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Hello and welcome to the show. Today's episode is an out and about episodes. We expect to hear some cars in the background, and I'm actually parked next to a chicken. For now. The chicken is asleep, but if the chicken wakes up and crows, yeah, you just know that. Yeah, that's what it's about. I'm not in a zoo. I'm actually waiting for a meeting with the client, the potential client. And they're running late, so I forget.
Let me just loop up my phone and make a recording real quick then, OK, I listened to the last episode that I recorded the one that I recorded in my in my audio booth and I noticed that the sound quality actually was quite, quite tight, quite good. I mean, there's a difference when I'm doing this out and about things and when I'm in audio booth. So I just want to apologise to you guys who are audio files. You know, you like your audio nice and clean and things like that, but you know, to be honest, I'm very, you know, I'll put it like up and about, up and down.
And so if I'm going to wait until I can set up the audio booth and then record and all that, then I probably would only be recording, I don't know, maybe once a week or once every other two weeks. So the reason why I'm taking this approach for now is just I just want to make sure that I get the episodes out, you know, as they occurred to me or as things happen, things like that, so we can share the gospel of sales on personal selling to improve our businesses.
But yeah, I noticed that there's a difference. So I'll try and make sure that I go back to doing as many episodes as possible in the in my audio booth. But for now, I'm out and about, I'm on the road and let's get down to business until the client shows up. So what I want to address today is this whole thing of are you a business owner or you self-employed? Yes, I know it's something that I've made a couple of episodes in the past, but of course there are a couple of people who are newbies, and so excuse me, who are newbies listening to the show for the first time.
And then of course, it doesn't hurt to bring these things up every now and again just so we can get our thinking straight. So why am I making another podcast episode on this whole thing about whether you're a businessman or whether you're self-employed? And it's because I saw a post on LinkedIn recently where this guy was talking about a ghost writing business. In fact, once I saw a ghost writing business, I kind of knew where this thing was heading already because there are lots of people who say they're writing a ghost writing business, but you know, really they're just self-employed because the ghost writing business would be more of like an agency model where you set up an agency, you have people working for you, you know, stuff like that.
Well, anyway, this guy's really proud of himself. And actually I'm proud of him because the money that guy's making is, is not bad. You know, it's mad, you know, you take the the dollar equivalent and then he converted to Niger and that looks like some mad money. Anyway, so the post was just about, you know, him proclaiming about how he started his business in quote and then sharing the steps about how people can become business owners as well.
And that's the reason why I'm making this post because there are lots of you who want to be business owners. But anyway, let me just continue. So the steps. So First off, he decided on the person or the service that he was going to that he was going to do. And then he decided on the 1A one person service business model. So let me repeat, he decided on what it is that he wanted to do, the product that he was going to sell, all those sorts of things.
And then he decided on the business model, which was a one person service business model. That's how he called it. And that's the reason why I'm making this episode because very, very nice on TV. There is no such thing as a one person service business model. If it's a business, then it has to go beyond you. If it's just you, you are self-employed or you're a hustler or you're whatever it is you want to call it, but it is not a business.
And I'll talk some more about that then next. He decided on the ideal customer profile, the people that he's going to pursue. And you can see how some of these things that we talk about over here on the podcast are kind of common sense, but people don't think about it when we're starting off. We need to know who we're chasing after, who are we going to pursue, you know, to, to make our clients. Because if you don't know who it is they're running after, then you're going to be marketing any which way, trying to do sales any which way, spending money any which way, running advertisement, any, any how,
creating content any which way and end up attracting nobody in particular. But if you decide that for this product or this service, I'm going to be targeting IBO women who live around Orca between the ages of 50 and 63 and who are retirees and who are interested in this and this and that and that, you can see that that's a very clear ICP. You now have a sense of, oh, OK, this kind of people, maybe they attend Christian Mother meeting,
so I should be going to trust to do the marketing and maybe they're interested in these sorts of topics around grandchildren or whatnot. So they should inform the kind of content that I make. But I'm just trying to say that when you're very, very clear, like this is the person that I'm chasing, you can see how what you should do becomes even clearer. Where you should go becomes clearer, or you should write or tweet about becomes clearer instead of just assuming that the whole world is your, is your target market.
Then the fellow took relevant courses. And I'm impressed that the guy did that is something I think we should do. And also like the fact that the guy only took six courses and then he started, let me repeat, this fellow only took six courses, and then he started. The problem that a whole bunch of us make is you want to be, excuse me, properly educated. And we don't want to make mistakes, so excuse me. And so because of that, we take one course after another, after another, after another.
And before you know it, two years have passed and you're still taking courses. But my guy just took six courses and then he started. So then of course, he also joined online communities. And then he talked about his activities of trying to build a brand. For him, building a brand was mostly website work and LinkedIn work, you know, optimizing profile and then stuff like that. And the part that was really sweet in my belly when I read the whole thing was my guy said he sent out 50 personalized emails with an introductory offer.
