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Hello and welcome to the show. Apologies for the noise in the background because I'm currently back at the mechanic. So we expect to hear some noise in the background. Now I know some of you are going to be wondering why is this guy spending so much time with the mechanic now? Well, like I said, you know, we're just one of these things, these things, you know, these cars, they pack up on us every every now and then, you know,
which is why I'm saying that the next time I get a car, it has to be brand new. So I know that I buy it, I'm driving it for like 3 to five years, no major issues. And if you feel concerned, go ahead. You can do a GoFundMe or something like that, you know, contributing my brand new car. Well, until then. I'm still here. Chilling in at the mechanic now. Let's see. So I was going through the comments now and I realized that there's someone that I haven't paid attention to.
Her name is Bolu Tunji. I'm assuming it's a she because of the business idea that we're going to be discussing in the moment. Now, Bolu. Well, shout out to Bolu. Tunji, thank you very much for listening to the show. She says she's been listening to the show while cooking. And I'm glad that I've been keeping you company on your motherly duties or wifely duties or well, if you're not married on your, you know, stomach duties or whatever anyway.
So I'm glad that I've been keeping you company while you're busy. And I'm hoping that our relationship will continue for a long while. I'm hoping to remain in your earbuds for the next, you know, 234567, however many, however many years that this relationship might last. So Bolu left some comments on Spotify saying that she wants me to make a podcast episode on making hats and fascinators because she's a first time business person who has a prior career in Asia that's in human resources and she's looking for knowledge upfront before she starts the business because she doesn't want to start the business and then fail.
So let me repeat Bolotunji. And the case that we're going to be discussing today is she wants to get into business of making hats and fascinators. You know, fascinators are those fancy, you know, like feathers and scraps of, you know, artistic, you know, artistic stuff. You know, all those things I want to put on their heads. And I'm like, you know, if you're wearing a hat, wear a hat. Anyway, it's not about us. It's about the customer.
And people love those things. They love fascinators. Yeah. You know, like my wife, my, my sister-in-law. So that woman, I like wearing all those, you know, fancy things. But anyway, so where was I anyway? So that's what we're going to discuss today. If you're getting into the business of making cuts and fascinators, how do you go into the business? What kind of knowledge do you need to make sure that you're not going to start the business and to fail?
So that's what we're going to be doing now. In the comments section, I reply to Bulla and I told her to hit me up on WhatsApp. I gave her my phone number, and this is my phone number. I'm giving it to you guys as well so you can reach out. The number is 08064662140. Country code is +234. No, the reason why I give up these this number and the reason why I ask you guys connect with me on LinkedIn, the name to look for establish my IED is because for some of you who have very specific questions, you know, it would help for us to actually chat a bit or maybe have a conversation.
So I know who you are, what you are about, where you've gone, what you tried, what failed before I start giving some advice because it's possible that I may make this whole episode and say a bunch of stuff that she has already tried before. So that's the reason why I asked for her to reach out, but she didn't. So let me just go ahead and make this episode anyway. Now, some of you might be afraid because I think some of you might be afraid of getting in touch because you think I'm going to now try and strong arm you and get you guys to pay for consulting.
And no, that is not the case. I put my number out there because I generally want to know what kind of things you guys are struggling with. And I'm trying to get a sense of who my ideal listener is and the kind of problems that you guys are facing. And I think that's one of the reasons why the the podcast is growing steadily because each time I have an interaction with you guys and I make a podcast episode about that, it is something that is relevant to what other people are facing.
And there are lots of people who can relate to some of the case studies that we use over here. So it's not just me doing conjecture. It's because I'm talking to people live and direct Now, of course this is how I make my living. So definitely one or two of you, we definitely would turn this into a paid consulting arrangement. But the default is not for me to try and strong arm you guys because I know some people are just curious and I know like for the students that I've been talking with, you know, the,
there was the Uniband students, there was the Benoit State University student, there were the girls from UI. Then I think there was like two or three from Musuka. OK, I haven't heard from OAU. OK, one OAU person I haven't heard from. I haven't heard from anybody in Amadou Bello. Let me see why else anyway shall so like the university people, I mean, of course, I'm not going to try and squeeze any money out of you because like, how much money do you have anyway?
