Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / The Profit Formula: Technical Skill + Sales Savvy

Transcript

The Profit Formula: Technical Skill + Sales Savvy · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

0:01
Hello and welcome to the podcast.
0:04
Today we don't have one topic in particular.
0:08
Rather, I'm just coming here to keep you guys up to date because
0:13
yesterday was a Tuesday. And for those of you who are
0:15
regular listeners, you know that on Tuesday I have my radio show
0:19
on Radio Maria. And, and yesterday was quite an
0:22
interesting session because I came there initially wanting to
0:26
talk about why New Year's resolution fail.
0:31
And I was going to talk about that because I think that was
0:35
what it was as of yesterday was what date?
0:39
So one moment. OK, so yesterday was the 10th,
0:42
the 10th of February, 2nd week in February.
0:44
Now, 80% of New Year's resolutions fail in the second
0:50
week in February. You know, it's something that
0:52
has been documented, something that has been documented, well,
0:57
at least in the West. I don't know if the figures are
0:59
the same in Nigeria, but I would hazard a guess and say it's the
1:02
same. So since in the second week of
1:04
February, that is when 80% of New Year's resolutions fail, I
1:08
figured I'll come on the radio show and then talk about reasons
1:11
why New Year's resolutions fail and the reason why that is
1:16
important for business people. It's because obviously we always
1:22
start off the year with, you know, that theme that Ginger,
1:25
you know, New Year, new me greatest this, you know,
1:29
efficiency, you know, got losses, increased profits, blah,
1:32
blah, blah. You know, we always come with
1:33
our own Ginger, our own drive. So I just wanted to let the
1:39
listeners on the radio show know that look is normal. 80% of
1:42
people crash in the second week in February.
1:44
But then there's another statistic that says 8 to 9% of
1:49
people succeed by the end of the year.
1:51
So I just want to let people know that, you know what, the
1:54
masses may crash, but that doesn't mean we can't persevere
1:57
and hang on to the end. So the fact that you have failed
2:00
in your New Year's resolution or the business goal that you set
2:04
out for the, how do I put it, you've kind of abandoned the
2:09
goal that you set out for the year.
2:11
I just wanted to let the listeners on the radio show know
2:13
that, you know, it's not necessarily a tragedy.
2:16
So that was my intention. Let me come and let me let
2:19
people know that, hey, if you've lost track of your New Year's
2:24
resolution, your big goal, you know, your B hag, as they say,
2:27
the big hairy audacious goals. If you lost out of your New
2:30
Year's resolution, your B hag, your this or this, your dad,
2:33
your dad, I just wanted to say, chill.
2:35
It's just normal. Now, let's diagnose.
2:37
Let's figure out what went wrong and then let's see how we can
2:41
get back on track. But that was just my intent by
2:46
the time I go on the radio show now as I just switch things up a
2:49
little bit because usually I talk for 30 minutes and then I
2:51
let people call in for the remaining 30 minutes without.
2:55
We now just write out the show like that.
2:57
That's how I do one hour. But me and the producer have
2:59
been talking and we said let's just open the phone for the full
3:03
one hour. Let's see.
3:04
Let's see what will happen. Oh boy, I got some phone calls.
3:09
I didn't get to settle in at all.
3:11
So this just now I'm giving about New Year's resolution.
3:14
Don't be discouraged is how we get back on track.
3:16
Forget I didn't say she she at all because first of what
3:21
happened was this guy called in Samuel from live camp in Abuja.
3:29
Then what else? So basically the first question
3:33
that this guy asked myself, to be honest, I do.
3:36
I need to understand because, you know, we have a live radio
3:41
show now. You know, anybody can call at
3:44
any time, and you don't know which kind of person it is.
3:47
And then sometimes, you know, there's language barrier or
3:49
sometimes accents, you know, small, small things like that.
3:53
So and there's someone called and I thought he was talking
3:56
about how much profit radio station makes because I thought
3:59
he wanted to get into the radio station business.
4:04
So I told him, OK, I think I understand you but this is what
4:06
I'm gonna do. I answer this question as I
4:09
understand it. I'll answer it another way as I
4:12
think it's a possibility. Then if what I'm saying no make
4:16
sense as anything, no blend like I missed you totally like I was
4:19
off point. I didn't understand your
4:21
question. Then just call back.
4:22
Let's have another chat. So someone says OK.
4:25
Then he got off the phone so other people can call.
4:27
So I started tackling his question.
4:31
Sam was question. And by the way, it's a question
4:34
that I don't receive anymore, But in the early days of the
4:36
podcast, I used to receive it. People will be saying, oh boy,
4:40
what's up? I understand business, which
4:42
business is profitable. I used to get that question a
4:44
lot, but I'm glad I don't receive it anymore.
4:48
So excuse me, the answer I gave Mr. Sam is the same answer that
4:53
I've always given people who ask me that question.
4:55
Like I said, I'm glad I don't get it anymore.
4:58
So I see. Tell them and look, any business
5:01
can be a profitable business. Any any business can be
5:05
profitable. It's just that for a business to
5:07
be profitable, you will get 2 elements.
5:10
You go get 2 key elements. And guess what?
5:14
The elements have nothing to do with the business opportunity,
5:17
rather they have everything to do with you.
