We All Can’t Be Tech Bros
The assumption today is that if you are not a Blockchain Engineer, QA Tester, or Fullstack Developer, you don’t have a seat in the future.
Almost every conversation today is centered on “I am building a tech product.” Even if you are not building anything, merely talking about it makes you look like a serious person.
The numerous tech programmes and tech talent migration opportunities littered everywhere are fueling the fear of missing out. According to the Tech Nation Visa Report 2021, Nigeria had the highest number of applicants for the UK Global Tech Talent Visa, ranking third in the world.
Peer pressure is making many people delve blindly into a ‘greener’ pasture. In reality, everything looks greener on the other side when you do not wet your pasture.
The world is becoming digitalized. However, without a defined goal, you may not understand the differences between transitioning into a tech career and using tech tools to scale within your chosen career.
There is tech in everything. Modern farmers make use of drone technology, hydroponics, and automated irrigation to boost their production. Uchechi Iweala performs spinal surgeries using a robot.
HR personnel can learn HR technologies to automate processes like recruitment, payroll, and employee engagement. IBM artificial intelligence technology helps with employee retention by being able to detect with 95 percent accuracy which employees are planning to quit their jobs.
Technology is reshaping the fashion industry. Computer-Aided-Design (CAD) software can be used to improve fashion designs. Modern-day fashion designers can maximize tech tools to identify the right clothing material and colour for every design.
Knowing how to use relevant tech tools to scale your career or business will help you to become more efficient and profitable. You do not necessarily have to transition into Software Development or Cloud Engineering to know how to use these online platforms and software applications.
There are factors you must consider before joining the bandwagon of tech bros:
- The tech industry is not a get-rich-quick industry.
It appears like the world is compelling everyone to transition into a tech career if they want to be successful quickly. When you compare the six-figure salaries earned by some tech bros to other professions, it may seem like the tech industry is a get-rich-quick industry.
When you look at most under-thirties in the tech space already enjoying a decent life, you may almost give in to the temptation to transition into a tech career. The tech industry has been glamorized and overblown. Whoever told you that a tech career is the fastest way to ‘blow’ told you a big lie.
This is how the average Nigerian tech bro thinks: build a product, find investors, feature in newspapers, and start living your dream life. The instant cash-out mentality makes the average tech bro think that investors are Father Christmas.
2. Tech companies fail too
According to a report by Plywah, nine out of every ten startups fail. Do you think tech companies are excluded? CB Insights database reported that 70 percent of tech companies fail usually around 20 months after first raising financing. There are four stages every successful tech innovation goes through; the making process, the testing process, the launching process, and the commercialization process.
Most tech bros often get stuck in the commercialization process. How to take their products to the market is usually the challenge. What is the benefit of building an amazing tech product that no one is using? This is why there are too many tech products on the Google Play Store that are merely filling up space.
3. From trenches to tech is difficult
A report published by Tunga showed that compared to California with a population of 39 million and 630,0000 developers, there are only 114,536 software developers in Nigeria – a country with 200 million people and a 35 percent unemployment rate.
In a country with half of its population living in poverty, you have to genuinely evaluate your reality before you transition into a tech career. Not everyone may succeed in this transition because going from trenches to tech is going to be difficult.
A 2022 report by Speedtest Global Index showed that Nigeria’s internet speed is still among the world’s slowest. Compared to the United Arab Emirates with 258 mbps, Nigeria has 20.97 mbps download speed. Having a good laptop, monthly data subscriptions for internet access and a constant power supply are some of the obstacles you may face in the trenches. These can open the door to frustration.
Be flexible with your career goals. If you fall in this sapademic category, you do not need to shovel a tech career down your throat. The cost of learning these tech skills is not cheap. Can you afford it? Passion cannot pay your bills. Hunger can be a big distraction. If you are broke, you need a job that can cater for your immediate needs.
Transitioning into a tech career can be your long-term goal. Former Nollywood Actress, Bukky Wright transitioned into a tech career at age 44. She currently works as a Senior IT Auditor in the US.
If you have all the needed resources and financial support to transition into a tech career, don’t hesitate. Grab the opportunity now.
4. Your tech skill is not enough
Do you know that it takes only 15 percent of your technical skills to build a successful tech career? It means you can have the best tech skills in the world and still fail in the field.
Research carried out by Harvard University revealed that 85 percent of what makes any successful business or career are soft skills. One of the secrets of the success of the Paystack Company is the management skills and growth culture.
Steve Jobs was not a part of the technical team of Apple company. He was more involved in strategic planning and marketing. To be successful in the tech industry (and any other industry), don’t just build competence in technical skills, acquire soft skills too.
