Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Why Your Side Project Isn't a Real Startup

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Why Your Side Project Isn't a Real Startup · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

0:01
Hello and welcome. Today we're going to look at why
0:05
you need a full time CEO or why you need a full time founder,
0:10
why you need a full time driver, a full time promoter, a full
0:14
time coordinator, a full time somebody who's going to be
0:18
pushing your startup forward. Now, the reason why we're
0:23
looking at that today is because there's a problem and the
0:28
problem is too many people are playing start up.
0:32
You know, since I started the podcast and since I started
0:36
consulting, you know, there are lots of people who call me in
0:39
and they want me to look at their business idea.
0:41
They want me to look at the set up.
0:44
They want me to look at their sales processes normally to look
0:46
at a few things. And I'm noticing A worrisome
0:50
trend. And that is, you know, everybody
0:53
says they want a start up and people come together and know
0:56
where start up, where start up. But at the end of the day,
0:59
people are not really, you're not really running a startup.
1:03
Too many of you are just playing startup as in, you know, you'll
1:08
be like say, when I act theme, you understand, like you guys
1:11
are just pretending to be a startup.
1:15
And the reason why I'm saying that is because, you know, 3-4,
1:18
five guys get together. OK, let's say people, because of
1:22
course there's one of them that is 3 is a team of three and then
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there's one guy and two ladies. So three people get together,
1:30
one guy, 2 ladies or maybe 4 boys.
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And they say we have a startup, this is going to be a startup.
1:37
But then the problem is everybody, every single member
1:41
of that team is in full time employment elsewhere.
1:45
You heard me correctly, 3-4 people will come together and we
1:49
say now startup, we will 1 build startup.
1:54
OK, no problem. But then by the time I come in
1:57
and I'm talking to everybody OK, well, let's have a meeting
1:59
tomorrow, 9:00 AM so. Oh, no, no, no.
2:02
I have a meeting with my line manager.
2:04
Line manager. You see the answer?
2:06
OK, yes. OK, no problem.
2:09
I'll meet with at this time. Oh, I'm not available.
2:12
Company has sent me on the work trip.
2:14
Oh, OK, you're working for somebody else.
2:16
Yes. OK, let me meet with this person
2:19
then when I'm done, I'll now share the message to you other
2:23
people. Oh, I'm not available because
2:25
the company is sending me here for this, this and that.
2:27
And I say, oh, so all of you, the three of you, the four of
2:30
you, woman on one form startup, all of you are answering yes,
2:34
Sir, someplace else. It's a problem.
2:40
This is an issue, it's a big issue.
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The big issue is this. If you say that you guys are
2:47
building a startup, in my own opinion, the primary concern for
2:51
a startup is #1 validating the business idea #2 funding.
2:58
Let me repeat, the primary concern for a startup is #1 want
3:03
to validate the business idea #2 funding.
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The idea of validation just means product market fit.
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Product market fit just means this product where they create
3:14
this software, they create this solution, this, you know, this
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app, this whatever this product because they call on product
3:22
market fit. Does this thing fit the market?
3:26
Are there people in Niger? Are there people in the local?
3:29
Are there people in the, you know, wherever?
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Are there people that are demanding this thing?
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Are there people who like this thing?
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Other people who need this thing, other people who are
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looking for this thing? That's number one, demand.
3:43
Product market feed. Are people looking for this
3:45
thing? Do they like it?
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Then #2 The people that are looking at it, I'll be there
3:49
looking for itself. The price that are willing to
3:51
pay the team makes sense because all of us will come together.
3:55
I will say, and I start up with the bills, you know, eventually
4:00
we all want something good to come out of this.
4:02
Now, no, one of the startup thing is not to to be flexing
4:06
like Zuckerberg. Is that not the idea?
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OK, so people want this thing now.
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Can we work out the economics? The pricing doesn't make sense.
4:19
Now not all of you are going to come with a startup where
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immediately you sell something because there's one of my
4:26
clients in particular, yeah, that he's, he has started the
4:30
startup and you know, they actually are selling something
4:33
and within the first month they've gotten up to 1.5 million
4:37
in revenue. But not everybody is going to
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start a startup where, you know, like we must make money now,
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now, now, now. In fact, that other company I'm
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talking about, Dave, we're talking about profit sharing by
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the end of the year. So for a lot of you, the startup
4:52
idea that you have when you're talking about product market
4:58
fit, you won't really be talking pricing per SE, but you know,
5:01
the focus now will be on traction.
