The Business Butterfly Effect: How Small Decisions Create Big Impacts

Hello and welcome to the show. Apologies because I've been away for about three or four days, but I'm back now. Before I took off, I think we wrapped up with the series on things that people need to know if they are new in business, if they haven't had any previous business experience, they have a limited business experience and they're looking for practical guidance on what to do as a first time entrepreneur. So I OK, so I think before I

disappeared, that was the series that I had just wrapped up. So today I have made a couple of notes. So I hope this is not going to be a lengthy episode because I want to tie in all the things that we discussed because I can imagine a bunch of first time listeners listening to those episodes. And I'm thinking, look, this is highly impractical. This is not going to work. You're being unnecessarily philosophical. So I just want to tie it into my own business experience as I

have transitioned from being a wedding photographer into business consulting and public speaking. So I'll just show you guys how the ideas that we discussed were not just highfaluting. I'm not just taking a philosophical stand for the sake of taking a philosophical stand. So that's what today's episode is going to be about. For those of you who are new to the podcast and this is your first episode that you're listening to, I'm just going to recap the things that I had, the series of tips or advice that I

had for people who have limited business experience and who are ready to get into the business space, the entrepreneurial space. And so my advice was that number one, that the business name is not important, so we shouldn't spend too much time on that. Number two, that branding is not important, so we shouldn't spend too much time on that either. And that idea protection is not that important, so we shouldn't be spending too much time on idea protection.

And that no business idea sells itself, so we shouldn't bother looking for that magic business idea that is going to just take off like a rocket and all we have to do is just sit back and collect our profits. Then the final thing was that business is a team sport. Even if you want to be a solo solo premier or you know, whatever it is you want to call it, you want to be a self-made man, self-made woman, self-made, whatever, or you want to be a solo this or a solo that, that business is a team sport.

So it's best to just try and anticipate the level of team involvement or involvement that you're going to have with other people and then plan for it accordingly. So that is the reason why I'm making a tie in episode today because on the face of it, especially for those of you who didn't listen to the previous episodes, these things seem kind of strange for you to hear from someone who is supposedly a sales coach and a business consultant.

So again, the things that we're going to talk about today and that are going to run through my time episode #1 your business name is not important, don't spend too much time on it #2 branding is not important. Don't spend too much time on that. Number three idea protection is not important. Don't spend too much time on that. And #4 no business idea sells itself #5 business is a team sport. So number one business name.

We're going to use my business experience to show how traction or validation is more important than other factors that people attribute to business success. Because there are some people who think getting the perfect business name is what it is that is going to chart the path for you. And of course, getting the perfect business name or the right business name is important. But my own take is that if you're getting into business,

your business name is not as important to business success as most people think. What we should be paying attention to is traction or validation. And in the early days, any simple, common sense, workable name will do. Especially since you'll find that for your favorite brands, they have started off with one name and have transitioned into other thing. And you even find that there are some of your favorite brands that have one name that seems to be quite a mouthful, like BMW.

It actually is ban something, something, something, you know, a bunch of letters and it seems impossibly long, you know, but everybody just calls them BMW. So the most important thing in the whole case was not to agonize over what name should we call this fledgling Motor Company because they picked, in my own opinion, the most difficult name possible because I don't know how it's pronounced. It just seems like a bunch of letters, but it has found out OK, because they make superior equipment.

They're really good at engineering and styling decisions and their initials don't seem bad. BMW. So in Nigeria, people like, hey, I want to buy a BMW on an X8 and X7 and X5 and X this and lots of business, lots of Nigerians don't even know the name of the company. They just love the product. So now let me tie that into my own business experience. So in the beginning, I just focused on picking a functional name or a practical name.

And I didn't waste much time on that because I expected that the name was going to change over time as I discovered who my ICP was. Your ICP is your ideal customer profile, your target audience, the people who vibe with you. I mean, whatever it is you want to call it, the people you want to vibe with. And realistically Speaking of, I was going to enter into business consulting with the ideas that I have about business.

I was under no illusions that the core crop of people that I was going to start with in the beginning were going to remain the audience that I would keep over the lifetime of my business consulting practice. So it's been a couple of years and initially the name of my show because I was going to use the podcast as a tool for content marketing to promote that switch. Because you can't say that you're going to go from a career of being a wedding photographer of close to a decade and then overnight you want to switch into business consulting.