But I'm just saying that I'm doing this primarily #1 to help because I like to help #2 to figure out who my audience is. Number 3, the case studies are now going to be relevant. It's going to be engaging content, and it's also going to help my podcast to grow. And then of course, yes, for some of you who can afford it will have to go in depth on what some of the problems are. So bottom line, what I'm trying to say is that when I give you my number at the beginning of the episode and at the end of the episode, don't be afraid to call, you know, just call.
And if you call and I sound like a scam artist and I'm trying to collect some money from you, just cut the phone and block straight block immediately. You know, as in protect yourself by all means. So let us go straight into answering Bolu Tunji's question. And now we're going to look for the frameworks for starting a business. Oh, by the way, I just want to address something when about her expectations. She wants to start a business and to not fail.
OK, Primarily all of us will get into business. Definitely we want to succeed and we don't want to fail. But just know that there is no 100% recipe for making a business to not fail. Businesses failings because of complex number of reasons. But for me the one I like to harp on is sales. Whether you can sell or whether you can get other people to sell on your behalf, whether you can set up the systems, the processes to make sure that your business can sell and then thrive.
So those are the sorts of challenges that I pay attention to. But I guess what I'm trying to say is some businesses will fail and that is OK. My concern is because some of us are afraid of failing, we do not even start now. That is the problem and that is the reason why on the podcast I keep talking about my framework for starting a business in three easy steps. OK, well, the steps are simple, but applying it may take some effort.
And the framework for starting a business is number one. We want to make sure that we're selecting the right business to begin with because one more, if we start with the wrong business, wahala day as in serious wahala, so we need to start make sure that we're doing the right business #2 when you try and figure out is this business feasible? Is this thing profitable? Because sometimes the business can work, but the business is bringing cobble, cobble, and it's not even the kind of cobble.
That's when you add everything together, you know, we'll be able to be something reasonable. So there are some people who do the business and yes, the business is going, I guess it's bringing the money, but the money is not worth my while. You know how much money is worth your while? You know it depends. It really depends. Like the example I gave a long time ago about wedding photographers. As a wedding photographer if you do one single event, OK.
I don't know about now but back in my own day when I was active in the field if you do one event I able to charge the clients like one M 1.5. That's a sweet deal, the sweet. But then if you're an architect or if you're an engineer. 1.5 is rubbish if a 1.5 might be an insult. So you know, it depends. Who are you, what industry, what's the scope of the project, how old are you? What's your stage in life? How many children do you have?
Are you single? So you know, it depends. So these are questions that we all have to answer for ourselves. So step one, make sure we have the right business. Steps 2, make sure that this thing is feasible and it's profitable. And then #3 my favorite selling frameworks. Can we sell the damn thing? Because if we find the right product or service and The thing is profitable, but we we don't know how to sell the thing, then sorry, you know, or yours, your own, like I'll give you an example, Facebook, this whole thing with social media networks, is that the right business?
Yes, depending on your skill sets and everything. So Zuckerberg is there and others who are before him. Is this thing feasible and profitable? You know, in theory, yes, If you gather billions of people on the social network, you should be able to get money from them. But then the last thing selling framework, you know, can you extract value from the network? And unfortunately for what's this one called, before Facebook, there was this network called, is it Myspace, Abby,
Myspace and all of them, them, all those ones, I wasn't on that one. My brother was on that one. So like Myspace and all of those ones, they couldn't figure out a way to extract value from the network. And so, you know, rightfully they died, but then Facebook was able to figure out a way to extract value from the network. LinkedIn has been able to find ways to monetize. So you can see that as a three-step thing, you know,
right product or service is the thing feasible, then can we sell? Can we extract value? Can we pull something out? If these three things are not there, then yes, your business will fail. Now, when it comes to right business, for those of you who've been listening for a while, you're really familiar with this part of my framework, you know, passion, skill set, market or environment gaps, passion. Is this something that you're passionate about?
I do not advise for people to go into business solely based on passion because whenever you start as a passion or as a hobby, when you start charging for it, the thing will cause you serious grief. Like you guys have heard about how some people are owning me some Ms. and I'm chasing them, you know, for the money to be paid. If these things are purely passion projects, then you can see how the thing will not be frustrating.