5:04
So we talk about validation. Is this an idea worth pursuing?
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You know, we're looking at product market fit.
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We're trying to figure out is there demand?
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And then the pricing doesn't make sense.
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Then another level of looking at this thing is traction.
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So for people like Zuckerberg who started Facebook, you know
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traction, you know how many people are using this thing
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every day, every hour, every week, every month, every
5:25
quarter. So that if we they make traction
5:28
now, OK, we know now that we are, we're on the right course.
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So remember, I'm saying there's a problem.
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If all of you that say you're doing this startup, all of them
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are the answer. Yes, Sir, that they follow Olga
5:43
in other places. If everybody is part time in
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this startup, who is going to be responsible now to be pursuing
5:53
people up and down for customer acquisition or user acquisition.
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So remember the first one that I said product market fit, you
6:01
know is their demand and then the price, this price itself
6:04
doesn't make sense or call that one customer acquisition.
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Now for customer acquisition, will the customer acquire
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themselves? Is it not somebody that will be
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pursuing customer up and down? Is that not what customer
6:16
acquisition means? If all of you are answering
6:19
Orgasa in other companies, who will be doing customer
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acquisition? Now, if the startup you're
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trying to build is dependent on, you know, you're trying to get
6:30
user traction, you know who user user growth now who go the
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acquire the user? Would the user acquire itself?
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Now I know that people talk about product like growth, but
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already we'll do another podcast episode about that.
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But somebody's still going to be responsible for coming up with
6:46
different activities and initiatives to make sure that we
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roll this thing out. You know, we promote it.
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Well, let people start using it. If you will say no problem, we
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go run them like that. We're all answering yes in other
7:00
places. OK, no problem.
7:02
If you're going to be doing customer acquisition part time,
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be honest with yourself. How quickly can you validate the
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question? How quickly can you answer the
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question that there is a demand for this thing and that people
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need it and they're willing to pay for it at the right price.
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Just be honest with yourself. If you're all doing this thing
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part time, you can't answer that question quickly.
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You just can't because you're all busy doing something else.
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Then I said at startups, you guys are also concerned about
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funding now. Funding, is that going to come
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from you know bootstrapping like this, My other company that I
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said sorry, not my company, my clients company that in the
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first month they got 1.5 million in revenue.
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So even though they're talking profit sharing at the end of the
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year, because it looks as if things are going good, all
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happened is money still has to come order millions.
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So has to go back into the business to run one or two
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things. That is called bootstrapping,
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right? Bootstrapping is you put your
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revenues in or you know, I say revenues, you put your savings
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in or as you do, as you're moving and money they come, you
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now take the money and then throw it back.
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Excuse me. So let's say the phone people
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want to do is bootstrapping abine our revenue.
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OK, if you're all working part time, no problem.
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All of you can say my contribution is, you know, 11M,
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so 3 of you, everybody drop 11 M OK, no problem.
8:23
But then the revenue part on call, who's going to chase the
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revenue? Where's the revenue?
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Where to come from now that everybody's working part time
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funding, raising equity finance, raising investor finance, OK, no
8:38
problem. But just be honest.
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It's going to be challenging. If all of you are answering yes,
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Sir, In other companies it will be challenging.
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And from what I hear, because you know, I'm not in the tech
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space, you know, everyone heard that some people serve when they
8:52
look at every, every and then they figure out that, oh, all of
8:56
you, all of you are working in another place.
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This is just I hear anyway, I'm not in the start process that
9:01
some investors that they don't like that.
9:03
OK, you will say start up. You will say we should drop
9:06
millions of naira, but none of you are fully committed to this
9:10
thing. OK?
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So maybe for some of you, that's actually the reason why you're
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having problems raising funds. Anyway, the reason why I'm
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talking about this today is because it's one of my clients
9:24
that they've been on this whole thing.
9:27
Everybody works full time someplace else.
9:32
Everybody. I'm serious like 7 of them.
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So I had to be frank with the guy that look, you guys have
9:41
been on this matter. Don't they reach like 4 years
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now? Honestly, this thing is not
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going to move on till until we have somebody that is focused
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full time on one or two things. Sorry, one moment a call is
10:03
coming through. Let me just take this call and I
10:05
will be right back. OK, sorry about that.
10:09
I am back. A call was coming through and
10:13
was something that I needed to attend to.
