When Should I Shut Down My Business?
Where is Multilinks? Where is ST. Soap? Where is Concord Group? Where is Okin Biscuit? Where is OLX? Studies show that 1 in every 12 businesses close down every year.
Between 2018 and 2022, 1.9 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have shut down in Nigeria. Over 1,400 South African businesses have been liquidated in 2022.
Aliko Dangote ventured into the Noodles industry; it did not succeed. He also attempted Banking (Liberty Merchant Bank), but it did not succeed.
No matter how perfect your business plan may be or how much money you have to invest in your business, there is only a 20 percent probability that your business will succeed.
Starting a business is hard. Struggling to keep the business is harder. Shutting down the business is the hardest, especially when you rely on your business income to provide for your family.
It hurts more if you are emotionally attached to your business. Nothing is as painful as going into huge debt to rescue a sick person who eventually dies.
There is no point in struggling to keep a business that will eventually fail. There is no pride in carrying the business card of a dead business around.
In business, losing some money is okay. Losing it all is foolishness. You have to know when you to accept fate and move on. In business, learn to give up sometimes. It is not a weakness; it is common sense.
Every business experience peaks and troughs. But when times are tough, how can you know whether you are going through one your business might be able to recover from or if it is the beginning of a permanent decline?
If you cannot get your business back on track in six to twelve months and debt is piling up, you have two options: sell your remaining assets or declare bankruptcy.
Shutting down a business may mean selling it off to a buyer or merging it with a profitable business. You can also decide to stop offering your services or halt production and distribution.
No matter how much you affirm “Nothing dies in my hands.” Prayers and positive affirmations alone do not make businesses succeed. Businesses fail for various reasons.
Sometimes, these reasons can be beyond your control. Other times, it may be your fault. Whichever way, if you can read the handwriting on the wall, it will save you from further heartbreak. The earlier, the better.
The decision as to what to do with your business when that happens should be made long before it happens. Your business plan must have a page for “Worst Case Scenario.”
Every business owner should have a comprehensive exit plan in place from the very early stages that include what happens if the business hits the wall and it becomes impossible to keep going.
The time to close down your business is ideally one year before you are forced to close down your business.
- When your cost exceeds revenue or cash flow is negative
Do you have sufficient cash in the bank to keep going and get through the infancy stage of your business? Without cash, time is not on your side. A lack of cash flow means that it may be the right time to quit.
When your cost is more than your revenue, this is not the time to take a loan or bring in an investor. Although it may temporarily solve the issue, it’s a mistake that can catalyze your chances of failure.
On no account should you borrow money to pay your employees’ salaries. Before you take a business loan, ensure that you will be able to repay it if your revenue takes longer than expected to rebound.
Using your money to repay a business loan that you can’t afford is not a healthy place to be. No! It puts you further in debt. Instead, you can cut costs or downsize.
In response to the economic downturn, 1,021 tech companies across the world laid off 154,186 employees in 2022, including over 1,000 employees in Africa.
If your business doesn’t have enough savings to survive for at least six months, there is fire on the mountain. If your business is spending its cash reserve much more than it is generating for an extended period, you will deplete your business’s financial resources.
An alternative is to define a financial threshold that you don’t want to cross. If your business reaches or nears that critical point, then you’ll know it’s time to close up shop.
Do businesses experience growth and loss at the same time? How long should my business continue if I find myself in this scenario? It is possible. You can be generating revenue, yet recording losses. Positive cash flow is NOT profit.
Facebook did not become profitable until after 5 years. Amazon for 9 years was not profitable. Amazon lost $1 trillion in the last 16 months. Uber is losing billions of dollars yearly. Kuda Microfinance Bank lost ₦6 billion in 2021 yet grew to over 2 million users within 3 years.
There’s a level in economics where you can continue to remain in business, despite losses. When you cross that threshold, you are advised to shut down or change your line of business. The moment your revenue is less than your variable cost, you quit.
If your total revenue is equal to your total cost (variable + fixed), you can remain in business.
Some businesses generate revenue from Day 1, while others spend more resources on Research & Development and may take a longer time to achieve product-market fit, break even and consequently become profitable. Always observe your financials to know when kasala don dey burst.
2. When it poses too much risk to your physical and mental health
Business owners are two times more likely to have suicidal thoughts and two times more likely to be hospitalized for psychiatric ailments. It takes physical and mental energy to run a business.
It takes a healthy person to build a healthy business. Doing business in Africa is so hard that you may die before your time if care is not taken.
There is a difference between tiredness and constant fatigue. Take time to evaluate if you are burnt out and need a vacation, or if you need to hire additional staff. If these do not help, you may want to consider selling or closing your business.
It is better to quit a business that costs you peace of mind than to be a CEO in the graveyard. No business is worth your life.
Every business has its own risk. If your business poses too much risk to your health or puts your family’s well-being in danger, it may be a good time to shut down that business.
If you find yourself always sacrificing family time and other valuable relationships for your business’s sake, it may be a time to re-strategize or quit. Don’t cause psychological damage to yourself and your loved ones.
As a business owner, the day mental and emotional stress becomes unbearable, is the day you should say goodbye to your business. Life is so precious and too short. It is only the living that can launch a business afresh.
3. When you cannot navigate through a government policy
In 2020, MTN Group announced its exit plan from Afghanistan, Yemen and Syria due to the increased complexity of operating in those regions.
In February 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria under the Buhari-led administration put a restriction on cryptocurrency transactions.
The government also banned Nigerians from using Twitter for seven months. These policies affected the growth of many businesses negatively
Imagine developing a business plan for your bike-hailing service, and you wake up one morning to find out that you can no longer operate on major highways in one of the most populous cities in Nigeria.
This is what the management of bike-hailing startups faced in Nigeria – Opay, Max.ng, Gokada, and many others when the Lagos State Government banned commercial bikes and tricycles from operating along the major highways in Lagos starting from 1st February 2020.
Well, the bike-hailing startups in Lagos took to the streets and social media to protest the ban, but the government did not change its mind.
Opay converted its motorcycles for logistics and delivery. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) model was devised to counter the crypto ban. Users downloaded VPN to access Twitter, despite the ban.
Sometimes, it may be difficult to navigate through a government policy, especially in a regulated industry. It is even much more difficult if the penalties are serious. No business remains the same after surviving a fine or penalty.
4. When your mission is accomplished, redirected, or lost
I was in my third year in the university when the university management decided to de-congest the hostels. As a result of this, many students were compelled to look for accommodation outside the campus.
There was a high demand for accommodation. People were ready to pay. I saw this and would not let this pass me by.
Because I did not know most of the locations outside the campus, I collaborated with a friend of mine who was an indigene. He did the searching while I did the planning. I built a system that made us easily accessible and credible. That was the beginning of my journey as a Real Estate Agent.
We had no capital. I mean, we had no monetary capital. Whenever a client called to check out an apartment, he was made to pay a non-refundable consultation fee, whether or not he wanted the apartment.
This was excluding the agent fee that came into our pockets as a commission. Na so business take start be that. That was how we launched NOVEL Homes and Hostels.
We maximized the first-mover advantage and made money. After the real estate space in that location became too saturated, we exited the space.
Sometimes, business owners may lose passion for a mission if they do not feel fulfilled or if it does not align with their values any longer. A business owner may want to shut down his beer parlour because of his ‘born again’ religious beliefs.
