Why Owerri Entrepreneurs Should Focus on Fundamentals Over Automation

Hello and welcome to the podcast. Today I'd like to share another conversation that I had on that chat that I had with a podcast listener. And today, OK, Well, not today because I had this conversation, sorry. Let me check, let me scroll. OK, This conversation happened on the 12th of January 2020, sixth. OK, That's when the conversation started over on WhatsApp. And the fellow is a listener of the podcast, Let's call him J.

Cole. J. Cole is not his real name, but based on conversation and also based on profile picture, the guy's giving me some J. Cole vibes. So let's just call him J. Cole, not his real name. Now, the conversation that I had with J. Cole, we talked about a couple of things related to sales, a few things related to automation and AI, And I thought it would be a good conversation to share with you guys over here on the podcast just in case there are business people who are currently listening to the podcast right now.

We're going through the kinds of sales challenges or who have the kind of sales vision that J. Cole has for his business and also who are thinking about integrating artificial intelligence and automation in their businesses. So yeah, that's the reason why I'm sharing today's podcast. I'm sharing the conversation today on the podcast. So if you didn't like the last one because, you know, there was not too much sales content,

don't worry, we get into some sales stuff on this particular one. Now, apologies because I'm currently on the move. I'm in the parking lot and I said, let me just record this new shop shop. So, you know, I just ripped out my phone and yeah, I'm in the WhatsApp inbox and I'm just scrolling through. Let me just share this conversation real quick now for those of you who are listening to the show for the first time, welcome.

For those of you who are regular listeners, welcome back. My name is Tavishima Ayede, I'm the host of the show. I'm a former lawyer turned business consultant. And every other day I step on, I step, I step up over here behind the microphone. And this is what we do. We try and solve business problems. So if you like this podcast, you're looking for good business content, then subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, Apple iTunes,

wherever it is that you listen to your podcast. And then also let your friends, family members, and when your enemies, let them know that there's good business content like this available on the Internet that you're not. You don't have to be stuck with, you know, all the Audible podcasts, you know, Niger people, you know, also making podcasts as well. Then let's see. OK, if you'd like to connect with me, you can call, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 0806466 2140.

So if you have a question, if you have a comment, you have a query, or you have collaborations that you'd like to pitch, you know, no problem, I'm open. Reach out. Let's see what we can make happen. So if you want to be like this guy, my *** J. Cole, by the way, not his real name. So if you want to be like J. Cole, reach out. It's no problem. Let's chat. Let's see what I can do for your life. Let's see. OK, so now J. Cole, now where's the guy based?

OK, I didn't ask him where he's based. I know. So J. Cole. OK, so he said, he said that he just started a new stationary business and then he wants to turn ordinary pens, notebooks, office supplies into irresistible must have must haves that sell fast. And then he also wants to create loyal customers. And he's asking for unconventional strategies that can help him scale sales quickly without spending a fortune. Then he also said, thanks for the value that you put out on Spotify.

Then he put his real name there. Well, of course, you know, I'm not going to say his real name. But like I said, for this episode, we're going to call him my *** J. Cole. So J. Cole. J. Cole. Anyway, I responded to the geisha, but I'm reading the message now. There are a couple of things that crossed my mind. You know, I actually should have should have said. So he wants to turn ordinary pens, ordinary notebooks and office applies into irresistible must haves.

OK, nowadays, you know, people, people who get into business and want to do magic. And I really don't think it's a good idea. I don't think it's a good idea. If honestly speaking, you think what you have is ordinary pens, ordinary notebooks, ordinary office supplies, then what kind of magic are you trying to magic them into irresistible must haves? You know, you either have a stellar product or a stellar service or you don't.

Well, don't try and pull a fast 1. So like when I hop on this microphone and I'm spitting stuff with you guys, I'm not trying to turn ordinary business advice into money. Like I genuinely think I have a perspective that lots of Nigerian people have not heard you listening to this podcast right now. You can't confirm it. Confirm you haven't heard what I'm saying on any other podcast. You haven't. So that's why I grabbed the microphone.

That's why I spit in here every day because genuinely, I know that Nigerians have not heard this kind of stuff before. Lots of Nigerians assume that sales is toasting. They assume that sales is fine, boy, I'll be fine, girl. That sales is packaging, that sales is branding, That sales is connect. Who? You know, lots of Nigerians have not heard someone say that selling is a process and anybody can sell. If you're a fine boy, you can sell.

If you're an ugly boy, you can sell. By the way, nobody's ugly in Jesus name. If you're a fine girl, you will sell. If you're an average girl, you will sell. If you're black, you can sell. You're yellow, you can sell. You are rich, you can sell. You get connects, you can sell. You know get connects, you can sell. Anybody you can sell. Nigerians haven't heard that before. That's why I'm here. That's why I'm on this mic.

So I talk about principles, I talk about strategies, I talk about tactics, I talk about frameworks. I introduce you guys to stuff that I know for sure that 1890% of Nigerians have never heard before. And that's why I'm on the mic. I believe I have something stellar. If you believe you have something ordinary, I beg don't try whirlwind pimple and try and irresistible something some no. There's room for ordinary people who sell pure water.