And then people are just going to go with you. They'll just ride with you. There's a little bit of dissonance that is involved, you know, for the people who have known you about a decade prior, especially if you haven't been talking publicly about your ideas about business and your experiences about business. So for me, the podcast, what I have now was key to the content marketing strategy, my strategy of transitioning from being a wedding photographer into being a business consultant.

Now, for those of you who've been listening from day one, you know that initially the show was titled Sales for the Nigerian Wedding Photographer. So if this is your first time, if you have just discovered the podcast and you discovered from the older episodes and you're now listening to a few current ones, that is the reason for the switch, why you would have heard me introduce the show as Sales for the Nigerian Wedding Photographer.

Well then clearly you're listening to business content from this podcast now and you see that it has a much wider ambience. Sorry, a much wider ambit and audience. So yeah, I knew that things were going to change over time. So I just picked the most simple, practical, non fancy, non whatever names possible. So for the business consulting practice, I just called it Aberdeen Business Consulting. Why did I call Aberdeen Business consulting?

Nothing in particular. Aberdeen Business consulting ABC, I finished from University of Aberdeen. So I just picked a name and it's that simple. And the name neither emphasizes or promotes or details what it is that I'm trying to do. I haven't met anybody who, first of all, in the beginning when we're having consultation, consultations and negotiations, I haven't met anyone who has me. By the way, what's your business name?

The business name thing only comes up at the end when people are ready to pay and we need account details and things like that. So the business name thing just hasn't come up. Like a dude, your business name sucks, it's killing the business. Or guy, your business name rocks, it's promoting the business. So that just hasn't even come up now. Hope you guys are going to get the sense of why I hold the ideas that I do that some of you are spending too much name on the business name because there are some of you that spend 3-4

months, you haven't started just because you want the right business name so that you can meet the lawyer and handle the incorporation with the CAC as a corporate affairs Commission and then all that. You're wasting too much time. So in my own case, I just picked any name ABC, not bad. Aberdeen Business Consulting. What is this podcast going to be about? I'm talking about sales to people who don't bother about sales, which are people in the wedding and the event space.

Because in the wedding and the event space, people are much more concerned about brand. They're more concerned about positioning, packaging, what else? Much more aspirational ideas. So I figured I'd start talking to that audience. And the podcast was just titled sales for the Nigerian Wedding industry or for the Nigerian wedding professional or wedding person. I can't remember what it was called because that was a long time ago.

And now that I've made a transition, guess what the name is also that basic it is now sales for the Nigerian business person. I mean, how basic can it get? How practical can it get? How lazy can it get? But The thing is, I just need a name and I need to get going because the most important thing is let's get traction. Let this train start moving. Doesn't really matter what it's called. Of course, in this sense, I was picking a name that would signal exactly what the show is about.

For those of you who are interested in podcasting as a content marketing strategy, we can make future episodes about that, but I hope you guys see that. The most important thing for me, making the switch as in folks who know me for close to 10 years being a wedding photographer, I don't want to do that anymore. I now want to be considered as a business consultant because of the experiences that I've gotten as a wedding photographer, also in building the family business with my brother, my previous experience working as admin in civil service and also as being paralegal and then working as a law firm.

So I'm trying to make the switch. I just need a simple name to get the show on the road and that's what I did. So the most important thing at that stage, me trying to switch was not business name because of some of you that will think what business name can I come up with? I'm about to become a consultant. I need something cool, I need something fancy, I need something aspirational. I need something to signal to the market the kind of cutting edge business consulting that we're going to do.

And you know, and you just waste weeks and weeks and weeks on these things. Just pick a name and go because most what I think at this stage is not your business name, but you have to validate the business idea. And in my own case, the business idea was this. Can I use podcasting as a tool for lead generation? Can I use podcasting as a tool for demand create creation? Can I use podcasting as a tool to cut myself out as a specialist within the business consulting space?

Can I use podcasting as a tool to find customers as a business consultant? That was the primary question I needed to answer and so I didn't waste time on the name. I picked the most basic names for my show, although I just used common sense because I wanted the names to signal something for the podcast. I want people to see the name of the podcast and then know exactly what it is about. That's why I didn't call it the Tavishima Show or something like that.