10:16
By the way, in case you haven't figured out, especially those of
10:19
you who've been listening to the podcast for a while, I actually
10:21
make this podcast recording on my phone.
10:24
I just record directly into my phone and then I upload.
10:30
Surprisingly, there's a long term listener of the podcast who
10:33
I was chatting with yesterday and the fellow was shocked.
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He didn't know that I record directly into my phone.
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So I, I didn't know how like just all of you do.
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So I record directly into my phone.
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Yes, I know it doesn't sound professional, but I make sure
10:47
that all the things that we're talking about over here makes
10:49
sense. So just pardon me with
10:51
interruptions and all that. I just make sure I do my best to
10:54
keep delivering value to you guys.
10:58
So where was I now? Uh huh, Investor confidence.
11:03
So I was talking about how the very fact that all of you work
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with different people sometimes doesn't give your investors
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confidence. And perhaps maybe it's one of
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the reasons why you're not able to raise the funding that you
11:13
need for this, your startup idea.
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So for one particular client of mine, and I had to tell
11:18
together, look, it's been 4 years.
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This thing is not going to move until there's somebody who is
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responsible, at least one person who is responsible for this
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thing 247 one person that you can call, one person that you
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can grab, one person you can harass, one person you can shout
11:34
at that is responsible for one thing.
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One thing, this one, this one, this one, at least one person.
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And then he was telling me how old that they have an admin man.
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I said no, this one will be admin level something.
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So yes, you will have hired some administrative level people.
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But what I told most, look, 2 of you, 2 main guys, the two main
11:58
founders, you will need to sit down right?
12:00
And you will need to go and hire a CEO.
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The reason why I said need to hire a CEO is because look, I'm
12:08
being realistic. 2 of them are answering yes Sir, but one of
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them is used to, how would I put it, a multimillionaire
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lifestyle. If you understand he's in paid
12:19
employment, but the company he works for is in foreign
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management. And you know, the money that
12:24
they pay him is good money, good money.
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I won't like correct money flexing money.
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I remember one time was like, I beg, I've had enough, blah,
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blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, stress at work.
12:39
This diseases this say he wants to go for a holiday.
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I was thinking the guy wants to enter being wasted.
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So you know, you know, some of his friends in Cali that he
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wants to go and see and say wish Cali so Cali now California.
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So so the guy he flex used to that kind of lifestyle.
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So that's why I told them, Hi CEO.
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But then the guy said no, that don't worry that he's going to
13:02
put in his recognition, he will resign.
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And I said to him, you resign this kind of cushy money, sweet
13:08
money like this, as if you give me that kind of money, like I'll
13:13
abandoned this podcast. Now say he wants to resign and
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then he's going to come and do this thing full time as CEO.
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You know, that's my guy at the time.
13:23
Now look, anyway, if you want to discuss it by now first, but at
13:27
the time now look, life ain't easy on these streets.
13:31
Those of us who are responsible for our own daily bread, it
13:34
ain't easy. But guys say he has made-up his
13:36
mind. So by anyway, my own solution,
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my own suggestion to him was, look, you guys just need to put
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put heads together. You need to hire CEO.
13:44
Let there be somebody that is 100% responsible for these
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things. But I guess the summer, what I'm
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trying to say is that look, all of you now we won't do startup.
13:54
You guys need to think about these things seriously from the
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start. Before you begin.
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If all of you people want to be doing this thing part time and
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you think that there's a way that everybody is part time,
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there's nobody who is 100% responsible that we can hold
14:09
that this issue, we'll grab him and say, well, or God, where is
14:12
the issue, Madam? Where is the issue?
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He has serious implications for the company, how the company is
14:19
going to grow, and also has serious implications for your
14:22
financial future. Whichever way you, you, you plan
14:24
to look at it, You guys want this thing to blow because you
14:27
want to, you know, you want this thing to get liquid so that you,
14:32
you, you will extract value. You get something, you put
14:35
something in your pocket. That's serious implications.
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I don't go as far as saying that you should resign, especially
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those of you who are getting cushy money, good money.
14:44
I don't go as far as saying that you should resign.
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Honestly, I think would have been adequate if they just hire
14:48
ACEO, but we need to be honest with ourselves from the
14:53
beginning. If everybody on this whole thing
14:56
is going to be part time, then you guys require extra
14:59
discipline, extra extra discipline, extra discipline.