Something that I used to do before for joy, let's say, OK, since I'm the mechanic, let's say fixing cars. Okay, well, in Nigeria, people don't fix cars as a hobby, but in America, people fix cars as a hobby. So for my American listeners, even though not many of you, let's use you guys. So let's say you're fixing a car. Now fixing cars, a hobby, you know, you work on your car. It makes you feel like a man. It makes you feel relaxed, you know, it makes you feel cool,
you know, because of that, you know, wifey sees like you're a different man, stuff like that. But then when you set up a mechanic shop, it is different. Somebody drops the car on Monday. They want their car on Friday and the reason why they need it on Friday is because they needed to travel on Saturday or something like that. You now have to order parts. You now have to supervise boys, you now have to supervise volcanizer, panel beater,
welder. You know, this is this. So before something that used to give you joy, you now wake up and you'd be thinking, oh God, I have to go to this. I have to go to my shop again. So that's the problem with passion businesses. But the thing about passion is if there's something a passion is about, it's going to give you staying power for when the going gets rough. So, you know, everything has, you know, problems and you know,
it's head and tails, you know, 5050 or so, it's that kind of thing. But I'm just letting you know that if you're passionate about baking, it does not mean that when you start baking as a business person that the going is going to be smooth and that you'll be having fun in. Fact, a time will come that if you love baking and you start the business of being a Baker, a time will come when you will hate baking for some of you.
Then let's see what did I say again? OK, skill set and then effort. Now the good thing about starting a business around your skill set and effort, whether you have passion for it or not, because I was a wedding photographer, but clearly I did have some skills when it comes to customer relationship sales. You know, these sorts of things, which is why some wedding planners started asking me come and train my people. And that's how it began.
So if it's around your skill set or effort, it helps with building credibility. And then it also helps if you're the subject matter expert, because when you're the subject matter expert, you're going to be able to design effective sales processes around the thing. So OK, let me personalize it now. So, So Balu, if making hats is your passion, Yeah, good. That's, that's one good thing. It will give you staying powerful when the going gets rough.
But just know that if making hearts is what gives you joy now, just know that there will be times that making hearts is going to give you stress, like you'll be making the heart for the client. And you'll be angry. So it happens to everyone that one is just normal. But the good thing is if that's your area of expertise, it's going to give you credibility. There's a way that when you're talking, people will just know that when it comes to fascinators, this babe is the very babe like you know it will.
It will show, you know, because the things that we are experts about or that we know a lot about, it carries in the way that we talk, in the way that we can express ourselves. And so, you know, it shows. So skill set, effort, subject matter, expertise, all of that really, really, really important. And then like I said, it will help you to create an effective sales process because because Bolu, I'm assuming now that hearts and fascinators is your thing because you know how long it takes to make a heart or the things that are important in making a heart.
It will go into your sales process. Like the way you handle the conversation when you're trying to understand what it is that the client wants, what it is that the client needs. You'll be asking the right kind of questions because it is your area of expertise. If I'm going to sit down with somebody now to do need analysis for making a heart, to be honest, I don't know what questions I'll ask. I mean, I'll ask, you know, what kind of occasions do you go to?
I might ask what's your favorite colour? Let me see what else. Those are the only things that come to my mind. So like, I don't even know the right kind of things to ask. But you, if this is your area of specialty, you will now know the kind of questions to ask. Or maybe you even need to do wardrobe consultation ahead of time. You know, I don't know, those of you in the hot space, you know what the right kind of questions are.
So this is the reason why under the right business, it's not just passion and skill set, but we need to make sure that we have the skill set and the expertise. Then also starting a business around gaps in the market or around gaps in the environment. So it's possible that maybe Niger babes like fascinators. Maybe it's possible that it's not just my wife or my sister-in-law who likes fascinators. Let's assume that maybe there's like, I don't know, maybe like 15,000,000 babes in Niger who want fascinators but who do not know where to get fascinators.