Other times, as business owners grow, their mission becomes clearer and they may have to plot a new course or have a new focus.
If you want to go back to your 9-5 job or if running a business is no longer in alignment with your life goals, there is no shame in throwing the towel.
Lately, one of our clients had to shut down her Shawarma and Barbeque business to acquire more skills in a Culinary School.
As soon as you feel you have accomplished your mission in a particular business, leave the stage with your full chest.
5. When your business idea is just a fantasy you are passionate about
Is your business providing a solution that customers are looking for and are willing to pay for it? Or is your business centered on something you care about and want others to care about, too?
If your customer base is not increasing at a significant rate despite your marketing effort, it may be a red signal for you. Sometimes, your ‘fantastic’ product/service may be the problem, not your marketing strategies.
Sometimes what you think is the best product in the world and everyone would be falling head over heels in love with it may turn out to experience the opposite.
There is no need to push a ‘fantastic’ product that customers do not need. You will struggle to sell, despite your marketing efforts. Simply, stop production and quit that business.
Some business ideas are profitable but not sufficiently profitable and won’t be getting better in the future. Some business ideas are only profitable in the long term and not in the short term.
If a thorough evaluation reveals any of these, it is time to take emotions out of the equation and be factual with your decision.
6. When the economy is no longer favourable
In 2020, SafeBoda exited Kenya due to the negative economic effect of the Covid-19 pandemic that affected the global economy.
In 2022, the bike-hailing startup also exited Nigeria because it considered the okada industry as not being economically viable and the Nigerian market unprofitable for its operations.
The impact of the Russian-Ukraine war on the global economy is severe. When inflation and recession hit a nation, many businesses will shut down. The rising cost of energy and labour commonly mitigates the growth of a business.
The high tax rate can make it difficult to do business in some countries. If your business depends largely on imported products, unfavourable exchange rates may threaten your business growth. Investors may begin to pull the plug and the market may experience low activity.
No matter how rugged you are, there is usually a limit to what you can manage or control. When macroeconomic factors are against you, except you have an alternative means of income, you can ‘hibernate’ your business and wait patiently till the economy eventually recovers.
But if you cannot wait to see light at the end of the tunnel, your best option is to quit that business and try something else.
7. When the market has moved beyond your product
Where is Nokia, Mr. Biggs, and Kodak? In business, if you innovate too late, other innovative companies will force you to shut down. If your competitors are gaining your customers every day, it means you have been left behind.
If you cannot figure out what your competitor is doing differently, nobody will tell you to shut down before you do. Customers are too impatient to forgive any business that is too slow to innovate.
In this age where technological advancement is disrupting every industry daily, Sometimes, the market strategies and assumptions that you made when you started your business may have become obsolete.
You should try to assess the current trend that is happening in the market and study the needs of the customer so that you can upgrade your products and services and make them successful.
Doing a SWOT analysis regularly can help you think through your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, so you are not blindsided or paralyzed when faced with a challenge.
8. When you are not meeting your goals
Every business needs time for momentum to grow. Some businesses even need a longer time to become profitable. However, in order not to quit your business too soon, you need to track your progress and personal goals.
If you cannot point out any tangible result that you have been able to achieve apart from starting the business, this is a pointer that all is not well with your business.
You took a break and closed your office/shop temporarily to re-strategize, yet nothing seems to be working. It’s time to swallow your pride and let your soul say C’est fini.
In conclusion,
Ensure you have done everything you can do before you give up. When every solution you know fails, speak to a reliable consultant immediately.
Shutting down your business does not make you a failure. You don’t lose in business. You either win or learn. For every debit, there is a corresponding credit. Learn your lesson. Shutting down your business may be the beginning of greater heights.
© Kingsley Ndimele
Your Reliable Consultant
How Oraimo Is Dominating the Nigerian Market
In Nigeria, as soon as your ‘follow-come’ charger gets spoilt, get ready to use your money to experiment with different ‘Aba-made’ chargers.
Until Oraimo hit the market in 2013, many Nigerians faced the sad reality of inferior phone accessories that saturated the Nigerian market. Oraimo entered, fixed the problem, and grew bigger.
Have you wondered how Oraimo beat New Age (the first indigenous mobile phone accessory brand in Nigeria) in the phone accessory market in Nigeria? It is amazing how most people who used New Age products have switched to Oraimo.
- Offer Affordable Products with Consistent Quality
Although Oraimo products are not cheaper than New Age products, for the consistent durability it offers, Oraimo’s price is attractive to the average Nigerian.
In a country where people believe that every quality product should only be affordable to high-net-worth people, Oraimo reversed the notion.
You can use a ₦1,000 Oraimo earphone for about a year. If the earphone hooks on a door handle, it does not cut. If you misplace your buds, a pack comes with extra 6 pieces.
No matter how much you bend an Oraimo USB cord, it doesn’t spoil. Hey! If you are playing in a crowded market, go for quality. Make your product better than your competitors’ products, but not as expensive.
To penetrate a market dominated by poor people, affordability and consistent quality are key. Those were the simple strategies that broke the camel’s back.
GTB used the zero-account strategy to win Nigerians. Cowbell used the ₦5 sachet milk to win over poor Nigerians. When Bigi Cola entered the market, it sold its plastic bottle drink for ₦100 while Coca-Cola was selling for ₦150.
Producing quality products or services may increase your cost of production in the short run, but you will attain economies of scale quickly. The more you produce, the lower the per-unit cost of production. So, you will become profitable in the long run.
2. Finetune Your Brand
Oraimo is a Chinese brand, although registered in Nigeria. Chinese brands in Nigeria are seen as fake products. Oraimo strategically positioned its brand as a Nigerian brand.
They had to first push the brand message of quality to the Nigerian market. If they had portrayed their products as Chinese products, they would have been dead on arrival. Branding is more about perception.
Most fake products in Nigeria are tagged as ‘original.’ If Oraimo had preached this same message of originality too, it would have been regarded as one of ‘those’ brands.
Oraimo USB cords and power banks speak durability. Oraimo chargers speak ultra-speed. Oraimo smartwatches speak affordability. Oraimo earbuds speak experience.
Branding is not about hype, it’s about the promise. Oraimo is keeping to the promise it makes in its branding message. Branding is an experience. There is a higher level of confidence that comes with using Oraimo products.
To sell clothes in a village where villagers dress naked, change their perception. To penetrate a market where you are not accepted, change their perception and change your brand message. If you can change their perception, you can get their attention. Oraimo tailored its brand to suit its customers’ needs.
New Age hit the market in 2008 with a black and orange brand colour. Very catchy! Oraimo entered the market with a lemon colour such that even an illiterate Nigerian can recognize an Oraimo product at a glance.
Your brand colour matters. If Oraimo had chosen a red colour, Nigerians would have thought it was manufactured by Itel. If Oraimo had chosen a blue colour, Nigerians would have thought it was manufactured by Tecno. Oraimo chose a strategic and unique colour.
3. Know Your Target Customers
Transsion Holdings Pvt Ltd is the same company that owns Itel, Tecno and Infinix also own Oraimo. So, they understood the Nigerian market so well. They had sufficient data to study. Oraimo knew their target customers with clarity. No guesswork. No trial and error.