5:20
Let me repeat, you're sitting down in your house, you're
5:22
chilling in your office, you're driving in your car.
5:25
You're thinking which business is a profitable business?
5:27
I'll start in this Niger in 2026.
5:29
Should I start a radio station? Should I open refinery?
5:32
Should I be selling bread? Should I enter carpentry
5:36
business? Should I be selling solar
5:37
panels? Any business is profitable.
5:41
We just need 2 main criteria and the two things have nothing to
5:44
do with the business opportunity but every single thing to do
5:47
with you. So that's why I said on the
5:51
airwaves and I told Sam, I say anybody where they listen like,
5:55
you know, like you're an Assam situation, what you need #1 is
6:01
you need technical expertise or else the business is not going
6:06
to work. It can't happen.
6:09
You can't enter the solar, solar business, solar panels, inverter
6:15
systems, batteries, that kind of thing.
6:17
And you know nothing about solar.
6:19
You would crash that business because you don't know nothing
6:22
about the technical. The same thing with fish.
6:25
If you don't know which you know, if you don't know which
6:29
one is catfish, which one is mackerel, which one is tilapia,
6:32
which one you don't know those differences, you will crash that
6:34
business no matter how profitable.
6:38
And so since I thought he was talking about radio stations
6:41
being profitable, that's why I told Sam that a radio station
6:44
can be profitable. But if you know nothing about
6:47
radio, you will crash this business, you will fail.
6:53
So that's the first element. Now, the first one be that
6:56
technical expertise. Now the next one you need is
6:58
sales expertise. Now when you marry those two
7:00
together, we can now see a way forward that we can make some
7:05
progress. I repeat, technical expertise
7:08
plus sales expertise. If you don't believe me, it's
7:12
something that Brian Tracy used to say in his old material he
7:14
used to say what how do you put it uses it has subject matter
7:19
expertise uses a subject matter expertise is the foundation of a
7:23
good salesperson. It just means this thing that
7:26
we're trying to push into the market.
7:28
Am I an expert now you don't have to be a 100% expert but you
7:32
guess on basic things where you supposed to know before you
7:35
launch into the field. So for like me now, if I try to
7:39
run the radio station and we crash that thing into the ground
7:43
because being on the Mike, no problem, I know that one.
7:47
But what do I know about equipments?
7:49
What do I know about formats? What do I know about
7:52
regulations? What do I know about equipment
7:58
maintenance? What do I know about personnel
8:00
management? What do I know about cash flow
8:02
analysis for a reduced like the things that draws plenty, the
8:05
things that I need to know, I know nothing.
8:08
So if I say, let me carry this on my head, the thing we crash,
8:14
except if I want to bring in boys and girls who have the
8:19
technical knowledge, then I can now take my sales expertise,
8:24
just blend everything together and then we'll see as we go
8:26
wrong. So that's why I told him, if
8:30
what you're asking is how profitable is Radio Maria and
8:32
all that? I told him, now look, radio
8:34
station can be profitable so long as you have technical
8:36
expertise and you have sales expertise.
8:40
So yeah, radio can be profitable, refinery can be
8:43
profitable, solar business can be profitable, Catfish can be
8:47
possible and profitable. Soya business can be profitable.
8:51
Fashion business can be profitable.
8:54
Music director can be positive profitable.
8:57
Selling fan can be profitable. Being real estate developer can
9:00
be profitable. If I don't even pose my point,
9:03
if I say I want to become real estate developer and I raise
9:07
financial investors, everything crash, crash one time because
9:12
what do I know about the real estate market?
9:16
All my investors are just take their money and run everything
9:18
into the ground. Nobody say I'm a bad guy.
9:21
It's just that sales expertise is there, but technical
9:24
expertise 0. If I now don't come with backing
9:28
somebody who has the real estate expertise you think will crash.
9:33
So for those of you who are listening, you've been thinking
9:35
of reaching out to me to give me a call to ask me which one is a
9:38
profitable business. You have your answer.
9:41
It can't be profitable as long as you have the technical
9:44
knowledge and then you have the sales expertise.
9:46
That's the reason why Elon Musk as reason why the guy, they make
9:49
money from space shuttle because technical expertise is there.
9:53
He had boys then sales expertise, you know, Elon Musk
9:56
now the guy in a showman. So anyhow, anyhow, so long as
10:00
the boys really get talent on the team, the boys and the
10:03
girls, you'll make it happen. So it's like that in the
10:06
beginning, Sir. This won't work.
10:07
This won't work. Of course you won't work if it's
10:09
left to him alone. No, because he has his own area
10:12
of specialty. But then build a superb team,
10:15
the boys and the girls who understand what's up.
10:18
You make the shuttle take off our land, you fix all the
10:21
technical whatever and there is no B sales and that's it.
10:25
The guy is essentially running a taxi service from here to space.
10:31
You need to put something up in space.
10:33
You call her alone, you say hello Baba Alfano.
10:37
I bet again one shot to wait every I want Sam satellite and
10:40
the guy will hook you up. So before people used to say
10:44
space no profitable business and almost can make you happen.
10:48
Why technical expertise. He doesn't have it.
10:52
He went to hire boys and girls and then selling expertise.
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Oh by the way, I'm making today's recording at home.
10:58
So all that noise in the background.