15:04
Once you finish answering yes, Sir, during your 9:00 to 5:00
15:07
and you're settling in the startup thing or more, you guys
15:10
be focused on serious work, serious work.
15:15
Then also know that this whole part time thing, you're
15:17
sacrificing speed which is why I had to call the tour them and
15:20
say look, you people have been on this thing for four years.
15:26
We haven't even gotten to the point where we have validated
15:29
the core concept that this is something that the Nigerian
15:32
market is looking for and this is something that they are
15:34
willing to pay for. We haven't even validated the
15:37
core concept. After four years, you will
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continue to move at a slow space until we can put somebody in
15:46
charge of this thing 100%. So that is what I want some of
15:50
you to consider. Now today I've also come up with
15:53
another case study. And of course, it's
15:58
manufactured, you know, it's made-up.
16:00
So if there's any similarity here, if you hear a name that
16:05
sounds like yours, everything is completely made-up.
16:07
OK, well, today's person is not completely made-up.
16:09
So let's say founder. Now our founder for today, his
16:14
name is Kwaudi Ademi. Some of you will be wondering
16:18
what did you say? I said Qwelte Ademi, you've been
16:22
wondering what is Qwelte? Qwelte is a chief name.
16:25
So yes, this particular name I borrowed you from a real person.
16:28
Qwelte actually is a listener of a podcast.
16:30
And you know, he's my, he's my village person, not really from
16:34
my village person, but you know, you understand now as he's he's
16:36
from Penrith State. So Qwelte means the thing of God
16:40
or the thing of the father or belonging to the father,
16:44
belonging to God, you know that kind of thing.
16:45
And yes, we have very, very correct, you know, powerful
16:49
names where we come from. So quota, solid name.
16:51
My name, Tavishima. Correct name.
16:53
You know, that's why the ladies love us, because our names are
16:56
solid, you understand? So let's say now quota Adami.
17:01
So Quota is Steve. Adami is Yoruba.
17:03
So let's say he's the product of mixed marriage.
17:06
You know, maybe his mom sees Steve and the father is Yoruba.
17:10
Abby. Yeah.
17:11
Yeah, something like that. So the mom sees Steve, then the
17:13
father is Yoruba. So their son name will now be
17:15
Adami. So Quota are they?
17:17
I mean, now let's say Quota is a specialist in, in brands.
17:25
And the guy's been working in Lagos, you know, for a while.
17:28
And his specialty is, you know, whenever a chain, a business
17:31
chain is going down, you know, his specialty is he knows how to
17:33
revive all those chains. So let's say Quota has been in
17:36
consulting for, in Lagos for a long time, for a long, long,
17:40
long time. Some of you will say again,
17:42
another Lagos example, yes, Lagos example because for now
17:46
all the startup movements is mostly Lagos, you know, and then
17:49
you hear Abuja, that's some big company founders.
17:52
I think they started off in Kalaba before they moved to
17:55
Lagos, but I can't remember the name of the company.
17:57
But if you hear startup in Niger, it's mostly a Lagos
18:00
thing. So yes, every time I talk
18:02
startup, I will continue to say Lagos except if some of you
18:07
reach out to me and say no, you're not being correct.
18:09
You also have a startup community, startup hub, startup
18:13
ecosystem in Kano or in Cross River or something.
18:16
So if you're in one of those hubs, reach out to me, let me
18:20
know so that I can take dressing.
18:22
So if you'd like to connect with me, you just call, send me a
18:24
text message or send me a WhatsApp message on
18:26
080646621400. Yeah.
18:31
And if you're interested in a 15 minute sale audit, then send me
18:34
a WhatsApp message on the same number 0806466 2140.
18:40
I want to connect with me but you're shy.
18:42
You don't feel like talking to me.
18:43
Now that's not a problem. You can join my WhatsApp
18:46
channel. So send me a message on the same
18:49
number and I will hook you up and get you started.
18:53
So quote in this example based in Lagos he's been working on
18:59
building. Oh dear, sorry, my attention is
19:02
required elsewhere. Just one moment and I'll be
19:04
back. OK, I'm back, sorry about that.
19:07
These are some of the perils of making the podcast live.
19:11
But don't worry, eventually I'm going to hire a production
19:14
assistant and you know, we'll sit down in the proper studio
19:16
and then get things done. So I'll say now.
