Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / How to Launch Small and Win Big: The Power of the MVP

Transcript

How to Launch Small and Win Big: The Power of the MVP · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

0:00
Hello, and welcome to the podcast.
0:03
Today's conversation is OK. Today I want to talk about a few
0:10
things related to timing. Timing.
0:13
Yeah, when to start the business.
0:16
So you have a business idea, you're trying to put one and two
0:19
together, and you're trying to figure out when is the perfect
0:23
time to start. So excuse me, today's episode is
0:27
going to be a freestyle session around these sorts of issues.
0:34
And the reason why this is what we're going to be talking about
0:36
today is because I had a conversation with what?
0:40
A text conversation. What do we call it?
0:42
Text position, A text conversation with a listener of
0:46
the podcast. Let's just call her Mary Kay.
0:49
Now, Mary Kay is a core member, so she's still doing her NYC
0:53
thing and she's trying to escape House of Culture.
0:57
We've been shining back and forth on a few things.
1:00
So I just want to come here and share the conversation today.
1:04
So dear Mary King, of course, not her real name.
1:09
If you're listening and you think, is this me?
1:12
Yeah, it actually is you. I'm just coming over here to
1:15
share our conversation because I think there are some people who
1:19
are going to benefit from some of the things that we are
1:22
talking about. And also because I want to very
1:26
publicly issue you an apology there, Mary Kay, for, should I
1:33
say, disappointing? OK, maybe I don't know if
1:37
disappointing is too strong a word.
1:39
But anyway, shall I just want to use this as a very public
1:41
apology to you, Miss Mary Kay, for disappointing you or maybe
1:47
pushing you or prodding you to start before you are ready.
1:52
Because like I've been saying on the podcast for a very long
1:55
time, when it comes to sales, business development, business
2:00
growth, you know, these sorts of things, usually there's no right
2:03
or wrong answer. Usually there's most appropriate
2:06
and there is least appropriate. So it's not as if I'll say my
2:12
methods are correct and what you're planning or what you're
2:16
thinking is wrong. We always have to be thinking
2:18
about what goals we're trying to achieve, you know, for ourselves
2:21
and for our businesses. And we have to look for the most
2:26
appropriate methods or the most effective methods to get there
2:29
and the least effective methods to get there.
2:32
But Mary Kay, you are absolutely correct.
2:35
Nobody should force you to run faster than your own pace.
2:39
So you're correct. And so apologies, my dear Mary
2:43
Kay, that I tried to make you run faster than your own pace.
2:48
So that's the reason why I'm making today's podcast episode.
2:51
So lots of things about when to start a business, how to start a
2:56
business, the right order to start a business, and yeah,
3:02
that's it. So we'll discuss some of those
3:04
things. I've already issued you my very
3:05
public apology, so let me go, go and then head straight into it.
3:11
And then I always give my phone number at the beginning and at
3:14
the end of every episode because just like how Mary Kay, again,
3:17
not her real name, just like how Mary Kay reached out to me.
3:21
I do intend that anybody who's looking for business advice
3:24
should reach out to me. I have no qualms of giving
3:26
people free business advice. Just make sure you state it
3:29
early in the chat that you're looking for free business
3:33
advice. Sure.
3:34
If that's the case, yes, I'll answer one question and answer
3:38
it sharply for you. Well, then if you want more
3:42
advice, more context, if you want me to walk along with you
3:47
as you're trying to figure out some of these issues, then it'll
3:50
have to be a big paid consultation.
3:52
But yeah, I'm not willing to talk to anybody.
3:55
Just say from the beginning that you're looking for free business
3:57
advice, and I'll answer your one question.
4:00
So think very hard before you reach out about what's on your
4:03
mind and what's really what's really burning you, you know, on
4:05
your chest so that we can go straight to that question.
4:09
So now I've issued an apology to Mary Kay, but then I'm now going
4:16
to issue a warning to those of you who are going to take me up
4:19
on my offer. Oh, by the way, my name is
4:22
Tavishma Aidi, our former lawyer turned business consultant.
4:25
And if you'd love to connect with me, you want to take me up
4:27
on this offer for free business advice or you want to hook up a
4:30
paid consultation, No problem, Just hit me up.
4:33
The number to call, the number to text or the number to send a
4:36
WhatsApp to is 08064662140. But now here's my warning.
4:45
My focus is always on execution. Even if you want to listen to
4:50
2-3 episodes, you can tell that for me, the focus is OK, where
4:54
are we going? Are we going here?
4:57
Oh yeah, let's move. If we're not going, let's not
5:00
go. If we're going, let's move.
5:03
If we're standing still, why are we standing still?
5:07
If we aren't sure or something? All right, let's get clarity so
5:10
that we can move. Because if the goal is to go
5:15
somewhere and for some reason we are not moving, at the end of
5:20
the day, who are we helping? Nobody.
5:23
At the end of the day, who are we hurting?
5:26
Some of you might say nobody, but in a sense, you're hurting
5:29
your future self. If we can start this journey
5:34
today and get somewhere next year, but you're content with
5:39
not moving today, you're hurting the future outcomes, the future
5:46
profits, the future proceeds, the future of whatever that
5:49
could have accrued to you, you know, next year.