10:59
I beg no Vex because wife he's watching Wheel of Fortune and my
11:04
wife loves game shows. So when these things go on, she
11:06
loses her mind. You hear her laughing, clapping,
11:09
shouting sometimes, you know, in anger, abusing people like how
11:13
can't you know that question blah blah blah blah blah blah
11:16
blah. Anyway, she loves her TV shows.
11:19
So that was the answer to the first question.
11:24
The second way. Now OK, let me skip the second
11:27
way. I understood the question
11:28
because I want to get any direct business benefit.
11:32
So let me not answer the the second way that I answered the
11:35
question then Oh, sorry, I haven't even introduced myself.
11:39
If this is your first time listening to the show and you're
11:41
feeling the vibe you like it. My name is Tavishima IED.
11:45
If you want to connect with me, you can call me send me a text
11:47
message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140.
11:53
Even if you just want to hear me say keep it up, good job, no
11:56
Allah, I'd like to hear from you, so just reach out.
11:59
So where was I now? So someone called back and
12:04
someone said, oh boy. I say yes Mr. Sam, what
12:06
happened? He said he said you
12:08
misunderstand me. I said that's OK, level will be.
12:11
Now what was the question? So Mr. Sam now gave the
12:14
backdrop. Now the guy talks before in the
12:17
sell ginger and corn and things like that.
12:20
Now what he used to do is he will buy it in a season, then he
12:24
will now store it. He said it was in the storage
12:26
business. See, that's the reason why those
12:28
of you in sales, that's the reason why I say we should ask
12:30
questions because when at first he said storage me, the storage
12:33
business that I know like in America is when you have
12:37
containers or buildings and essentially just storage space
12:40
and people get to rent it out so that they can keep their things
12:43
there. And then I found out from
12:45
someone like 2 months ago, the guy who, the listener of the
12:48
podcast who trashed me in chess. But then now you know, I don't
12:52
dominate the guy. So you know, he's my, he's my
12:55
fish now. So he too is also in the storage
12:58
business. So because of that, I now know
13:00
that Nigerians are also doing that, doing that kind of
13:04
business, storage. So when Mr. Sam said storage,
13:07
that's the first thing that entered my mind.
13:09
But he started talking and now realized that what he's doing is
13:11
this thing that we do in agricultural communities, you
13:15
know, Benway State, NASAR State, Taraba node Plateau, all those
13:20
areas. You buy in season, you store the
13:23
thing. Then when The thing is in low
13:26
supply but in high demand and the price goes up, you will now
13:32
sell your own into the market. In other words, you try and buy
13:36
ginger. Maybe, I don't know how they
13:38
sell it, but you try and buy ginger, maybe like 25 KG sack,
13:43
maybe you buy one bag, maybe like 10K.
13:46
You now go and store it. You will sell it.
13:48
Now you wait, when the price of ginger rises to maybe like 50K a
13:53
sack, you will now sell your own.
13:55
Since you bought a 10K per sack, you sell at 40K per sack.
13:59
That means your gain now is 3030 K or drop each sack.
14:03
And these are some kind of businesses that Nigerians do.
14:06
It's something my brother and I tried to do anyway.
14:08
We didn't make a killing like we thought.
14:10
We thought we were going to make life changing money but we need
14:13
to time the market well and then.
14:14
Plus, we are newbies and the business I wanted to do was soya
14:20
beans, soy. One of the things I messed us up
14:23
was during that time, it was cheaper for people to buy soy
14:26
from America than to buy from Nigeria.
14:28
Yes, you heard me correctly. There was a time when it was
14:31
cheaper for Nigerian business people who make soy milk, who
14:35
make soy oil and things like that.
14:36
It was cheaper to import from America than to buy local in
14:40
Nigeria. The only problem was just that
14:42
if you want your thing quick, quick, quick, you buy local.
14:45
That's if you need it like next tomorrow, next week, you buy
14:49
local. But if you could wait for
14:51
shipping time and everything was cheaper to buy from America.
14:54
So the price is not to rise like we anticipated.
14:57
So that's the business that Sam is in, the girl buy ginger, the
15:01
girl buy corn. Then you know, the business was
15:05
doing well for some years. Then one week, one year, now the
15:09
business moved against him, which was last year.
15:11
And then he lost millions of naira and then he was
15:13
frustrated. So him calling in basically was
15:17
just to find out that which kind of businesses are profitable
15:22
that he can go into that. That was the background.
15:25
So I said, oh, Sam, OK, I understand you now, understand
15:28
you, I understand you. OK, no problem.
15:29
So just got the call, let other people call in, then let's
15:32
continue this conversation. So I now told Sam that, OK, the
15:35
first half of what I said applies that any business that
15:37
he wants to do, you know, any business is profitable.
15:40
He just needs to go and learn work so he will know what's up.
15:43
And then I know how to clarify something concerning business
15:45
models and that is the reason why I'm making today's podcast
15:49
episode. The main reason because there's
15:51
some of you that will true can in this kind of business and you
15:54
don't know something about the business model.
15:56
And that's where some of you feel.
15:59
And that's where like me and my brother, we got tripped up.