So in that case, now there's a market gap. So it might make sense for you to start the business because there's a gap in the in the market or there's something in the environment. So in a simple or let's say no simple summary, these are the things to consider when it comes to picking the right business. Are you passionate about the damn thing? But remember, passion isn't everything. Do you have some skill set? Do you have some expertise in this thing?
Is there a gap in the environment? Is there a gap in the market that you're trying to fill? Another reason why gap in the market or gaps in the problems in the environment are important is because it helps us to figure out stage 2, which is existing, feasible or profitable. If there's a gap in the market and you start this thing, obviously you will see that there is some. There's some demand, there's some also. One moment, let me attend to the mechanic.
I'll be back. OK, guys, sorry about that. The mechanic just showed up, so, you know, I had to attend to him and, you know, discuss, try and find out what's going on with the car now. And I've had to move because they started working on the car. So it's real noisy there. And unfortunately I can't find a quiet place to continue. So yeah, Windy and some other people around. So just the everyday adventures in making podcasts.
Live out and in the field. So I just finished talking about how you should select the right business and let's see OK, product market fit. Now I have So the reason why looking for something you know where there's a gap in the market, why that's important is because it helps you to solve this whole thing of demand is that demand for this thing. So obviously if babes in Nigeria are feeling this whole heart idea, this whole fascinating idea, so the only way for them to get hurt is to go online, go to Marks and Spencer's, go to Amazon, go to a source, go to all these places and then order.
Then you know, you stepping in like you're going to meet a lot of demand and that's going to be good for the business. So Step 2 is trying to figure out is this thing feasible or profitable? Now, in my own opinion, this is what I like to tell people that we should not get too fancy. We have to get involved in some sales motions. And when I say sales motion, it just means activity, things that you're going to be doing,
whether physically, online or offline, you know, whatever. But we have to do some kind of activities. And we're trying to figure out, is there market validation here? Is the market telling us that this thing is a good idea? Because it's not about you, it's about the market. If you think fascinators are the best thing since sliced bread, but Nigerian babes are not feeling fascinators, they're nothing for you. Like you're dead on arrival.
If Ghanaian babes like fascinators, then you're better off trying to see how you make your fascinators and sell them in Ghana rather than making fascinators and selling them in Niger. So that's what market validation is all about. Does the market think this thing is a good idea? Do people demand this thing? Do people like this thing? Is there room for growth with this kind of thing? And we're not going to solve this problem by staying in our house.
That's why I say we need to get involved in some traditional sales motion. So it involves us going out, picking up the phone call, you know, making some emails or sending some WhatsApp, but we're not going to figure out the problem just by staying in the house. So whenever you hear me say market validation or product market fit, that is just summary. That's what we mean over here. Product market fit, This is my product or my service.
Is this thing fitting the market? If it's Ghanaian babes or Benin Republic babes that like fascinator, then you can make it in Niger, but then your eye will be on Benin Republic. How can I sell it there Because the product is not fitting inside the Nigerian market. That's what product market fit is about. Then I also advise people, especially people who are going to be doing products something like this because to make fascinator, you know, you buy material, you buy suede, you buy Ankara, you buy this iron thing,
what's it called? This iron thing that gives it body frame, You buy metal frame, you buy mesh to cover the, the fascinator. Now what again, you know, you buy material shop and then of course you also want to hire some people eventually. We're in the beginning, you know, you can make some of these things OK, like Magnisi. Now Magnisi lady who does the handbags. When she started off in Abuja, I was just her and her husband.
So she's one that knows how the to do the stitching and the the tampering and the everything. But at least the husband could cut one or two fabric. Bob, where was I? How am I going with this? I guess what I'm trying to say is this. Therefore, some businesses that know how know how you spend money. For somebody like me who is a consultant, I don't necessarily have to spend money per SE to get things going because it's mostly my time and my talent that's going to be involved.
But for this fascinating business now know how know how you're going to buy material. So this whole thing now of MVP becomes important. MVP is not Most Valuable Player. I mean, that's a basketball or football. But when we're in business, MVP means minimum viable product. Minimum viable product just means what is the smallest version of my idea that I can use to test whether this thing is a sweet product or a sweet service.