Because I mean, who knows? Nobody knows Tavishima. Well, some of you who listen to the show, you know who I am. But as a whole, I don't have that kind of brand yet. So who knows 20 years from now when I'm a big established name like Brian Tracy, yes, I can call it the Tavishima you did show and then people will TuneIn, but after then just some simple basic common name. So the most important thing was for me to validate this idea.

Can podcasting work? And then to get going, do people want business content? Those are the primary questions I was trying to answer. So I hit the show on the road and I came up with some basic names and I moved. That's the reason why I give the advice the way that I do. You have this interesting idea. You think it's going to work. The most important thing is validation of the idea. Pick a name, any name, use common sense and move.

You don't have to come up with the perfect idea in January and then do incorporation in March or April. Doesn't make sense. If the idea comes to you January 1st, it's already like January 10th or January 11th. What are you waiting for? Pick a name and move. Now the next thing, branding is not important. And well, for the same reason I say branding is not important for the same reason. It's because, well, First off, you don't know enough of your ICP, your ideal customer, your ideal customer profile, the people you want to vibe with,

the market you want to enter. Most folks are not that sophisticated to have a good grip on what the ICP is at the beginning. So it makes sense to just go into the market, validate the idea. As you're interacting with people, you're going to get a clearer sense of who your audience base is and that will determine how it is that you brand and position in future. Some of you want to start off with the perfect brand, but it doesn't work that way.

Coca-Cola has the perfect brand, Facebook, Google, all these people, but they didn't start with the perfect brand. They started from something crude and something simple. Facebook used to be the face something and then they dropped the the V in it and it was face whatever. And today it's now Facebook and then they've changed to Meta. I hope you guys see where I'm heading with all this. And their branding has changed accordingly, although the blue in their colours has remained fairly constant.

And that's just what I mean. Like you don't know enough. So just begin as you're mixing with people, mixing with potential customers, mixing with stakeholders, with investors, you get a clear sense of, OK, this is what I'm trying to build, this is how people are perceiving it. And that is what is going to determine all the branding choices that you need to make about logos, fonts and colours and things like that. Now let me give you an another example, my business experience.

Now, I started off this thing talking to wedding professionals, wedding and event professionals. Now by default, my intended target audience was female, was female for a number of reasons. In the event space, it has loads of females there. So the photographers are mostly guys, but there's some women, the planners are mostly women. What else? Decor mostly women, makeup, mostly women is largely female led. And then apart from that being that I, I'm the first son of a single mom.

Well, not really a single mom per say. Like my mom raised me and my siblings from about when I was 12/13. She did a solo on her own. So one of those whose family convinced that when you educate a woman or when you move or look a woman along the path of self empowerment, entrepreneurship, career development, all those sorts of things, you impact generations to come as in you impact families. Now, I'm not saying we shouldn't pay attention to men.

I'm just saying that this is the reason why I'm interested in women, especially when it comes to business education. But unfortunately, my goal is I want to talk to women and I might have started off my business consulting journey trying to talk to women, but no matter what I do, over 70% of my audience is male. So can you see how if I had tried to finalize my branding at the beginning of my journey with plenty of pink and plenty of cursive and you know, stuff like that because I'm trying to appeal to women.

Can you see how it would have been off and started creating some sort of dissonance? Because no matter what I do, over 70% of my audience is male. This is now going to inform the future decisions that I'm going to make around brand color around theme, around eye project into the market and things like that. Now when I hire a brand specialist, these are the sorts of things that the brand specialist wants to know. Not just who do I want to talk to, but who are the people that are actually buying from me, who am I doing business with, who are my audience, blah, blah,

blah. I will be able to come up with strong propositions around brand, but that's because I've done a couple years into this thing. I have 870 episodes on the podcast, so I've been doing this for a couple of years. I have some data. We'll be able to sit down and have constructive conversations and come up with a brand document and a brand strategy and then we'll execute. But some of you are starting from day one and you want to set this thing up perfectly.