5:51
So, yeah, Mary Kay, I apologize wholeheartedly for trying to
5:57
push you to run before you are willing to run.
6:02
But then for others who are going to call, for others who
6:06
are going to reach out, if you think like you're like Mary
6:09
Kate, please don't call me. Don't text me because it's going
6:16
to be a painful experience for you because you feel like I'm
6:19
pushing you too much. And it'll be a frustrating
6:21
experience for me because I'll be like, what's going on?
6:26
Am I not trying to get this person somewhere?
6:29
Why is this person not moving? So if you're like Mary Kay, you
6:32
listen to this episode and you're like, Mary Kay, I beg
6:35
you, do not reach out to me because it's not going to be fun
6:39
for either of us. So like I said, no Mary Kay,
6:43
sorry I'm being so dramatic. She actually is a correct babe,
6:46
Very, very correct babe. And I like her.
6:49
You know, I like her. What will I say?
6:51
I like her scope. I get, you know, I like where
6:53
she's where she's heading it also to reach out to listen to
6:57
the podcast. She's trying to escape the
6:59
hustle culture and I didn't tell her at the time, but anyway, let
7:03
me just say it now in case the other people who are listening
7:06
to the podcast now who are trying to escape the hustle
7:08
culture. I'm sorry, but I have bad news
7:11
for you guys, all girls, anybody who's trying to escape the
7:15
hustle culture. There is no such thing as escape
7:19
the hustle culture. It's not possible.
7:24
It doesn't matter where you're going to shook your hand also is
7:26
involved doesn't matter if you really really want to escape the
7:31
hustle culture and popsy get connects or moms.
7:36
He knows one or two people or you know an uncle who knows
7:38
somebody go and talk to them. That's not yourself.
7:41
In civil service, there is no also you clock in at 8 or 9
7:49
whenever you're supposed to clock in, clock out at 4:00
7:52
sharp, collect your salary, you live a nice life.
7:56
No horseshoe involved. Although if you want to start
8:01
getting, you know, government contract, you want to get an
8:04
appointment, you want to get extra code, you know, travel
8:08
abroad and decide if you want to do that, then even in civil
8:12
service, horseshoe is involved. So for those of you who are
8:17
listening to the podcast today, I think you want to avoid the
8:21
horseshoe culture. How bad news for you?
8:25
Hustle is involved no matter where you shook your hand.
8:29
In fact, for those of you who want to escape hustle culture,
8:33
I'm begging you, unsubscribe from the podcast now.
8:38
There's no point listening to your podcast where you hear
8:41
somebody saying things that are frustrating you every single
8:44
day. If you're trying to escape
8:46
hustle culture, unsubscribe from the podcast now.
8:51
So for those of you who haven't paused and have unsubscribed,
8:54
let's continue. Here's the reason why I say
8:57
there's no such thing as escape hustle culture.
9:00
Because no matter the business opportunity that you want to put
9:03
your hands into, whether as web developer, because I have worked
9:08
with developers, whether as people who are in the
9:11
alternative energy space, you know, solar panel inverter.
9:13
Because I work with those kind of people, whether it's wedding
9:16
photography or video. Because after my legal practice,
9:20
I started off as a lawyer. Now I'm a business consultant.
9:23
After my legal practice, the next thing I did was events.
9:27
So whether events or whether export, because my brother and I
9:31
would try to do export business. Whether you're in the academic
9:36
research writing space. Because 2 days ago, I advised
9:38
somebody who is in that space, try to give him some ideas on
9:42
their webinar strategies. In fact, the reason why he
9:45
reached out was because he listened to the podcast episode
9:47
where I spoke about webinars and he realized that he has to make
9:52
some changes to his webinar strategy as a way for lead
9:56
generation, for getting leads, you know, to get people to raise
9:58
their hands to show that they might be interested in this
10:01
product or service. Then what?
10:03
Again, I can't remember all the business people I've worked with
10:10
and all the sectors that I've worked in.
10:11
But The thing is, I have not found one sector that did not
10:15
involve. Also, I have not one found, I've
10:18
not found, excuse me, one sector that did not involve.
10:22
You wake up today and you're thinking of how you will
10:25
physically go after customers or how you will online your
10:30
customers to come after you. But either way, hustle is
10:33
involved. So what I'd like to tell people
10:35
is this, there's no such thing as escaping hustle culture.
10:38
Just decide the kind of hustle that you're the, the, the kind
10:41
of hustle that you're comfortable with and then align.
10:46
So if you're not a outdoor, outdoor, you know, go and see
10:51
people make phone calls. If that's not your thing, you're
10:53
making phone calls, not your thing.
10:55
I wanted to be an inbound strategy, content marketing,
10:57
online, social media content, that sort of thing.
11:00
Fine, no problem. But just be honest with yourself
11:05
and then align accordingly. So hustle is involved.
11:10
Pick the hustle that is comfortable for you, but there
11:14
is no such thing as escaping hustle culture.
11:17
Now, there is only one person that I spoke to where hustle was
11:21
not involved. And I know that you guys don't
11:25
want to be in that kind of business because if you wanted
11:27
to be in that kind of business, you won't be listening to the
11:29
show. You'll already be in the
11:30
business. So there's one guy that called
11:33
me and he's in the business of Allah Buddhit.