Don't come and try and you know, magically irresistible the pure water. Like if what you say is pure water, you say is pure water, good, let's go about and sell this pure water finish. So if there's if your stuff, if you're stationary, honestly is just ordinary, then what? Again, no, there's no magic about it. However, there's something in business circles that we say now value add. Value add just means you take something which is a raw material, then you process the thing or your package is small and then in processing it or packaging it, the thing that becomes much more valuable and then you can sell it to other people.

So back when my brother and I used to be in the exports, the export business. So whether it's charcoal or whether it's sesame seed, OK, we never exported was this one called soya bean. But we, we, we got some soya beans. We just never found a buyer because at that time, because of some stuff that was going on, actually was cheaper for people to import soy from US than to actually buy it from Nigeria. I mean, that period was wild.

I just thought it was, was crazy because I actually reached out to one company in Abuja. They produce in Abuja. And, you know, so based on our conversation, I mean, I'd already heard the gist when human told me I was, I was, I was shocked. She said based on the prices that were going on in the market, it actually made more sense for them to just import from America. And she said that the one from America would also be better quality because, you know, don't have to, you know, clean its impurities and all that.

And then Duma said the only benefit of dealing with Nigerian companies that, you know, for us was sharp, sharp. So if you buy from Nigeria, they will arrive quickly, sharp, sharp, sharp. But you're willing to wait for a while, you know, couple of weeks. Yeah. You better off just buy from American companies. And I thought that was wild shop. So we didn't do anything in soya beans again. In fact, I should reach out to people who are still in the business and find out if that's still the case.

So where was I? I have value add now. That is the idea behind value add. So if you take sesame like me and my brother were trying to do back then, you don't want to export this sesame seed. If you just carry it like that, fresh from the farmer as it is, you now try and sell it because the thing has not been cleaned. It will attract a certain kind of price then the one that you have cleaned yourself and separated because.

So it's been a while, so I can't even remember how this thing goes. OK. Yeah. So like, there are different markets. There's brown sesame. Like there's white sesame and I think there's like, is it black? Is it black? There's white, there's brown, there's one other color. And then in different parts of the world, you know, they like different colors. So for those of you who like fast food, you know, you go to McDonald's and stuff like that,

you know, you see the sesame on the bonds, you see that the sesame is, is that light colored sesame. So you go and collect from all the farmer and of course, you know, no one single farmer has all the sesame that you need. So usually you're buying from collectives. So you go and buy all these sesame. Then if you have the machine that will sort out this thing, you know will sort out white into all the white one put one side, all the black one put one side, all the brown one put one side.

Then of course you remove impurities, you know, blah, blah, blah. So you know, you see that whole process now that's what you call value add. You have added value to the process so that you can now sell it in the market at a higher at a higher, higher cost. Sorry, higher price because you don't add value into the equation. So yes, it's possible for you to take something that is ordinary. You now do value, value add and then now selling to the market.

So if you think what you have is ordinary mount opinion, don't try and do magic, but you can take an ordinary good. You can now do value add and you can now sell at a higher price. So yes, for someone who is in J Cole's kind of situation, yeah, you can take something simple and ordinary like stationary, do some value add, and then you can now sell it, sell it into the market, and then try and get the higher price. Now, for those of you who listened to yesterday's episode,

Please remember what I spoke about the value Trinity. Remember that one is not my own framework. Oh, I never claimed the idea that it's not my own. In fact, I never talked about any frameworks that are my own because I don't manufacture any frameworks. I'm just here giving you guys the best about global, best business practice and then I just simply translate it into the Nigerian context. By the way, that's the reason why I say information is free,

but what you pay for, for with me is application. Because honestly speaking, if you want to search the Internet, all the things I'm saying, yeah, you actually will find it. But translating these ideas into the Nigerian experience and getting somebody to walk with you as you are solving this problem on a daily in the Nigerian context, that's actually what you pay me for. So where was I now? So value add, value add, value add.

OK, I've lost my train of thought too. OK, I spoke about how you can do value add and I had the value Trinity. Now Victor Antonio's value Trinity, he's also another brilliant podcaster and sales consultant and trainer. So forgive me, Hammer Town over here in Abuja. So just recovering from cough code and Qatar. So where was I? So Victor Antonio now, so my guy Antonio, what he says is that there's a value Trinity. And the value Trinity just means, you know, things that people like, things that people value, the things that make people buy.

Now, Victor Antonio, sometimes he calls them the three FS, even though they don't start with F. And the value Trinity is physical, financial, psychological. I repeat for Victor Antonio, the value Trinity, the three reasons why people buy is physical, financial and psychological. So in other words, people only drop by, they only drop money, they only salivate, they only run after something that gives them a physical benefit.

They only want to buy something that gives them a financial benefit or they only want to give them buy something that gives them a psychological benefits, you know, make them feel good. So there are some products that are able to slam all three that if you use this product, it will give you a physical benefit. You know, your skin will be yellow, your skin will be smooth. We'll now give them a financial benefit. You know, if your skin is smooth, you'll be able to attract more aristo.