19:19
So Quota based in Lagos, branding space, consulting, all
19:25
of that. And then let's say now Quota
19:27
thinks he has figured out a gap in the aggro logistics market
19:34
because remember, this is my example now Krauter, you know,
19:38
Krauter is a teeth name, so his mom sees teeth.
19:40
So because of that, you know, like he's my homeboy and you
19:42
know, always constantly thinking about how to improve things back
19:46
home because you know, how other parts of Nigeria, you know, you
19:49
people, you guys have, you know, you developed yourselves, you
19:53
know, so Yoruba people, you guys got that education thing going.
19:56
You know, startup culture is a Yoruba thing.
19:58
Then you know, business, you know, intelligence here, you
20:03
know all of that. So that's how you're right.
20:05
People sorted yourself out. Then Eastern brothers, you know,
20:08
all Igbo people. You, you guys have that, you
20:10
know, business thing going. You are all building your family
20:13
dynasties, you know. Then you know, in the northern
20:16
part of the country, you know, all over now they farm politics,
20:18
politics, politics. Anyway, let me keep quiet.
20:21
Let me not talk too much. So you know those of us now.
20:29
Middle Belt or North Central as people like to call it nowadays,
20:32
but when I was a kid, we used to call it Middle Belt.
20:34
So we Middle Belt people, you know, Benway Plateau, you know,
20:37
NASA, you know, sort of, you know, we're constantly thinking
20:43
we can't continue like this. Now other people are sorting
20:45
themselves out, you know, so we what, what are we doing?
20:49
So let's say because of that, now Quota is thinking, OK,
20:53
Benway State, NASA state, we're constantly producing food, you
20:58
know, in the north, in the North Central, but then most of the
21:03
food that we produce is wasted. I've already told you guys about
21:05
how Benway State research and development something authority.
21:09
I can't remember how while my brother and I were in the export
21:13
business, they put together a report that showed that 98 I'll
21:17
be 97% of the tomatoes that we produce in Benway State are
21:21
wasted as in the spoil on the farm spoil completely spoiled as
21:25
a body bought it because we don't have what's it called now,
21:30
but you know, technologies to for processing and preserving,
21:37
you know, causing it for other countries.
21:38
Now you say, I say house tomato. They waste, you know, you take
21:41
and then you take it and then, you know, before you know it,
21:43
you know, process it into, you know, canned foods or something,
21:46
something and then also cold chain logistics, you know, put
21:51
them in freezers and fridges and all of that.
21:54
And then I spoke about that in the broadcast episode a long
21:56
time ago. So no need to rehash that.
21:59
So let's say Quota is now thinking he comes up with a
22:03
solution and he calls the solution fresh track.
22:07
Again, this is completely made-up.
22:09
So excuse me if you happen to run the company, you know,
22:13
similar names, similar whatever, please, this is completely
22:16
made-up. It's just a coincidence.
22:19
The only thing that's not a coincidence is quota.
22:21
If you're listening to today's episode, yes, I, I borrowed your
22:24
name because I think it's cool and also because, you know,
22:27
people don't know about us Steve boys.
22:28
So anything I can do to rap us and let other Nigerians know
22:32
that we exist, that we're here, You know, I do that.
22:35
And then plus we have pretty cool names, unique names.
22:40
So Quota's company now Fresh Track, it's a platform that is
22:44
supposed to connect North Central farmers.
22:46
So Ben Taraba, you know, like that plateau and it's supposed
22:51
to connect people direct to high end supermarket chains in Lagos
22:56
so that people can find ways to buy, you know, direct so that
22:59
supermarkets in Lagos, you know, if they need tomato, they need
23:02
onion, they need yarn, they need soya beans, they need, you know,
23:05
anything. That's the whole point of the
23:07
platform. Now remember, this is a
23:08
fictional company, not a real company.
23:10
So that's Fresh Track. So on paper now fresh track
23:14
looks like not a bad idea Abby. So let's say quota now brings in
23:18
three Co founders. Let's say he calls one of his
23:21
guys like guy, how far now you know you're in the banking
23:23
space, you know, this is my idea, blah blah blah blah blah.
23:25
You know suppose who called suppose you know wrong things.
23:28
Well, you know, and then the guy comes on board.
23:31
Excuse me. Then let's say quota calls
23:33
another person, let's say maybe one of his classmates, you know,
23:36
from, you know, from the UK because you know, something like
23:40
that. Now, you know, a couple of us
23:41
are master's educated abroad and all that.
