Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Stop Asking for Ideas: Use AI Instead

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Stop Asking for Ideas: Use AI Instead · 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 use AI
• 0:04
  tools to search for business ideas and also to come up with
• 0:09
  career suggestions. My name is Tavishima Ayede, the
• 0:12
  host of the podcast. Making today's recording outside
• 0:15
  church because my kids are having catechism classes, so
• 0:18
  there will be noise in the background.
• 0:21
  If you'd love to connect, call, send a text message or WhatsApp
• 0:24
  message on 08064662140. So like I said today we're going
• 0:30
  to be looking at how to use AI tools, Google, Gemini, ChatGPT,
• 0:36
  Claude Perplexity. You know them, them, all of
• 0:41
  them, how to use them to search for business ideas and career
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  suggestions. Why are we doing this today?
• 0:49
  It is because people keep asking me.
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  You reach out from the podcast, they reach out over the radio
• 0:55
  show, and they keep asking me. So I'm making this podcast
• 0:58
  episode so that once and for all, if anybody asks me again, I
• 1:01
  will just carry this link, copy, paste, send so they can listen
• 1:04
  to today's podcast and then have the solution to the query.
• 1:11
  And by the way, I'd like to point out this is not the best
• 1:15
  way to make use of a consultant's time if you have
• 1:18
  their attention. So I like to make myself
• 1:21
  accessible through the podcast and through the radio show.
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  For those of you who get in touch with me, it actually is
• 1:26
  not the best use of your time to be asking me what career you're
• 1:29
  going to do next or what business idea that you're
• 1:32
  supposed to come up with. Maybe you could do that in the
• 1:37
  past, but nowadays AI tools, artificial intelligence tools,
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  although I prefer to call them augmented intelligence tools
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  because they are not really intelligent.
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  You are the one who is intelligent, but then you use
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  these tools to augment your abilities.
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  So AI tools have made ideation, the process of coming up with
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  ideas, more easier than ever before.
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  So the challenge nowadays for people is not idea, the
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  challenge is execution. I find that a lot of times, you
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  know, people are stuck not because of a lack of ideas, but
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  because they don't have the habit of execution.
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  So you talk to one or two people, they already have kind
• 2:21
  of like an idea, like, OK, I just resigned, perhaps I should
• 2:24
  apply here or I have one or two skills.
• 2:27
  Perhaps I should try this or I'm interested in one or two things.
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  Sorry about that. Some media just came out parked
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  next to me. Like I said, you know, hanging
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  out in church here, So and they're setting up for events.
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  So basically people already have that kind of inkling like I
• 2:45
  should be trying this, I should be trying that.
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  So the reason why they're stuck is not because of lack of idea,
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  The reason why they're stuck because of lack of execution.
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  You have one or two ideas bubbling around in your head,
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  but you know, you wake up today and for some reason you didn't
• 2:59
  try, then tomorrow you didn't try, and then next tomorrow you
• 3:02
  didn't try. And then it's been 2 weeks and
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  you haven't applied for another job or you haven't tried looking
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  for something else. So my brother, my sister, I'm
• 3:13
  not trying to be rude here. I'm actually trying to help you.
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  Your problem is not the idea you don't have the habit of
• 3:19
  executing. That's just your idea.
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  Because if you did, since you resigned or since you graduated
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  or whatever, you would have thought of one or you, like you
• 3:29
  would have tried and filled out a bunch of stuff.
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  I look at me and my brother and we're not even the greatest
• 3:33
  entrepreneurs in the world. We've tried making comics, we've
• 3:37
  tried exports, we've tried photography, we've tried
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  consulting, we've tried what again?
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  We've all tried a couple of things that Pride will not allow
• 3:50
  me to say on the air, but we're trying stuff.
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  So idea is not the problem, execution is.
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  For those of you who are in the habit of executing, you will
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  quickly find that you know you've tried one or two things
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  and you're on your way. So use AI tools.
• 4:12
  Well, very well, then try executing on these ideas.
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  Some of you will say he keeps coming up with rubbish, but like
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  how is that my problem? If he keeps coming up with
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  rubbish, it means you do not prompt well.