11:37
Now he sells illicit substances, if you understand what I mean,
11:41
If you can read between the lines, you know, when you're
11:44
depressed and you need to pick me up, he's the kind of guy that
11:47
you call. So that is the powder he will
11:49
give you. Whether is the liquid he will
11:51
give you, whether is the gas he will give you.
11:54
Your mood is low, you want to get high, He will give you, you
11:58
know, for those who have years, you understand the business I'm
12:00
talking about, That's his business.
12:03
So for him in the beginning also was involved because you need to
12:06
get your early clients when you're getting into that kind of
12:08
business. By the way, I'm not endorsing or
12:11
glorifying the drug business. I'm just trying to tell you it
12:14
is what it is. So in the early days there was
12:16
also to break into the market, but after that customer lifetime
12:20
value was good. This is what cost my lifetime
12:23
value means. Cost my lifetime value means
12:25
when you get a customer and the person that dies into a buying
12:30
relationship with you, how often do they come back and give you
12:33
money and how long do they stay with you?
12:36
Now in the illicit drugs space, customer lifetime value is high
12:40
because people are addicted. So if somebody's addicted and
12:44
you're his supplier, guess what? The person would call you every
12:48
single week. And any which way the person
12:50
will find that money and the person will be dropping that
12:52
money. And depending on the kind of
12:54
substance that you that you sell, the money would be good
12:59
money. And so this guy who called me,
13:02
but we had told him that, you know, I can't those people
13:07
listen to the podcast, you know, you know, the anyway on ethical
13:11
ground shot told the guy that boss, you know, I really can't
13:15
anywhere between me and him. We settled it.
13:17
Let me just leave it like that because I can't put my hand in
13:20
that kind of something. You know, that in Nigeria these
13:24
things are still illegal. So even if I wanted, I was
13:28
thinking like, ah, this guy gets your husband.
13:29
And then I put my hand, you know, tomorrow, if enough that
13:32
shows up, you know, don't come and bundle me.
13:35
So anyway, cost of my lifetime value on that kind of product is
13:40
good and the margins on that kind of product is good.
13:44
So once you establish A reputation and you get your
13:47
clientele, the money is good. So my guy used to do, he now had
13:51
a natural problems because when I say my guy, I don't mean like
13:55
he's my friend, you know, I don't really know him, you know,
13:56
just, you know, now listen, now the podcast people just reach
13:59
out and then we start talking. In fact, that's the benefit of
14:01
this podcast, man. I've been talking to people from
14:03
all walks of life, all works that just are making money,
14:07
doing all kinds of things. So you're not in financial
14:10
problems because you know, it's kind of like a soft life.
14:14
You wake up, you stay in your house, you're blowing AC and
14:16
then your phone is pinging. People are like, oh boy, where
14:18
you did, where you did give me 500 grams, give me one KG, give
14:22
me 2.5. You know, people are just
14:25
calling you. That's the life.
14:27
Then you go out, fulfill order and then your bank account is
14:30
swelling. So of course of that, you know,
14:32
he was now living a soft life and then he was overspending.
14:35
Then he now enter financial problems.
14:40
So except if you want to be in that kind of business where the
14:44
profit margin is good and the cost of my lifetime value is
14:47
good. Because like I said, once your
14:50
customer is addicted and you are the plug, they'll be calling you
14:53
every week, they'll be chasing you.
14:57
And anyhow, anyhow, they will find out money.
15:00
So except if you're involved in that kind of business, I'm
15:04
afraid hustle is involved. So you guys also just decide the
15:08
kind of hustle that is good for you.
15:11
And then please, let's not listen to all these American
15:16
content producers who say things like down with hustle cultural,
15:20
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. The funny thing is they say down
15:23
with hustle cultural, but then when you listen to them or when
15:26
you look at them, you'll see that they're hustling.
15:28
It's just that they define horse in a different way.
15:30
Let me give an example. There's a bot has episode I made
15:33
about this guy and let me not call his name is my boss.
15:38
So let me not disrespect my senior.
15:41
So whatcha is a well known name? He was talking this whole thing
15:44
also cultural blah blah blah blah blah.
15:46
You should not do direct sales. You should not be obnoxious
15:49
diseases. He was talking about how you
15:50
need to take things nice and easy, but then one of his
15:53
tactics was that if there's anybody who wants to sell to
15:55
what he does is he selects if there are people he wants to
15:59
work with. He selects 9 people and then for
16:02
90 days he comments on their posts and you know things like
16:08
that. I know what not before sending
16:09
them Adm that he will now use to try and sell product to them.
16:17
So you heard me correctly. He selects nine people that he's
16:20
going to be commenting, you know, blah, blah, blah, on their
16:24
profile for 90 days straight before he now sends the medium.
16:28
Now that person by a ball, now an American, by the way, that
16:33
kind of person will now tell you downward hustle, cultural.
16:36
Can you imagine the level of household that is involved that
16:41
for 90 days, three months, every single day you're living on
16:46
somebody's profile, trying to drop something, trying to drop
16:49
messages, trying to whatever. So that your profile is, you
16:53
know, they kind of see your profile, kind of know your name
16:55
so that when you now eventually try and get the sale in three
16:58
months time, you know they're familiar with you.