More so, if you have the best skills but you cannot sell yourself excellently, you will struggle to go beyond average. There is a difference between having the skill and knowing the business of the skill. Being skillful alone will never make you money. You must master the business of the skill also.
5. No industry is superior to another
A world dominated by engineers and developers is synonymous with a football team comprised of only left-footers. Tech companies can’t exist in isolation. Today’s technologies are incredibly intuitive and tech bros need the diverse services, backgrounds, and skills of non-tech people to know what to build and why to build them.
The tech clime is broad and has multiple entry points and specializations. If you want to transition into a tech career, you do not necessarily have to learn how to code. Marketing, Writing, or Project Management can be your entry point into the tech industry.
Every tech company needs Accountants and Lawyers. Be that person. You are not irrelevant. Don’t let anyone intimidate you.
6. Stay in your lane and grow there.
Stay in your area of strength and evolve there. Every profession is lucrative as long as you are doing it right and in a favourable environment.
Take whatever life has given to you and become whatever you want to be. The fast-rising Ololade Asake is smiling to the bank daily in his music career. Chukwuemeka Ejekwu (Mr. Funny – Oga Sabinus) makes an average of ₦10 million every month as a Content Creator. Asisat Oshoala earns about $1 million per year playing for FC Barcelona.
You don’t have to transition into a tech career to be wealthy. You don’t have to build a tech product to be successful. There are multiple ways to make money and build a successful career across all disciplines. Know what you want and hold on to it.
7. There is a trend period for every sector.
The future is dynamic and there is a hype season for every sector. The agricultural sector experienced its economic boom period. The contribution of the oil sector to Nigeria’s GDP used to be the highest. Some time ago, it was Medicine and Banking. Now, it’s the time for techies.
It’s a rat race and no one can accurately predict what the next trend may be. In a matter of time, there may be a shift again. Follow your dream. Don’t jump into tech because it’s trending or because of a thought leader’s tilt. Don’t be distracted by the noise.
I wish you all the best.
© Kingsley Ndimele
Your Reliable Consultant
Sell like Portable Zaazu
If you can see beyond your hatred, reservations, negative predictions and biases, you will understand that Portable means business. In today’s world, there is an audience for every content.
Portable has his audience. He is not just popular. This nigga is influential. He is so active on social media showing up daily, shamelessly and loudly.
Dropping videos back-to-back, despite the criticism. He purely represents the street. He speaks the language of the street. Portable is a marketing force for the street.
Influencing a product is more than signing papers, wearing branded T-shirts and taking pictures. When it comes to marketing your product, influencers are very powerful.
This is because people know them, people like them and people trust them. However, not every celebrity is the perfect influencer for your product. Being popular is not the same as being influential.
Every celebrity is popular, but not every celebrity is influential. Being popular means they know you. Being influential means they listen to you.
Nnamdi Kanu gave a sit-at-home order in the South-Eastern Nigerian, even sitting governors could not stop it.
Odogwu Bitters is a street product for a street influencer. That drink is mostly for the hood. Portable represents the drink. I don’t think any influencer will market this new product better than Portable.
Do you think Portable would be the right influencer for a tech product or a real estate company? Any food or transport company that approach Portable may be wasting their funds.
In less than 48 hours of signing the brand ambassadorship deal with Odogwu Bitters, Portable has posted this product more often than any celebrity would do. He even released a song for Odogwu Bitters.
Portable puts his energy into everything he does. He took samples of Odogwu Bitters to his street boys.
He pulled a large crowd. Odogwu Bitters is currently the most sought-after spirit drink in Sango-Ota where Portable comes from. I was at the supermarket at Akure and people were already rushing Odogwu Bitters in cartons. So fast?
Obi Cubana made a right choice with Portable. He may not be the best in character or decorum, but he will sell Odogwu Bitters as if his life depends on it. ₦50 million for a hustling rising star no be beans.
Besides, this is Portable’s first major deal. In business, result and value rules out ethnicity and morals. Business does not answer to emotions; it answers to results. Portable is the right person for the job.
Obi Cubana is influential in the East. He needs a street influencer to penetrate and capture the South-Western market. Plastic bottled-spirit drink is more popular in the South-West, while dry gin and beer bottle rule in the South East.
Obi Cubana using Portable to expand his product to the Yorubas is a wise business decision and a perfect calculation. The goal of hiring an influencer is to sell your product.
As long as Portable is marketing this product excellently, he is a worthy investment. Every negative opinion is noisemaking.
Who would you hire as an influencer to market a weight loss product – Eniola Badmus or Sabinus? For a male fashion product – Ebuka or Brodashaggi? For an anti-aging cream – Kaffy or Taaooma? For a musical product – Naijabrandchick or Laycon?