It doesn't work that way. And for people who did, because there are some businesses who started perfectly and you know, whatever, it doesn't happen that way for most people. So stop aiming for this whole exceptional thing from day one. The branding is not that important. Just begin validate this idea. As you're interacting with people, you will now get a sense of what your brand is, what it could be, how you're perceived,

how do you want people to perceive you? And by the time you have enough money to hire, especially if you guys are smoothing all those things out. So for now, not having a brand has not been hurting my business because there's nobody that has said your brand colours are off your logos are off, your whatever. Because honestly that those they, it just doesn't come up. I have always used the default options in Canva. My first logo, I just used Canva.

So I just used the default on the template that I liked. And the current logo imaging that you see right now is something that I designed on chart. No, not chart GPT. What was it? Chart GPTI can't remember what was Chart GPT or Bing, but basically I just put in into the prompt. I said design A. What did I say? I can't remember, but something like design AA cover art for my podcast and blah blah blah. I didn't even give it.

I didn't even give it color choices. But I wanted sales and marketing to be in the final image because I wanted people to see 'cause remember I was just using common sense. I want to be able to see the common the, the cover image. I know exactly what the show is about. South Sales and marketing and then black. It spit out four options. Yes, it was, it was Bing, Bing that I used and Bing incorporates Mchat, GBT. It spit out four options.

And what you have here on the podcast is just the one that I like the most and that's it. And I am running with it. When I am ready to start taking branding seriously and I have a bit of money and I want to hire a brand specialist, we will now be able to start having constructive conversations. I actually would like to speak more to women, but currently I'm over 70% male. This is the age range, blah, blah, blah. These are the clients that I've worked with.

And you know, they'll ask me all those questions. I'll be able to come up with a brand strategy and then execute accordingly. But in the beginning, for me to sit down and think all these things, I would have just been wasting too much time because here's how it works. You have a bit of money, you want to hire a brand consultant or something. So you look through Instagram 'cause you want to find a couple of people not looking through Instagram.

That's like two weeks gone already, 'cause you look through Instagram and then you have some other things to do. You get a bunch of people. Then you send out a bunch of DMS. Most Nigerian business people are really poor and non responsive, so lots of them will not respond. So you talk to a few people, you don't find anybody you like. You know, that's another two weeks that you have to invest in the whole thing. But bottom line is you can see how because of business name and branding, you get your business idea January 1st and then it is now February 20.

Something you have not started just because no more you don't have the perfect name #2 you haven't found a brand person or a designer or whatever that can help you put together all these things that are that you think are important before you begin. Then let's move on to Idea Protection. Especially since I've done 20 minutes and I'm not even halfway through my rant. I guess you can call this podcast episode of Rant then Idea Protection.

So I had to include in the list because there are a couple of you who have your ideas. You think that your business idea is the best thing since sliced bread. Because of that, you do not want to go out into the market prematurely because you're worried about copycats, people who steal your trademark and steal your business idea and so. You're spending a lot of time talking to lawyers. How can I trademark this? What can I patent?

What is eligible for which part of intellectual property protection and or what not? Now, of course, if you've been following my own argument is it's not really the idea, the idea per SE that is valuable, but it's how you execute on the business idea that is going to give you that business mode or that business protection. So excuse me. So if you execute well, then good for you. You execute poorly, then bad for you. Now let's take it back to my own experience so far.

We're trying to transition from being a wedding photographer to a business consultant. So currently about 800 and OK, well, I know for sure it's over 869. Let me just leave it at that because last time I checked was 869. So let me not say it's 870, so 869 episodes. And I was much more worried about how I execute the idea and how content marketing and podcasting was going to give me credibility and competency if I was worried about somebody copying this my valuable idea.

Because at the time, I was the only sales and marketing exclusively sales and marketing show in the event and wedding space in Nigeria. Because I got reached out to other publications in this space who wanted to interview me and things like that. So there are a bunch of people who were podcasting about these sorts of things, but they were mostly doing it from a technical or from an artistic point of view. So, you know, wedding photography, this is how you take the perfect wedding photo,

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, all those sorts of things are not a show that was dedicated exclusively to if you're a wedding photographer or you're a wedding planner, this is how you look for clients, this is how you negotiate, this is how you close the deal and all that. So if I was worried about protecting this, my precious idea, especially since at the time was completely novel, there was none in the space.