17:00
Almost no horseshoe. I think my own method is even
17:03
easier. So my own method of trying to
17:08
figure out where the potential customer is and walking up with
17:11
the customer to have an honest conversation or making the phone
17:14
call to try and have an honest conversation.
17:16
I really think my own is a lot easier.
17:18
I'll call you down one time. We'll have two or three
17:20
conversations. You're interested, you're not
17:22
interested, you're not interested and then I move.
17:25
I live my life, you live your life.
17:29
These are some of the people who are paying attention to.
17:31
They'll say that will also culture.
17:33
That will also culture. They will now tell you do this,
17:35
do this. At the end of the day, what I
17:37
recommended for you to do is even harder than those of us who
17:40
they say all of us now also culture.
17:43
The ones that we were recommending seems a whole lot
17:45
easier. All I'm asking you to do is make
17:48
one or two phone calls. If the person says good and
17:51
you're moving forward with the person says I'm not interested
17:54
and no problem, you delete the person's phone number.
17:57
Do not be shouting down horticultural.
17:59
Then they'll start trying to teach you how to stalk somebody
18:02
online for three months straight.
18:07
Be careful you guys listen to anyway, forgive me, I'm ranting
18:11
too much. Anyway, so Mary Kane now like I
18:14
said she's a career girl but she doesn't want to do
18:17
horticultural. So she started off by saying my
18:20
communication skills are exceptional now is the very
18:23
first message that that she sent and that's how we started
18:25
talking By the way, can you guys see when I say that flattery
18:28
will get you everywhere. Imagine now you open your phone,
18:31
someone's like a bro, you are exceptional.
18:33
Of course, you continue to yarn now.
18:34
So that's how we started off with a good relationship.
18:36
Me and her continue to yarn. So let's see.
18:40
OK, she's a copper NYC. No, she no get money and you
18:45
know she doesn't want to do also also also also well, OK, then
18:49
she also wanted to know about the training that I was putting
18:53
on at the time, because at the time I had announced a training
18:57
on how to the training was around getting people better at
19:03
selling using the phone because of course, the phone is a
19:06
primary way that lots of us used to try and run more business.
19:09
Whether you're making phone calls like I recommend or
19:13
whether you just want to be posted on social media and
19:16
responding to DMS or whatever, but the phone is a primary way
19:19
to drop off sales. So I had to training on that.
19:22
So at the time I was in the middle of promoting that
19:25
training. And so she wanted to know about
19:28
that, you know, but of course, you know, you couldn't couldn't
19:31
work because, you know, she's a corporate.
19:32
She says you no get money. So that was no problem.
19:35
Now we discussed what a consultation would be like.
19:38
And so she fears, she says she no get money.
19:43
And I understand everybody has money, but The thing is, I'm
19:46
actually quite reasonably priced.
19:49
I actually am. I have options available and
19:52
I've said it before all the way from 400K all the way down to 15
19:56
K. So it's not as big as some of
19:58
you are thinking. I don't charge 1.5 million yet.
20:03
As of 2026, I'm currently not charging 1.5.
20:06
Yes, that's all my colleagues who charge 1.5 but I don't yet.
20:12
So if you're listening to this in 2031 or 2029 or something,
20:19
yeah, my, my price is different. But if you're listening to this
20:21
in 2026, is there anything between 400 all the way down to
20:27
15? So it's not that bad.
20:30
We now she says she's a cop, but she no get money.
20:32
So no problem. We see the we see the flow.
20:35
Then, you know, from there we started talking about kinds of,
20:39
you know, rubbish things, you know, Islam, Buddhism,
20:42
Christianity, no one true God, this and this and this that and
20:45
that and that. So just, you know, small hands
20:47
because I always like to get a sense of who my listeners of The
20:51
Who the listeners of the podcast are.
20:53
So that's the reason why when any of you hook up with me, I
20:56
actually do ask you questions because I actually want to know.
20:58
I want to know things about you. It helps with the different
21:01
examples that I come up with. It helps to be able to speak
21:06
directly to aspirations. So when I'm engaging you in
21:10
conversation, those of you who reach out, you know, it's not as
21:13
if I no get work. Just think of it as as I'm also
21:16
doing customer research and put it that way, customer research.
21:20
Because the podcast is still young.
21:23
Yes, I've been doing this for six years.
21:24
But relatively speaking, you think it's still young?
21:27
That's on the OG's in this space.
21:28
They're on a podcast for like, I don't know, long time.
21:32
Like this guy, what's his name? Duct Tape Marketing.
21:36
Yeah, like Duct Tape Marketing. His podcast is 20 years old.
21:41
He's a newsletter. On the other hand, I don't know,
21:43
maybe not his 30 something years old, but that duct tape
21:45
marketing guy, 20 years broadcasting.
21:48
Then these other guys, Bill, Bill something and Arnold.
21:52
Is it Bill and Arnold? I can't remember their names
21:54
anyway. But now on his advanced, the
21:59
advanced selling podcast. Yeah, 2 American guys, the
22:02
advanced selling podcast. That podcast is 20 something
22:05
years old. Then who again?
22:07
OK, Gary Vaynerchuk. Done, you know, podcast video,
22:10
Facebook, and now he's been around for like 30 years then I
22:15
mean, so you guys, you understand what I'm saying that
22:17
relatively speaking, you know, I'm still a baby in this space
22:21
because I've only been podcasting for 6-6 years.