Before you choose an influencer for your product, there must be synergy between the brand/product, your audience and the influencer. This is the biggest mistake most African businesses make.
© Kingsley Ndimele
Your Reliable Consultant
Secret Reasons Your Employees Resign Within Six Months
I used to admonish would-be entrepreneurs to have some working experience before starting a business. I was too quick to judge people who declared that they could never work under anyone.
This mindset may be faulty, but from another perspective, they have genuine reasons for saying this.
He who finds a good employer or works in a good company may not know what the Lord has done for him until he listens to the agony of other employees in different workplaces.
I have had over a decade of experience working with various employers across various organizations. I started working the same month I left secondary school in 2011.
Wetin my Musa never see for gate. I have had some employers who I wish to work with again, and I have had some employers who I don’t pray to meet with, even in hell.
There were some workplaces where I resigned officially by giving the usual one-month prior notice. There were other workplaces where I endured till the last day of the month so as to receive my last salary before zooming off.
There were some employers I left as an omolúàbi, and there were some employers I left slamming the doors on their faces. Haven’t you heard of employees who gang up to beat their boss?
There were some workplaces where I could convince my employer to change some management policies that were affecting the growth of the business negatively. There were other places where I was seen as a rebel for trying to champion or clamour for a change in policy.
Many companies have ‘audio’ values that attract great talents to them, only for these talents to realize that the employers do not act by these values.
Working with some employers is synonymous with choosing between the devil and the deep blue sea. Na wetin man go chop dey make most employees endure the physical and mental torture of most employers.
There were times when I put my head on the office desk and cried my eyes out.
I remembered one of the schools I taught where it was taboo for you to take a nap, even during break time. In fact, teachers were compelled to be at work during public holidays just to sit down and do nothing.
I know an employer who had over 15 employees. She never picked up her phone one day to call any of her employees all through the COVID-19 lockdown period.
Dear employer, some of your employees have not walked out of your door yet, but they have mentally checked out. Some of your employees are already passively looking for another job.
I wrote my resignation letter three months before finally leaving a job. I kept it in my room in a place where I could see it every day.
I once worked in a company in Ibadan. Before the company was celebrating its first-year anniversary, ten full-time employees had resigned. I resumed in March as an intern. By September of the same year, I was the oldest staff.
Before I eventually resigned in December, two other persons who were hired after me had already left too. Coincidentally, the three of us submitted our resignation letters almost the same day.
I know of one lady who was immediately replaced without notice during her maternity leave. She came back to resume work after her one-month leave, only to discover that she had been replaced.
This made everyone scared of taking a leave. Even the HR Manager who was planning his wedding could not request a leave.
How you treat your employees will determine how they will treat every customer that walks into your shop. How you treat you treat your houseboy is how he will treat your children and visitors, especially in your absence.
If you treat your employees poorly, they will treat your customers poorly and vice versa. No matter the frequency of morning devotions you do in your workplace, if you do not take care of your employees, your business will suffer.
Can you boast of at least two-thirds of your employees that have worked with you in the last year? Employee retention rate is the percentage of employees that stay with your organization during a given time frame.
Hiring the best talents to drive your business growth and achieve your business goals is as important as retaining them. Successful organizations and great businesses are built on talented and committed employees.
© Kingsley Ndimele
Your Reliable Consultant
Paying Business Tithe Is Illegal
Whether or not tithe paying is scriptural is none of my business. Whatever you believe in works for you. I believe in tithe. I pay my tithe and it works for me.
Nevertheless, when it comes to business, don’t mix your religious belief with your business. Although it is not explicitly written, the law of Nigeria (I don’t know about other countries) forbids paying tithe on a business. It is illegal.
That you do it to God does not mean it is right according to the law. No law permits you to pay tithe directly from your business. You can simply take your salary, transfer it to your personal account and pay your tithe from there.
For instance, if your business profit for the month of April is ₦250,000 and you take a fixed salary of ₦100,000 monthly or a percentage-based salary, your tithe should be one-tenth of that ₦100,000, which has become your personal money, not one-tenth of the ₦250,000 business profit.
You and your business are separate entities. Paying your tithe directly from your business means that you are taking what does not belong to you. It is theft.
If you pay your tithe directly from your business, the taxman will disallow it as an expense and add it back for tax purposes.
If you choose to pay your tithe or give alms, it is purely based on your religious allegiance.
For businesses that are often audited, paying your tithe directly from your business profit or business account may be regarded as embezzlement.
Ignorance is not an excuse. Don’t let your religious belief take you to jail. God sef go just dey shake head for you.