I haven't checked. I don't know if there's any other person that has a reason to take the space that I have left because I've left the wedding and the event space. Then of course, you know how these things go. You know, I'm worried about trademark protection. Then the whole thing just gives a certain kind of hesitancy and you don't really start. But then I figured that, look, how I execute is going to be the main thing.

And I didn't want my execution to be built around high end production value, which is the reason why you can hear cars in the background and you can hear my children far enough in the background because I focus more on having valuable business content. And I want that to be my competitive mode. I want that to be my edge that on this show you hear things that other people don't talk about. So that's why I'm well, I record sore throat, I record cow in the background.

I record cars driving by, I record. So excuse me, like now, runny nose. I still record because I'm focusing on the execution and and the business idea. So I also knew that most people are going to give up because most people, most people start. And in summary, I just had a hunch that most people are going to give up because there have been other people in the podcasting space. So it it's not my business idea that has let me be successful per SE, but me executing on it because rest assured, I am not the first person to come up with an idea that you're going to use content marketing to promote yourself as a business consultant.

I am not the first Nigerian to think of that. I'm not the first Nigerian to think of that in the wedding space or in the general space. I am just the only one who has persevered for this long, which is why you know my show and you're listening to this show. And if I ask you for two or three other shows, yes, maybe you might be able to name one or two. The reason why you can name two or three of us tops, is because we are the only ones who have persevered, not because we came up with the idea, not because we are the best.

So idea protection. Should I have come up with a trademark and registered it and all of that? Yeah, maybe in some ideal world, but I just wanted to execute and execute well. And today I'm 869 episodes in and people think I'm credible and I'm competent because of longevity. Or is it longevity and have executed on that? Now people can copy me, definitely. And I know one person who has tried. But The thing is podcasting is hard.

So the person tried and the person has given up. So the fact that I've executed in itself is what gives me my protective mode. If anybody wants to copy me, actually I'm 869 episodes ahead in this particular strategy of using podcasting as content marketing to transition from 1 area of speciality into another. So that in itself, the execution itself is providing the protective mode. But listen to the podcast episode about idea protection and you gain a much more nuanced idea because for those of you who are in the tech space, you know, you're trying to build a fintech, things like that.

Yes, IP protection is absolutely, absolutely important, except if you're building your thing on what's it called open source, you know, technology or code that is available to to everyone. Then the whole thing of business idea, sorry, excuse me, the whole thing of a business idea that sells itself. How would I put it? OK, well that episode was straightforward enough. So let me not belabor the point. There's no business that sells yourself.

Human beings will always be involved in promoting the business. But I made the mistake earlier on thinking that my idea was so good, was so fancy, was so nice, was so wow, was so ground breaking that people would just rush that I'll put this content on and people would rush because when I started, there was some podcasts around. There was this Nigerian and tech tech something. Then those Nigerian politics weekly show, there was also all you guys see that I'm talking about podcasting in the Nigerian context now, not in international, not in international sense.

Then there was also I said what I said, they said what I said podcast real brilliant. Cause those girls, Jola and I can't remember the other person's name. It's a it's a, it's a gossip show. It's a gist show was real nice. There's also what else, the honest bunch that's Chinedu, Nedu, Wasobia and three other Co hosts. But anyway, you get what I'm trying to hint at. Nigerian shows were there and already beginning to pop off and people were paying attention to them.

But very few people are talking about business. Of course the Nigerian tech is it tech crunch or tech something? They're there and they're talking about business. But it's business. It's it's tech. It's not talking too wedding professionals, which is what I wanted to do at the time. And now that I've gone beyond wedding professionals, they're not talking to all other Nigerians. Whether you sell catfish or whether you have a fintech or whether you want to sell cement or cement blocks.