22:24
Maybe by Nigerian levels you can say I'm a veteran, but on a
22:27
global scale, I'm still a baby. So me having a chat with you
22:30
guys, you know what yours does the yeah, casual.
22:33
I'm just, I'm doing research. I'm trying to figure out who is
22:36
my audience, who are my people because I'm a professional
22:38
salesman and I can't sell to people who I don't know.
22:44
So, so all that talk about Christianity, Islam, Buddhism,
22:48
there's no true God, blah, blah, blah, spirituality, my one true
22:52
self. And all that was just research.
22:54
I'm trying to know who are the people who listen to my podcast.
22:58
So eventually conversation picks up.
22:59
I will start talking about doing jewelry business and she wants
23:02
to do it without having a physical store and I'm
23:05
interested. I was curious.
23:06
I was like, OK, that sounds interesting and I can't remember
23:14
the details, but I think one of the thing I advised her to do
23:19
here was to go online and then there are already people who are
23:23
in this space. See, it never is a bad idea when
23:26
you're about to enter 1 space to go and see who is there, what
23:31
have they been doing, what have they tried, what is working,
23:34
what failed. It's not a bad idea at all to go
23:40
and do that kind of market research before you move.
23:42
You should never go into anything blind.
23:46
So I told her, OK, for the kind of jewels you have in mind for
23:50
this kind of business idea, you know, follow this kind of
23:52
person, follow this merchant, follow this merchant, you know,
23:54
these like market research. Just be following these people.
23:57
Just be seeing what's up on their timeline.
24:00
Just be seeing what's up, you know, if you talk to any of them
24:05
physically one-on-one, it won't be a bad idea.
24:07
Although to be honest, it looks like the average Nigerian
24:09
person, they don't want to breed competition.
24:12
So even if you reach out to them and say, oh, I'm inspired, I
24:14
want to learn your trade, they won't answer you because they
24:19
don't want to create their own competition.
24:21
By the way, that's just one of those things.
24:26
Then let's see, OK, she had one really interesting idea.
24:32
She said that since she doesn't have physical space in order to
24:35
communicate trust, I was thinking of doing online
24:38
consultations. So somebody who call her online,
24:41
you know, do see video to video, do the consultation, you don't
24:44
look at the jewelry, that kind of thing.
24:48
Then she'll also ensure the dispatch.
24:50
I thought that was good because on the podcast I've been talking
24:53
about risk mitigation as a way of increasing your sales.
24:56
Now, this is the idea behind risk mitigation strategies.
24:59
The ideas behind risk mitigation strategies, especially in
25:02
economies like Nigeria where what's this thing hyperinflation
25:06
is on the rise. The idea is that people are
25:09
afraid of losing money. So whenever you have something,
25:12
your business process that can assure them that look is a risk,
25:16
but this is how we go around the risk.
25:18
This is how I protect you. This is how whenever you can do
25:20
things like that, it makes people kind of mellow.
25:23
So I thought was was a good idea, but of course we'll never
25:26
know because to be honest, Mary Kay didn't start this business
25:28
idea. So that will be a good idea that
25:30
oh, that's nice. Insured dispatch.
25:32
This is the value of the consignment.
25:34
I'm sending it to you. I'm sending it through DHL and
25:36
this is going to be an insured dispatch.
25:39
So you know, as in any which way anyhow, anyhow, anyhow, like you
25:43
know, you're covered. Everything gets lost in transit.
25:45
You know, I will ensure it. I'll be able to give your money
25:47
back. You know, as in anything you can
25:50
do risk mitigation, you know, go and Google it, go and check
25:54
YouTube or just use chat ChatGPT or something and just put risk
25:58
mitigation, you know, as a business strategy or risk
26:01
mitigation as a as a sales strategy.
26:04
You know, you see some real, real interesting stuff and see
26:07
how you can do that in your business.
26:09
So I thought what Mary Kay, again, not her real name.
26:12
This idea she came up with was a good idea.
26:15
I'm insured dispatch for this jewelry business since she won't
26:18
have a physical space. Oh, by the way, you also see the
26:20
benefits of me talking to you guys.
26:23
I also get to talk to very creative individuals from across
26:27
the length and breadth of Nigeria is one of the things I
26:30
enjoy from this podcast. You guys are reached out.
26:34
You guys are absolutely wonderful.
26:36
You guys are top notch. You guys come up with good
26:38
ideas, really good ideas. So we kept on talking.
26:44
No shoe bounce out some ideas. So there was that video thing
26:49
after a while started talking, talking about drop shipping from
26:53
Lagos. Then what else?
26:58
This is where the quarters started.
27:01
She now entered this whole thing of branding.
27:04
For those of you who've been listening to this podcast, you
27:06
know that when I hear Brandon, you know my my brain starts to
27:09
glitch. It starts to torch.
27:13
So I told her, look, ignore branding, like I tell everybody,
27:17
ignore branding. Branding is just a distraction.
27:21
Yes, to do this thing ideally, to do this thing wonderful, to
27:24
do this thing beautiful, You want your brands to be on point,
27:28
you want to get the office, you want to get the designs, you
27:30
want to get the furnishing, you want to get the logo, you want
27:33
to get the website, you want to get everything, you want to be
27:36
the perfect brand. That's that correct.