© Kingsley Ndimele
Your Reliable Consultant
Not All Your Customers Are Yahoo Boys
Recently, I approached a tailor to in my street to sew a cloth for me and he gave me an overwhelming price. He said, “Don’t you know how much Yomi Casual charge per cloth?”
I jokingly reminded him that I am not a yahoo boy, Besides, if I wanted Yomi Casual to sew for me, I know the road to Lekki.
This is the mistake most entrepreneurs are making: comparing themselves with bigger brands in terms of pricing. Hey! How much have you poured into building your business and brand that you want to make 70% profit from just one deal.
When did you start business, that you want to bill me like Yomi Casual. If those big brands started with a high price tag, they will most likely not be where they are today.
Before you place price tags on your products and services, consider your location. If your customers are majorly low-income earners, you cannot give them a ‘Banana Island’ price.
I remember a classmate of mine, who told me that her 3 in 1 boxer is ₦5,000. A student selling to a student in a federal university where the school fee is less than ₦30,000 per session.
The average Nigerian spends the larger percentage of his income on food. That means that, for the average Nigerian, everything you sell or offer competes with the price of food.
Forget about our packaging on social media, the average Nigerian is very price conscious.
I came to relax in your bar where I can afford my class of beer, yet you want to sell Goldberg to me for ₦700 per bottle. Haba! If I can afford that, I can also afford one bottle of water at Quilox for ₦1,000.
As at 2014, photographers in Port Harcourt charge at least ₦300 per hard copy whereas in Ile-Ife, the maximum price of a hard copy is ₦200 today (except you are being charged per studio time).
During my undergraduate days, you dare not organize a show and sell a ticket for more than ₦300 even if it is Beyonce that is coming to perform. Else, you will perform for the ghost of your ancestors.
Many organizers understand this strategy. But when they go to other campuses, they charge more than 300% of what is being charged in my school. It’s just about location.
In a competitive market, whoever has a quality product and an affordable price wins the market. Bigi cola used price strategy to compete with Coca-Cola. Cowbell used price strategy to compete with Peak milk.
BOVAS Filling Station uses price strategy to compete with other petrol stations in Nigeria, especially during petrol scarcity. Dangote uses this price strategy to step up his game of monopoly.
At NOVEL Nigeria, for our kind of business, we don’t have a fixed price for our services. The average Nigerian will prefer to set up a committee of friends and family, rather than hire an event planner and we know why this is so.
Hence, for us, we work within the budget of our clients irrespective of their class. This has been a winning strategy.
The larger population in Africa is made up of largely low income and middle-class guys. And we all can’t be chasing after the VGC and Maitama guys. These are just a lesser fraction of the market.
It is better and easier to make ₦1,000 each from 100 customers than to make ₦100,000 from one customer. This is the secret of Toyota Company and Dangote Company.
Where do you think MTN make the most sales? From the ₦100 recharge cards or from the ₦1,000 recharge cards? Dear, make your products and services distinct, central and affordable, if you must win and retain more customers.
There’s a reason why Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were made free to sign up. Have you suddenly forgotten about the “zero account” strategy that GTBank used to win most of us?
Do you think the average Nigerian would have welcomed Uber or Gokada if it was not affordable? Apart from taking pictures, why do you think most of us prefer to buy from Shoprite? Shoprite sells quality and affordable items.
Because your friend sold his plot of land at Yaba for ₦20 million per plot, you too want to sell your plot of land at Modakeke for the same price. Ogbeni, las las na government go convert that land to public cemetery.
Dear businesspeople, stop overcharging your customers. Not all of them are yahoo boys. Price is the biggest challenge of an average customer.
If you don’t see your customers again, it’s most likely they have moved on to a place where they can get same or better quality at a cheaper price.
© Kingsley Ndimele
Your Reliable Consultant
Put All Your Eggs In One Basket
I don’t know what motivational speakers have told you before now but the truth is, building one successful business in Africa is not a ‘yoke’ (in the Calabar dialect).
It is the dream of every African entrepreneur to own a conglomerate or a business empire. Who no like better thing?
Generally, building a business is hard, but building a business in Africa is harder. Virtually everything is against you. The African ecosystem is configured to choke every business to death.
If you doubt it, ask the okada man who must buy waste basket and tickets every morning from the agbèrò at orìta before he can be allowed to operate.
Now, you know why out of 1,200 unicorns in the world, only 7 are in Africa. The USA alone has 645 unicorns (2023 Data).
When it comes to the ease of doing business in the world, the USA ranks 6th, UK ranks 8th and Nigeria ranks 131. In fact, only two African countries (Rwanda and South Africa) ranks in the first 50 countries.