16:01
Funny thing is somebody warned us before we began when they let
16:05
me continue. So all these people that tried
16:07
to buy low in season, then when The thing is scarce, they will
16:11
now sell high. The dynamic behind it is called
16:15
arbitrage. Arbitrage just means you buy
16:17
low, you sell high, collect something at 1 naira, and
16:21
hopefully the price of the thing will rise to maybe like 25
16:24
naira, then you now sell, then your profit is now 24 naira per
16:28
one item. So that's arbitrage.
16:35
Arbitrage is essentially speculation.
16:38
Now speculation is a big word, but I explained it for people on
16:41
the radio and the way I explained it is where I'm going
16:43
to explain it right here. Speculation just means guesswork
16:47
right now, those of you who are involved in trading, you know,
16:52
trading gold, trading stocks, you will begin to shout like,
16:54
no, you're not correct. You're not correct.
16:56
I understand I'm not correct in the technical sense, but I'm
16:59
trying to explain this thing in a very simple way for our
17:01
brothers and sisters who are not well versed in these things.
17:04
I just want to explain in a way that they will understand so we
17:08
can start making progress on this thing here now.
17:11
So when I explain it on the radio was to say that all this
17:15
kind of arbitrage by low sell high is speculating, and
17:19
speculating just means guesswork.
17:22
However, when people are doing guesswork in these environments,
17:26
they're not just pulling figures out of there, if you understand
17:29
what I'm saying. There's a certain art that comes
17:33
with a certain art and a certain science that comes with the
17:38
speculative sciences. So whether people are trading
17:40
forex, whether people are trading gold, whether people are
17:43
buying corn and ginger or soya beans because want to buy low
17:48
and sell high is essentially speculating.
17:51
They're trying to do some educated guesswork.
17:53
Now the part of that educated guesswork is called technical
17:56
analysis. So in this case, now for Mr.
18:00
Sam, not just Mr. Sam, but for me and my brother, what we
18:03
needed to do was ever gain the knowledge or align ourselves
18:07
with people who had the knowledge of what is the current
18:09
price of grain ginger? What is the current price of
18:12
corn? What is the current price of
18:14
gold? What is the current price of
18:16
crypto? What is the current price of
18:17
dollar? What was the price last week,
18:20
last month, last year, last 2-3 years?
18:23
What has the trend been historically going up, going
18:26
down? Is it is it was it is it was the
18:30
word. I can't remember when.
18:32
It's just, you know, bouncing up and down, but it's not showing
18:35
any clear sign. Trending is dangerous.
18:38
Trending. It's a technical thing.
18:42
You need to be able to know your graphs and your charts.
18:44
Then there's a fundamental, fundamental analysis that goes
18:47
with it. You need to understand, you
18:49
know, what's the nature of gold? What is it that causes gold to
18:52
rise in price or to fall? What is the nature of ginger?
18:55
What is it that causes ginger prices to rise and fall?
18:57
How do weather patterns affect ginger?
18:59
How do weather patterns affect corn?
19:01
How does global demand affect the price of soya beans?
19:07
So you can see that it's not that simple.
19:10
There are lots of you that we hear, you know your uncle will
19:13
buy ginger and maybe you know it's his time.
19:17
So the thing will click. You hear the uncle drop
19:19
1,000,000 and then you know by the end of the year you know he
19:23
made 38. Then you self you now start
19:25
raising your own coins like uncle put 1,000,000 and he got
19:28
38 million. You now start raising your coins
19:30
so that you enter. Meanwhile, remember anything
19:35
that has to do with arbitrage, Buy low, sell high, essentially
19:38
speculation. Speculation just means
19:40
guesswork. That's all guesswork and the
19:46
guesswork that is involved. This fundamental analysis, the
19:49
technical analysis, fundamental analysis, do you know what it is
19:52
that you're playing with? And you know what determines how
19:56
the prices move up and down? Then the technical analysis.
20:01
Can you look at the numbers and be able to come up with an
20:03
educated guess whether the price will rise or fall?
20:07
This is the thing that kills us. This is not nearly killed me and
20:10
my brother. No, nothing will kill us in
20:13
Jesus name. But you understand what I'm
20:14
saying. So my advice for Mr. Sam and any
20:19
other person who was listening was if you know, you hear that
20:24
your uncle put 1,000,000 in this thing and then by the end of the
20:28
year he got 38 M, it doesn't mean you're rushing.
20:34
It's possible that uncle knows what's up because uncle knows
20:36
the fundamental analysis, Uncle knows the technical analysis.
20:39
OK, if it's like that, maybe you can like uncle, I have some
20:43
small things, I have 500K, can I drop the 500K at the end of the
20:46
year? How much am I collecting?
20:47
You know, maybe we'll be that kind of arrangement, but it
20:49
doesn't mean that you will now go out jumping with your two
20:51
left legs. What do you know?
20:54
This is how people get burned in this sort of thing.
20:57
Now, funny enough, somebody had told me and my brother at the
20:59
beginning, the person said, look, you 2 guys, people are
21:02
young, sharp, bright young men. So this is what I'll advise you.
21:06
He This is why I advise you. He said this thing speculating,
21:09
very good, very profitable. The money that you can make life
21:12
change, but the money that you can lose is also life change, if
21:17
you understand what I mean. You gonna raise your last, go by
21:21
and put it there and all of a sudden everything disappears.
21:24
Not only does everything disappear, you're not owing
21:26
people money because the market even deep below what it is that
21:29
you owed. I mean think about it now let's
21:32
say this example that I gave where I say one sack of ginger
21:36
maybe is 25K. No, what did I say?