And I really, really love that because I've been talking about how when we're trying to start a business, prospecting, prospecting is key. Prospecting is that whole thing of who might be interested in my product or my service, Where do they hang out? How am I supposed to reach out to them? How should I start a conversation? That is really what gets, excuse me, that's what really gets. Our business is up and running. So it really gladdened my belly that my guy sat down, looked through his contacts and came up with 50 people that OK these people I think they might need ghost writing services and then crafted emails and then sent the emails to them to get things rolling.
Now I would have preferred 50 phone calls but I mean any which wisha. So anyhow, the guy just got the ball rolling. So 50 emails. So we need to be taking concrete action like this. Come up with a prospecting plan. Sometimes it's that simple. Sit down, open your phone. On your phone you have 2000 contacts. If you look at your 2000 contacts and you can come up with some people 30-40 fifty. It's not a bad way to start. The good thing is these are people that you already know.
Having conversations with them is going to be relatively easier because you won't be afraid of rejection because some of these people will be your cousins, your ex-girlfriend, your ex-boyfriend, your former orga, people in church, former colleagues, what else? And maybe a random acquaintance you met at last week's networking session. But these conversations are going to be a whole lot easier than trying to go and talk to random people from the get.
So my guy's overall advice was just start. And I agree, just start. So 100% I clap for the guy, how he went about doing this thing. And I hope that if you guys come across these sorts of stories on LinkedIn or wherever you hang out, you guys are going to be inspired by the decisiveness and the level of action that these people take. So we should all clap for the guy. But now this is the question, is he really a business owner?
Because to be a business owner, it means they're going to set something up so that they think has processes and has systems that exist beyond you. Let me repeat, because the whole bunch of you listening to this podcast right now, you're currently working for someone and you're thinking, I'm tired, I want to start a business, I want to start a business, I want to be a business owner, blah, blah, blah. And so because of that, you run out like this guy and start your ghost writing business.
You say you're doing a one person service business model or you you're doing it like me and you're running things solo and you deceive yourself that you are running a business. You do not have a business because businesses have processes and have systems that continue beyond you. If you do not believe me, let me spell it out some more. There are some of us who are running things. I'm not saying that what this guy is doing is bad, and I'm not saying what I'm doing is bad.
I'm just saying that open your eye and be very clear about what you're doing so that there's no frustration in the future. Some of us have decided to run our business, our passion or whatever it is you want to call it in a way, unfortunately, that we have to be there. 2474 things to work. My guy is calling this thing a business, but let's face it, if he's going for his daughter's naming cerem, OK, No, it's his daughter.
So that won't be him going for the name. If he's organizing his daughter's naming ceremony. And you know how these things can be now, you don't have to hire a planner. So basically he's going to be very, very busy for like a week and a half. In that week and 1/2, when he's out of the system, business is not going to be moving because there are no processes. There are no systems that run beyond him. There is nobody in the office manning the phones or whatever it is that needs to be done to bring in business because he's running up and down, talking to vendors, he and his wife looking at colours, which one are we going to use What?
What kind of list are we going to sew? Talking to Taylor, talking to the caterer, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. If you need to be there for this thing to work out, please don't call yourself in your mind, the business owner, you are self-employed. And that is why over here on the show, I keep saying for the business owner, for the self-employed, for the whatever, because I am self-employed. You know, if, God forbid, but you know, if minding my business and I'm walking past the construction site and the block of cement falls on my head and I'm in a corner coma for three weeks, nothing is going to happen.
You won't hear any podcast episodes. No business is going to be coming in. And that's because I would be in a coma for three weeks. When I come out of the coma, then your business will resume. Somebody who is a business owner like Dangote, for instance, if the same thing happens to Dangote and Dangote is in a coma for three weeks, it doesn't matter. The refinery is still going to function because he has group managing directors for each arm of the business and this and this and that and that business will still continue to come in.
And that is the main difference between a business owner and someone who is self-employed. Some of you are going to say, look, it's not the money that's the Coco. The money is the important thing. So why are we quibbling over definitions whether it's self-employed or whether it's business owner? The reason why I want us to get these things right is so that we have the right expectations from the beginning so that we don't have frustrations in the future.
Somebody who says I'm tired of working for Mr. so and so, Barrister so and so I'm tired of working for Dangote. If the person goes and sets up a business, then after a while you know that you can take a break and income will still come in because you have set up processes and you have set up systems that are beyond you. So the money you're looking for will come. The rest you're looking for will come. If you're tired of working for Dangote or whoever it is you're working for and you say you want to so it'll be business and then you do this thing and you say you're doing a one person service business model.
You know a business owner. You're not, you're self-employed. You have just moved to a new job and now you are the boss. You are the one who's responsible for payroll. You are the one who's responsible for sales and marketing. You are the one who's responsible for admin. You are the one who's responsible for customer service. You are the one who's responsible for a whole bunch of stuff, at least in your heart of hearts, if you know that.