Then we also give them a psychological benefit. Let's see what's psychological benefit now, because your skin is smooth, you'll feel like you're beautiful. So you see, and then because of that, that's why people be rushing those products. So if you have been wondering why are all these creams selling? Because I've been seeing all kinds of cream. I have seen sheer butter cream. I have seen purple cream. I have seen tomato cream.

I have seen carrots cream. I have seen as in I'm just impressed all the kinds of creams that are out there. So if you're wondering why are those creams selling, maybe that's why. Because physical, financial, psychological, it gives a physical benefit. You'll be yellow, it gives a financial benefit. If you are yellow, you get aristo, then it gives a psychological benefit. If you're yellow, you feel as if now you find pass, you know all your age mates, you know,

they'll be beefing you, you know, that kind of thing. So maybe that's it. So I know I'm being funny here and I'm being comical, but seriously, whatever business it is that you're on, think about it. Are you giving people a physical benefit? Are you giving people a financial benefit? Are you giving people a psychological benefit? So just think about it in those terms. So even for somebody who is selling stationary, you know,

think about it. You think stationary is ordinary. OK, no problem. What kind of value are you going to do? Are you going to be creating different kind of packages and custom order and you know, things like that? But when you're doing these sorts of things, what benefit are you going to be giving people? Are you going to be giving people the benefit of finance? Are you going to be putting money in their pocket? Are you going to be giving people the benefit of psychological, you know, they feel good?

Or are you going to give people the benefit of what, again, physical or it's a physical benefit. So think about it. So if you come together and you put together some kind package like, OK, this is enterprise, whatever, whatever package we can deliver you, you know, 10,000 reams of paper and whatever, whatever amount of Biro for this, this, this, and we'll be saving you 10% off. You know, say in that case you're giving them a financial benefit with this package that you're putting together for them.

So anyway, J. Cole, even though we already shattered in the box, just in case that's we've chatted the WhatsApp inbox, just in case you listen to this podcast episode, These are some things I forgot to tell you. Bob Shah Yeah, take taking on board. And then for those of you who are listening and you sell stationary, you don't sell stationary stationary. Or we can see how, you know, some of these ideas apply to you. So just think about it a bit.

So that's this thing about him saying ordinary pen, ordinary notebook, ordinary office supplies. But in my own honest opinion, if you have ordinary products, please don't try and perform magic. You know, there's, if you sell ordinary pure water, you can sell ordinary pure water. If you can do value add, no problem. You can do value add and then you can sell, you can sell more. So like back to the pure water example, maybe ordinary pure water.

I think the last time I tried to buy pure water in Abuja, I think was like 15 for one bag. I didn't know that pure water don't cost like that. So let's say pure water is 59 and one back in the market. But maybe for you, your value add is that you your own pure water. You deliver the pure water to people in the houses or people in the offices or people in the restaurant. And then when you deliver the pure water, let's say you deliver it chilled, as in very,

very chilled because the weather is hot. And then because of that, you have to sell you sell your own for 69 per one or 79 per one. You know, maybe that might be value add, you know, just go and give it a try. For those of you who's helped your water, you know, let me know instead of me just coming up here and manufacturing ideas. If you sell pure water and you've been able to sell more than 15 naira per bag, please reach out to me and let me know.

How do you how do you achieve that, especially if you're trying to do some value added strategies. So he says he wants his back to J. Cole right now. So he wants the office supplies to sell fast and he wants to create loyal customers. And then he's asking for unconventional sales strategies. That is the one that I really wanted to talk about. That's the one I really want to talk about. Now. Those of us who listen to the podcast right now, we need to sit down and have a very, very honest conversation.

Let's let's relax first. See, when it comes to business, there are too many of you that are coming in and looking for unconventional, you know, creative and blood. Like relax. The thing with unconventional and you know, whatever is that you're now entering into the realm of, you know, advanced strategies. But The thing is, there's no bother. There's no reason to bother chasing advanced stuff if you have not mastered the basics.

First, let me give you an example. Back when I was in primary school, I told you guys about how because I have some skill playing football and I was invited to try out for the school team and I told you how my football career ended. You know, the day that they bust my nose and there was blood all over my face and I said what? I like football, but I don't like football this much. I love the game, but I'm not willing to bleed for the game.

And so I left. But back then, you know, we had some real colorful guys on the scene. OK George Campos. No Keno. George Campos. Was this goalkeeper from was it from some South American company? I think you used to do scorpion kick. OK, let me continue. So George Campus used to do like scorpion kick. Then there was this OK, I think JJ, when did JJR culture start playing football? So and then so JJR culture and then his leg walk and then those Cano and then all these other people.

And then before that Super Eagles, like Yekini, I think, OK, I think Yekini was when I was really, really small. I think I was in primary school back then Bosha, you know, there were football stars that we used to like to watch and they should do magic on the court. You know, they do leg over or coach. I used to do this and he'll be running forward. He will now stop, calm the ball and now use his leg. He will jump and then flip the football from his back over his head over 2 of you.

And that thing was a very well move. Like the thing was mad. The guy used to. I even saw him do when I think last time I saw him play I think was with Bolton Wanderers or something like that. And I saw him do it live in the game. As you're running forward, somebody chasing you, the person is close marking you. They're out of nowhere. You just grab the football with your two legs, flip it from behind your bom bom over your back, over your head, over that person.