21:41
So I was just making stuff up. What is me just guessing anyway?
21:44
So don't take me too seriously. Well, let's say 1 bag of ginger
21:47
now is 12525 KG bag, let's say it's 10K and then you're
21:53
thinking of making a killing. And so because of that, you
21:55
raised like 800 K to go and drop them.
21:58
And then you're watching the price.
22:00
Maybe unfortunately that year, the prices are just thinking is
22:02
going low, low, low, low, low, low.
22:06
Meanwhile, you bought a 10,000 per bag.
22:09
If it gets to the, to the point where is now, the cost in the
22:13
market is now 5000 per bag. And it's now time to, to, to get
22:17
out of the market. You know that you've lost money,
22:19
you've lost serious money because all you drop was 10/10 K
22:22
per bag. The price has now fallen to
22:24
five, 5K per bag. And then you release it into the
22:27
market. Who's eating that loss?
22:28
Is it not you? You're not eating the loss.
22:32
So arbitrage opportunities, any kind of speculation, Forex,
22:38
gold, crypto, corn, silver, copper, you name it.
22:49
Guan Network, fundamental analysis and technical analysis.
22:55
So the guy who advised me, her brother, what the guy said was,
22:57
you know, your boy should do go and trade first.
23:01
Now this is the difference between trading and speculation.
23:03
Trading is when you know, you buy something quick, quick buy
23:08
for one year, maybe sell it for one year. 50 cobot.
23:10
Your, your profit is 50 naira. I say 50 naira 50 cobot and then
23:15
you make up your whatever in volume.
23:16
So that's what happens. You go into a store, you buy
23:19
bread that is trading. You bought the bread for 2000
23:23
naira. The person who sold you the
23:25
bread bought you from the Baker at 1007 and then he sold it to
23:30
you in the store at 2000. His own gain is not 300 naira,
23:35
that's trading. So what?
23:37
The guy said Uncle Sam. I've spoken about him before
23:41
Uncle Sam or said anyway. Although if you see the spelling
23:44
of the name it is also in Koe KHOE.
23:47
And for years I've been calling the guy Uncle Sam, Osan and Koe
23:51
until I met my father-in-law because my wife is Isha.
23:54
And then my father said no, this is not aside in Koi.
23:56
I said what is it? He says aside when I say Sir, it
24:00
is KHOE. He said yes, it is.
24:02
Now Koe is when? So I don't call Uncle Sam.
24:05
I said Uncle Sam, now my father-in-law say your name is
24:08
Ossinewen. Uncle Sam laughed.
24:09
He said yes, you've been pronounced it wrong all along.
24:12
I said, you know, that's the beautiful thing about Nigerian,
24:18
Nigerian surnames all, I mean all, all kinds in this country
24:23
we have different kinds of names.
24:24
So Uncle Sam, he told me and my brother, now what we should be
24:29
doing actually is trading. You go and trade and learn
24:31
first. So is this soil beans?
24:33
Is this sesame? No problem.
24:34
Buy the sesame, buy the soil and then start trading.
24:38
Shelter market women sell here, sell here.
24:40
By the time you trade for a couple of years, you will get a
24:43
sense of the market. You will understand who the
24:45
major players are. You understand what kind of
24:48
effects things you know. Is it weather?
24:49
Is it global supply? Is it global warming?
24:52
Is it this? Is it that?
24:53
Is it government subsidy? Is it taxation?
24:55
What is it that makes the prices of these things move and fall up
24:58
and down? You'll establish, you know, some
25:01
partnerships with other stakeholders.
25:04
You know you will learn the market after you trade and you
25:06
understand what is going on. Then you now start speculating
25:11
because you're no longer a jam bite.
25:12
You now know a few things. So that was my advice to Mr.
25:17
Samuel. And as you can see, the live on
25:20
the air, this was an explosive session.
25:24
I came there to talk about why New Year's resolution fail.
25:29
And then before I know it, we're talking about business models
25:33
and how to shine your eye before you enter into any, you know,
25:41
any kind of business situation. I see.
25:44
So that was a pretty much. Then some other people called
25:48
in, another guy called in Jeffrey.
25:50
So Jeffrey from Wuse. Now Jeffrey said he has ambition
25:53
for business, but he lacks capital to start the business.
25:56
So OK, that one was not a call, was a text message.
25:58
So of course I told Mr. Jeffrey Dokey, I think I understand.
26:01
Let me begin the answer. But if what I'm saying doesn't
26:03
make sense, you know, send a follow up message so I can
26:07
redress, I can take shape. So I started by telling him,
26:14
Jeffrey, while I tell any other person who asked me that, look,
26:18
now most people think that lack of capital is what's holding
26:20
their business back, but actually it's not.
26:22
What is actually holding your business back is actually lack
26:25
of sales. There are some people who will
26:27
be held back by lack of capital because the nature of their
26:30
business is capital intensive. Now, the example that I gave is
26:33
oil exploration because, you know, my first degree was in
26:36
law. Oh yes, I'm a former lawyer
26:38
turned business consultant. So my first degree is in law and
26:42
my master's degree is in oil and gas law.