I know you wish to diversify like Aliko Dangote and own 400 companies like Richard Branson, but can you really be faster than the market or maneuver and manipulate the strangulating factors?
When it comes to the game of diversification and putting one’s eggs in different baskets, nobody plays it better than Richard Branson. Apart from being born with a diamond spoon, Branson’s environment favoured business growth and healthy competition. He could easily start a business, scale it, sell it and start another business.
For most of the entrepreneurs in the Western world, their chances of succeeding in business is high. Even if you fail in one business, you can easily bounce back and win again. Wetin you expect before?
Money dey. Stable economy dey. Market dey. Investors and venture capitalists’ full ground yanfu yanfu. Government support sef dey.
No wonder, Richard Branson had the effrontery to drop out of school at age 16, just like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Zuckerberg, Ted Turner and the likes.
Here in Africa, dropping out of school means your chances of succeeding in life has been reduced by half.
Irrespective of your race, religion and ideology, family and educational background, you can enter into the Western market and compete freely without knowing somebody who knows somebody.
To build just one business successfully bin Africa is harder than solving Chinese math, not to talk of building several businesses.
The Silicon Valley strategy says, “Fail fast and fail forward.” That is, the more you fail, the faster you grow. My dear, you cannot tell that to an average African entrepreneur who cannot afford to fail at all.
Failure in business may result to hunger, homelessness and his children will be sent out of class because of school fees.
In Africa, you must learn how to grow your business without losing a dime. In fact, no African investor will hold on to you when your business is losing money.
For Branson, entrepreneurship is an adventure. But for I and you, this kind of adventure is a no-go area. Branson failed in several businesses and lost huge money.
His losses were too numerous to be recorded. Nobody can build a successful business without taking risks. How much risk can an average African entrepreneur take?
In Africa, every entrepreneur must complement his efforts with vigils and anointing oil. The government is making all efforts to frustrate your efforts, make the economy unstable and make inflation to pursue and overtake you.
While you are strategizing on how to scale your Fintech, CBN et al are plotting your downfall. While you are thinking of importation and exportation business, you are also praying to find favour before the Nigerian Custom Service.
One Alhaji is somewhere bribing his way to get exclusive rights, whereas you are busy loitering around with photocopies of all your business documents just to seek bank loans.
I don’t mean to hurt you but the truth remains, playing the game of diversification may never work for you in Africa.
Building several profitable businesses successfully in Africa is like asking Rev Father Mbaka to do away with politics. Ko le werk!
Ònà kan ò wojàis the reason why Africa has so many mediocre businesses. You are into digital marketing. You are into shoe making.
Na you be baker. Na you be clothier. Na you be cinematographer. Na every business you wan venture into. Weldone, Uncle Jack. Weldone, Mrs. Gbogbonisè.
Calm down! Focus on one business first. Diversification is not for the powerless, the weak or the poor. If you don’t have anyone who is bankrolling you, please put all your eggs in one basket and watch over it strategically.
Even if you want to diversify, choose one niche and diversify there. Be like TONAD Publishers. Be like Gino. Be like Emzor. Be like Dettol. Be like Eleganza.
Don’t get it wrong. Building a business is different from having investments. In a business, you are actively involved. In an investment, you are passively involved.
You can have multiple investments in Africa but you should never have multiple businesses in Africa. Building a profitable and successful business empire in Africa no be beans. Àtàrí àjànàkú kìí s’ẹrù ọmọdé.
© Kingsley Ndimele
Your Reliable Consultant
Mentors Are Overrated
Do you need a mentor to succeed in business? Some thought leaders have made it look like once you do not have a mentor, you cannot succeed in business. This is not true. Many people have driven in an unknown city without a map yet they did not miss their way.
Take it from me – mentorship is great but not having a mentor does not mean that you cannot build a great business. If you don’t accept this truth, you may continue to beg for mentorship for the rest of your life.
Getting the commitment of a superstar to invest his time in you may be very difficult. No matter how persistent you are, they may never give you attention. Some may ignore your chats and calls. Some may promise you but may never fulfill it.
You may hate them for all I care. Tag them proud if you like. Get angry for not being ‘seen’ despite your effort. Your feelings are valid. I have been there too.
The dream mentor you need in your life for growth is very busy. Nobody has all the time in the world to start spoon-feeding a ‘stranger’ the ABC of business from the scratch.
Stop getting vexed that you tried to reach out and they did not even reply to your emails. Whenever you find yourself complaining about a lack of attention from a busy person, the solution is to get busy with your craft.