27:38
But The thing is to achieve that, she needed to raise
27:40
between 4M and five M Now to start that journey, more advice
27:47
was that's the goal. What do you have, 4:00 or 5:00
27:51
AM now? No.
27:52
So what you do is be buying them is more small batches and they
27:55
start selling to get your feet wet.
27:58
Buy them is more small batches, Gold, gold, silver, silver,
28:02
diamond, diamond, you know, platinum, platinum.
28:04
Be buying them small, small, small, small and be selling one
28:07
or two things. You'll get an experience.
28:09
You're interacting with clients, you're interacting with
28:11
customers, you're figuring out what exactly it is you like,
28:14
because might be coming into this industry thinking that you
28:17
like gold. And then you now discover that
28:20
actually you prefer platinum, that you're better at selling
28:25
platinum. Or am I coming thinking that
28:28
diamond is where all the profit margin is?
28:32
But then when you come in, you discover that, yes, the profit
28:34
margin on diamond is big, but that if you're selling gold, you
28:39
know, with a smaller profit margin because gold is moving
28:41
faster, that one is making you more money.
28:44
See, The thing is, you never know when we're sitting down and
28:47
I'm thinking, I'm thinking I'm branding and branding and
28:49
plotting and plotting and strategizing.
28:51
I'm strategizing. We're staying in one place.
28:56
What's there in one place and who are we helping?
28:59
Are you helping yourself? But Mary Kay, you're absolutely
29:02
right. Nobody should force you to run
29:05
before you are ready. That was my advice.
29:10
Just buy some small, small batches.
29:13
I served in Kano. Kano has a famous gold market
29:17
and there was some of my coppers.
29:19
When I say my coppers, I mean like my classmates, babes.
29:23
That's how they were making good money.
29:25
Yoruba girls, we landed in Kano. They heard that Kano has gold
29:29
market, went to gold market shop.
29:32
Yoruba girls. What do you think they started
29:33
doing? They started buying gold in Kano
29:36
and then selling in Lagos, making money on the spread.
29:43
There are some people that that is how they enter into the
29:45
business. At least I know three people in
29:50
Kano. 2 was gold, 1 was, was it onions?
29:54
I can't remember was onions or tomatoes or something very
29:57
sharp. Yoruba girl, before we knew it,
30:00
she was mobilizing trailers. I was around a local government.
30:04
She was mobilizing trailers from different local governments,
30:08
packing all those produce, sending it down to Lagos.
30:09
I said these babies are strong people who care for NYC.
30:13
This woman has become a, he has become a market mogul.
30:21
So that is what I advised though just you know, small, small,
30:27
small, small, small, be trading like that.
30:28
So that's where quarrel started. Essentially what I was saying
30:33
was get your feet wet because I told her if you focus on
30:37
branding now, you won't have done anything by March, April.
30:43
By the way, all these ideas we're talking about, we've been
30:45
talking about these ideas since November of 2025.
30:51
Our quarrel happened in February of 2026.
30:56
So November, December, January, February, four months has
31:01
passed. Those of you who think I'm being
31:04
dramatic when I start ranting on the podcast episodes, can you
31:08
see how quickly four months can pass and you have done nothing?
31:17
You mean well, but while you're deliberating, while you're
31:20
thinking, while you're plotting, while you're strategizing, while
31:24
you're branding, while your time is going, you never know what
31:29
time is going. Casual conversation November,
31:33
December, January, February. We quarrel, Relationship is over
31:37
but she's done nothing. Funny enough, when I asked her
31:42
in November of last year, she said she will be ready by August
31:46
of 2026. And yes, you heard me correctly,
31:50
August of 2026. My own take has always been is
31:57
this a good business idea? Yes it is.
32:00
Could this be profitable? It could.
32:04
Then why do we have to wait until August of next year before
32:11
we start? In fact, and now listen up.
32:15
This is the thing that a lot of you are kind of missing, but I
32:19
have to say it my way is actually the safer way.
32:26
It seems like I might be pushing some of you to run before you're
32:29
ready. But listen, clearly my way is
32:30
actually the safer way. This is why our own way, we wait
32:36
until August, we raise the initial 4 to 5 mil that we need
32:41
to start. By the way, whenever you raise 4
32:45
or 5 million to start, it never is enough.
32:49
Remember Niger, hyperinflation, hyperinflation, sorry I'm
32:52
speaking house and now hyperinflation.
32:54
The cost of good is always going up and stuff like that.
32:56
And then I had a studio before and believe me, the cost you
33:00
have set aside for your office or for your studio, it is not
33:03
accurate. I can tell you first hand, yes,
33:05
the capital will give you an estimate for everything that
33:09
needs to be done. But then by the time they start
33:12
the work, oh auger, we supposed on like this.
33:14
We supposed to this. I didn't add this, I didn't add
33:16
this as our carpentry budget will go up, plumbing budget will
33:21
go up. The guy not supposed to fix your
33:25
AC. You agreed on this place.
33:27
You say, oh, we can't put the AC here because this one is a load
33:29
bearing wall. So we have to move the AC to
33:31
this place. You start puncturing another
33:33
place, you puncture here, you puncture here, you know, have to
33:35
buy cement to patch it up and this and this.
