, remember,
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even though we're talking fashion, I'm trying to show how
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these simple frameworks apply to any business.
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Then at this early stage when we're focused on effort, we,
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it's not just effort for the sake of effort or we're trying
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to make sure that we're doing the right things and we're doing
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them in the right quantity. So like this and I said, now
14:12
friends, family members and associates, if you're not using
14:15
common sense and talking to people who might need your
14:18
product or service or people who might introduce you to someone
14:21
else who needs your product or your service, then you know of
14:24
what does it profit you? So we're trying to do plenty of
14:29
legwork or back work or phone work or whatever work, but I
14:34
want to make sure that we're doing the right thing.
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I want to make sure that we're doing it in the right quantity.
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So let me go back to the example of my neighbor and the palm oil.
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Now I've seen now talk to other people.
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So I know she has spoken to everybody.
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And then in this estate, hundreds of families, if she
14:49
only told two people I'm in the palm oil business, that business
14:53
can't take off. It can't because talking to two
14:56
or three people, like what kind of magic are you expecting?
15:00
Then one person will come and buy 1000 litres from you.
15:02
Then maybe another person will come and buy 10,000 litres from
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you and then you hammer, you're now a big palm oil merchant.
15:11
No, it doesn't work like that. So volume.
15:13
So in her own case, since there are hundreds of families in this
15:16
estate, it makes sense that she's talking to 1 after another
15:20
after another after another. If you use like 5-6 months, you
15:24
live in an estate where there are 500 houses and you talk to
15:26
all 500 houses. I mean, surely, surely, even if
15:31
it's only 5-6 houses, at least you'll start getting small
15:34
business and things will start to move.
15:36
So we're doing the right kind of action, but we have to do it in
15:39
the right quantity. And that's a mistake people make
15:42
when they start. They don't know about this
15:44
quantity thing. So there's some of you who are
15:46
very good fashion stylists, fashion designers, tailors, you
15:49
know, whatever, but you know, you started.
15:52
But The thing is you only told three or four of your cousins.
15:54
I only told two people at work and then you told your pastor
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and then that's it. So from the beginning of the
16:01
year, for the last four or five months, you've only told eight
16:03
people. There's no way your business is
16:04
going to grow because you've told eight people.
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So you have to be more. You have to become a maniac when
16:10
it comes to talking about your fashion business.
16:14
So don't just talk to four or five of your cousins.
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Tell all your cousins. I finally graduated.
16:20
I've got my shop I have started. Make sure all your cousins know,
16:24
especially your female cousins, because boys don't soak lot.
16:29
Then make sure all your uncles and aunties know.
16:31
Make sure mummy and daddy know that you've started.
16:34
And then guilt trip your dad. Tell him, you know, please
16:37
introduce me to some of your friends.
16:39
Guilt trip mumsy Mummy, am I not your child again?
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Blah blah, blah. You don't like me.
16:43
You don't like my progress, you know.
16:45
Yeah, I introduce you to a couple of people, but you have
16:48
to be an absolute maniac. Effort is required.
16:50
The more people you talk to, the better.
16:52
I mean, think about it. Why do you think I'm making this
16:54
podcast? I'm trying to talk to a billion
16:56
people. If a billion people know my name
16:58
and a billion people have my phone number, surely, surely you
17:00
don't think I'm going to be a big boy.
17:02
That's it. Doing the right thing at the
17:04
right scale. So you need, you need to have
17:06
that same kind of mindset as well.
17:08
So the more people that we can talk to, the better then.
17:13
OK, Now another big question that we have to consider.
17:17
So excuse me, I'm recovering from a cold.
17:19
So another question that we have to consider is who's the ICP?
17:22
That's the ideal customer profile, the customer avatar,
17:26
the target audience to whatever it is you call it.
17:28
Now, this one reason why this is a very big question when it
17:31
comes to sales and business development is I'll upload it.
17:36
If you don't know who you're supposed to be chasing,
17:38
basically you're going to waste a lot of time, a lot of money, a
17:41
lot of effort, a lot of, you know, spiritual mojo, A lot of
17:45
you're just going to be running from pillar to post.