So I just assume that it will be obvious. There's a business show, people will just flock to it. But boy did I receive a rude awakening. I podcasted for about 3 years and I was only able to get 5000 downloads. Three years and I only got 5, 1000 downloads. And then I thought about it and so excuse me, so I thought about it and I decided to start promoting over on LinkedIn initially and then in six months I was able to go from 5000

downloads to 12,000 downloads. Or you guys are getting the the jump Three years. I said let me just put it out. People will love it. They will rush it. After three years, only 5000, I promoted for six months. They went from 5000 to 12,000. Currently were over just over 15,000 downloads. So I'm sure you guys can see that. It's just something I've started doing recently. The promotion, since I haven't always promoted because the first three years, let's say 3

1/2, four years, I didn't promote nothing. I didn't promote Shishi. I just make it. I just put it up. If you see it, you see it. If you don't see it, you don't see it. But now that I'm started promoting, there's growth in the podcast and there's also growth in the number of enquiries that I'm receiving now on a monthly basis. You know, people who want me to look into this, consult on this, provide training for that and things of that nature.

So don't expect that you're going to do something and people will just find it because you're the greatest thing since sliced bread. There's no business idea that sells itself. There's no endeavour that sells itself. You have to sell or promote it somehow, no matter how well, no matter how poorly, because there are some people who see my promotions on LinkedIn, you know, my friends who mean well, they hit me up and say, hey, oh boy, I noticed that you're only doing this.

How about you do it this way? How about you design this? How about you do this? How about you do that? That would be more effective. So yes, there could be much more effective ways for me promoting my business podcast. Let's assume that I'm doing it the poorest way possible, but with the poorest way possible, in under a year, I have more than tripled the growth of my podcast because I'm doing some sort of promotions. Now, if I listen to my friends who have media backgrounds,

'cause, you know, start off as a photographer, you end up knowing lots of photographers, designers, brand people, you know, stuff like that. So if I listen to them, yeah, I guess you could even go higher. But there's no podcast that will sell itself. There's no business that will sell itself. It just doesn't happen. So get in, stop promoting, stop, stop dreaming. It happens to some people, doesn't happen to everyone. And anyway, yeah, let me see,

let me check my notes, let me skim through because we already have enough time. OK, so business, business is a team sport. If you listen to that episode, you get all the the context about what it is. I was trying to stress there. Well, basically what I was just trying to say is that there's no business. Some of you want to be solo, this solo premier solo, this self-made, this self-made whatever. There's nobody that is self-made.

There's nobody that is solo whatever. We always have a team around us. And I gave one or two examples in that episode and this podcast is going to be another example. So for the podcast, the production is the production is solo because I I decide which questions are useful because I receive questions from people or at speaking events. So I decide which of the questions are useful. I decide how we're going to flow from one idea to the other.

I do the actual recording. I don't do any editing, precisely because I don't want to be burdened with any extra work that would stop me from putting out episodes. So it's been a solo affair for now, or so it seems. But actually over the years I've worked with a number of collaborators. I've worked with a couple of distributors. There was one episode that was Co produced by Nene Batubo. She's a Canadian business communications specialist,

Nigerian born of course, I and the family, they're over there now. They left a long time ago. So I don't think we can call them part of the jackpot phenomenon that is happening. And I've also had wonderful collaborators on Business Inside episodes. The one I did with Alexia Horsforth on, she's the makeup and beauty specialist. She also has a brand that is selling a bit Nigerian in the in Nigerians in diaspora, diaspora,

so Canada, UK, then at DME at DBC that I went to school with those into branding and merchandising. She's still back there in Aberdeen. Some of us. We finished graduating and left. Then Kelly, an event planner I would have loved to work with, never got to work with her and her partner during my some of those episodes. Then excuse me. Then there's also my mentee, Remi Leko Muyeko, who made a couple of episodes dedicated to her.

You know, the conversations that we had over selling with LinkedIn, 'cause she reached out to me over on LinkedIn, we had some conversations. I figured there'll be good enough podcast episodes to share over here. So what she does is whatever I I'm speaking at business conferences and things like that because some conference people mandate that you must have slides. Now, if you've been listening to the show for a while, you know that I do not like slides.

So when I meet people who say you must have slides and they must be in this format and they must be ready by social and so date, it's an absolute headache. But how do I get that done? I just simply call Remy Lekum because she likes that kind of thing. And we have a mentor managing relationship. So she's the one who hooks me up with all my presentation. Sorry, my presentation. I'm collateral, so it looks like this is a sole effort and most of the times it might be.

But have you noticed how my collaborators? I have, I've been, I've had collaborators over the years. Of course, it's my support staff, you know, well, not my support staff, but you know, people who provide support, you know, like my wife who keeps me going because like I said, podcasting is it's hard. It's hard to hop on the mic multiple times a week, you know, 3-4 times a week. I keep doing that for 4-5 years straight.