According to Apple Inc., about 94 percent of phone users in Nigeria use tọnọ́sọ́bẹ̀ and Android phones. Instead of targeting the 6 percent who use iPhones, Oraimo focused on Android phone users. They gained market share by selling to people other manufacturers ignored.
We are in a generation where everyone wants to sell to the 1 percent of the 1 percent. Many business owners are struggling to throw sticks on fruits that are at the top of the tree while ignoring many low-hanging fruits that they can easily plug with their hands.
It is possible to make ₦1 million by selling a ₦100,000 product to 10 people. But in a poor country like Nigeria, it is easier to sell ₦1,000 products to 1,000 people and equally make ₦1 million.
This is the secret of MTN. This is the secret of Toyota. If Oraimo had entered the market to compete directly with Apple, it would have choked to death.
4. Adopt Flood Marketing
Have you noticed that there are not many advertisements for phone accessory brands in Nigeria? Companies advertise phones, not phone accessories. It is not enough to offer an essential product or service; you must promote it well.
I think what worked mostly for Oraimo is word-of-mouth marketing. Believe it or not, the comical phrase “wipe am Oraimo cord” is a marketing anthem.
As long as your customers keep getting value for their money, they will continue spreading the good news about your business. This is the consequent effect of firstly selling quality and affordable products that are essential needs for an average Nigerian.
Using Tuface Idibia and Burna Boy as brand ambassadors for the Oraimo earbuds was synergetic. In other words, if you want to enjoy your music, use Oraimo earbuds.
Brand ambassadors are hired to influence a product. Imagine the number of views and engagements that Oraimo will get when Burna Boy with 12.8 million Instagram followers posts it on his feed.
Influence marketing makes your product more visible to people. Brand ambassadors are not just celebrities, they influence the buying decisions of people. C’est fini.
Many people started eating MunchIt chin-chin because of Davido. Many people started using Infinix phones because of Davido. My friends signed up for Kuda Bank because of Erica.
If you can afford to hire an influencer to market your product, please do. But don’t forget that any influencer you choose must be synergetic with your brand and product.
Apart from paid adverts on social media and featuring on Big Brother Naija, Oraimo has flooded the market through badass strategies.
They have continued to put their adverts before the face of every Nigerian that you may not be able to think about other brands. Flood marketing is the combination of both online and offline marketing strategies.
5. Launch Simple Products First, Before Sophisticated Products
Oraimo started first by introducing essential products before luxury products. They introduced simple products first, before introducing sophisticated products.
Chargers and USB cords first before power banks, bluetooth speakers, earbuds, smart watches, electric toothbrushes, vacuum cleaners, and clippers.
Diversification is a risky move in business. It is not the same class of customers who buy a USB cord that will buy a smartwatch. Hence, you have to devise new marketing messages and strategies to win these new targets.
Diversifying your products or launching a new product into the market should be done one step at a time. It should happen after the initial product has reached a product-market fit and you have successfully experimented with a strategy.
Jumia got eCommerce right before it launched Jumia Foods. A.A. Rano succeeded in petroleum marketing before it ventured into airlines.
6. Know Your Competitors
At the onset of the charger, USB cord, and power bank game, New Age and Onitsha boys were Oraimo’s competitors. As Oraimo entered the earbud and smartwatch market, the competition changed.
In a country where hungry people love to appear rich, Oraimo is the best alternative for Nigerians who cannot afford Apple products.
Why buy an Apple AirPods or smartwatch for hundreds of thousands when you can get a similar product for a lesser price?
A poor economy favours substitute goods. Oraimo also used almost the same product design as Apple to close the distinction with Apple products.
It is known as “Disruptive Innovation” – where a smaller company innovates a product similar to a luxury product made by a bigger company while targeting a market that seemingly couldn’t afford the luxury product.
7. Act Ahead of Sleeping Giants
Are New Age products good? Yes. But Oraimo products are perceived to be better. Did New Age do anything wrong? No! They were only sleeping when Oraimo was thinking and planning ahead of them.
Oraimo took them by surprise. Oraimo was selling the future Nigerians long desired. Just like Nokia, New Age did not innovate and evolve fast enough when others were doing the same.
Is New Age becoming Old Age? Watch out!
© Kingsley Ndimele
Your Reliable Consultant.
How To Deal With Parasites That Kill Business
When my mum celebrated her graduation at the University of Ibadan, she hired me as her photographer. I travelled down from Ile-Ife. She paid me enough money to cover my travelling expenses and the cost of production.
I was still a student whose business was just growing. Although I did not make any profit from that deal, I did not lose either. Rather than feel entitled to my services, she supported me in her way.
I once had a babe who hired me to cover her birthday. Because she knew that I had employees to pay too, she joyfully paid for my services. That is wisdom. Wise people know that relationships and pleasure should not come in the way of business.
Not all your families and friends may be wise enough to do this. Some may even get angry at you for demanding to be paid for your product or services, despite knowing that you have loans to repay.
Any family and friend whose patronage will make you run at a loss in your business is an enemy of your business. Tactically stay away from them!
Because they see the value you offer, they are only attracted to ‘use’ you. Once you go out of business, they will move to another person. Don’t encourage such parasitic relationships in your business. Parasites kill business. They are parasites because they usually do not add any value to your business in any way.
Parasites are loved ones who will make you feel bad about your actions but will never take the blame for the wrong they do to you. They will tell others how bad you are, but they will never tell others what they did wrong to you.
Parasites are usually loved ones who will never engage with your posts on social media. Parasites will neither broadcast your business fliers nor refer you to others, even when they are sure of your excellent work. You know them. Right? Somebody is coming to your mind now. Right?
Parasites are the least people you expect will refuse to pay. If you have ever worked with some celebrities and some so-called big people in society, you will agree with me that they hardly pay for the services you offer to them. They often make unfulfilled I-will-give-you-exposure promises to get away with these acts (a story for another day).
To those VIPs in my life whom I may not be able to verbally ask for money because of what we share or how good and supportive they have been, when I offer free services to them, I pay back from my pocket into the business account or deduct it from my business salary. This was what my friend, Gabriel did when I came to lodge in his hotel during one of my visits.
Nothing is free in business. Even NGOs are not free. Someone has paid for it through grants, donations, and sponsorships.
As a business person, you must understand that when you offer your services or products for free, you are not only giving away your profits, you are also giving away your capital. That is the fastest way to fail in business.
You are ignorantly cooperating with your family and friends to dig the grave of your business in the name of generosity.
If not because if you throw a stone in the market, it may hit a loved one, I would have recommended that these ‘parasites’ should be dealt with the way a cattle rearer will treat a tsetse fly.
But family remains family and friends are still friends. You cannot cut them off totally. Hence, you have to be creative in how you handle them.
© Kingsley Ndimele
Your Reliable Consultant
How To Win A Potential Investor In Your First Meeting
Have you ever tried wearing a flip-flop to run a marathon? That is the same way it feels when you want to use your money (savings) to fund your startup. It is a great move but it may not take you far. If you bootstrap and remain without external funding for too long, you may be unable to take advantage of market opportunities.
According to a report by Briter Bridges, African startups have raised $5.4 billion in funding in 2022 alone. This implies that money is not scarce. You are not just present and positioned where it is in abundance. You need to be strategic to raise funds from investors.