23:43
So he calls his guys, you know that you're doing fintech,
23:48
you're based in the UK. Something, something, something
23:50
that how far now come and join us Now you'll be like our
23:53
marketing strategist, you know, blah, blah, blah.
23:55
You know, just, you know, you call boys and you start your
23:59
startup or call girls as well, of course.
24:01
Because remember, like I said, one of my clients, the startup
24:04
is one guy and then 2 girls. So that's how you call everybody
24:10
and then start up. We don't start really what I'm
24:16
saying, some of you might think is far fetched.
24:17
It's not that far fetched though.
24:19
This is how the thing starts. Somebody has a good idea, thinks
24:23
my guy, you know, has some skills, let me bring him in.
24:25
Then bring this person in and before I know it is OK, we don't
24:29
start, start up. But the problem in this
24:33
scenario, the fictional scenarios that Quota and the
24:37
other three people that he has spoken to, all of them, they
24:40
work someplace else and all of them are making good money.
24:44
Nobody has to quit their day job.
24:46
Nobody wants to quit their day job.
24:48
That is the kind of thing that will happen.
24:51
So you develop the app, fresh track.
24:53
You develop the website, fresh track.
24:56
The app is looking good. You develop pitch deck because
25:00
that's what your negotiations do.
25:01
Now want to do startup first thing you use to build the app.
25:04
After that, when I build a pitch deck, so they finish arranging
25:08
everything, that one takes like 6 months.
25:11
Then Quota and his crew do not realize that they have a
25:14
problem. They realize, OK, this app is
25:17
there, this website is there, everything is looking sweet, but
25:22
velocity equals 0. In other words, the app is
25:27
there. But who's using the app?
25:29
Nobody. Supermarket in Lagos.
25:32
OK, we've created the app now. But the supermarkets in Lagos,
25:35
how many are we signed up? 0 farmers in the North Central,
25:39
how many people have we signed up?
25:40
0 logistics companies on call that will be moving product for
25:45
us. You know how many people have we
25:46
signed up zero. So the pitch leg, the pitch deck
25:50
looks sweet. The app as in the app fine die,
25:57
but their velocity progress equals 0 after six months.
26:05
This is made-up, but this is stuff that can happen.
26:08
And it's stuff that happens especially from the people that
26:12
I talk to because, you know, I give my phone number at the
26:15
beginning and at the end of every episode and people do
26:17
reach out to me and they're going through all kinds of
26:18
things. So this kind of scenario is
26:20
made-up, but it's real. It's happening because all over
26:26
now, tech people, coding, coding, coding, the first thing
26:30
all of you think about is the app.
26:31
Let the app be working. Let the app be working.
26:33
Let the app be sweet, Let the app be bomb, Let the app be
26:36
tight. OK, sure, no problem.
26:38
OK, the app is now working and so and So what?
26:42
Have we validated the idea? Do farmers even like this thing?
26:48
We don't know. Supermarket chains in Lagos, do
26:51
they even like this thing? We don't know.
26:53
But the app is there. The app is looking good.
26:58
Customer acquisition is a full time battle.
27:00
If you're trying to build this kind of things, you're trying to
27:02
build a 2 sided marketplace. And I keep telling people stop
27:05
with this two sided marketplace thing is the most difficult
27:08
thing to do. Any business idea that involves
27:10
you having an app and you want suppliers to be on the app and
27:16
then you want consumers to be on the app, these things are hard.
27:21
You're trying to build a business, you're trying to build
27:23
an app and you're trying to toast two different people at
27:25
the same time. Like this kind of idea, but
27:28
somehow every single founder in OK, well let me not say every
27:32
single because I haven't spoken to everybody, but lots of people
27:35
who come to talk to me, they're talking about building 2 sided
27:37
marketplaces. This thing is hard.
27:39
You have to toast the farmers, you have to toast the suppliers
27:42
to be on the app. They now have to toast the
27:44
supermarket chains in Lagos or Abuja or wherever to also be on
27:48
the app as well. This is hard work, even if
27:53
you're able to generate some responses because all over now
27:55
the answer yes, Sir. And let's be real, you're
27:58
working in Lagos. So it means you're on the road
28:00
by 4, then by 8 you're in the office and then you know born
28:05
you will to leave at 5:00 PM. You can't leave at 5:00 PM when
28:08
all guys still in the office don't say you aren't serious.