And then you run through the person. And then before you know it, you know, you just give them chakra. And then why is he go? Everybody be running like our culture is mad, you know, and then all of us go on the field and everybody will now start trying to do the advanced technique. But The thing is, you don't even know the you don't know the fundamentals. Do you know how to trap? Do you know how to dribble? Do you know how to pass?

Do you know how to head? Do you know how to chest the ball? You're now trying to learn all these advanced things that you've seen on TV. You are frustrating yourself and then you are not there yet because it is the fundamentals that allow you to do all this exotic stuff. So the reason why I did Your Culture, I could do all these whizzardry with his legs was because he knew the fundamentals. The guy had good form, the guy had good pace, and that *** was fast, very, very fast.

So that's the reason why he can be running like a rabbit. But then he also had good footwork, good control over the ball. That's the reason why he could be running like a rabbit and then all of a sudden stop just like a rock. Everybody run forward because he had good footwork. He now knew how to grab the ball with both feet and then do that flipping thing where the thing will now go from his back, over his head, over your own head.

Then while everybody's watching like what the hell just happened? He will now take off a game acceleration, run through defense. When the thing lands, do leg over left, right. Everybody will fly to the left, to the right. And then boy is a goal and then a culture has scored. If I feel sorry for question and Cano and his or his mates, because if they were born during this TikTok time, TikTok Instagram thing, like they would have been legends because those guys had game.

They really had game. So what I'm saying is that is the foundation that allows you to do the extraordinary. Too many of you want to come and do the extraordinary. You're looking for unconventional sales strategies. What about the simple sales strategies? Do you know how to identify your target customer? Now that you know how who your target customer is, do you know where they hang out? Do you how good are you are taking advantage of existing sales channels to initiate conversations to start building relationships?

Do you know how to do need analysis to figure out what kind of stationary that your customers need so that when you're making a proposal, when you're making a sales pitch, you actually will be selling them the kind of stationery and the kind of package that they actually need? Are you good at negotiation or are you good at haggling? Are you good at pricing? Have you learned the fundamentals first before you want to start doing the unconventional and the exceptional?

So too many of you like relax, we all need to learn the, the, the, the fundamentals first. Now it also helped that there are people who make business content, you know, they go on Instagram, they go on all these places and then they, you know, you just show advanced technique, you know, Papa, and then you wow people and all that. But you guys forget one thing. The person that goes on Instagram and then starts talking about all these sorts of things, there's a lot that the person has had to learn over years.

Like think about it. I didn't just start off like this. I have a previous career as a lawyer and then as a civil servant and then after that trying to trade one or two things. Then some people told me that I'm good at this thing and some people have been willing to invest into my life to give me materials and then stuff like that. So I've been learning, improving and holding my skill over a very long time. So there's some things that you will see me do when I'm on stage or maybe when I'm talking to a customer because sometimes I get off the phone and some people are like, wow, what was that?

And like, I could never do that. I could never say that. The reason why I can't do some things and say some things is because I've been doing this for a while. I've been learning sales for a while. I've been practicing this game for a while. So we should all be patient. So people like J. Cole relax. There's a time for unconventional strategies. That time comes when we have mastered the basics. When we mastered the basics,

then we can be unconventional. So it doesn't matter who your favorite footballer is or your favorite actor or your favorite singer. If I let's speak about singers, there are some singers that or rappers. Like there's some rappers that they drop some bars and it's just mad. Like not only you, before you get to the level of dropping some mad bars, you know, you learn the basics, you watch some hip hop videos, you follow some,

you know, kind of artists, you start practicing some, you know, you start practicing hip hop. Different styles is when you master some things that you can now just start dropping mad flows. So everybody's impressed by the kind of flows that let's say like Eminem drops, you know, but Eminem was not made in a day. He learned the foundation, used to do St. Battles, you know, and all kinds of things, you know, going for shows.

He's been holding his career for a while, you know, as a musician. So it doesn't matter who you like, who you admire. You see a fashion designer, let's say you're in the fashion design space. And then you see what's his name? Mea Tafo. Come up with some. OK, no, Mea Tafo only does traditional silhouettes for for guys. So who should I use? How should I use any? No problem. Let's say Mea Tafo. Let's say Mea Tafo releases a a new collection and uses some bold colours and you're like,

wow, how come I never thought of that? The reason why you never thought of that, the reason why you did not do advanced technique is because Mayor Tafo has been in this suit making game for a long time. The guy's been doing this for like what, 2 decades now? So of course there are some things that he would do with some of his suits. You'd be like, hey, how come I didn't think of that? Relax. You learn the fundamentals first.

The unconventional, the extraordinary will come. So please, those of you listening to this podcast now are looking for extraordinary sales skills and all not like, calm down, we'll get there. Master the basics first. Master the basics first. Anyway, so I responded to J. Cole, remember, not his real name. And I told him that look, guy, your your question is too broad. Again, this question was I started a new stationary business.

How can I turn ordinary pens, notebooks, office supplies into irresistible must haves that sell fast, create loyal customers? And what unconventional strategies could help me scale sales quickly without spending a fortune? So I told them, now look, this question is too is too is too broad. And I'm not in the business of answering broad questions because they take a lot of time. It's a lot of brainpower. And then plus the answer, you can easily find it if you just go and search over the Internet.