17:47
I'm not achieving anything because you're running all over
17:49
the place and chasing the wrong people.
17:52
Chasing the wrong people. Like back in uni was this friend
17:55
of mine, let's call him Shawn. Shawn wanted a Good Wife.
18:00
He wanted the Maria Maka, but Shawn was in the habit of only
18:03
chasing after club chicks. I repeat, Shawn said he wanted a
18:08
Good Wife. He said he wanted the Maria
18:11
Maka, but Shawn was in the habit of running after club chicks.
18:15
Now, some of you are already laughing, and you can see that
18:17
Shawn was confused because if you're only hanging out with
18:20
club chicks, how you find Maria Maka.
18:23
So I'd have a conversation with my guy one day.
18:26
I told you, I look, I show yourself.
18:28
You're not being serious. They say, how say you want your
18:31
wife? You know, I said yes, no.
18:32
And the kind of baby you want is Miriam Maker.
18:34
I say yes, I say, and every day you're in the club and you're
18:36
hanging out with all these club chicks that even if there's a
18:38
Miriam Maker that likes you, how would she approach you?
18:41
She'll be afraid. Now look at all these girls
18:43
around you. See their eyes, see their nails,
18:45
see their skin, see their teeth, see everything.
18:49
Miriam Maker will be afraid that these girls will tear out to
18:52
pieces. So she would say, I like, she
18:54
was a nice guy, you know, maybe that's my husband.
18:56
But she would stay where she is so that Jessie Bell won't come
18:59
and tear her eyes. So that's what ICP is all about.
19:04
Who's your ideal customer? Who's your ideal audience?
19:06
You know where you're heading. If you want to marry Maria Maca,
19:09
don't be hanging out in the club, be hanging out in the
19:12
church. So see, that's how it's related.
19:15
Once you know who your ideal audience is, you now know where
19:18
to hang out. You now know where to start
19:19
chasing people. So whether it's a startup,
19:23
whether it's a fashion business, whether it is Palmoy, whether it
19:27
is consulting business, whether it's architecture or whatever it
19:30
is, we all have to sit down and ask ourselves that question.
19:33
At the end of the day, who is the ideal audience?
19:36
Who is the ideal customer? Because that determines the next
19:38
course of action. You want to marry Miriam Maka,
19:41
the next source of action is. Start going for weekly service,
19:44
start going for Sunday service. If you want to marry a Jezebel,
19:48
the next source of action is start going to the club.
19:52
So it's the same thing you want to start on fashion business.
19:56
What kind of fashion business are you starting?
19:58
If it's for senior women, you know in the civil service
20:02
because you're looking for women have big, big money.
20:04
You know you want to only be swimming for prime sex and
20:05
things like that. Very good.
20:07
Now you know your ideal audiences will now start coming
20:10
up with a plan where do women who are big big women in the.
20:14
Ministries in the civil service, bank executives, where do these
20:17
women hang out? Where can I find these women?
20:19
How can I get those introductions?
20:21
So you can see that once you know who the ICP is, your ideal
20:24
audiences, the next set of things start becoming clearer
20:28
and clearer and clearer. And that's the reason why this
20:29
is a cardinal question. If you want to grow your fashion
20:32
business or your palm oil business or your palm oil
20:34
business or your consulting business or your laundry
20:38
business or whatever, we have to start with this question.
20:43
So there's one of my clients who wanted to break into the fashion
20:48
space. Was it?
20:50
No, no, fashion wasn't weddings. Sorry, this was a long time ago.
20:53
OK, well, not that long. This was 2024 ish into 2025.
21:00
And so for him in particular, to answer the question on the ideal
21:05
customer profile, we started talking about the people that he
21:08
wanted, he wanted to do work with.
21:11
And of course, he said he wants to work with Rich Abu Jabebs.
21:14
Of course, we had to laugh about that.
21:16
And you know, that was fine by me in the beginning because
21:19
sometimes to narrow things down is hard.
21:22
So well, at least I got one statement, reach Abu Jabebs.