Stop begging for mentorship. Nobody owes you attention and mentorship is not an entitlement. Do your homework. If you follow and apply the principles for business success, you can start, grow and scale your business without a mentor. Not every successful entrepreneur has a mentor.
Your life is still complete without a mentor. There is no single person out there who can help you navigate every single challenge in your business or who has all the answers to every question regarding your business.
If you have put all effort to get a mentor but no one seems to be willing, it is time to face your solo reality and stop feeling like you are missing out on something. If you are tired of begging for mentorship, it’s time to spur yourself. After all, entrepreneurship is a lonely journey.
If you want to figure it out yourself;
- Try mentorship by readership
Submitting to a person’s mentorship does not mean that you have to meet with the person physically. Waiting to learn from your proposed mentor face-to-face is a sign of laziness and ignorance.
Invest the time you waste in chasing a mentor in improving yourself. Read his books. Mentorship by readership is the cheapest form of learning. All the answers to the questions you are waiting to ask them one-on-one may have already been answered.
Almost every piece of information you need has already been made available in his books. Sit down and consume all these materials. Everything can be researched. With Google and YouTube, it is almost impossible to be utterly clueless. If you are too impatient to learn on your own and take responsibility for your personal growth, get ready to keep shooting shots over the bar.
2. Combine learning activities
The beauty of not having a mentor is that you can guiltlessly wrangle opinions from various sources. If there are smart entrepreneurs and business leaders in your field that you admire,follow them on social media. Read their tweets. Signup for their newsletters. Watch their videos. Listen to their podcasts. Attend events where they are speaking.
The woman who has had the greatest impact in my life as a Business Consultant has never authored a book. She writes daily on Facebook.
Sometimes, I stay up all night reading all her posts on Facebook for the previous 3 years and learning from her wealth of knowledge. I have only seen her physically once at an event.
I have never spoken to her before. She does not even know that I exist nor am I bothered. In fact, I am one of her introverted followers who will neither like nor comment on her posts.
If your dream mentor offers a paid mentorship program, good for you. Pay to enroll. Payment may grant you access. Your mentor may not necessarily need your money. The price tag may be a bait to attract only serious folks.
3. Get a coach to train you.
A coach is NOT a mentor. A mentor uses experience to hold your hands. A coach uses tools and processes to guide you. You may not always need a mentor, but you will always need a coach.
4. Pay a consultant
Most times, the problems of a business cannot be identified by you or even those in the business. This is where a consultant comes in. A business consultant finds the missing link and gives you workable strategies to solve every puzzle in your business.
5. Maximize peer guidance
As an entrepreneur, you should understand that there is a thing line between taking independent decisions and shutting out every valuable relationship. Genuine feedback from your peers can be your guide. This is why being part of a community of entrepreneurs is important.
The conversations can open you up to better ideas and solutions. Don’t just keep friends that are only good for gossips, parties and beer parlours. Keep friends that can act as accountability partners.
6. Build strategic networks
One of the mistakes many entrepreneurs make is that they want to build a large circle of networks. If possible, they want to have all the contacts of every participant and speaker in every event.
Casting a large net among people can be stressful. Nurturing networks can be time-demanding. Rather than over networking and wasting your time on superficial contacts, be strategic.
7. Try ‘speed mentorship’
Speed mentorship is a strategic means of networking. It is a short term engagement for a specific task or opportunity and for a short period of time. It allows you to concentrate on the learning rather than the relationship.
8. Trust your instinct
Too many people want a ‘mentor’ who will put his stamp of approval on every decision they want to make. No! Sometimes, your mentor may innocently discourage you from attempting some things or pigeonhole you to adhere to a manual. But in reality, there is no master rulebook to succeed in business.
People who think a mentor is a must-have may never have the confidence in their own ability to take initiatives. In the journey of entrepreneurship, with or without a mentor, you have to know when to use your intuition. Moreover, there is a limit to what you can learn from your mentor. Your mentor is not omniscient. You have to carve your own path.
9. Learn the art of attraction
When it comes to ‘shooting shots,’ there is a reason my friends nickname me a ‘serial killer.’ I have met with some of the notable guys in the business world.
Think of some of the most successful entrepreneurs in Africa – I have sent them emails. I have their business cards. I have their phone numbers. I have pitched to them in their private DMs on social media.
Having their contacts does not guarantee access to them. While you are making an innocent effort to build a relationship with them, they may be seeing your efforts as a disturbance.
It is good to take selfies with them and send them happy new month messages from time to time, but deep down in your heart, you know that all those famzing and paparazzi are because you need help, not mentorship per se.