Investors are busy people. Investors spend on average 224 seconds per pitch deck. If you can’t grab their attention in the first 30 seconds, you risk losing them. Your first meeting with an investor matter most.
- Pitch your business, not your product
Investors are buying into your business, not buying into your product. therefore, you should pitch your business, not your product. Investors are easily convinced when they can relate to the problem your startup or business idea solves probably because they have experienced similar problems in the past.
Other times, it could be your clear sense of ROI that would get an investor interested in your business. because of their professional expertise, investors are psychological beings who can smell low confidence and see a semi-empty head from your speech. Hence, you have to know your business so well, to speak convincingly.
2. Present a Pitch Deck
Your first meeting with an investor is not a time to bring with you your 60-page business plan. No! Every investor is first interested in a clearly-detailed visual document that summarizes the key elements of your business plan. The goal of your pitch deck is not to raise money but to bring you one step closer to the funding you need. Although there is no specific number of slides for a pitch deck, a pitch deck should not exceed 19 slides.
In a pitch deck, too much detail is worse than less information. Combine infographics, images, and keywords in the right proportion. Avoid technical jargon and difficult-to-understand acronyms. Avoid inconsistent font style, colour, and size. Keep your pitch deck simple enough to cover every key point and compelling enough to be acted upon.
3. Know Your Investor
If you do not conduct due diligence on your investor’s background, you may not know what business they invest in, the sectors they care more about, the problem they are interested in, or what to expect in your first meeting. You may end up pitching to deaf ears or putting a square peg in a round hole. Your chances of winning an investor in a first meeting are higher if you can spark their interest.
4. Know Your Business
Who you are, what you do, and how you do it is the first thing your investor wants to see in your pitch deck. Your opening slide should show your business name and logo too. Scratch the surface. Digging too deep may bore your investors.
5. Identify only one real problem
Some problems are not profitable enough to be invested in. Some problems are cultural beliefs and not real issues. The more you can make the problem as real as possible, the more your investors will understand your business. Focus on the major problem. Do not itemize a problem that your product does not solve. Use visuals to explain complex problems.
6. Match the problem with a relevant solution
The first turn-off for every investor is when the business solution you are pitching does not match the problem your business is trying to solve. The solution does not have to be sophisticated. Show your solution in a simple, single, and concise statement.
Your solution should be scalable if you are pitching a tech startup. Your solution should be customer-centered not product-based. Mind you, no matter how beautiful your idea may be, your business solution is not novel. Therefore, you should recognize other businesses offering similar solutions in the market using a different approach.
7. Show your market potential
How you can define and segment your market is of huge interest to every potential investor. Use verified data to show the entire size of the market and how you position your business in the market. Investors are always seeking opportunities that offer huge returns on investment within a specific period.
This is why they are interested in businesses that operate in a large market. This does not mean that you should present false information about the market. Every reference, statistic and fact you cite to validate your claim must be true.
8. Show Your Product
Seeing is believing. Don’t just talk about your product, show your product. Go along with samples. For products still in their development stage, present a model to the investors. Use pictures to describe your solution. Show screenshots or a short video of your product in action.
9. Talk Traction
If have early users of your product or existing clients who have tasted or tested your product, quote their testimonials. Customer stories validate your solution and act as social proof of your business model.
It also decreases any fear of risk in potential investors. Traction also includes your milestones, awards, and achievement since inception. Your traction should show the monthly growth of your business in terms of growth metrics, profit margins, and revenue.
10. Show Your Team
It is almost impossible to get a potential investor interested in your business when you are the alpha and omega of the business. Sometimes, an investor may not necessarily invest in your business because of your amazing business model. An investor may first be attracted to your business because of the quality of your team.
Some investors may go as far as profiling your team members on all social media and reaching out to people for references. What experience do your team members have and what achievements make them special to fulfil the vision and mission of your business?
If you are the only member of them, have a board of advisors. If your team is complete yet, leave space for vital positions that would be filled in the future and discuss why these roles are important to your business.
11. Show Your Competitors
No investor will take you seriously when you say that you have no competitor in your niche or when you underestimate your competitors. Showing a competitor does not mean you should bad-mouth your competitor. It means you should talk about why your business solution is better. Why will customers divert to your product?
Even if your business is operating in a new market, your potential audience already has existing solutions to solve their problems. Your pitch deck must show your competitors and their current valuation, and how your business is similar or different from your competitors. Your business model should match your referenced company.
12. Show Business Model
How does your product make money? What price do you charge? Who pays the bills? Is your product a high-price product? Is it budget-friendly? Your business model should be captured in your pitch deck.
13. Discuss your marketing and sales strategy
How do want to put your product in the faces of your potential customer? What are your tactics to sell your products? How is it different from your competitor’s strategy? Don’t build a product and expect your customers to know about it. If you understand your strategy so well, your potential investors will know.
14. Show your financial projections
Investors are not Father Christmas. You must give them a reason to invest. They want high returns and low risk. Hence, you must emphasize clearly the returns on investment. Hence, your financials should show your sales forecast, cash flow statement, and income statement for a minimum of 3 years’ projection. These are not just fabricated numbers and baseless forecasts.
Your financial projections must have realistic metric assumptions and underlying processes. Show simple graphs and charts in your pitch deck, not a spreadsheet. Provide a summary of why you need the money and how the money will be used. Provide past financials (for an existing business).
15. What’s your plan?
After 3 – 5 years of financial projection, what next? Every investor wants to know your plans for the business. These include expansion and exit strategies in simple terms. Do you plan to go public, get acquired, or diversify?
16. Ask boldly
After your presentation, if you don’t ask for funds, no investor will give you money. Don’t be specific about the amount you are asking for.
Rather, put a range. This is because many private equity investors and venture capitalists often have a benchmark or marked amount that they can invest per time, per startup. Putting a range amount makes you beckoning to as many investors as possible.
© Kingsley Ndimele
Your Reliable Consultant
How Changing Your Last Name Affects Your Personal Brand As A Woman
Toyin Aimakhu in 2003 became Toyin Adeniyi-Johnson in 2013. Her name changed to Toyin Abraham (her family name) in 2016 and to Toyin Abraham-Ajeyemi in 2019. Building a personal brand as a female may lead to an identity crisis.
Culturally, women once belonged to their fathers, then their husbands. Despite the growing feminist movement and increased gender equality, the overwhelming commonness of this practice remains.
Your name is the “brand” you have been associated with since birth! It represents you, it’s your family name, and it’s how you are known publicly. If an organization is trying to find you online, they would use your name to search for you.
A personal brand name shows off your expertise, connects you with new people, and promotes your content and accomplishments. It helps build trust with new people, introduces you to new circles, and can help you earn more sales and job opportunities.
Personal branding is a huge investment of time and resources. If you have worked in your career for many years, it is how you are known. If you have created a “name” or “following” for yourself as an authority or celebrity in your field, your brand name is your identity card.
Before marriage, your last name has been reflected in all your achievements, school and college certificates, and bank accounts.
You have spent many hours every week updating your social media profiles, publishing new content, and engaging with your audience. You have your website and you have press coverage under my name.
Imagine doing all these consistently for 15 years + and suddenly, you have to change your brand name because you have transitioned from Miss. to Mrs. Now, your audience searches for your name on Google and gets confused because Chioma Nwosu is now Chioma Fakorede.