21:25
OK, no problem. We start narrowing it down,
21:27
small, small, small, asking more questions.
21:29
Then we also looked at his trading history.
21:32
Who are the people that you have done business with them so far?
21:35
And then we figured out a couple of things that he has done some
21:38
business with Rich Abuja babes and those rich Abuja babes was
21:42
because his sister introduced him to three of her friends and
21:47
those ones made a few introductions.
21:50
And so in his own case, I was like OK, the entry level, the
21:54
entry path is now clear or clear.
21:57
Ish. Yes, rich Abuja babes and there
22:00
are lots of fancy ideas that we can come up with, but in this
22:03
case, friends or family members and associates, you can see that
22:07
because you're ready from certain family and ready in a
22:10
certain class and your sister already has certain kinds of
22:12
friends. Let's continue.
22:14
Let's get into this thing. So you have a conversation.
22:17
Big sis, this thing I'm doing, it's not a hobby anymore.
22:21
I'm going full time. I like, I've made-up my mind
22:24
this law degree. I know they do it again, I've
22:26
already told Popsy. So it's fashion all the way.
22:28
So sis, I beg those three friends you introduced to me.
22:33
Thanks, I really appreciate it. Everything went well, blah,
22:36
blah, blah. You can make a couple more
22:38
introductions. I really like that.
22:39
So you know, that's the scope, but you can see how we need to
22:43
ask ourselves all these questions then let's see.
22:52
OK, then with him in particular, we came up with a plan for
22:59
referrals. Yeah, for referrals.
23:01
Yes. Sorry, forgive me.
23:02
Sometimes I can't remember my own handwriting.
23:04
My handwriting is like chicken is really atrocious handwriting.
23:07
Is that course I Well, no course, but should I say course?
23:10
OK, let me go on the course. Handwriting was that course in
23:13
primary school that I really, really hated.
23:15
I loved other things. But then this will sit down and
23:17
copy letter A letter B number one, number two number three.
23:20
I really, really hated that. Detested it.
23:23
Well, anyway, what was I? OK, so referral strategy.
23:30
So as part of the referral strategy, we had to make sure
23:34
that, well, first of all, I had to get my guy on the phones.
23:37
I wasn't very comfortable being on the phones, but you know,
23:40
half of do remember what I said in the beginning.
23:43
Then in the early stage, effort is required, some physical
23:46
effort. Unfortunately for some of you,
23:48
the effort means picking up the phone because picking up the
23:51
phone is a lot cheaper than trying to go from house to house
23:53
to house. So it involves picking up the
23:56
phone for him to call those first three people like his
24:00
sister hooked him up with and the other people that those
24:03
people hooked him up with to call.
24:05
And be sure that everybody is happy and that there is no
24:09
problem, that all the things he sold are still fine and that
24:13
everybody slayed well. And do some small talk.
24:16
In fact, you know, maybe even get the Instagram handle so you
24:18
can see the photos live and direct pay them a few
24:20
compliments and everybody's looking nice and everything.
24:24
Eventually you'll be able to slide to that stage where you
24:26
tell them that you appreciate their support.
24:28
And then this is where you ask for the referral.
24:31
Since what he had done for his sister's friends was wedding
24:34
garments. OK, I think it was wedding
24:36
garments for two. The last one, I can't remember
24:38
what. Then the referrals from that I
24:40
can't remember what, you know, ask.
24:42
Do you have any friends who are, you know, XYZ for the ones that
24:45
he sold wedding cloth? Do you have any friends who are
24:47
getting married anytime soon? That is the referral you're
24:50
trying to ask for. Very specific for the one that
24:53
he sold the suit and suit, you know of his clothes.
24:57
That will be the thing, you know, do you know any of your
24:59
friends who are trying to get the wardrobe overhaul or who are
25:02
looking for good three piece suits like what I made for you?
25:05
You know, he asked specifically so you get a referral so you can
25:08
see that you are growing your fashion business.
25:11
In his own case, using the efforts, strategy and thought
25:18
part thought patterns that are relevant to the context in which
25:23
he is now. Now, he won't always have to be
25:25
doing this, but in the early days, it's important.