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  And The thing is, even if you didn't prompt well and the thing
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  comes up with eight ideas and six of them are rubbish, what
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  about the two that makes sense. Take those two and run with it
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  and see what happens. Then when you try executing all
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  these things and you run into problem, now is the best time to
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  someone, the best time for you to reach out to a consultant or
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  to reach out to you know someone else.
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  When you have tried something, Are you experiencing some
• 4:54
  concrete difficulties? Is there someone like me?
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  I can help you, Whether we do it for free or whether you pay, at
• 5:00
  least then I can help you. If you say I'm trying to do a
• 5:03
  catfish business, I want to be selling to restaurants in my
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  area. I have approached 10 of them.
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  I cannot close a single sale. Now that is something concrete.
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  We can now have a conversation. You can't just reach out to me
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  and say, how do I start a fisheries business Like I mean
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  in today, in today's age of Google and Shaji BT, I say, OK,
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  let's have a meaningful a 15 minute phone call.
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  That's the question you're going to ask me.
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  How do I start a catfish Business Today in today's age?
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  It was back in 1990. You know what I understand
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  information is out there right now.
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  The problem is information is too much.
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  See, even if you don't execute by at least you call up and say,
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  I want to start a catfish business.
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  These are the resources I found online.
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  And I'm seeing some conflicting something here.
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  Hey, we can have a conversation. Even if you haven't executed
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  anything, at least you've done the research and you're confused
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  about the ideas that you've seen and you don't know which is the
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  next step. So please, ideas are not the
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  problem. So excuse me now, let's assume
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  you still want me to come up with ideas.
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  No problem. When we go on our call, be ready
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  to pay for a consultation. I'm not going to be doing Jackie
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  walk on this kind of something. Now there are people who
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  dedicate, excuse me, their their time to these sorts of things
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  and those people they call themselves life coaches or
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  career coaches. And I am not one.
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  So honestly, I can't help you, at least until you have tried
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  executing. You have tried executing one or
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  two things, then I can help you. So AI tools, they can be really,
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  really useful for coming up with business ideas, like I told you,
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  career suggestions. But The thing is, we were using
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  AI tools. Remember I told you guys in the
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  beginning that AI people will be saying artificial intelligence,
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  they think no intelligence, nothing.
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  All right. AI is not intelligence.
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  It's just an algorithm doing its thing, using statistical
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  probabilities to come up with a bunch of words, you know, that
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  might, you know, that might reasonably make sense when they
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  follow each other, basically. So think of it more like as an
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  advanced calculator, let's put it that way.
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  That's the reason why it comes up with things and people say
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  that it is lying as it is lying, how only a living thing is
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  capable of lying. It has generated something that
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  based on statistical probability, should make sense.
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  It is up to you to verify what other thing is good or whether
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  the thing makes sense or whether it doesn't make sense.
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  But artificial intelligence tools, artificial intelligent,
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  nothing. So I prefer to call them
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  augmented intelligence is there to augment your own
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  intelligence. So therefore use this thing as a
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  brainstorming tool. Simple, use this thing as a
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  resource, as a resource. Research, research assistant
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  does it. So let's come up with some small
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  ideas or how to use AI to go up with the business ideas.
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  Remember, I'm making this soda. When you listen to this thing,
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  for those of you who are stuck at the ideation stage, you will
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  take some of these ideas here, you execute on them and you
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  know, hopefully you should be able to be on your way.
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  All right, so business, business, business.
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  OK, let's see. Now when I say AI, I'm talking
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  about the LLMS, large language models.
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  What that means is tools like Gemini, like char, GBT, like
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  Claude. The reason why I say those ones
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  are because those are the ones that when you ask them question,
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  they give you output, They give you results in text format.
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  So they're easy to use. So people like me who are not to
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  computer, you understand not to computer illiterate.
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  We can use this thing because you can type in Gemini, I want
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  to make a Gucci soup, Give me 5 recipes for a Gucci soup.
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  They think we give you text back and then you can read.
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  So that's why. So that's why I'm referring to
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  now LLMS, large language models. Then to make these things work,
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  what you have to do is to prompt.
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  I've already made podcast episodes about how to prompt
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  before, so I'm not going to go into the philosophy behind it.