It's not easy, especially since in the early days when you're making the switch, it's not as if business income is coming indirectly from the podcast. So yeah, it might look like it's a solo thing, but I've had a team of people, a team of people around me. Oh, by the way, another theme that I mentioned earlier in the podcast, if you notice how my support system has been female and I've told you that it's been deliberate because my goal actually from day one was actually to have more women listening to the show, more women paying attention to business content because of the outsized consequences, the benefits that you get when you involve women in career development, entrepreneurship,

personal development, all these sorts of things. One of the reasons why I'm trying to reach out to more women is because of my personal experience here with Mom C raising the five of us. Also because in today's work environment, there's plenty of blasting of patriarchy. And I really don't think patriarchy is the default limiting criteria that women think it is. Yes, patriarchy in quote. First of all, people define patriarchy wrong, but that's the that's the topic for another podcast episode.

So yeah, patriarchy makes things a whole lot difficult, but they're much more important. People do stuff that women need if you want to move things forward. So yes, you can say that my mom faced patriarchy in quote while she was trying to raise her five kids when she was fresh in Lagos. But there are a couple of things that were important for her business and career success. And there are some of the things that I talk about on the show because I have seen it, I have lived it, and some of those things that I have seen and lived are things that I'm also trying to apply in my Business Today.

So men need to know it, women need to know it, but I think especially now that we're trying to be all woke and bog patriarchy and trying to storm the Fort, there are a couple of things that women need to hear. And that's why from day one, my focus has always been to get more women listening to the show. So summary, all these things, business, name branding, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, They're not as important as you think.

So start spending four weeks, 8 weeks, 12 weeks thinking about these sorts of things. Just pick a lane and start and validate the idea. Is the thing working? Put more kerosene behind it, put more fuel behind it. Get things moving as you move your thing along. If the business name doesn't make sense, you will change it. If the branding doesn't make sense, you will change it. But most important thing is start and please validate your business idea and then summary.

Oh well OK, I can't say summary twice, but bottom line is this. I've been begging from day one and I'm begging again. Please women listening to the show, maybe I need to change my approach. Be less forceful. I don't know, sound nicer or use more production value? Maybe women prefer podcasting material to be perfect or something. Well, I guess I'm not just talking about things that women think they should be listening to, but I really think more women should listen to this.

So if you're a lady, listen to this podcast, please share with your friends. I don't care if they end up booking me to be a coach or a consultant. We just need to spread that gospel because it's important and also because baby girls don't build strong businesses, strong women. Sorry, baby girls don't build strong families In the beginning, yes, my mum and I have been a baby girl because of course she was the first daughter.

So when she was born it was only we have a girl and everybody's happy. But baby girls, princesses, you know, we don't build, they don't build strong societies. They don't build strong families, strong women who do, and women actually need to learn some of the things that we talk about over here on the podcast. So, yeah, it's 40 minutes, so let me bring this to a close. So naming, branding, IP protection, all those sorts of things, they are not the primary things that are going to grow your business.

These are secondary concerns that you can deal with over time. The core thing that we need to worry about now is to make sure that your main business idea, your core business idea validated. Is that thing working good? Make progress on that and you'll be fine. So connect with me on WhatsApp, the number is 08064662140. Country code is +234. For those of you who are not Nigerian and connect with me on LinkedIn, my name is Tabashima Ayede.

I'm the host of the show. You can confirm the spelling of my name and my e-mail address from the link. We are currently listening to this episode. Thank you very much for your time and attention. And if you think you know any woman who might benefit from this podcast episode, please let her know. If your cousin is a female cousin is about to start off in business. She wants to be a cake person or she wants to rear chickens or she wants to whatever.

You think she has spent too much time thinking about the perfect business name or coming up with the perfect chicken logo that looks nice enough or humane enough or whatever. If you think she's spending too much time in all this other stuff, please give her this podcast episode. Let her listen. Let her eyes be opened that these things that are holding her back don't necessarily have to be the source of things that are holding her back.

And it's been 14 minutes, so let me just disappear. I'll catch you guys at the next episode.