Let me repeat, Minimum viable product just means what is the smallest, most workable idea that I can use to test whether this thing is going to work or not. So the catch now for Bolu Tunji is to try and figure out how can we use some small, small ideas to test whether people are feeling this fascinating idea, whether Nigerian babes like this fascinator, whether if we try fascinator like this or like that, we can make this thing catch in the Nigerian market.
So that's what MVP is all about. So the different kind of tactics, if you go on Google or Gemini, you can research lots of ways of coming up with your own MVPS. But let me just throw a couple of ideas out here. Number one is presale. Like me, I like presales. So basically presale is when you show somebody that you see this thing, I have this thing, do you like this thing? Pay X amount. If you pay it, I'll now deliver it to you two weeks from now.
That is presale. You go to somebody, you sell them on the idea, they give you money, you now use the money, go and arrange everything and now deliver the product. Presale is not for everybody because some people think it's fraudulent. If I had me the first time I had it, I was like, what kind of scam is this? And now sat and I thought and I just realized that, oh, you know, to be honest, for some businesses on a presale anyway,
like when your Carpenter comes and looks around and you show him the picture and everything you know is based on the money that you give him that he will now take and used to build the thing. It's not as if the Carpenter already has the chair already has the table, already has the dresser, already has the thing waiting in the shop. You collect your money first. He will not use your money to arrange the things. So when I realized that, oh, OK,
it's just a normal something like some businesses, they already do it anyway, that's when I stopped thinking that pre selling was a scam. So you can presale, you can go to church and you can say, sister busy this your heart looks wonderful. By the way, check this picture on my phone, this kind of thing, Does it look sweet? Do you like it? I like it. If I do go well with my peplum dress with my this my, this my that. So OK, I'm in business.
This is what I do. If you pay me the sweet amount of 98,000 naira, I'll be able to deliver to you this exact thing, this picture that I'm showing you. But pay now January 1st, by January 14th we'll deliver this thing to you. That is a pre sale. When you go around and you start trying to pre sell on some people, it will give you the idea of whether this thing is a sweet idea or not. If you go to all the all the babes in your church, you talk to Sister Busy, you talk to Madam Amina, you talk to all of them who like wearing hats and who like wearing fascinators.
You show them some designs and nobody seems to be tripped by your designs. You know, it could be a sign that there's a problem or maybe they are tripped by the designs. But then when you start talking money, you know they start doing the amount one kind. It could be a sign. OK, there's a problem with the price. But either way, without spending money by going out to try and presale, you will now begin to get some signs like OK, this place I'm about to choke my head.
If I enter, will this thing lead to progress or will this thing lead to heartache? So that is trying to pre sale and you can see now MVP, the smallest workable version of your idea to see whether there's some demand. In this case, the MVP is picture. You go online, you go and check Instagram. Let's see who is fascinators now, does Kim Kardashian work fascinators? OK, OK, no, no, no. She's I don't think Kardashian wears fascinators.
What's this lady? Now Beckham, David Beckham's wife now David Beckham's wife. Yes, that babe, she loves fascinators and hats. So you can go and check David Beckham's David Beckham's wife. You can go and check her, her Instagram and they go and screenshot and show some things ahead. Yeah. So that's it. So you all you have to do, just go do some research, show some designs and this can give you very good signs about whether you're going to make progress going forward or not.
So that's presaling. Now another one is especially in the fashion space, I think they call it something collection. I can't remember what it is, but this is the idea basically that when you're involved in fashion, before you go and you raise millions and you create thousands of bags or whatever and then try to sell, you create one small batch first. And then you now try and sell that small batch. So that if you sell out the small batch quickly, you now know that OK, there's room.
You now go and borrow money or raise money and then you build, you go and produce the rest. But then if you make the small batch and you can't sell it, you now know that there's no room here. And you just say, OK, this money is just some capital is lost capital. So that's also another thing that I advise people that if yes, your ideal thing is that you go and raise like 3 or 4 million to do this thing. Is there a way that you can borrow maybe like 1020 K and make a small version or make a small collection?