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  Let me just go ahead and give concrete examples and hopefully
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  you will. How will I put it?
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  You'll figure it out. So you can prompt something like
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  Gemini. Dear Gemini, give me 10 business
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  ideas for a side hustle in the sustainable fashion industry.
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  Assuming that those are the kind of things you like, it will give
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  you 10 things, even if 9 don't make sense.
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  No problem. The one that made sense, take it
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  and run with it. Then you can come back to me and
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  say OK, I ran with one and this is where I talk busy.
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  So what's the way forward? What are some innovative
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  business ideas that we can use in a home decor business?
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  You know, something like that. Let's say you're stuck in your
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  home decor business. Suggest a business idea that
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  solves the problem of food waste in urban areas.
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  Send. Because yes, I've met those kind
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  of people, you know, sustainable business development, you know,
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  environmental goals, you know, something, something, something.
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  There's plenty of food being wasted in communities.
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  What can we do to solve that problem?
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  Don't come and ask me. I'm not a sustainability expert.
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  Go to Gemini. Suggest a business idea that
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  solves the problem of food waste in urban areas.
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  Send and you, you will see a bunch of stuff.
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  You can use it, you know, for market research, you know,
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  analyze the current market trends in blah blah blah blah
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  blah. Insert whatever your field is.
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  Summarize the key challenges or opportunities in the blah blah
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  blah industry. Put your own there.
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  If you're a lawyer, you just graduated law, you don't want to
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  work for an auger, you don't know if you'd be setting up a
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  law firm, you have no idea what to do best summarize the key
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  challenges and opportunities in the legal industry in Niger.
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  But send let me see which other ones that I find again, OK.
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  You can also use it to evaluate how viable your business concept
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  is. You know, I mean first year law
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  student something something, this is my business idea, blah,
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  blah, blah, blah, blah. Evaluate how viable this
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  business is going to be in a place like Nigeria.
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  I live in a no go eastern Nigeria.
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  The character issues of the city are this, this and that that
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  that that send and I see what it has to say, what I think is a
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  good business idea or not. From there, you can also ask
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  more questions to get other ideas about how you would start
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  this particular business and then go ahead try and execute.
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  When you hang, when you hook, then you can now start asking
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  people for help. You can also use it for career
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  suggestions. Like I said, let me see.
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  OK, I came up with some ideas. Let me see, let me see, let me
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  see. Sorry.
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  The idea is I want to myself. So I'm trying not to waste time
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  because it's already 10 minutes. I don't want this to be a long
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  episode because I know most people, if I send them 30
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  minutes, they will say anything. They'll say anything is too long
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  and you listen to it. Imagine the insult.
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  He asked me for resource. I send you resource.
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  You said the thing was too long. I mean, some people really have
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  the nerve. OK, yes.
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  So I have five years experience in dot, dot dash, dash, dash.
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  Then ask Gemini to now suggest three career paths that align
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  with people in this profile. So that's the perfect one.
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  You worked in the bank for 15 years.
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  You have resigned. You don't know what to do next.
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  Say I have 5 years of experience in retail banking in Nigeria.
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  I worked with so, so and so bank for 15 years where my
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  responsibilities were this and this and that and that.
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  While I was on the job, I received commendations for this
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  and this and that and that and I enjoyed this particular part of
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  the job and that particular part of the job.
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  I just recently resigned from the bank because of conflicts in
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  work life balance. Suggest three career paths that
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  align with this profile. With someone with a similar
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  profile like me send you see a couple of stuff.
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  So things like that. What else?
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  I'm looking for different prompts because like I said, I
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  tried to go online and check and of course plenty prompts and you
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  guys will use it to optimize your your what's it called your
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  CV. That's something I've done
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  before. When I approached the radio
• 14:32
  station for the show, they asked me for all kinds of things.
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  They asked me for CV me could I remember my CV was eventually I
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  searched and I found it. I saw some things out of date.
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  I tried to patch it after a while I throw this in ChatGPT.
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  I said ChatGPT. I beg give me suggestions.
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  I'm trying to shop my CV. The thing gave me suggestions
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  and I applied. I applied it and my CV started
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  looking sweet. So when you try something like
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  that and it's as if you can't make any heads or tails.