Despite cultural acceptance, name-changing has long-term implications for your brand. Changing your name affects the personal brand you are building. How could you possibly give up a name that has been with you your entire life? What would everyone else think?
Continuing to use your birth name as your brand name or giving up the name you have built is a decision many newly married or soon-to-be-married females may struggle with.
Those who decide to change their names when they marry also have to weigh the impact on their professional brands and social media profiles. Changing your name is a personal decision and there are many factors to consider when you are contemplating changing your last name:
The younger you are, the less attached you might feel to your last name. The older you are when you marry, the more connected or attached you are to the last name you’ve carried for so long.
Some women may not like the name of their new husband or feel as if this new last name doesn’t sound good with their first name. Others may feel directly the opposite and love their potentially new last name so they are eager to change from their maiden one.
If you love your maiden name and think it’s going to be impossible to make it any more memorable or distinct then you may want to simply hang on to it.
You may be itching to change your name because you had a bad reputation for some reason or another. Or, maybe you are just ready for a “rebrand” and want to live the next several decades starting with a clean slate and new name.
In some countries and cultures, it is illegal for women to change their last name and they simply have no option. The country of Greece does not require that women change their last names when they marry. Women in India have the right to choose whether or not they want to take up their husbands’ names.
How much relevant content do you have under a vanity Google search? The longer you have worked in your professional career path the more likely you are to have search results pop up under Google when your name is entered. Are you willing to alter your name slightly to dominate Google for searches?
If the domain name is already taken, you will never get found in the online space even if someone does a direct search for your name. If your name seems common, but when you search for it, nobody else dominates the search results, you still have a great chance of owning the space.
Imagine changing your name from Bimbo Smith to Bimbo James after marriage, only for the time to come to launch your website, and you discover that www.bimbojames.com is unavailable. It will be tougher to build brand authority when you don’t own your name as a .com.
Like Tope Alabi and Ibikun Awosika, some women may build strong personal brands after marriage. This is fine too. Altering your brand name is not necessary if your brand journey started after your wedding.
While it may feel like a big deal to alter your given name right now, if you have big dreams to be on stage, interviewed on TV, or write a lot of books, this small alteration may be worth it to achieve your bigger goals.
As a newly married woman, you have these options;
- Adopt your spouse’s surname
Tara Fela-Durotoye was Tara Sagay before marriage. Temi Popoola was a known Event Compere before she got married and rebranded as Temi Badru. Rebranding is a risky move. Not every personal brand survives after going through a rebranding process.
2. Combine your maiden name with your spouse’s name
For Funke Bucknor-Obruthe and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, hyphenating was to honour both their parent’s union and theirs with their husband. Keeping their father’s surname is preserving the personal and familial identity they have always had.
Motara Akanni changed to Motara Akanni-Lawrence. Sola Allyson became Sola Allyson-Obaniyi. Mercy Chinwo became Mercy Chinwo-Blessed.
Growing up in the brown roof city in Nigeria, Ronke Giwa was a household Radio Presenter. She got married and changed to Ronke Giwa-Onafunwa.
It took some time for some listeners to get used to that new brand name. It would have been worse if she had deleted and replaced Giwa with Onafunwa.
3. Keep your spouse’s name when divorcing
In a world where the divorce rate is climbing over 50 percent, changing your name when getting married is a thought-provoking move.
Faithia Williams and Saheed Balogun ended their marriage in 2006 but officially divorced in 2014. Faithia, however, adopted her ex-husband’s surname till 2017. Since she had built her career around it, she was hesitant to lose the name recognition she worked so hard for.
4. Stick to your maiden name even after marriage
While some women feel the need to take up the new family’s surname to feel a sense of belonging to the new world they stepped into, for other women, sticking to their maiden names even after the marriage gives them the feeling of being an independent modern-day woman.
The decision to stick to your maiden name even after marriage depends on whether you consider yourself a feminist. Some husbands permit their wives to continue with their maiden name after marriage.
For instance, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie still adopts her birth name even after marriage. Women like this, believe that their last name has no bearing on their brands. They believe that their brand is about their work, not their last name.
Sometimes, to adopt a surname that was laden with a history to which you have no connection feels like you are burying a part of your own identity.
5. Return to your maiden name after a divorce
Although returning to your father’s name after divorce costs so much money and paperwork, it can be a reasonable alternative for a female divorcee.
She changed from Funke Akindele in 2008 to Funke Akindele-Oloyede in 2012 and back to Funke Akindele in 2014. She later changed to Funke Akindele-Bello in 2016 and went back again to Funke Akindele in 2022.
Her brand journey has been altered significantly in less than two decades.
6. Use a “stage” name
In 2012, her name was Tiwa Savage. She got married to Tunji Balogun (Tee Billz) in 2013, her name remained Tiwa Savage. She divorced in 2018; she is still known as Tiwa Savage.
Depending on the industry where you belong, you can choose celebrity or stage names like Teni, Naijabrandchick, Simi, Lolo, Waje, Chidinma, or Sinach so that post-marriage and post-divorce will not affect your brand.
The great thing is that your legal name and the name you use in social settings do not have to match.
If you don’t have a middle name that works, you can also change the spelling of your last name to be easier to read and spell. You can also rework your last name into something simpler that’s easier to say and spell, and therefore easier to remember.
The reason celebrities make such a great example is that their name changes are done to achieve the same results we are looking for in a personal brand: to be easy to say, spell, differentiate, and remember.
In conclusion,
Whatever brand name you eventually choose, make sure that it is easy for people to spell, pronounce and remember. Ensure that it aligns with your brand positioning, embodies brand personality, embodies one (or more) brand benefits, avoids negative or stigmatized concepts, and has an available trademark.
© Kingsley Ndimele
Your Reliable Consultant
Why You Need A Personal Finance Coach
Have you ever attended a party where some people ate extra plates of food and even took some food and drinks home, yet you were sitting down salivating hoping that the servers will bring food to you?
This was what happened to me at one wedding event I attended some time ago. They served us pounded yam but they never brought soup. It was the second time I would be experiencing such. Thank God I ate before going.
The most annoying part is that there was excess food and drinks yet many of the guests went back with empty stomachs. The celebrants felt shameful to hear that some of their guests who took out time to honour their event received poor hospitality.
There was almost nothing they could do to compensate the guests other than to apologize. This embarrassing scenario could have been avoided if only an event planner was brought into the organization of the event.
This is how many people behave towards their finances. They feel consulting a Personal Finance Coach to help them organize their financial life is an expense. “After all, it’s my money and I can do whatsoever I like with it”.
Most of the financial stress you are going through today could have been avoided if only you consulted a Money Expert.
Speaking up does not mean that you are a failure, it means that you are wise enough to realize that your financial situation is putting you under stress.
- To give you accurate information
In a generation where you are being bombarded with information, especially from social media, one needs to filter every piece of information before using it.
There are so many social media influencers with the blue tick symbol dishing out wrong financial advice to their gullible followers. All you need is one wrong counsel to mess up your financial life.
Your bank manager is not a Personal Finance Coach. Don’t go to him to complain about your financial problems. He is as clueless as you are. His job is to solve your bank issues, not your money issues.
2. To find the missing link
A problem shared with the right person is a problem solved. Sometimes, you find yourself in a financial mess because of the suggestions of family, and friends who are as financially ignorant as you are. The blind cannot lead the blind.