If you sell that one quickly, you now know that OK, there's room. You can now do maybe the next batch. The next batch should now be 50K. The next batch should now be 100. You know, small, small, small until ultimately you get to your dream version of your, you know, 3,000,000 naira business, you know, producing whatever it is that you want to produce. So that is also another way that we can get into it. If you don't want to pre sale,
assuming you are like me 10 years ago when I thought pre selling was a scam, you can actually go and raise money. Talk to your husband, you guys set aside, I don't know, 50K-150 or something. Produce a small batch one, produce like 10 fascinators and then go to church, go to the office, go wherever. Try and see if you can sell. So now that one is a, excuse me, that one is a traditional fashion strategy. Then there is, sorry, one moment.
OK, 30 minutes on it. See how we're doing on time. I don't want this episode to stretch too much. Let's see let's see OK, local market testing now. So I used to see this one a lot in the UK, you know like with farmers markets and things like that. So basically you create your small batch and then you go to the market where there are buyers and sellers and then try and see how you're selling these things. So go to local boutiques, Bulu,
try and see who is willing to stock some of your designs. If you have friends who owns boutique, you know even better for you. But The thing is, we're going to get some very good signs from the market because if The thing is in the boutique and people are not looking at it, there's a problem. If it is that they're looking at it and they're trying it and they love it, but then they're not buying it, you know there's a problem.
And but either way, by putting it out, we'll be able to know what is going on. So since we're talking about fascinators, you can do craft fairs like in Abuja, there is family and fun, fun fair or something happens at BMO, BMO Parks next to the BMO Event Center. So the thing used to happen like every year, but it's been a while since I, I went there. To be honest, I don't like going for those things because you just go there and end up spending money because you go there and your children will say, oh, I want sweetheart.
And then sweetheart costs three times the price. And then, oh, I want chicken. And then of course my wife will say, oh, that she wants some peppered fish or something like that. And you just go there and just end up spending a bunch of money. So me personally, I don't like going for those things, but I'm not saying abulu, those things exist, at least in Abuja. I've been out of Lagos for a while. So I'm not sure what's up in Lagos, but I'm surprised if there are those sorts of things,
you know, craft fairs and things like that, then let's see what else. And then when people buy, we're just trying to get some feedback. You know, they love it. What works, what doesn't work. We're trying to get a sense of customer trends, you know, things like that. Remember that what we're trying to do here is we're trying to figure out this place where I want to troop my head. Is there room for progress here so that you won't go front and then you start regretting that,
oh God, why did I get involved in all this? So these are ways of figuring out whether, so excuse me, sorry about that. I've been talking all day, you know, phone calls and all. So these are ways of fixing out, figuring out now whether this thing is feasible, whether it's profitable. And what we've been talking about now is MVP smallest version that we can put her into the market to see whether it is wrong. Now the final question, the final thing now boils down to sales.
Can we sell the damn thing? That's my own part. That's the part I like the most because it is possible that Nigerian babes are feeling fascinators and we have a market of 1,000,000 Nigerian babes who love fascinators. By the way, this is me just making up conjecture just for the purpose of the podcast. I didn't go and do market research. So Balu, don't quote me that there are many non babes who like fascinators. So the minimum babes are like fascinators and I'm very good at making the thing.
It does not necessarily mean that I can sell the thing myself or that I know how to set up a framework, processes and channels that will sell the thing. That's a separate question altogether. That is why I've told you guys in previous episodes that there are some people who set the whole thing up so that you have the technician on one end and then you have the salesperson on the other end. So Balu, it is perfectly doable and perfectly feasible that you are the one who is making all these things.
You're supervising production and then maybe your husband is in charge of sales. It's perfectly fine. Or maybe your husband is like me who doesn't know the difference between the fascinator and the, I don't know, whatever it is. So it's possible that you might be in charge of production often and then your sister, maybe he's the one who is in charge of sales. So that is also a possibility. Oh, sorry, One moment I have to turn off something on my phone.
OK, sorry about that. The mechanic is about to drive off with the car, and then I have a Bluetooth thing in the car. If I didn't turn off Bluetooth now, before I know it, the Bluetooth would just hijacked the phone and that would ruin the recording now. So it's a new framework. Now whether you can make The thing is one thing, whether you can sell The thing is another thing. So we need to sit down and have an honest conversation with ourself and then try and figure out all these things around selling.