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  If you now see somebody on LinkedIn who is a career
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  optimization specialist, what do they call themselves or, you
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  know, ACV something, something, you know, at that stage, you
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  know, even if you reach out and say, you know, I beg, I'm broke,
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  help me out, at least it's it's an intellectually challenging
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  problem or like saying, you know, you just come and say,
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  help me rewrite my CV. So anyway, wow.
• 15:43
  Anyway, let me just say one more time, whatever it is that you
• 15:47
  call this thing, artificial intelligence like most people,
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  or augmented intelligence like I prefer to call it, this is a
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  powerful tool. But The thing is not a
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  replacement for your human judgement.
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  This thing is not a replacement for human judgement.
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  Hope you guys are listening. This thing is not smart in
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  itself. You are the one that is smart.
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  Use these AI tools just to start by giving you some suggestions
• 16:18
  that kind of make sense. Use it as a starting point.
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  Then start executing, carrying out the best you can.
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  You run into one or two problems, then you can now start
• 16:32
  reaching out to help the people. Sorry, reaching out to people
• 16:36
  for help and people will be willing to help because, well,
• 16:40
  at least you have tried doing things by yourself.
• 16:45
  It is very what's the word on sexy and unappealing?
• 16:50
  When somebody approaches you because they're stuck and by the
• 16:54
  time you start having the conversation, you see that they
• 16:56
  have done nothing, they really want to sit down with you so
• 17:01
  that you will be the one to come up with a solution for them from
• 17:04
  beginning to end. It is very, very unsexy and it
• 17:07
  is very, very unappealing. So please, if you're someone
• 17:12
  that has been doing that in the past, please do not do that
• 17:16
  again. Ideation is not a problem in
• 17:19
  2025. AI tools are here.
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  If you're listening to this podcast and you're listening to
• 17:25
  it in the year of 2038, I know that you will have even more
• 17:29
  amazing tools there. So ideation is not your problem
• 17:34
  from 2025 onwards. If you're listening to this
• 17:37
  podcast in the year 3006, if I, if I listen to this podcast in
• 17:44
  the year 3006, I really think idea is your problem.
• 17:46
  You deserve a knock on the head. It's a good thing that you know,
• 17:50
  at the time you're listening to this in 3006, you know I'm
• 17:53
  already dead. So I can't knock you on the
• 17:54
  head, but use these tools. Please remember that the
• 17:58
  intelligence rests with you. Begin the execute when you hook,
• 18:02
  then reach out to someone. So that's it.
• 18:06
  If you'd love to connect, call, send me a text message or
• 18:09
  WhatsApp message on 08064662140. Or please do not reach out to me
• 18:16
  and then say, how do I start a plant care business?
• 18:20
  I don't know. Use these tools, do the research
• 18:26
  so that by the time you hit me up, you say I have tried
• 18:29
  starting a plant care business. These are the difficulties I am
• 18:33
  running into. These are the customers I have
• 18:35
  tried targeting. And I'm wondering should I be
• 18:39
  looking at a different customer set or how can I sell better to
• 18:41
  these people? And then reach out to me if I
• 18:44
  don't want to walk with you on that for free because it's
• 18:46
  interesting. I've never done that before.
• 18:48
  I don't make a hell, you know, a heck of an episode and people
• 18:51
  would like to hear to say in Nigeria people are doing plant
• 18:54
  care business. I did not know so for don't
• 18:56
  reach out to me, don't come and ask me.
• 19:00
  I resign from my so, so and so job.
• 19:02
  What career should I do next? I don't know.
• 19:06
  Use these tools, come up with some ideas when you're now
• 19:10
  running through some difficulties because you've been
• 19:12
  trying to migrate into this career, that career you're
• 19:15
  having this challenge you're having that they reach out to me
• 19:19
  if I don't want to walk with you for free.
• 19:21
  Let's try and bring some some some ideas will be interesting.
• 19:25
  Then by the time we're done and I'll come and make a podcast
• 19:27
  episode about it so that people in your situation will be able
• 19:29
  to learn one or two things. Anyway, let me stop ranting.
• 19:32
  So thanks for your time and attention.
• 19:34
  I'll catch you guys at the next episode.