26:44
So if you want to enter that business, you know, no be my my
26:48
is not beans because first of all, you need to buy oil mining
26:54
license or oil prospecting licenses, all the different
26:56
licenses. And they don't sell that thing
26:58
in hundreds of thousands. They sell those things in
27:03
hundreds of millions. And usually we're talking
27:06
dollars, not naira. So and you know is, is, is big,
27:10
big boys and big girls serious capital that you need that you
27:14
have to mobilize before you enter into that kind of thing
27:17
because the license alone you already pay millions of dollars,
27:21
not stock of equipment, the things that you will build.
27:26
So if somebody wants to enter into that kind of space, oil and
27:30
gas, mining or maybe dredging or whatever, and they say they no
27:34
get capital. And I want to understand, we now
27:37
start talking about how to raise the capital.
27:40
So is it investors? Is it equity financing?
27:43
What forms of traditional financing are available?
27:46
You know, would they bounce around options?
27:48
But for anybody else, SME, small and medium scale, there's no
27:52
money that's holding you back. There's a lack of is a lack of
27:55
sales skills. Now in sales, there's something
27:58
we talk about called the MVP. That's the minimum viable
28:01
product. The minimum viable product means
28:03
the smallest version of your product or service that people
28:07
can see, they can relate with, they can touch it, they can
28:10
reject it, they can like it, they can pay for it.
28:14
So whenever you have an MPMVP, if you start with that, you can
28:18
usually start small, small, small.
28:20
So I gave Sir Jeffrey the testimony of people who have
28:23
called in. In 2025 on the radio show, there
28:26
was this guy, what's his name, Fulu.
28:30
Fulu and his wife planting ships startup capital less than 20 K.
28:34
Their staff overhead is about 1,000,000 a month.
28:37
And at the time he called me to give his testimony, he has not
28:40
missed salary of his rent blah blah blah, blah blah and he's
28:46
doing well. When you hear what I said, the
28:49
money that they have to shove out to run the business is over
28:51
1,000,000 per month is just planting chips.
28:55
So that means that the business is doing.
28:56
That means the business is doing worst case scenario is doing one
29:00
point something for them to still be there because who's
29:03
going to be running business at break even who?
29:07
That was one example. They started with 20K.
29:10
Then there was cheating Ma who called in and for her it was
29:13
Tiger knot. So cheating Ma was a Tiger knot
29:18
I had. So startup capital for her was 7
29:19
K. Now the time that Cheating Ma
29:21
called, she had done for the whole year.
29:23
I know it's not big, but The thing is you have to celebrate
29:25
people's progress. Somebody that started with seven
29:27
K startup capital, then at the end of the year she did over
29:31
1,000,000 in revenue. That's on the Tiger Knot.
29:34
It's not bad, but of course Cheetah also has one or two
29:37
other things which they do. So when you add everything, the
29:41
year was not bad. But on that Tiger Knot alone,
29:43
she just wanted to call and give that testimony that it doesn't
29:46
have to be big, big, big. That is what minimum viable cap,
29:49
minimum viable product MVP means.
29:52
So you want to be a big player in Tiger nut juice production?
29:57
No problem. You don't have money for
29:59
factory? No problem right now.
30:01
Then go to the market and buy some Tiger nut, you know,
30:04
squeeze one or two bottles and then go and sell those bottles
30:07
in the office as MVP. That's how you start.
30:09
That's how we do it in sales. We don't have the big, big, big
30:12
thing yet. OK, cool.
30:14
What is the scrappy smallest version that we can start now to
30:16
get this thing going eventually, whether I get sales or raise
30:21
money, you know, because the sales were optimistic.
30:23
We don't know the future of what Shah mostly.
30:26
Let's see how you can start it. Let's just put one leg in front
30:29
of the other. More they go.
30:29
Let's just let's just move in. Let's be moving.
30:33
You know, every man for himself got for us all.
30:35
You know, that kind of attitude. So MVP, that's how we should be
30:42
keeping our eyes. Then he now sent a Ford Ford.
30:47
He sent another message into the studio saying that what he wants
30:50
to do is provision shop and he has 100K now before I could
30:53
continue before right premium somebody else called and it was
30:57
not so from Cuba. So one also said now is sorry,
31:02
not also Malik Malik from Cuba because of name Malik.
31:06
I was thinking the guy will be Muslim, but actually the guy is
31:08
a Christian. That's I think you know, you
31:12
shouldn't be jumping to conclusions too much too much
31:15
anyway. So Malik called now and Malik
31:17
say, Bruce, before you answer on to put my own voice.
31:20
I say no problem Now. That's why the show is here.
31:22
Add your voice, my *** I didn't say my *** on the air because
31:25
you know, it's radio Maria is a Catholic station.
31:28
If I say my *** who those Acme do say, Oh boy, we can't have
31:32
you on the on the airwaves talking like this.
31:35
But then when I'm on the radio, I'm very professional.
31:37
If you hear me on the radio, you bow very, very professional.
31:41
So I'm not this casual on the podcast as I am on the radio.
31:47
So what was I? So Malik say he wants to add
31:50
something. He wants to prove a point.
31:52
I said cool, go on, let's say what you have to say.
31:55
He said that was a lady in their church who fell on very hard
31:58
times. So the church just gathered
32:01
together. They say let him raise her.