OK, yes, right now I'm self-employed, but the goal is eventually I want to build this thing into a business. No problem. So all these frustrations that people have because you, you see it on LinkedIn, people say I used to be employed before blah, blah, blah. I thought my employer was crap. So I decided to go out on my own business. Life is tough and this and this and that and that and that and that. You know, some of these expectations, mismatch expectations is just because we were not clear with ourselves what we're doing from the beginning.
If you know, I own with your full chest that you're being self-employed, then there's no frustration. So like for me, I know right now there's no frustration. That's just the life that I chose. I know that was something, you know, I know that if I oversleep Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, I, I had met with my full chest. Yes, oversleeping Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, it means that there's work that needs to be done that has not been done.
But as a business owner, if I wake up one day, I say, Kai, it needs to take a mental health day. All I need to do is to call office manager and say, look, I'm not coming in today. So, so, so and so accounts are pending. Make sure that we do so, so, so and so you guys are not hear from me for two weeks and then I called the phone and then I can sleep for two weeks and the business still continues because there are systems and there are processes that go beyond me.
Now eventually personally, I'm going to migrate into an agency model. I'm looking for sharp guys and sharp girls who are interested in sales who also believe in my own gospel of personal selling. Because there's some people here who when they hear sales, what do you think is they think of what this thing is called sales funnels, blah, blah, blah. You know, online, online, online blasting people, mass e-mail and all these sorts of things.
And that's not how that's not what I believe. That's not what I do. It works, don't get me wrong. I'm just saying that that is not how I choose. That's just not what I believe, and that's just not how I think is the best way to grow businesses for SM ES. So eventually I'm going to migrate into an agency model. And when I do have that agency model, I will now be able to beat my chest and say I am a business owner because then there will be systems and processes beyond me.
So that if me and my wife decide let's take the children, let's travel to Switzerland, let's go and ski. But we have never travelled to Switzerland. And I don't know how to ski. And I don't think it might be a good idea because my children, they know how to skate. So one day I said, let me try this skating thing while the skating rink and I put on the skating shoes. And before I knew it I had done the 360 and I was on my back.
And I thought to myself that homo at this age, I can't afford to be having these kinds of accidents like this. So that's how my skating career ended. So my children skate, but me, I know skate. And so I don't think I'm going to try, what's it called, you know, snow, all that snow, anything anytime soon. Yeah. So my kids might try it out, but I'll just stay there and watch. So when that time comes that we're going to be able to afford to travel to Switzerland and we're going to be able to go skiing and all of that, then I'll have my agency business model up and running.
And if we decide to stay in Switzerland for four weeks, won't be a problem because I know that back home in Niger, this person is responsible for this. This person is responsible for that. This system takes care of this. That system takes care of that. But until then, I went to the business and I went to the podcast. So all my guy did in starting up a ghost writing, ghost writing business, Congrats to him. Yeah, he has, he has done well and he's making all of us proud.
He's he's making all of us proud. So he has he has done well. But we just need to be clear when we do these sorts of things that you're not moving into a life of freedom and you're not a business owner, you're self-employed. And because of that, the same stresses that you had while working for OGA will continue now that you're self-employed. In fact, it's going to be worse now because at least before OGA was responsible for your your paycheck.
I was responsible for sales and marketing and admin and everything now is going to be on responsibility. So bottom line, what I'm saying is just only with your full chest. A lot of you running around on your LinkedIn and put in business owner, CEO something some you are not CEO, nothing. You're self-employed. You're not business owner something some like just forget all those fancy titles. Just own it with your full chest.
You're self-employed and come up with a plan. Is this something I want to do? self-employed moves forever. I think Americans, I think they call that is it cottage? No, not cottage business. What do they call it again? Personal personality, something I can't remember, but there's a term for it like this, this cottage business. So you either cottage business or personality, something entrepreneur, I can't remember. But whatever it is, just only with your full chest.
There's some people who do that and are perfectly fine. In fact, there's some business consultants that I used to read, American Business Consultants. I can't remember this guy's name. He has a podcast and for him that was his thing, you know, that was his thing. Like look, I'm a professor, I'm a teacher, this is what I do. I'm self-employed and I'll be self-employed until the very end. I've made quite a bit of money.
Me and my wife will be fine. The children are OK. I'll continue this thing until I can do it no more. And then that's the end. And so he knows. So just be upfront only with your full chest. I'm self-employed. Decide not only be a business owner, come up with a plan, start migrating it. So yeah, so that's it pretty much for today. And the reason why I'm quibbling about this whole thing is because if you think you're something but you're not, you have the wrong expectations.
Heartbreak will follow. And yeah, anyway, so that's just it. So thanks for listening to today's episode. Please connect with me on WhatsApp. The phone number is 08064662140. The country code is lost 234 for those of you who are not Nigerian, then connect with me on LinkedIn for questions, queries, tips, tricks, whatever the name to look for establishment IED. I'm the host of the show, so you can confirm the spelling of my name using this the link.
We're currently listening to this episode. So just go there, highlight my name, copy and paste. You see my handsome face there and then send me a connection request and we'll take a conversation from there. So thanks for your time and attention. I'll catch you guys up the next episode.