Interestingly, most of your financial problems cannot be identified by you or those close to you.
This is where a Personal Finance Coach comes in. To find the missing link and to help you navigate every potential obstacle in your finances.
3. To answer all your money questions
A Personal Finance Coach helps you to develop practical steps to increase your income, manage your money and grow your investment.
A Personal Finance Coach helps you to answer every question that has to do with your money and investment, irrespective of how many they are or how silly you think they may sound.
As much as having savings is a good money habit, it takes a Personal Finance Coach to help you know when you are saving too much or being too hard on yourself.
4. To prevent financial stress
The rate of suicide is alarming. The Third Mainland Bridge has become the first option for suicidal people. They see jumping off the bridge as the easiest way to commit suicide.
Financial stress is the leading cause of suicide. Studies show that money stress can make people 20 times more likely to commit suicide.
People become financially distressed when their debts become too overwhelming to manage. Some people attempt suicide after losing hugely to Ponzi schemes.
Jobless and homeless people can feel hopeless and have financial stress.
5. To strategize a solution
Prevention is better than cure. Before things go south, seek the help of a Money Expert. Most times, what feels or seems like a hopeless and helpless situation is not. You just need someone to help you strategize and come up with a way forward.
6. To serve as a support system
From experience with several clients, I have discovered that what most people who find it difficult to manage their finances need is a support system and financial education more than a bailout.
7. To help you gain clarity
When it comes to your financial goals, clarity is key. Many people are confused. They only know that they need money, they do not why and how. How can you achieve a goal you have no clarity about?
8. To keep you focused on your financial goals
A financial coach takes a holistic view of your financial situation and aligns your present reality with your financial goals.
He also acts as an accountability partner to help ensure that you stay on track to meet these goals and evaluate your progress to keep you focused.
9. To help you stay disciplined
If you earn a decent living but do not have the discipline to save, you need a Personal Finance Advisor. If your salary is always dead-on-arrival, you need financial counsel.
If you find it difficult to prepare a monthly budget and stick to it, you need financial help.
When you hit a huge amount of money before you are tempted to buy a new pair of shoes or the latest iPhone, consult your financial coach first. Do not allow your emotions from derailing your long-term financial success.
10. To guide your investment decisions
If you are not sure if you have adequate savings to take care of yourself in retirement, speak to a Money Expert today.
If you are afraid to invest your money or you do not know when, where, and how to invest your money, a Personal Finance Coach will guide you.
Like a therapist, you need to meet with your Finance Coach weekly or biweekly, depending on the agreement.
© Kingsley Ndimele
Your Reliable Consultant
Why I Can Never Die Poor
Growing up as a child was tough for me. I lost my dad when I was barely 4 years old. My younger sister was less than 5 months old.
My mum was a teacher in a nursery school by day and in the evening, we all went to her shop where she sold electronic appliances. Mummy also had a sewing machine at home.
When I tell people that I have seen the four cardinal points of poverty, it is not an exaggeration. My eyes don see shege. For some part of my childhood days, I hawked sachet water and popcorn in Bodija market, Ibadan.
During my secondary school days, I had good handwriting. I had some students who misplaced their notebooks and some big boys who never write notes in class.
I was paid ₦10 per page to write for them. I stayed awake at night and used my weekends to write. I was mostly patronized whenever Open Day was approaching. ₦10 in 2008 used to be huge money.
After leaving secondary school in 2011, I did several hustles before joining my aunt at the Redemption Camp. She put me in charge of her cement store, right in front of the house (opposite Tree of Life Estate).
I resumed there every morning. Less than a year before I relocated to Ile-Ife, my aunt enrolled me as an apprentice in a Photography Studio.
I officially became a student at Obafemi Awolowo University in May 2015. My seven years in Ile-Ife were rough. I had no one to send me monthly allowances all through my undergraduate years.
Pikin wey no get helper suppose get sense. I did so many businesses to survive that it was very difficult for my colleagues to believe that I had no financial backbone.
I went to all rooms in every hall of residence selling Best Brain Past Questions. I sold toads also. Yes! Live toads for ZOO 101 practical class.
I was paid as a costumed Santa Claus at a Father Christmas party. I was paid as an MC in some events. I was also a Property Agent. Those people you call caretakers. Wetin Musa never see for gate?
I was also a part-time teacher in one of the schools in Ile-Ife. I taught in four different schools before I eventually graduated from OAU, not counting the number of homes where I was hired as a private tutor. I was a private tutor till the last day I left Ile-Ife.
The first money I earned as a freelance writer was in 2019. My friend – Akeem got a job via Upwork. He did it, but the client rejected it. He gave it to two other writers. The job was rejected still.
He came to my room and asked me to help him out. I wrote the piece once in less than an hour, and it was accepted without any correction. Till date, freelance writing has been putting food on my table.
When I started NOVEL Nigeria in my second year at OAU, I had no laptop to edit pictures. All I had was a Canon 600D DSLR Camera which I had saved money to buy at the end of my first year.
My roommate – Larry offered me his I better pass my neighbour laptop for two years for use whenever I needed it before I eventually bought mine.
Between 2016 and 2018 when I began NOVEL Nigeria, we trained 55 Nigerian youths in special skills like photography, event décor, web design, bag making, graphics design, and cake making.
I was not only making money for myself, I was paying other students who worked for me too. I used up my first complimentary chequebook before my last semester in school.
By the time I was leaving Ile-Ife, I had assets worth about ₦1 million.
One of the days I can never forget in OAU was the period I was contesting for the Public Relations Officer of my faculty-student association.
Although I lost, I learnt how to sell myself and my vision to over 3,000 students. I spoke to everyone – my classmates, my senior, and junior colleagues to vote for me.
I went to every class to canvass for votes. I was a Christian. I was an Igbo guy. I contested against Ibrahim who was a Yoruba indigene.
Even though I knew that Ibrahim’s die-hard supporters will never vote for me, I still had to speak to them. Mehn! Selling to your opponent is the hardest part of marketing.
When I look at the journey of my life so far, I can say confidently that knowing how to sell has saved my life tremendously and changed my life remarkably.
I am not there yet, but I can tell you convincingly that I can never die poor. Never! I have learnt the big secret of wealth.
Take me anywhere, I will surely survive. That you were born poor is not your fault, but if you die poor, it is all your fault.
It saddens me deeply when I meet someone very knowledgeable or skillful in a particular area, but is broke.
The earlier you understand that knowledge and skills alone cannot liberate you from poverty, the better for you.
You need to learn how to monetize your knowledge and skills and make them valuable to others so that they can pay you for them.
It is not enough to be knowledgeable and skillful; learn how to sell too.
© Kingsley Ndimele
Your Reliable Consultant
“Who Your Spec Epp?”
Partner A is not physically your ‘spec’ but possesses all the innate qualities of someone right for you.
Partner B is your spec physically but lacks the essential qualities/characters of someone right for you.
As a sensible person, which will you go for?
As we grow mature, we understand opportunity costs more.
In life, the content you are looking for may not always come in the container you desire. It will be stupid of you to reject quality content because of the container.
The kind of man that can build a home may not always be Tall, Dark, and Handsome. The kind of woman that can build a home may not always be Curved, Assed, and Busty.