How are we going to be selling this thing? Are we going to be doing offline stuff or are we going to be doing online stuffs? How to figure that out? So offline, which is my preferred, I always like for people to start with the offline moves. The reason why I say start with the offline moves is that gives you. Qualitative. Info, When I say qualitative, it means quality. Because when you go and you're talking to somebody and you're trying to sell, you're looking at them one-on-one.
You're hearing them over the phone, you're looking at them on the Zoom call. You get very direct signs from how people are talking, from the body language, from you know or not. You get very good quality data straight up about what people like, what they don't like, what they think is good versus what they think is bullshit. You will see live and direct, which is why I'm not a fan of Google service in the beginning because Google service people can type anything and you won't even know what is really choking people.
So let's start off with offline. So start direct. The example I gave up going to church is our sister busy? I'm now in the business. So I now have hearts and I have this and I have that. Have that conversation. Have direct conversations. Talk to people within your network, talk to people in church, talk to people in the mosque, talk to people at the office, talk to people at secondary school association. You know, So let's say you went to FGC or Obama Shaw.
The next time there's FCFGC or Obama Shaw meeting, talk to your babes. They're like, oh, you know, I've started this business, you know, support your baby, support my house, you know, that kind of thing. You want to get good quality data about what's going on in the market, then offline, go and talk to boutiques, want to talk to stores. Like back when I was in Lagos, we lived off, we lived on Amina Crescent that was off 20 St. 20
Street is off Allen Ave. And again, Allen Ave. was famous for, you know, you understand, I know you people, you bad boys and girls, you understand what I'm saying? So that's what I used to live apart from being famous for all I put it now you know, people who traffic in alternative lifestyles. Let me just put it that way. Apart from being famous for that, there also are lots of boutiques, you know, on Allen Ave. and then on 20th St. and all these places.
So let's say you live around there. It's not hard. At first you'll be afraid. You've never done this before, but you can walk into a store, introduce yourself. You like what this is? This is what I do. I'm trying to roll this thing out. I'm just trying to see if this thing will work. Can I put some samples here? What will it take for me to have samples in your store? You know, small, small, small, but you can actually go and start talking to other people,
different boutiques, different stores to try and see what you can put there to try and see how you can get into get into retailers. Then in Lagos, fashion shows and bridal shows are still going on strong like this GTGT food and fashion fair. Hey, it makes a lot of sense now, because I'm sure that Balu Balu 2G for you to be doing fast nature business. I'm sure that you're you're correct, girl like you're, you're, you know, you're stylish, you're sophisticated like you know, what's up, you know, so this kind of things will definitely fit you GT food and fashion affair.
You can go and get it stand there and put your fascinators there. You know, that's another way of selling and also getting good feedback. So brighter shows, events, all these lifestyle events, you know, all these, all these kind of things. There's also in Lagos, there's also makeup and something, something, something fair. I can't remember, but it's been a while. They used to do Lagos, Abuja, in Nugu and Makudi, but they've stopped doing in Abuja and I
think they've stopped doing in Makudi as well. But I hear that a nugu is still goes on and I hear that Lagos is still goes on. So all these things I'm saying if you just use Google, you know, fashion fair, Lagos enter, you'll see things will come up on Google. Then from there you can now start strategizing. OK, when is the date? Where's the location, which will be convenient? Which one can I afford? And then you start planning so brighter shows in the events.
Then you might also try personal styling sessions. I think you should. That might be a good way of selling some stuff. You know, as Sister Busy. I like this. You look good. This might work like this. It's my work like that. You know what? Why don't you come over to the house on Saturday? Let's have a personal styling session. I have different fabrics, I have materials, I have different ways that I want to try out. Why don't you come Saturday morning?
Just, you know, we'll be quick. 45 minutes, one hour Max. Let's have a look and let's see what beautiful ideas that we can come up with. There's some babies that really feel that kind of thing. So for people like me who have the fashion sense of a Ghanaian school teacher, because there's some women who are like that, you know, ignore them down on your market. But then there's some babes. I like to try out stuff like my wife gets surprisingly excited over these sorts of things.