25:30
You can't run away from it then, OK.
25:32
Also mention that he would also have to call his sister because
25:37
remember in the beginning, friends, family members and
25:39
associates, not because he's the best, but because they love us.
25:42
They want to see us succeed. So they will support us.
25:46
They won't tell us no. Or if they're telling us no,
25:48
they will tell us no in a very soft way.
25:50
And another reason why, excuse me, why I say friends, family
25:55
members. Sorry about that.
25:57
So another reason why I say friends, family members and
25:59
associates is because it's a nice way for us to come up with
26:02
our selling framework. The selling framework is just
26:04
the script, the framework, the pattern, the formula, the
26:08
whatever for how you identify people, how you approach them,
26:12
how you start the conversation, how you figure out what they
26:15
need, how you make a proposal, how you make a presentation, how
26:19
you prize, how you negotiate, how you haggle.
26:21
So if you're doing all of this with friends, family members and
26:24
associates, it's a good, nice, easy practice.
26:27
So by the time you're talking to total strangers, you have
26:30
already ironed that stage out because believe me, it's
26:33
frightening and very it's frightening, it's nerve
26:37
wracking. And it's also very inefficient
26:40
for you to be using total strangers to be figuring out all
26:43
these questions. The how do I greet people?
26:45
Do I say what's up? Do I say hello?
26:47
Do I say good morning? How do I make a proposal?
26:53
How do I make a presentation? Is it physical presentation?
26:56
I'll go and show my garments or is it that I'll send LinkedIn?
26:59
So I say LinkedIn, is it that I'll send Instagram picture or
27:02
will I send them a link to your profile?
27:04
So it's inefficient, it's nerve racking, it's not the best.
27:08
They're using total strangers to figure out these sorts of
27:10
questions. Use your friends, your family
27:11
members to figure out all these things.
27:14
You know they don't mind. In fact, some of them will help
27:16
you. So like in my own early days, I
27:18
remember mom's even asking me some very, very hard questions.
27:23
What about this, what you do about this, what you do about
27:26
that? That was because it was mumsy.
27:29
It was a total stranger. And I'm fumbling.
27:31
The stranger was just think these guys are an idiot.
27:34
And then the guy will pick my cough.
27:36
But friends, Family members? And associates.
27:38
They will help you. So.
27:41
Where was I? OK, now.
27:44
For this friend of mine, this for my client, well, now he's a
27:49
friend. The guy, of course, he comes
27:51
from a certain family. So the guy has some small
27:53
change. So next thing we started looking
27:55
at advertising on Instagram, putting out old photos.
28:00
Then the questions of targeting was really, really important
28:03
because anytime you're doing online advertising, you want to
28:05
make sure that you're targeting is on point.
28:08
If your advert is being shown to the wrong class of people, you
28:11
are not going to make any sales from it at all, at all, at all,
28:16
at all. So the question of targeting was
28:18
really, really important. And then, OK, a call to action,
28:23
because when you're putting out promoting and boosting posts on
28:26
Instagram, your call to action is really important.
28:28
Call to action just means what do you want people to do next
28:31
after they look at your post, after they consume this content,
28:35
after the whatever? Lots of people make mistakes and
28:38
I made this mistake as well. When it comes to advertising or
28:41
boosting or promoting on Instagram, you just so back to
28:45
the fashion thing. You make a pretty dress and then
28:48
you run a Facebook advertisement or you boost the post, but it's
28:54
just a pretty dress, nothing else.
28:57
I made that mistake lots. Of people make that mistake.
29:01
You're just advertising a pretty dress.
29:03
At the end of it, there should be a call to action.
29:05
Write some small story, you know, beautiful black corseted
29:08
something something something, make your wedding day fabulous,
29:11
blah blah blah blah blah, and then call to action At Abdul
29:16
Taylors and Associates, you know, we do our best to make
29:18
your wedding day, you know, fantastic.
29:20
If you want to slay, if you want to glow, if you want to,
29:23
whatever, you know, click the link below, slide into the DM
29:27
right high in the comment section.
29:29
You know something? It has to be.