28:11
So your contract says you're supposed to work 9:00 to 5:00,
28:14
but you don't get lever you can't leave before 5.
28:19
So that means some of you are leaving by 7:00.
28:21
Then you now be in traffic 2 hours.
28:23
So 9:00 you just the enter house.
28:25
Then you now make Indo Mie you now sit down 930.
28:29
You say you want to respond to people.
28:31
Let's say you be running some advertising campaigns or
28:33
something. Some supermarkets are
28:35
interested, you know, emails from the procurement officer,
28:38
e-mail that they have sent, e-mail that somebody sent since
28:41
9:00 in the morning is now 930 in the evening that you want to
28:46
respond at that rate you think you'll be dealing with, you
28:50
think you'll be dealing with matters on time.
28:54
This is how people that have potential interests, you know,
28:57
will just fade away. We'll just move on.
28:58
Some things will fall through the cracks.
29:03
If everybody's part time, who is truly responsible now in this
29:07
kind of thing that quantity is trying to build again, not the
29:09
real quantity, you know, my own fictional quantity, are they?
29:12
I mean who is truly responsible now to say farmers will get them
29:17
on board, supermarket shops will get them on board.
29:21
You cannot achieve product market fit.
29:24
You cannot validate the business idea on the nights and weekends
29:28
schedule. Yeah, oh, I'll work on this kind
29:31
of thing from 9:00 PM when I get home.
29:34
I'll continue to like 2-3 in the morning and I'll sleep.
29:38
Now I wake up 4:00 and then start, no trouble, heading to
29:41
Lagos Island to go and resume work.
29:44
By the way, in case I haven't figured out, that is untenable.
29:47
You can't be living for you can't be living on 3-4 hours of
29:52
sleep every single night. I mean, for how long to say you
29:55
will now be effective at work or that you'll be effective in your
29:58
startup. So let's say, OK, no, no
30:04
problem. What we'll do is raise 50
30:06
million naira so that we use that 50 M and then maybe we'll
30:10
hire somebody. Maybe that's the next step.
30:13
Remember what I said, it's a nice idea, but however the gist
30:18
I have heard, remember I'm not in the startup space, I'm an
30:21
outsider, but the gist I have heard is that some investors
30:25
when they look at the whole thing, when they look at the cap
30:27
table, cap table, you know means what's cap table again,
30:31
ownership in the company cap, not cap as per face cap, cap as
30:35
per capital structure, ownership in the company.
30:39
So when the investor calls, you know, you put all those things
30:41
in your pitch deck. Now you put it there.
30:45
These are the idea I was born, these are my partners.
30:47
I'm quite would say this is this person, this is that person I
30:49
had. So they see now that 100% of the
30:52
leadership, every single person in this company, everybody they
30:56
part time, we will people call it skin in the game.
31:00
Some people say, ah, be like, say there's no skin in the game.
31:03
Like these people are not really invested.
31:05
They have one leg in, they have one leg out.
31:10
Remember, this is just I'm hearing because I'm not in the
31:12
tech space. Well, it's reasonable to think
31:16
some investors will say why would I risk my money?
31:18
Like why would I give quote, Let's say quote comes home and
31:22
meet me. Now by the way, I don't have
31:23
that kind of money, but let's say quote, come and meet me.
31:25
Now I want to collect from his 25 M even if I'm like, quote, a
31:29
correct guy, you know, yeah, it's like a workable idea.
31:31
I'll be thinking all I just carry 25 M and give him like
31:36
this when you know, the guy is not really his hand is not
31:41
really in this thing. So that's the reason why this
31:48
other real life clients, the one that four years now they haven't
31:51
validated the business idea. And by the way, for those of you
31:54
who say you're trying to build startup, excuse me, for those of
31:57
you who say you're trying to build a startup, you know, four
31:59
or five years you haven't seen any progress.
32:00
Can you see where some of these issues come up?
32:06
Can you see? So I would recommend someone
32:10
like quota now to just say, you know what hire CEO want to look
32:16
for somebody who has a track record of scaling SM ES, you
32:19
know, building. I don't know shall hire somebody
32:22
Shah let at least one person be full time at least let one
32:28
person be full time. Anyway, you know this kind of
32:36
situation like quality, all of you have juicy jobs.
32:43
And this my client who say he's going to resign in May, so he
32:47
says he's resigning in June. Honestly speaking from one
32:51
brother to another, the streets are harsh.