32:04
So they say was her idea. The lady said she looked around
32:06
in the estate and she noticed that anybody who wants to buy
32:12
tomato pepper, you know, that kind of thing, they actually
32:14
have to leave the estate and drive to the main market.
32:16
So I was thinking no, that at least it is a place where people
32:18
can buy tomato pepper on your, you know, small, small things
32:21
like that, you'll be good. So what the reason?
32:24
I was 50K last year. She's doing 500 I think monthly
32:35
on that 500K. Remember what they gave her
32:40
first was 50 because she started with onions and tomatoes and
32:44
pepper. The thing was now making sense.
32:46
She said she should add POS. So it is together now, the
32:51
onions, tomatoes, pepper plus POS.
32:54
She's now doing 500 a month. So the testimony that she gave
32:59
in in the church was that she said that now the quality of
33:02
soup that she's cooking for her and her children, that she can't
33:05
believe it. She says she can't believe it.
33:10
That's been the biggest changing for her.
33:12
That's one that's giving her joy.
33:13
And when she cooks soup for her children, rich, rich soup.
33:18
But you can see that what he did what she or what the church did
33:21
what they gave her 50 then tomato onions plus POS now doing
33:29
500. As the guy was talking, I said,
33:32
OK, no one that POS people are just popping up anyhow.
33:35
I didn't know that profit the you know like that.
33:38
So let's see what else Anyway, how do we venture that oneself?
33:49
OK, now Malik calling and giving that advice was also because for
33:53
Mr. Jeffrey, I think later on he sent a message that he sent an
34:02
additional message that 100K is just for provisions, but he
34:05
doesn't even know what it is that he needs to stalk.
34:08
And that's how Malik came into the picture.
34:10
So I was now telling Jeffrey that, you know, you know, it's
34:15
normal, you don't know what to stock.
34:17
So all you do is you go and hook up with somebody who has done
34:19
that trade before or else. Because remember what I said,
34:22
technical knowledge plus sales skills.
34:25
If you want to open the retail shop, but you don't know what
34:27
kind of commodities to buy and what ratio, how much bread and
34:30
Indonesia should you buy? How much toothpaste and milk
34:33
should you buy? You know, these are practical
34:35
concerns. It's called inventory
34:36
management. For people who run stores, it's
34:39
called inventory management. If you want to use the idea and
34:42
be doing inventory management and you only have 100K, you put
34:45
yourself in trouble. So you actually have to go and
34:48
learn inventory management from somewhere, from someone.
34:50
And which is why this thing that you go people do actually is
34:53
brilliant. This whole apprentices
34:55
apprenticeship system, actually it's very brilliant.
34:58
It's brilliant when you go and you too late, you go and
35:01
apprentice, you stay under someone for quite a bit and then
35:07
you know, after a while they do freedom for you and stuff like
35:09
that. Because remember, technical
35:11
skills and then plus selling skills, sales skills, it
35:16
increases the chances that the people who are launching out,
35:19
assuming you find a good auger, assuming, oh, God willing, we'll
35:23
all find good augers. So we're now launching into the
35:27
market. You're now starting off with
35:29
technical knowledge. And then you, you also have the
35:32
sales skill on, you know, on top, you help move the business
35:35
forward. So Malik and then another
35:37
caller, Nonso from Kubwa. Kubwa is also a, a city in
35:41
Abuja. I'll be a part of Abuja.
35:45
We're just giving ideas about how you can do research because
35:47
what I was telling Jeffrey was go online work study under
35:50
somebody. Malik was saying look around,
35:52
see what is lacking in the estate and also called and said,
35:56
oh, by the way, this whole thing of look around and see what is
35:58
lacking in your estate. For those of you who've been
36:01
listening for a while and remember the older business
36:03
ideas or we're talking about how to select the right business
36:05
idea, you can see how opportunities in the environment
36:09
can give you clear signs. Problem that people are facing.
36:12
What do they have too much of? What?
36:14
What don't they have enough of? These are signs you can get in
36:17
the environment about how to select the right business idea.
36:21
That's the reason why I've been telling you guys, those of you
36:23
who have 345 business ideas, you don't know which one to start.
36:26
That's the reason why I've been saying call me, send me a text
36:29
message, send me a WhatsApp message. 08064662140 Let me help
36:35
you start your business in three easy steps.
36:37
We'll select the right idea, we'll validate it, make sure
36:40
that there's market demand, people are willing to pay at the
36:43
right price that will create a selling system.
36:45
That's the reason why I give my phone number at the beginning
36:48
and at the end of every single episode.
36:50
So what Noso's advice from Cuba was now was that before the guy
36:55
just carries his 100K to go and, you know, buy what he doesn't
36:58
know. He should look around at how I
37:04
call it now. Look around in the estate now
37:06
when you see these people that have petty kiosks looking at
37:11
them. You have a sense of what it.
37:12
Is that moves in some neighborhoods if you check.
37:16
And see that is you know all. Of them have plenty piota then
37:18
OK, I guess plenty piota is what moves in this estate.
37:21
If you look and see that they have this quantity of bread, but
37:25
they have plenty quantity of soft drinks.
37:27
OK, I guess soft drinks is what moves in that neighborhood.
37:30
You'll be able to plan accordingly.
37:32
So these are just some some of the ideas.
37:36
The fact is one of the reasons why I tell people to feel free.