To be honest, the reason why I'm here is for people who you have a business problem, you have tried to solve one or two things and in trying to solve it, you reached a place where you don't hook. I am here to help you all hook because you've tried something. I'm not here to reinvent the wheel and tell you every single possible thing that can help you grow a business. In the beginning, I used to do that, but those podcast episodes are just, that's awesome.

We're talking about too many things because there's lots of things actually that you can do to grow your stationary business. Lots and lots of things. I'm not going to sit down and start thinking out all these things. So if you don't go and do a Google search or if you try ChatGPT, you actually will get some useful responses. And this is my own opinion actually. So J. Cole, I really appreciate that you reached out to me.

I really do. And all the people who reach out, I really, really do. But first, I think the better thing to do actually is go on the Internet, do some research, maybe try ChatGPT, get some, some useful responses, go and try and implement those things. When you hook, reach out to me. Good. That would be a very, very useful conversation to have. So let's say you try and ChatGPT and ChatGPT said, or try a subscription service and you are now trying to create a subscription service for stationary in Niger, but you're running into difficulty.

You come and meet me. Good. I would love to answer that question because it's different, it's unique. And then plus, when I make a podcast episode on it, other people will now be learning so that if there's somebody who sells maybe toilet paper to hotels, she can now start thinking, OK, can I sell a subscription service to different hotels for this my toilet tissue? You know, you'll get people thinking. So the question was too broad.

So I told him, try charge a PT, you'll get some useful responses. Or apart from that, if you can just narrow down and ask me one specific question and I'll answer you. Now, the reason why I tell people also to narrow down The thing is I actually have paid client work. I have engagement, like I have trainings and things like that. So there are people that are paying for my time. A lot of you who reach out on WhatsApp, I'm answering your questions for free.

So if you want me to give you an answer, sharp, sharp, quick, quick, it helps. If your question is sharp, your question is quick, your question is straight to the point. In that case, I'll ask you one or two questions to be sure to understand correctly and I can tell you, OK, go and try this and then let me know how it goes. So please, when you guys reach out, the more manageable your questions are, the better. Also, one more thing, J.

Cole wanted to know how he can scale sales without spending a fortune. That's also another thing I want to address the matter of expectations. I think people are coming into business with poor expectations, so there's the answer. Unfortunately, there is no way for you to scale a business quickly without spending a fortune. There's no way. Remember, he said scaling quickly. Scaling quickly, or scaling at all involves time or involves resources.

I repeat, scaling a business requires time or it requires resources. Everybody loves Amazon and everybody's impressed about what boss, What's his name again? That bald guy, what's his name? Bezos. Everybody's impressed with what Bezos has built. But to build Amazon required time and even money self. You had to raise plenty of money. Then he had to run the business as a loss for 20 years, you know, to achieve scale, you know, before Amazon became what it became.

So just know that requires other time. When we say time, we mean effort, Time and effort or money. So whether you spend a fortune in terms of time or you spend a fortune in terms of money depends on which one you have available to you. So for those of you who have the money, Oh yes, it makes sense. I'll spend the market because look at me, I've been doing this podcast for how long? For almost 6 years. How many episodes do I have?

Over 1300, is this a valuable resource? Oh, definitely it's a valuable resource. But I invested time to get this resource. Now think about it. If there's another smart kid who wants to get into the consulting game, I want to use a podcast to distinguish himself like I'm trying to do. Unless the guy comes from a rich family, the guy can start from today, maybe record 50 episodes. He can go and borrow plenty of money from his rich father and invest heavily into podcast advertising.

Before you know it, six months the guy will overtake me quick. I invested a fortune. In time that other guy will have invested a fortune in money. But just know you don't scale something without spending plenty of time and effort or plenty of money. So please, people should stop looking for this. I don't know this silver bullet, the secret to eternal youth, the secret to eternal progress, the secret to the Stop looking for it, it doesn't exist.

And by the way, if you have discovered it and it exists, please reach out to me privately in my DMI, share the secret with me so that me too I can blow without spending a fortune in time or spending a fortune in money. So just pick which one you're comfortable doing. I'm not an advertising specialist. I don't know too much about the game, and advertising as a wedding photographer didn't pan out too well for me. I learned a bunch of stuff, but not enough that I want to take hundreds of thousands or millions and then come up with a deliberate strategy to advertise my weight #1 Now there are some podcasts that I've done that,

like The Honest Bunch, for instance. Those guys, they advertise die on YouTube and all. And you had this worked out well. So which one are you comfortable with? Time, money, pick one you're comfortable with and then go ahead execute. So let's make sure we have the right expectations. So now to prove my point, because I told J. Cole, excuse me, I told J. Cole I should just try out char GBT or any AI tool and let's see what we'll come up with.

So to prove my point, I just copied his exact message. I didn't change anything, I just copied his exact message message and pasted it in Google Gemini and then I hit send. By the way, you wouldn't realize that your prompts can actually be. In fact, the best prompts I think are long, long, long long prompts. So like this one actually is a good prompt. I just copied and pasted it. Let me repeat, what was J Cole's message again.