32:55
Those of us who hustle for Our Daily Bread, you will pay off.
33:01
But streets are harsh right now. So those of you that have
33:04
enjoyed our multimillionaire lifestyle, anyway, I won't just
33:12
recommend you people to resign like that.
33:14
I know that that's what we see, you know, in the media and all,
33:17
you know, so, so, so you know, live my dream, blah, blah, blah.
33:20
And so drop out of school, resign, blah, blah, blah.
33:25
Well, plan it. Well, let me just say, plan it
33:27
well. So for this my guy that says
33:29
resigning in June, I told him, look, discuss it, Madam.
33:31
Discuss it, Madam. So of course he's married and he
33:34
has kids, three children. In fact.
33:36
I said discuss it Madam first before you go and hand in your
33:40
paper. You say you're pursuing your
33:41
dream. So I guess the hard truth for
33:47
the Nigerian entrepreneur, for those of you who say you know,
33:53
want to build startup, if you want to keep your team part
33:58
time, just accept this harsh reality.
34:01
These two harsh reality, number one, you are sacrificing speed.
34:07
If there's another person in that space who has come up with
34:09
the same idea, they will overtake you.
34:13
They will overtake you. And that's the reason why I had
34:15
to call my guys and say, look, you know what, we need to talk.
34:21
People are beginning to come up. The last time I said to see this
34:23
company, see this company, even in Kenya, they don't do the
34:26
idea. You know, at the end of the day,
34:28
you know who came up with the idea first is who executed the
34:31
idea? Well, these boys in Kenya, see
34:33
how much they raised. All of them are full time.
34:35
They are moving. They are moving here.
34:41
You started this thing four years ago.
34:42
No progress. The boys in Kenya, you know,
34:45
last year, see progress, see how much they raised.
34:47
They are moving. If all of you must be part time,
34:52
you will sacrifice speed. If other people have clocked it
34:57
and they're entering the space, they will outrun you because
34:59
they're full time. Then you must continue like that
35:03
working at this slow space. You will need extra discipline.
35:07
It's going to be harsh, especially for those of you who
35:08
are based in Lagos. Especially those of you who are
35:12
based in Lagos. You get back home 8:00, you
35:17
know, you bath, you eat something like how long can you
35:20
live like that? That will be doing my house with
35:24
9 till maybe 12-1. That's when I do my startup
35:28
thing. Then I now sleep at 1:00.
35:30
Then because it's Lagos 435, I'm awake again.
35:34
Then I'm on the road. Like for how long?
35:37
So you want to sacrifice speed. You're going to need a whole lot
35:42
of discipline anyway, award is enough.
35:46
Otherwise, if you have decided that that's your lot and that's
35:49
what you want to do, then well, I've given you my own, my own
35:53
tool cover so that you guys can plan yourself accordingly.
35:58
But remember, please, remember, please, I am not telling anybody
36:02
who's listening to this thing to go and resign.
36:03
I did not say so. I don't want to be responsible
36:07
for let nobody come and say that Tavish must say we should
36:11
resign. I did not say so.
36:14
I did not say so no one resigned or if you must resign, go and
36:17
talk to my dad first. If you're a married woman, see
36:22
this one is no be feminism. Go and talk to you Auger.
36:24
Go and talk to your husband first before you submit
36:27
resignation because you know you're married now.
36:30
Whether you're a man, you're married now.
36:32
Your destinies are interwoven. Your wife is your ride or die.
36:36
She's your copilot. Go and talk to her so that we
36:38
plan this thing. Well, if you're a woman, you're
36:39
married now. This is your copilot.
36:43
Like you people are running this thing together.
36:44
Your destinies are joined, especially those of us who now
36:46
have two, 3, four children. Anyway, let me stop there.
36:52
Let me not go and say the one that I'm not supposed to say on
36:54
this podcast. Nothing to get cancelled anyway.
36:58
So that's it. Applying these principles can be
37:00
tricky. If you want me to look at your
37:01
own particular circumstances, call me.
37:03
Send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140.
37:10
If you've gotten value from today's episode and you just
37:13
want to connect, then that's the number 08064662140.
37:19
You want to join my WhatsApp channel because you're too shy,
37:21
You don't want to talk? Now that's not a problem.
37:23
Send me a text message and I will hook you up.
37:26
So thank you very much for your time and attention.
37:30
And yeah, let me just leave it like that.
37:32
I'll catch you guys in the next episode.