33:37
The cost of installing the AC is going up.
33:41
Everything just be going up, be going up, be going up.
33:44
So at the end of the day, even for someone who is in Mary Kay
33:46
situation and you say you need like four or five M, I'm telling
33:50
you that four or five M, that's what you think you need.
33:53
When you start, you see that you need maybe like 8-9, maybe even
33:57
10. Now This is why my own way is
34:02
safer. I talk about starting your
34:05
business in three easy steps. The first step is we're going to
34:09
pick the right idea. We've picked during.
34:13
Next we're going to validate it. We're going to figure out if
34:15
there's market demand, if people are willing to pay for the
34:20
product or the service, if you can indeed sell the product or
34:23
the service. Then after that, we'll build a
34:25
selling system around it. It is after step three that we
34:28
go all in because we have figured out that this is an idea
34:33
that can work for those of you who want to do it the other way.
34:38
Everything was perfect to build the perfect, the perfect brand,
34:41
the perfect everything. You raise all this money, then
34:44
you start. Then some of you discover I'm
34:47
not really interested in this business.
34:49
Also, maybe you discover that there's not really money in this
34:53
thing, or you discover that there's some kind of celic
34:58
somewhere. Then what next?
35:02
All the money that you've you've invested?
35:05
Zero. You don't have to shut down this
35:07
business. The money that you collected
35:10
from Mumsy and Popsy or from your uncle and auntie wasted the
35:16
time that you invested wasted. So my own way seems like it's a
35:23
scary way, but actually is the safer way to say what business
35:28
are we going to do? OK, we have decided.
35:32
Sorry about the noise in the background.
35:33
I'm making today's recording at home.
35:35
And then Step 2. Let's validate this business
35:37
idea is their market demand. The only way to can validate
35:40
this idea actually is to go out and start talking to people, try
35:43
and sell one or two items. So for Mary Kay, the next step
35:48
actually was try and sell one or two things.
35:50
Try and sell some gold bangles, try and sell some earring, try
35:53
and sell some diamond studded rings.
35:55
Come and sell some, you know, diamond studded bag or whatever
35:59
it is shadow she can lay her hands or try and you know, sell
36:02
one or two things based on the attraction that you get.
36:08
Are people buying any quick or not the profit margin?
36:11
Is he healthy or not? We now know whether you know
36:14
what this line of business that we were staying on, let's
36:18
continue, or this thing is too difficult.
36:21
Let's make AU turn. So actually what I am suggesting
36:28
is a safer way at some point, Mary Kay, before we quarrel and
36:34
before she broke up with me. When I say broke up, I mean in
36:37
the business sense. You know, I'm happily married.
36:38
Oh so and I know they carry small shops under the carry side
36:42
cheeks at least not now I want to be rich like that was when I
36:45
get to down with a level I can now start misbehaving born to
36:51
them. So before she broke up me now
36:54
she asked me direct. She said, are you suggesting
36:57
that I dive in and learn as I go?
37:00
And I answered yes, that is precisely what I'm advising.
37:04
Dive in, then learn as you go. In sales, they call that the
37:11
MVP, minimum viable product. You want to start something.
37:15
So what you do is you build a small version of that thing.
37:17
First you put together a small, you know, a small version of the
37:23
thing and then you start selling it.
37:25
You start executing small, small, small.
37:28
When you figure out that your MVP works, then you now pour
37:30
plenty of money into the thing. So yes, that is what I'm
37:33
recommending. Dive in, learn as you go.
37:39
Take the smallest money, smallest amount of money and the
37:44
smallest amount of money that you can invest in this game
37:47
without losing your head. You know, if you take like those
37:51
ladies who are with me in Kano, I wanted to join them at some
37:55
point. But me, I was afraid because
37:59
that was, you know, I don't know anything about precious stones.
38:01
So me, I was afraid if I'm by fixing, how will I know?
38:06
So just like those ladies in Kano, your first consignment,
38:09
see, I don't know, I don't know how much, but let's just say
38:12
your first consignment, you drop 25 K, you buy some stuff, you go
38:16
to Lagos, you sell it, you realize 50K in profits, you come
38:22
back again. Next time you stop buying 25K,
38:24
you buy 50K, you go and then you make XYZ number of profits and
38:29
then you keep coming back. I keep raising the money, I keep
38:31
raising the amount that you invest.
38:34
Then eventually, yes, you now have your physical location in
38:37
Lagos, your own shop, you hire somebody, you put security
38:40
cameras, you do this. You do you know, hey, you don't
38:43
have that beautiful brand, you know, but in the beginning,
38:47
small, small, small, small, small, small.
38:49
How much money can I afford to lose?
38:51
25K oil, let me go and buy gold or 25K let me see how much I can
38:55
sell. Get in the game and start and
39:00
then learn as you go. So I told her that another
39:04
reason why I'm asking how to do this is because it will help her
39:08
figure out if it is the right business for her.
39:11
And I don't think she got that because when me and Mary Kay
39:14
started chatting, she was trying to figure out which business
39:19
should I do because remember, she doesn't want to also.