When you are still young and stupid, attraction to six packs may be primary for you. But as you get mature, you discover that six packs do not build a home.
Most of the “my spec” often end in tears. Most of them are people that you cannot be proud to have as the father/mother of your kids.
Most of the “my specs” are hungry wolves in sheep’s clothing who will eventually devour you to fill their empty stomachs.
Most of the “my specs” are broke, lazy, and entitled. They have nothing else to offer except a fake accent, fine face, and a body that will inevitably obey the Law of Diminishing Returns.
Your so-called “My Spec” may be the physical qualities you saw in your friend’s “My Spec” not necessarily your spec.
If you can soften the pedal on “my spec,” maybe you can recognize a real asset when you eventually find one. Stop throwing away gold because it doesn’t come in a diamond carton.
Ask your Dad, if he married your mum because she was “my spec.”
In your journey to financial freedom, you need a quality partner, not just your spec. Who you marry has a lot to do with whether you will leave the trenches or eventually return to the trenches.
Ask Emmanuel Eboue (ex-Arsenal Defender and ex-Ivorian Football star), choosing the right partner is very important for a successful financial journey.
The partner you eventually settle down with can make or mar you financially. If you marry a partner who is not committed to improving his or her Financial Quotient, your life can be a long financial struggle, regardless of how much you make.
You need a partner with whom you can unitedly build family wealth. You need a partner that can complement your financial weaknesses. You need a partner who will help you curb your bad money habits.
It is difficult to build wealth when you are married to a ‘social media’ partner who is more concerned about impressing her/his followers.
Your partner does not necessarily have to be a financial expert, but your financial goals must be compatible.
Does it mean that there are no responsible guys/ladies out there who are physically your spec? Of course, there are. But life does not always give you everything you want.
This life no balance.
If you are sincere with yourself, you will agree that you are single and getting old not because there are no responsible guys/ladies out there, but because you are waiting for your spec.
Keep searching.
© Kingsley Ndimele
Your Reliable Consultant
When Am I Financially Ready To Get Married?
I know that love is sweeter when the bag is full of money but another truth is that life will not always give you what you desire at the time you wish.
It is good to dream big but understand that life does not always go according to your plans.
I get heartbroken whenever I see a man and his pregnant wife trekking under the hot sun. Sometimes, I wish I could gift them a car. But I’m also a trekaholic.
If you were born into a poor family, you will hate to raise your child in poverty. Nothing in this life favours the poor.
With wetin my eyes don see, I don’t want to raise a child who will be screaming “Aluta Continua” for 7 years and eventually graduate to start singing Aluta songs in various wedding parties.
I know how it feels when the landlord comes to embarrass a parent in the presence of their children. I know how it feels when a child is sent out of school because the parents were unable to provide his school fees.
I want to send my children to the best schools. I don’t want to raise malnourished children. I want to enjoy my marriage without poverty-induced disagreements. This is my dream marriage.
I cannot count the number of my colleagues who have gotten married. I even attended some weddings of my classmates before I graduated from the university. Sometimes, I wonder “What is chasing them?”
I cannot count the number of birthday celebrants who said “Yes” to marriage proposals during my undergraduate days (even though most of them ended up becoming lord of the ring and victims of some sharp guys who only use these rings and proposals as baits to get their preys).
Although some people have become complacent and have decided to get married and continue in the cycle of generational poverty, others have chosen to fight poverty by all legal means.
This is why so many people have paused anything called marriage until they eventually secure the bag.
Some ladies have vowed to attain a certain height in their career pursuit before finally waiting for the ‘hunters’ to come for them. No sane lady wants to be a liability to her husband.
Some guys have also vowed to have certain amount of money in their bank accounts before they can start thinking of getting married.
The economy of the country shows that a ₦100,000 salary or monthly income may not be enough for a man to cater for his family.
Each time I go to the supermarket, I love to check out the current prices of Pampers and Cerelac. This alone is scary enough for a man who wants to be a real man.
If you attended a public institution, ASUU has already delayed some part of your life. If you don’t have connections, getting a job quickly in this part of the world is harder than solving Chinese Maths.
Before you say Jack Robinson, you are 35 years old, still in your father’s house chasing the bag. It’s as if the more some people keep chasing the bag, the farther it runs from them.
Ladies are aging quickly. Guys are dyeing their grey hairs secretly.
Age is not just a number; it has its consequences. Age may favour the male gender because as he grows older, his option of choosing a younger lady increases.
No matter the amount of mascara and Mary Kay a lady applies on her face, most guys can still identify a lady whose skin is getting wrinkled.
As a lady age, her option of marrying from an older age bracket reduces.
Medically, ageing also affects a lady’s chance of giving birth and it increases her chances of either being a second wife or getting married to her younger brother’s age mate.
No latecomer in marriage is punished. That is true. But in every delay, lost time can never be regained. No one prays to use their retirement income to enroll their children in a daycare.
Either way, pausing your marital life to secure the bag is not a wise decision. If age is no longer on your side, it is advisable that you accept the love beaconing at you while you secure the bag together with your spouse.
Reply to that responsible guy in your DM today. Make it easy for him to love you. He cannot be fighting poverty and still be fighting for your love.
Stop using “God’s time is the best” to comfort yourself when in reality, you are your own problem. The world has evolved. It is an outdated statement for any lady to say that “I want a guy who would be able to take care of me financially.”
Were you not taking care of yourself when you were single? To expect a man to be financially buoyant simply because he is a man is just as offensive as expecting a woman to cook and clean simply because she’s a woman.
It is not about one person taking care of the other. Both partners should be able to support each other financially to build the family.
After all, if you are fighting for gender equality, you should also be fighting for equal responsibility.
Enough of those hard girl vibes. Since you started calling yourself an independent woman and a career lady, how much money you don make?
There is no rule to this thing. If you find the love before the bag, accept it too. You may never find the love when you eventually secure the bag.
It is easier for a duck to find a duck and hustle together to become eagles than for a duck to become an eagle so as to relate with eagles.
When it eventually becomes an eagle, the eagles it wants to befriend might have aimed higher too. It’s a cycle. Besides, it’s lonely up there.
“I will find a partner who will love me when I eventually make money” is a pseudo-comfort. It may never happen.
When you eventually secure the bag, you are most likely going to have more fake people all around you who are only interested in your money.
Irrespective of your goals, life happens. In life, you have to plan that your plan may not always go according to plan.
There is nothing wrong with changing your entire life goals to give yourself a new direction and purpose. Do it whenever the need arises.
As you secure the bag, remember that there are different types of wealth that are not monetary. A marital relationship is one of them.
Finding a marriage material in this woke generation of ‘breakfast’ and transactional relationships is like searching for the grave of Judas Iscariot.
As a mature adult, it will be stupid for you to reject gold that you find along your path to financial freedom. Use your common sense.
Building a marital relationship is not a distraction from pursuing your career or securing the bag. Stop telling yourself this lie.
A relationship is only a distraction to people who are into multiple relationships and people who have unsupportive partners.
If you are waiting till you have your name on the Forbes List before you start finding love, you may still never have a networth of ₦10 million when you clock 50 years. Since you started securing the bag, how much you don make?
If you find a partner whom you find sweet in character and appearance, accept him, support her and build a future together. A king and a queen marry to build a kingdom.