Most times, what many people are looking for is a sponsor, not a mentor. A sponsor is someone is interested in promoting you and your work. He is ever eager to recommend, advocate and announce to others how excellent you are. A sponsor is someone who is willing to invest his integrity on you and vouch for you to deliver anytime, any day, and anywhere.
A sponsor is that proverbial ‘destiny helper.’ He can open doors for you quickly and put the spotlight on you. He has the connection. He has the resources. He has the platform and he is doing well on a larger scale than you are.
Howbeit, you don’t get the attention of a sponsor by begging. Sponsors become interested in you when they clearly know your mission and vision and believe that you are able to actualize them.
How do you attract a sponsor? Keep showing up. Keep growing your influence. One day, a sponsor may notice you and your request won’t come from a place of begging. Recognizing you when you are some steps ahead of others is easier and effortless than recognizing you at the crowded ground level.
If you are lucky enough to get the attention of a sponsor eventually, you should have some valuable results to prove that you are deserving of a relationship with them.
Valuable people love valuable people. It is easier to attract the attention of a sponsor with your results than to chase them with ordinary word-of-mouth “can you be my mentor?”
Your sponsor wants to meet you ready, not waiting. Your sponsor wants to meet you with results, not with pity.
© Kingsley Ndimele
Your Reliable Consultant
Marketers Who Talk Too Much, Don’t Sell So Much
No matter how much a lady or guy crushes you, if you talk too much on a first date, you will mess things up. No matter your excitement, if you are too eager to talk, you will hit the rock faster. The first date even determines whether or not she would love to see you again.
Talking too much does not build connection, it inhibits connection. This is because the other party is already saturated or overloaded with too much details and with little time to process.
It is the same thing in marketing. You want to make more sales? Learn to keep it short and simple. keep your mouths shut and your ears open.
You must try as much as possible not to make the conversation more about yourself. Do not talk about yourself, your product features or services when selling. When it comes to selling, silence is golden.
One of the reasons you are not making sales is that you are speaking when it is unwanted. You are speaking when it is not needed. You are speaking when it is not necessary. You kill the sales process when you provide more information than required.
You should not provide answers to questions that have not even been asked yet. Don’t raise objections that have not been raised. You will be saving yourself from messing a great potential deal.
The effect of talking too much is that your potential buyer would assume that they are not being heard. In other words, your prospect will not be able to connect with you, your business, your product or service.
One incredible fact is that your prospect does not really care much about all the details and information you are loading them with. They don’t.
What matters to them is only what is in it for them. This is why you must learn how to take a pause before you give a response, especially after your prospect has spoken.
An immediate reply or response can impede or hamper a conversation or a sales process but listening well will help you to discover the painpoint, needs and interest of your customer. Your prospect has many unspoken needs that only a listening ear can unlock.
Before you sell to any prospect, ask questions. Let your customer do the talking. Give vital information so as to motivate your prospect to tell you more. This will help you to frame your marketing words as the authentic solution that your customer needs.
When pitching a sales to a prospective customer, try as much as possible not to interrupt the conversation. This is a very common mistake that most businessowners make.
Apart from being impolite and making you look unprofessional or unethical in your delivery, it also crash into your prospect’s thought. You affect his ability to make a purchasing decision and you also affect his thought process.
As you go about marketing your products, you must always bear in mind that making sales has little or nothing to do with overloading your prospects with unnecessary information.
I understand that keeping your mouth shut in the presence of a prospect can be very difficult for you. Not withstanding, this is the winning strategy.
Always bear in mind that during a sales process, your product is not as important as your solving your prospect’s painpoints. To make a successful sale, you must first be able to recognize your client’s needs.
In some cases, your prospect already know about your product. To make them buy, tell them how your product will benefit them personally.
In other instances, your prospect may not even have any knowledge of their problem or may not acknowledge that they have a need. They often keep it as a secret and use it for negotiating advantages.
Hence, it your responsibility to get it out of their inside by asking perceptive questions. These are the kind of question that will assist you to reach the painpoints of your prospects. It will tell you more about their needs and desires.
Try as much as possible to concentrate your sales pitch particularly around those needs that your prospects care most. These are what matters most to them.
The truth is, sometimes you just have to generate your answer via the back door, rather than making use of the front door. The more brilliant questions you ask, the more insight you gain to design a suitable sales pitch that specifically suits your prospect’s needs.
Do not jump into pitching directly to your prospects without first building a relationship with them. Make sure that you nurture a relationship with them.
Talk to them in a similar way as you would with your family and friends. Be yourself. There’s no need to switch into a sales mode as though you are reading from a script with exaggerated tones and speech patterns. Do not recite your sales pitch when selling.