29:32
A call to action to get the engagement going, because it's
29:36
from the engagement that you're going to be able to, you'll get
29:38
the opportunity to have conversations that might close,
29:41
that might close into potential sales.
29:45
So if the call to action is if you love this dress and you
29:48
would love a free consultation to see if this suits your body
29:52
shape or whatever, click right high in the comments section
29:56
below. And then 50 babes click high.
29:58
All you do is from the people. Sorry, I said click 50 babes
30:02
right high from the hi, hi, hi. You can slide into their DM and
30:06
then you start some conversations from there.
30:09
Some people come to the studio or to your fashion shop or
30:13
tailor shop or whatever it is. You guys call your your spaces.
30:17
So OK, yeah, let me just stop here.
30:21
And you see, this is the problem with general questions.
30:23
We can keep coming up with general ideas over and over and
30:26
over and over. And you know, it never stops.
30:28
So if you're going to send in the question, the more
30:30
particular the better. But summary, if you're going to
30:33
grow a fashion business, if you're going to grow a palm oil
30:34
business, palm oil business, consulting business, any kind of
30:38
business, it's it's very simple. There are very simple frameworks
30:44
for business growth. There's no ultimate framework
30:47
because it depends, are you on early stage business?
30:49
Are you in the middle or you're a mature business?
30:52
So it depends. Mature people like Coca-Cola,
30:54
the strategies and tactics they're using are different
30:57
people in the middle, let's say like, OK, let me say like
31:00
Chloe's cupcakes in Abuja. They do cupcakes.
31:05
Birthday cakes, you know, stuff like that.
31:07
I think they have locations in Abuja and Lagos.
31:10
So let's say those ones, they're in the middle.
31:11
So now it's a question of scale. How do you grow from Abuja and
31:14
Lagos And now enter Abukuta, enter Ibador, enter Port
31:18
Harcourt, you know, so let's say those are the middle stage, then
31:23
early stage. You're just starting the fashion
31:25
business, you've got your sewing machine, you've got your shop in
31:29
Wusetu on Leckie or whatever, you've opened up and you're not
31:33
worried. OK, how can I get people through
31:35
the door? So as the early stage, the focus
31:37
now is traction. Traction just means sales.
31:40
It means revenue, it means people saying yes, it means
31:43
people transferring deposits. And then of course, if you're in
31:46
the software space, early traction, you know, could mean
31:49
adoption. How many people are using, how
31:51
many people are clicking, how many people are downloading, how
31:54
many people are signing in? So that's it.
31:58
But I guess the biggest thing I just wanted to pass.
32:03
Across today was this whole. Thing of if you're on early
32:07
stage, unfortunately physical effort is required.
32:13
We can't run away from it. Too many of you are starting
32:16
your fashion businesses like people calling off on the radio
32:20
and they think that just because you bought the shop and you
32:23
bought the machine and you put the Billboard outside that then
32:27
business will flow to you. Sorry, it's not like that.
32:30
You have to go and talk to one or two people.
32:33
If you have money, place. One or two adverts, create one
32:35
or two Flyers, whatever it is that work for your situation,
32:39
but there is going to be some physical effort that is
32:41
required. So let's stop feeling as if we
32:45
can just buy the shop space to start the fashion business and
32:49
then the rest will take care of itself.
32:51
It's not like that. It was like that would all be
32:52
billionaires because me too, or I've just bought a shop And then
32:55
I'll just put a sign outside that says establishing my
32:57
consulting. And then I see class, you just
32:59
be rushing me. Just be rushing me.
33:01
So it doesn't work that way. So physical effort is required.
33:05
Let's not shy away from hard work.
33:07
Let's just make sure that we're doing the right things.
33:08
So that's it. So thank you very much for your
33:11
time and attention. Remember, if you'd love to
33:13
connect with me, the name is Establish my IUD.
33:15
You'll find me on LinkedIn. You can call send me a text
33:18
message or WhatsApp message on 08064 662140.
33:26
What else? Yeah, I think that's.
33:29
It remember to subscribe to the podcast.
33:31
I'll catch you all some other time.