J. Cole is not his real name. I started a new stationary business. How can I turn ordinary pens, notebooks, and office supplies into irresistible must haves that not only sell fast but create loyal customers? And what unconventional strategies could help me scale sales quickly without spending a fortune? I copied that and I put it into chat. Sorry, I don't use that GPT. I use Google Gemini. By the way, those of you who are wondering which one is the best,

there is no best tool. The one that you use the most and one that you know how to use well is the best. So learn how to prompt and stop looking for the best. So if you already started with ChatGPT, continue. For me, the reason why I left ChatGPT was because every single time I wanted to do something, it would sign me out and I was tired. So the moment somebody told me that German Google has their own AI, say they have their own AI,

what is it? They say it's German, I say where is it? This is on your phone. I checked my phone. I said The thing is even here and I started using it and that was it. I didn't have to sign in. I didn't have to create account. The thing never signs me out. So that's the reason why I use it and I've been getting good results from it. So whatever it is I use, just keep using. So I copied it, pasted it into Gemini and then I sent.

Then this is what Gemini said. I'm please, this is the reason why I'm telling you guys that it's a useful tool. It doesn't replace consultants like us. It does not because you need us all. I put it because sometimes these AI tools will say rubbish. So sometimes you need consultants like us to separate the wheat from the shaft or for me, I'm not afraid of being replaced by these tools. And that's the reason why I tell people to use them.

Use them well, because if I you make my, my job a lot easier if you use these tools and you actually try one or two things. Sorry, excuse me. I had to sneeze and I was really unprofessional. This is the first time I sneeze on the microphone. Sorry about that. OK, so if you actually go and try out a couple of ideas before you meet me, actually makes my job a whole lot easier because now you've tried a couple of things and we now have a sense of what ideas are not going to work or have proper context into your business.

So Gemini, this is what Gemini said. So Gemini said that in the stationary world, you're not just selling ink and paper. Remember what I said at the beginning of the episode when I was talking about the value, value Trinity physical, psychological, what? Again, physical benefit, physical benefit, financial benefit, psychological benefit. That has reason why people buy. Their buying because your thing makes them feel good in the body or there's some other benefit.

It benefits their body or it benefits their wallet or it benefits their mind. So Gemini started off by saying that, look, when you're selling stationary, you're not just selling income paper, you are selling productivity, or you're selling creativity, or you're selling a professional identity. And that's an interesting way to look at it. So that was Gemini's advice to J. Cole. So Gemini said, my boy J. Cole, you are not selling just income paper, you are selling productivity, you are selling creativity, you're selling professional identity.

And then he said, J. Cole, this is how you can transform your commodity into a brand. And then he told J. Cole to do a couple of things that I suspected. And then I spoke about that was a creating curated bundles. That's why you take ordinary items, you package it together, and then you try and sell it to people. So for people who run offices, I really think it might be a good use of their time, especially if you're putting together a package that helps them save money.

Like let's say the person who manages the GTB bank branch in your area, whoever is responsible for getting pens and paper and stuff like that. I'm sure for that person it is a headache and they don't like this whole thing off. Every week they have to figure out how many pens do we have? How many rooms of paper do we need? Which printer is out of ink? If you put together a created bundle and you tell them that, oh Madam, this is what I will do every single Wednesday, I will come into the bank branch and then I'll look around I myself,

when I'll do the inventory, how many pens, how many printer, What is the printer ink level, how many sheets of paper. And then every Friday I will deliver what it is that you guys need. So if you're putting together some curated bundles, some kind of packages like that, so that every single week they're receiving X number reams of paper, X number boxes of pens, X number boxes of printer cartridge, you know, all these sorts of things, you know,

created bundle. It's not, it's not, it's not a bad idea. You're solving somebody's problem. And then if them using their time and going out to buy all these things or going through the banks internal procurement, they're spending maybe 2.5 M every week, OK, maybe 2.5 M every month to get this thing done. And then you're offering this service and you're saying that will not be 2.3. You're saving them a lot of hassle. So Gemini came up with a number of suggestions that that J.

Cole, again, not his real name, that J. Cole can use. So he suggested an executive set. That's where you put together notebooks with heavy ink pens. What again? A a student's package. A student package that's a bundle with focus planners and charters and things like that. Even recommended a boss lady desk kit. I thought that was really, really interesting. That is to provide, you know, stationary in certain kinds of colours or certain kinds of aesthetics and sell to boss ladies, you know, then let's see what else.

It also came up with some ideas for emotional branding and storytelling. To be honest, that did not cross my mind at all, but I thought, OK, this is interesting, especially if you're going to be using social media to sell, then let's see what else. Anyway, basically, I'm not trying to show you that these tools are OK for coming up with some ideas, you know, So there's enough that you can try out here. So I copied it to paste that.

I sent it to him and I said, read this, let me know what you think, Which ideas can you try out now? And then J. Cole said, oh, that he's already trying to build a following on Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp. So yeah, good. Some of the ideas that were there, J. Cole is already trying then let's see. But I told him to pay some attention to this whole corporate, the corporate sample idea because I think it's something that these people that sell stationary don't.