37:38
I call in on the radio show because most Nigerians actually
37:41
are very supportive if they hear.
37:44
That you're in a rough spot. You know, anybody who has one or
37:48
two ideas will reach out. Somebody who has experience to
37:50
reach out also is a good idea. Why we should find communities
37:54
and talk about our business problems because there are
37:57
people who are willing to help, you know, to give advice doesn't
38:01
wait to community and start asking people for money.
38:02
That's one that people don't like.
38:05
You don't like when you go and start begging.
38:06
So don't beg. Just go there and say I beg.
38:08
I have a problem. How do you guys sort this thing
38:11
out? So I think.
38:13
That was from Mr. Jeffrey then also Weird Games and Samuel then
38:18
OK, another person called David. David has been in tailoring
38:22
business. OK, that was a message he sent
38:24
in. David has been in the tailoring
38:26
business for seven years. He has a shop but now he wants
38:29
to go into ready to Wear and that whole OK, then he wanted
38:33
financial contribution so I had to tell him and it's been a
38:37
while since. Somebody called to.
38:39
Send message for financial contribution.
38:40
I had to tell him that look, I'm not in the business of doing
38:44
financial contributions and neither is the radio station.
38:47
So I promised him that next week I'll come up and give an names
38:51
of differentialities that help out in in this space.
38:55
But after time now look, the business is already going, you
38:57
know, in seven years, remember MVP, all he has to do is
39:00
bootstrap, raise some money and then make 2 two or three
39:04
customer attire. Just put on the mannequin.
39:06
That's it. You sell those 3.
39:11
Maybe the profit margin is enough so that next time you
39:13
make 5, maybe the profit. Margin is enough on the. 5:00 So
39:17
that next time you make 12, but then that's how you start.
39:20
And then one day, you know, you have a boutique, but small,
39:22
small, small. You don't have to wait until you
39:25
can raise the money for your boutique line now.
39:29
But anyway, like I said, that yesterday's radio session man
39:33
was fire. Call after call after call.
39:36
And yeah, that was a good show. I think that's the most, that's
39:39
the busiest I've been on radio since I started the radio show
39:43
last year in January of 2025. And yeah, I'm looking forward to
39:48
more exciting times on airwaves in 2026 and and beyond.
39:55
It's fun. But now I understand why people
39:57
know get Lever business consultants.
40:00
I understand why, you know, they don't do this live thing because
40:04
you got to be prepared. You got to know your stuff.
40:06
And I trust that's the reason why you're listening to this
40:08
podcast because you can see that your boy Tavish, he knows his
40:12
stuff. So if you're discovering the
40:14
podcast for the first time, subscribe.
40:16
Don't just subscribe, share with other people, let them know
40:19
what's up. And if you want to connect with
40:21
me, you can call, send me a text message or WhatsApp message on
40:25
08064662140. If you're looking for free
40:31
advice, it's not a problem. I give free advice, send a
40:34
message, just put in the WhatsApp message that you're
40:36
looking for free advice. No problem.
40:38
You can ask me one question and answer.
40:41
But if you want to spend dedicated time with me.
40:47
Ask as many questions as you. Want.
40:49
OK, Not as many questions. You want to spend some time with
40:51
me? Let's have a one hour chat then.
40:53
Sure, no problem. If you raise 15K, no problem.
40:56
We can have that conversation, we'll make it happen.
40:59
But either way, whether you have bar or whether you're looking
41:01
for free advice, always make sure that anybody who comes
41:04
across my path, I want to make sure that there's nobody who
41:08
will say I met Tavishma Ayede, that I didn't get value.
41:11
Absolutely no person. Of course I'm not going to make
41:14
sure that money is a barrier. Just remember you reach out.
41:17
You want free advice? Just let me know.
41:18
I'm looking for free. Cool, Ask me one question, I'll
41:21
answer it. You want a bit more time?
41:24
Raise 15K and let's have an hour.
41:27
Let's have a chat and let's see how much value I can bring to
41:31
your situation. And let's see how many.
41:34
Hopefully, let's see how many business problems we can help
41:36
you solve. So that's it.
41:38
Thank you very much for listening.
41:40
Well, don't forget those of you who are wondering, I have 345
41:43
business ideas. I don't know which one to start.
41:45
Reach out to me. I've got a good package for you
41:47
guys. We'll select the right idea.
41:50
We'll validate the business idea.
41:51
We'll make sure that there's demand.
41:53
And then we'll also make sure that we create a selling system
41:56
so that people will buy today, they'll come back tomorrow and
41:58
next tomorrow they'll refer their friends, their family
42:01
members, and their associates. But whether you're calling for
42:04
any of these three options, free advice, or to chat with me for
42:09
an hour for 15K, or to start a business in three easy steps,
42:16
please know that there's work involved.
42:19
If you're not ready to work, don't call me.
42:22
If you think I have a magic formula that I'm going to tell
42:24
you and your problems will be solved, don't call me.
42:26
Don't text me. If you're ready to work and
42:29
you're not sure, reach out. Because the advice is the easy
42:33
part, the work is the hard part, and I don't want to waste my
42:37
time. If you're looking for magic
42:38
formulas, don't call me. If you're ready to work, yeah,
42:41
call me. Let's chat.
42:43
So that's it. I'll catch you guys some other
42:44
time.