Like over her birthday I was like last year, I'll be two years, they organized them massage for her and, you know, for me. And she was so excited. I'm like, it's just massage now. Like, I don't understand. But basically there's some women who love these kind of things, styling this, trying on new dresses or pedicure, manicure, this cure that cure and testing on dresses and all these sorts of things. So try and look for those sorts of babes and do styling sessions.
Then you can also do collaboration with other artists. Maybe one or two of your friends are doing some other things. Maybe you have a friend who sells dresses or something, you know, go and have a conversation with a friend. Is there a possible room for collaboration for things like that? So for me, I prefer and yes, how I put it, let me know, hide it if I can't hide it. It's my personal preference. So if I'm going to be working with any of you, you will find that that is where I'll start pushing you guys in the beginning.
Because it's only when we lock down all these offline things that we get all the information that we need and all the data that we need for powerful strategies that we can now start doing online. It is only when you have done all this and you know what people like and you know what is moving that you now know how to craft the perfect online campaign or design the perfect flyer. Excuse me, Hope you guys are feeling me.
This is the reason why I say offline first. That is where we go get good qualitative data. We get quality data. All right, then you can also go and do the online stuff. There's no need for me to go into online because all of you know, go and get your personal website, go and do your social media. You all know that, and there's a million other people. Who are there to teach you guys about how to do that? So don't ask me about that.
Then the final thing is, sorry, one moment. OK, 40 minutes. Let me round up now. The final thing is the selling framework itself or the selling script. There has to be something that is going to guide your conversations when you're talking to potential customers. There has to be something that will guide you because in the beginning, trying to freestyle The thing is a recipe for disaster. The problem with freestyling is that freestyling is as the spirit leads.
When you're in a good mood, it might go well. And if you're in a bad mood, things might go poorly. And if you remember to ask some things, then the conversation will be great. If you forget to ask some things, the conversation will be poor. When you come up with a framework, when you, when you come up with a, a framework and outline something to guide the conversations, you find that you are going to have a much more consistent selling process.
And you'll be, let me just put it this way, you'll be selling consistently well most of the time because it doesn't depend on which side of the bed you woke up on or whether you remember this or you remember that. So we need to come up with a framework. They come up with a script. The script should be focused on doing a few things #1 who's your ideal customer? Who should we be pursuing? I should be there, part of the script, then need analysis.
When you're having conversations with people, how can you figure out exactly what it is that they want? Because you have the skill, you have the talent. But if you don't do need analysis, well, you would design A fascinator that you think is good, whether the customer thinks it's rubbish. The reason why she thinks it's rubbish is not because The thing is rubbish is just because the design does not work for her, for her style, for her temperament, for her clothes,
you know, for her, whatever. So need analysis, especially for you people who are designing these kind of things need analysis very, very, very important. If not, you spend 2 weeks designing something, materials cost you like 200 K, you deliver to the client, they open the box and then they will say what errant nonsense and the Inquirer will start is because you did the bad job of need analysis. Then you also need to be able to handle objections.
Objections just means what are the concerns that people have? You need to be able to handle that in the conversation. Then you also need to be able to make effective proposal proposals and presentations. So that's what the final stage is about when we're worried about the selling framework or the selling script. Now, since this is 40 minutes, let me stop here so that I don't take up all of Balu's time when she's doing cooking and listening to this podcast.
So Balu, thank you very much for listening to the show. Other people like Balu listening to the show who have questions, reach out. The phone number is here. Don't be scared. I'm not going to force you to pay for consulting services. I suspect that BOLO has money. So BOLO, when you call me, yeah, I I think I will charge you accordingly because you sound like you sound like an expensive babe because cheap babes don't make fascinators.
So thank you very much for your time and attention. The number to call, the number to SMS, the number to send the WhatsApp to is 08064662140. The country code is +234. If you'd love to connect with me on LinkedIn, the name to look for establishing my IED. I'm also on YouTube, same name, and the podcast is also on YouTube sales for the Nigerian business person. So go there. We have over 1080 free episodes. So thank you very much for your time and attention.
Let me head back to the mechanic and see what's up with my car and you guys should pray that by this time next year, I should be driving Brabus. If not Brabus, at the very least I should be driving Mercedes-Benz. I should be driving SLK, something sweet. All right, so I'll catch you guys in the next episode.