I don't, I don't think they, I don't think they do it because to be honest, stationary suppliers in Nigeria, in Nigeria, I think they have a very laid back approach like, and when they're ready, they will call us and place the order. They don't have this attitude of going to go and chase the market. So J. Cole, actually think what you're doing is going to help you grow because at least you want to be proactive then. OK, yes.

So J. Cole, he's based in ovary. Let's see what else? What else? What else? OK, then he thought about doing advertisements to target offices, and I think that'll be a good idea. But this is the problem that a lot of you make when you want to start running your advertisements, you will forget that business is now local. What this means is when you are on Instagram or when you are on TikTok or when you are on Google and you're looking for certain kinds of things, these algorithms are trying to give you options, are trying to show you the most relevant options that are local to you, that are closest to you.

The example that I give a lot on the podcast and on my radio show is this. If I go on Google and I type in best Sharma, Google is not going to show the best Sharma in France because I am not in France and I will not travel to France just to eat Sharma. So if I type in best Sharma, Google will show me the absolute best Sharma in the world. Google will only show me the best Sharma that is near to my current location. So if I stay in Abuja and I type best shawarma and I'm in Abuja central area, the options that will show up will be those that are closest to me.

Since I'm in central area. Then if I go to Lagos, hopefully maybe there's a big business deal there for me and then I land on Banana Island and then I now type best shawarma. Google will show me shawarma joints that are closest to me at that particular moment where I while I am on Banana Island. Excuse me. So for those of you who advertise online, remember now that business is local. In the beginning, everybody was so overwhelmed in Niger thinking, oh, business can now be international.

No, you can be international, but business is local if you're going to advertise and you are in Ori. So I don't know much about that part of the world. I haven't traveled to the east, OK. I only went to Ogidi once in Anambra. Well, by the way, I really feel you guys, those of you from the east, like the level of erosion in your side is mad mad. It's mad. The airport was wonderful, but as we're driving now, because it was a wedding I was going to cover, as we're driving, it reached one point where the the river over overflowed and covered the main road.

That was the scariest day of my life. First of all, the road is eroded to the left, eroded to the right. Then this massive river has has covered the road and then people are just driving and somehow everybody knew where the road was. I said, hey, if this issue capsized and I drowned here, what will I tell my family that I came to a number and I was chasing money anyway, where was I? And so if you're targeting and you're based, no worry.

Targeting is local. Restrict your targeting to businesses that are within a certain radius so that people who see the advertisements are people who can actually take a drive or take a walk to your depot or take a walk to your store. Well, at the very least, even if they want to order online, like there's a certain amount of security involved that let's say you are in Ikeja and you run a business and you have need for stationary and then an advert comes up and then you see that oh, this business is based in Maryland.

In your mind, it's like, OK, Ikeja is here, Maryland is over there. It's just a 30 minute drive. You know the best. I feel OK, like OK, no problem. Let me just place the order. Let me chat them up on Instagram. Let me hear what they say. If it's OK, let me transfer the money because it's Maryland and I'm in Keja. So business is now local. When you're advertising, make sure you, you, you the physical parameters, make sure you narrow that down.

So that's one thing to advise him that, yeah, it's it's good advertise, no problem. But just mean remember now that advertising is local. So don't go and run a broad campaign and don't go and use campaigns that will target everywhere in no worry. It like it won't make sense. I don't know how big or where the city is, but like where I come from in Benue State, like Benue State is kind of large. Like my mom sees village and my father's village, OK.

By the time you start from Mumsy's village and you're going to Makuti, that's the capital, it's like 45 minutes. Then from Makuti, the capital to my Popsy's village is like another three hours. So in another words, like Mumsy's village and then Popsy's village, they're like 4 hours apart. And yes, it's the same state. So if you're running advertisements now in Benway State, it doesn't make sense for you to target the whole of Benway.

Keep it manageable. If you're based in Makodi and you don't want to, you know, delivery costs also matter the in these things. Keep it manageable. Let me restrict it to the places that I can reach easily on my own. Or I can use Okada to do delivery, you know, sharp, sharp. So yeah, that was it. And then after that, you know, I just left J. Cole because, you know, I have other things to do. But recently I reached out to him.

I say, how far are you making progress? Because whether you pay me or whether you don't pay me, actually what was what's what's best for you? So I'm sorry about the noise over there. I'm in the parking lot, like I said. And the business over here, they've owned the AC. They have this in massive industrial size AC. So The thing is making all that noise. So he told me that, yeah, that he's making progress. He's learning how to use Google Sheets and Google Forms to systematize inventory taking and very good, very, very good.

I'm glad to hear that he's making progress because for those of you who are into stationary, yes, inventory management is a big deal. Remember what I said, the suggestion about going to GTE Bank and talking to the person who is responsible for procuring the, the stationary, the people who are responsible for procuring toilet paper, pencil paper, printer ink, all those sorts of thing things. So inventory taking is key.

So yes, if you can use Google Sheets, Google forms and all these things to make sure that you're inventory taking this on point, you know, very, very good. That's something they actually have to learn. So that's good. But then he now said one thing that makes me scared when I hear Nigerian business people say it. He said he wants to go fully into AI mode to make ordering to make content production and then also for automated leads.