39:22
So even this diamond thing, this precious stone thing, she's
39:29
still not sure if this is the business that she wants to
39:32
remain in ultimately. And that is why with the
39:38
framework that I have, step one, select the right business #2
39:42
validate. That is the reason why these two
39:44
are important. Because believe me, I've been
39:48
there. It sucks to jump into something
39:50
wholeheartedly and then wake up in 2 years and say to yourself,
39:55
what the hell am I doing here? I'm miserable.
39:57
I don't like this place. So anyway, I've been writing for
40:03
40 minutes. Let me just bring it to a close.
40:05
So Mary Kay. If you're listening, you know,
40:09
no XI, apologize for trying to push you before you are ready.
40:17
And then for other people who are interested, because I gave
40:20
my phone number at the beginning, I'm giving it again
40:22
now. The number to call to text or to
40:24
send me a WhatsApp message is 08064662140.
40:31
I have no problem with speaking with people for free.
40:33
You're interested in free, free consultation.
40:36
Just let me know at the beginning of your message or at
40:39
the beginning of your phone call.
40:41
We'll set up a time. We will have that conversation,
40:45
but I will only answer one question.
40:49
If you want a paid consultation so that I can take my time,
40:54
let's sit down. If you have paperwork, let's
40:56
look at the paperwork. If you have a framework, let's
40:59
examine it. If you don't have a framework,
41:00
let's put up the framework together.
41:03
Let's walk through this, the different options available and
41:08
for now is between 415 grand. There's plenty of room for me to
41:14
work with plenty of you. So you don't have to be afraid.
41:17
I'm not charging 1.52 million yet.
41:21
I will eventually, but as a 2026, I'm not charging that yet.
41:27
Well, please, just to avoid situations where because for me,
41:31
remember, I've told you guys that anybody who you know, I'm a
41:34
trusting fellow, like if we're yanning and we're cool, we're
41:36
friends. Especially if you give me money.
41:38
If you give me money, you're my best friend.
41:42
I don't want to be in a situation where you know, I'm
41:44
quarreling with my friends anyhow.
41:46
Anyhow, anyhow, please, if you want to take his on a soft, soft
41:51
space, don't call me, please. I can't work with you.
41:57
I can't be by your side if you're taking his on a soft,
41:59
soft space. If you have decided in November
42:02
of 2025 that this is what you're going to do and you want to
42:05
relax on to August of 2026 before you start August of the
42:10
next year, how many months is that?
42:12
August, happy. November, December.
42:16
January. February.
42:17
March, April, May, June, July, August.
42:20
That's ten months. OK.
42:22
If you want to wait 10 months before you even start, please
42:25
don't call me. I beg, please.
42:29
It's going to be a very frustrating relationship for
42:31
both of us. You will think where's this guy
42:34
rushing to isn't all my life and I'll be thinking why is this
42:39
person holding on like and what's going on waiting She live
42:42
here. So Mary King, I've said it
42:47
again, I'm really sorry, but for the rest of you who want to
42:49
reach out, I beg if you want to take things soft, soft, soft,
42:53
then don't reach out to me. I can't take this off with you.
42:58
My own is let's decide where are we going?
43:01
OK, now we know what medium are we going to use to get there?
43:05
What kind of business are we going to get there?
43:06
Are we going to sell cars? OK, cool.
43:08
Are we going to sell solar? OK, cool.
43:11
Are we going to sell gold? OK, cool.
43:14
Are we going to sell yam? Are we going to sell ginger?
43:16
It is cool. Are we going to sell crypto?
43:18
It's good. Are we going to sell whatever,
43:21
It's all good. Now that we know where we're
43:24
heading and now that we know what our vehicle is, the next
43:27
thing is what is the next step so that tomorrow morning, 8:00
43:31
AM, we know what to do next. And that has always been my
43:34
focus on this podcast. That's why I keep trying to keep
43:36
it practical so that you leave the episode just like the guy
43:41
who listened to the webinar episode.
43:42
You listen to an episode and you know that you know what?
43:45
Tomorrow morning when I get to the Office 8 O clock, I'm
43:48
telling the boys, this is what we're doing.
43:51
So thank you very much for listening again.
43:55
Apologies again to Mary Kay. For those of you who don't like
44:00
hustle culture in quote, please unsubscribe as you finish
44:05
listening to this podcast episode.
44:08
For the rest of you who are going to reach out 08064662140,
44:15
please be ready so that we can we can move.
44:19
Even for those of you who pay me, I don't like collecting
44:21
people's money. And at the end of the day, we
44:24
don't do anything. You know I'm Catholic, so I have
44:26
too much of a conscience. So especially for those of you
44:29
who give me money, I will be on your case.
44:33
I will be on your case. If I was supposed to meet
44:36
Wednesday by 9, I will call you Tuesday before to remind you.
44:45
I'll try and make sure we stick to Wednesday.
44:47
If we miss that Wednesday 9 timing, I'll be on your case so
44:50
that we can reschedule. If we miss it, I'll try and I'll
44:53
do whatever I can to get the ball back on course.
44:58
Anyway, I'm wasting, I'm talking too much.
45:00
I'm not wasting people's time. So that's it.
45:04
That's all for today. Don't worry, the next podcast
45:07
episode I'm going to make will have much more useful, practical
45:14
BT content about how we can grow our grow our businesses.
45:18
So yeah, that's it, That's it. And that's all for today.
45:21
I'll catch you all some other time.