If you jump right into pitching your product, your odds of closing the sale are going to materially decrease. Why? Because you have no idea yet, what your client actually needs. In fact, you should not even pitch your product at all in the first meeting.
Build a relationship with them first, asking the key questions, learn their pain points, and THEN set up a second meeting that specifically addresses their most pressing needs. This way, your odds of closing the sale will materially increase.
Marketers who suffer from “diarrhea of the mouth” will mess up a valuable sales process. Talking too much will put your customers to sleep in the first meeting.
The first meeting is the most important, to making sure you get the next meetings and the sale! So, the next time you want to open your mouth in a first sales meeting—it better be asking questions and not pitching products.
If the prospect asks you a question, give a brief answer then move on. Be a subject matter expert who is known for sharing knowledge to help your prospects make the most informed buying decision possible. Become a credible authority by telling your prospects something they don’t know.
While you probably have a fancy presentation deck about your company and its products, push it to the side and lead with valuable educational contents.
© Kingsley Ndimele
Your Reliable Consultant
Las Las, School No Be Scam
Every day, I am confronted by several young entrepreneurs who ask me if they should quit school to work on their ventures.
My response is almost always the same. “If you are in school without a reason, you are not better than those who dropped out of school without a reason.”
Our doctors and lawyers cannot afford to be dropouts but many entrepreneurs have excelled by doing just that. Nevertheless, is this enough reason for entrepreneurs to quit or skip school?
The media may not tell you that for every successful entrepreneur who was a dropout, there are millions of entrepreneurial failures out there full of regrets.
For every Zuckerberg who dropped out, there are hundreds who wish they had stayed back in school. No be every dropout wey dey hustle dey finally make am for business.
School is a platform for self-development. For some of us, school was the platform where we discovered our skills and passions.
It is a fertile ground for launching your talents, skills and business before you get to practice them in the work environment.
Go to school because you need to develop yourself and discover your talent. It is an environment for you to be a better version of who you were yesterday.
It affords you a chance to satisfy your curiosity by exploring areas of interest.
In school, you do not only learn what you want to do with your life but also what you do not want to do. Once, you enter the work world, you no longer have that luxury of time and flexibility to explore.
Go to school and get more than a degree. If you are in school with the intent of bagging a good paying job only, then you are the real scam.
School na scam is the biggest scam in this generation.
1. It is almost impossible to graduate from school absolutely clueless with nothing reasonable to offer to the world outside, unless you went to school primarily for fun.
2. There is a form of enlightenment that comes to an individual in school no matter how little it may be.
3. School is not meant to take away your family afflictions. Going to school does not translate to financial success. School is not structured to make you rich.
It is structured to make you enlightened. It is your duty to make a fortune out of it. School is not a scam. You only had some unrealistic expectations.
4. Our schools are essentially providing answers to old questions, whereas the economy is asking new questions.
If your school is not giving you enough of what is needed to thrive out there or to be an outlier in the society, please go an extra mile to get it.
You literally have to go the extra mile to seek relevant knowledge that meets the current market demand.
© Kingsley Ndimele
Your Reliable Consultant
If You Think You Are Doing Me, You Are Doing Yourself
Hardly will you meet any Nigerian youth these days without a title. Even Hushpuppi says he’s an entrepreneur (Real Estate).
Everywhere is littered with Content creators with no content. Entrepreneurs with no enterprise. Project Managers with no project. Even a WhatsApp group Admin is a CEO.
If I should save all the ‘Tosins’ and ‘Davids’ on my phone contact with CEO or Entrepreneur, I will just end up having multiple mistaken identities.
Yet, whenever I need to call a tailor, I don’t remember anyone of them. I simply call “John Tailor” because that is what I can remember easily.
This is why Uchekinze Plumbing Works gets more patronage than Uchechi Water Expert. This is why Bayo Photography Studio gets more patronage than the B.A.Y Imaginations.
You are a Twitter Influencer not a PR Expert. If you sell “Ewa Agoyin”, be proud to introduce yourself that way. Don’t use “Nutrition Consultant” on your bio. Stop doing yourself.
Your potential customers are confused. They want to know what you really do. What do you mean by “I am an Innovation Manager and Mentoring Consultant?”
If you make shoes, you are shoemaker. You are a clothier. You are a caterer. If you bake cake, you are a baker, not a sugarsmith.
You are a plumber. You are a fish farmer. You are a graphic designer. You are a makeup artiste. You are a trader.
People relate more with you that way. Entrepreneur is a generic name and CEO is the most deceptive title. People remember you easily that way. Always resist the unnecessary urge to ‘shalaye’ yourself. Make it simple for people to remember. Stop doing yourself.
© Kingsley Ndimele
Your Reliable Consultant