While all-around maturity is key, if you are able to provide a basic life for yourself comfortably, you are financially ready to get married. A responsible adult with a steady income is buoyant enough to walk down the aisle.
It is not until you start spending money like a yahoo boy that you are financially buoyant to settle down. The cost of living is not expensive; it is the cost of lifestyle that is expensive.
As long as you and your partner will be working and earning money to assist each other, don’t be afraid to start a family.
Your potential in-laws are not expecting you to have a car and a house at this stage of your life. You are the one setting those goals for yourself.
That beautiful lady that you have been eyeing is not asking you to do a state-of-the-art wedding, you are the one who wants your wedding to be the talk of the town. With the little money you have saved, you can have a COVID-19 wedding.
Sometimes, it is not as if you are scared of the financial consequences of raising a family, you are only an unserious playboy. That little money you are spending in beer parlours is the same money that someone is using to raise a family.
This life no balance. That your friend hammered before he got married does not mean that you have to hustle hard and wait long till you eventually blow before tying the knot.
Long after the sweetness of securing the bag has been forgotten, the bitterness of late marriage remains.
Be flexible with your goals. Confront your fears. Marriage is a risk worth taking.
© Kingsley Ndimele
Your Reliable Consultant
The Real Reason You Are Poor
Many people are running away from poverty, but very few are running towards financial freedom.
I don’t know the lie that you tell yourself daily to justify your financial struggle but the truth is that you are not poor because you were born into a poor family.
If you look around you, you will discover that you have an ‘unfair advantage’ that even children born with silver spoons do not have. Everyone, irrespective of their family background has an ‘unfair advantage.’
You are not poor because your late parent never left you an inheritance. No! You are not poor because you didn’t attend the best schools in the world.
You are not poor because your God has destined you to be poor. Even the devil knows that God is a good God.
You can pay your tithe committedly, and still die poor. Your tithes and offerings cannot manipulate God’s principles. That you are a born again does not automatically take you out of poverty. God is not a magician.
Stop spiritualizing your poverty. Every year is a year of financial breakthrough. It all depends on you. You can be so prayerful, yet poor. You don’t pray away poverty; you learn away poverty.
I believe in the law of sowing and reaping. But I also believe that it is foolish to think that it is the prayer of the poor or needy that will make you rich.
It is good to give but you can be a cheerful giver, yet die poor when you do not have any means to receive.
Isé lóògùn ise is NOT absolutely true. Hardwork alone is not the antidote for poverty. You can be so hardworking, yet poor.
If hardwork alone can lift people out of poverty, truck pushers and well diggers will be the richest. Poverty is so stubborn that even Poverty Alleviation Programmes cannot make you rich.
You can be so frugal, yet poor. You can be famous, yet shamefully poor. You can be of good morals, yet poor. It is not the duty of your employer to make you rich.
You can be so knowledgeable and skillful, yet poor. You can bear the name “Riches,” yet die poor.
You can’t wish your way out of poverty. No way! If wishes were cars, even beggars would ride Lamborghini. People don’t become rich by luck. If you are waiting for luck to be rich, don’t be surprised when not much changes.
Although poverty may be systemic, poverty is not territorial. You are not poor because of the country you reside in.
There are poor people in the richest countries and there are rich people in the poorest countries. You are not poor because of the course you studied in the university. No!
You are not poor because of your class of grade. There are so many Second Class graduates struggling to eat two square meals daily and there are also bookworms and First Class graduates who have become laughing stocks among their colleagues.
If a C student knows how to sell excellently, he will make money while an A student is still swimming in the pride of classroom honour and wallowing in ignorance of the real-world ultimate hack.
Although some skills are in higher demand, you are not poor because of the skill you are acquired. Every core skill has people that are succeeding and people that are struggling. Stop blaming the skill.
I have seen wealthy teachers. I have met broke techies. I have seen struggling nurses too. If you have the best skills but you cannot sell yourself, you will struggle through life.
When you meet a genuinely rich person, don’t hate or envy. Ask questions. Observe and learn. All rich people have one thing in common. They may not have businesses, but they SELL more than they spend.
Even if you do not have a business, your personal life is a business. Selling is not only for business owners. Selling is not a grace. Selling is not hereditary. Selling is not a temperament. Selling is a skill everyone MUST learn.
Most of the financial hardships you are facing today can be solved if you know how to sell. The real reason you are poor is because you are spending more than you are selling.
Whenever you run out of money after using your monthly income to settle your bills and basic needs, it is a warning signal that you are not selling enough.
For example, if your salary or monthly income is ₦100,000, your landlord has a share in it, your government has a share in it (tax), the market woman who sells foodstuffs for you has a share, DSTV and Netflix have their shares in it, your children’s school has a share in it, and the boutique owner has a share in it.
The salon shares in this money too. The bus driver or petrol attendant has a share in it. The electricity distribution company has a share.
Depending on the network you use, you pay the telecom company their own share in terms of airtime and internet data.
The question to ask yourself is, if I am paying many people on a daily basis, how many people is paying me daily? If I am spending money to buy stuffs every day, what am I selling to make money every day?
If the money you spend every day is more than the money you make, your journey to financial freedom is very far.
If you do not know how to sell your skills, your knowledge, your experience, your vision, your own products or other people’s product to many people, you are not leaving the trenches anytime soon.
Whether you have a certificate, a ‘sabificate’ or both, if you can sell, you are gonna make money.
If all you can sell is your ‘unfair advantage,’ you can never die poor. Until you look deeply, you may never discover that there is something that you do for free but can also be done for a fee.
When I began my entrepreneurial journey, I never set out to become a Business Consultant. It was never in the plan. However, friends who started building their businesses later sought my advice on several business issues.
I proffered solutions to several business owners. My counsels yielded significant results. I did this for 5 years before I then decided to commercialize my business knowledge.
Imagine being a sought-after consultant who had proven solutions to people’s business challenges, yet broke. Sometimes, I was on phone calls for over 2 hours.
At the end, all I got was “Thank you!” I paid for trainings and courses. I committed my time to study hard, yet I was broke.
If I didn’t learn how to turn those “See what is happening, what do you think… I have a problem; I want to share it with you… I would like to see you to discuss a business idea…” conversations into paid consultations, I would still be a famous but poor nigga.
I had been speaking for free in events during my undergraduate days. At the end, I got souvenirs as honorariums and as a form of appreciation.
As a passionate and charismatic speaker who dish out so much value, I quickly learnt how to charge a fee when I am being invited to speak. My fees are known. I do not let people pick my brain for free. Speaking is a business. Talk is not cheap.
Just in case you think that you have nothing valuable to sell in exchange for money; look at what you can offer for free, package it and do it for a fee. Position yourself as somebody people can pay.
Whether you do a 9 – 5 job or you are still a student, if you know how to sell, you will make more money every day.
Whether you relocate to a new environment or you have been sacked from your job, if you know how to sell, you will never be scared.
If you can teach your children how to sell, you have successfully empowered them to survive anywhere they go. If you can sell yourself and your vision excellently, you can contest and win any political election.
Irrespective of whom you are and what you do, selling is one of the life-saving skills that you must learn.
If all you can sell is your time, do everything possible to increase your hourly rate. It is not how long you work, it’s how much you make per time.
© Kingsley Ndimele
Your Reliable Consultant