Abby, OK, it's kind of long. OK, let me just summarize it. He wants to start using AI fully in his business so that AI will be used for ordering, fulfilling orders, then for content production, and then for lead management, responding to customers. So I told him, now look, all those other ideas that you have, they're very, very good when it comes to the customer experience, when it comes to managing leads, when it comes to talking to people who are in your DM and who are in your WhatsApp.

I told him do not automate anything. Don't. Too many of you are rushing to automate and it is killing your business. It is killing the customer experience. If you want to make automation and AI this and AI that work for your business, it requires you to have massive amounts of data. The amount of data that is required is you need to speak to lots of customers because you need to be able to know the kinds of things that customers say, the kinds of problems that they have, the kind of issues that they're dealing with.

And then you will now take that to produce a communication tree. Like let's say you're using, there's this thing, is it money chat? Yeah, I think money chat it's an automation automation, but I think they use it in Facebook and use it in in Instagram. So for all you have to program a communication tree. Now communication tree is just a an algorithm that says if this then that. What this means is this you program the bot so that if somebody comes into your your chat and the person says hi,

this is how you respond. You can either respond by saying hi back or saying hello. Thanks for reaching out. How may I help you? So that's a communication tree. If this, then that. If somebody says hi, what do you respond? If the person responds to that and they say this, this, this, what do you say next? What do you say next? These things have to be programmed into your chat bot or programmed into your AI tools and it requires large amounts of data.

When you are new in business, you do not have that data yet. You do not. So you are putting a bot or you're putting some AI thing into your chat box and you're trusting this thing to have conversations with people. People will be finding it very, very, very, very, very frustrating. Very frustrating because they have questions, they have concerns or they have complaints. The AI tool, the automation will not understand it will not get it.

Now Gemini and Char GPT and all these people, they make it look very easy because there are chat bot tools, there are chat interface, everything works smooth. The reason why I work smooth is because those boys have money and they have the data. They have millions and millions and billions and trillions of data points. That is why this thing works smooth. You should not be rushing into ultimate, so no be replying to everybody 1 by 1 by 1.

Go and get a Bluetooth keyboard like I do connect it to your phone or connect your WhatsApp inbox or your Instagram inbox, you know, let it come up on your computer. Be responding to people one-on-one. That is where, first of all, you have a much more pleasant customer experience, user experience. And then that is also where you will get the data to design your communication tree so that you'll be able to tell Money Chats that when people say this,

say this because think about it. What if somebody comes into your inbox and they're chatting in Pigeon, but Money Chat has not been given the data about pigeon? How will Money Chat respond or figure out what it is that the person is saying in the beginning? Please do not automate anything. You do not have the data and you do not have the knowledge to make that thing work in the beginning. Manual, please, manual, manual.

Or do you have enough data until you know, like let's say you've been responding to people manually for like 3 years. After a while, you kind of understand that. OK, when people slide into my DM in Instagram, they usually say one of two, three things. And if they say this, this is how the conversation goes. If they say that that is how the conversation goes. You can now program your your, your bot or your whatever. Yeah, I know this is almost one hour, but alright, let me wrap it up.

But Shah, please, please, please, please, oh brothers and sisters, stay away from automation. It looks easy. Char GPT and Google and the rest of them, they've made it look as if The thing is easy. It's not. It's expensive and it requires lots of data right now. You don't have the time or the money to make this thing work for now. So please do not automate in your inbox. I beg. So that was it. Of course, as it goes with all these chats, you know, we spoke about lots and lots and lots of things.

But I think these were the most important things that I spoke about with J. Cole. Remember, not his real name that I thought. Let me come over here and share with you guys. And sorry that this has lasted an hour. During the next podcast episode, I'll try and make sure that we keep it less than 30 minutes. But I hope that if this is your first time listening to the show, I hope that you've gotten value out of it. Forgive me that it was kind of rambling, but that's because when I have WhatsApp conversations with you guys, my dear listeners, I'm actually trying to figure out the problems that you're dealing with.

And so, yeah, the chats can go all over the place. In fact, sometimes we will talk about some personal matters looking for J. Cole. We didn't discuss personal matters because J. Cole is looking like he's a sharp guy. So you understand, he's looking like a sharp guy, like a fly guy. So there's nothing personal I can tell him. In fact, he's one that asked. He will teach myself so that me too, I can get some game. You can get some game in my life.

So I can go and pick myself up. Yeah. So that's it. So J. Cole, again, not your real name, but thank you very much for reaching out. I have fun chatting with you. I hope I've been able to give you some good ideas to grow your business. And the reason why I'm sharing this conversation here is because I'm hoping that this conversation will be able to inspire and help other people to grow their businesses as well. So if you'd like to reach out,

just like J. Cole did, the phone number is at the beginning and at the end of every episode, so you can call. You can send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140. Thank you very much for your time and attention. I'll catch you all some other time. Remember to subscribe to the podcast if it's your first time listening. Tell your friends, your family members, also tell your enemies as well so that they can come here for this business goodness that we talk about every day on the podcast.

So that's it. This is your boy, Tavishma Ayedeep signing out. I'll catch you some other time.