The Abuja Business Guide: Competition, Credit, and Recycling.

Hello and welcome to today's episode. Today's episode is going to be a bit of a ramble and we're going to look at a couple of questions. Let's see how to deal with competition. Some stuff about the recycling industry in Abuja, Nigeria. Then let's see what else credit issuing credit for businesses, especially people who are involved in boutique businesses. Now, the reason why today's episode is a mishmash, it's a hodgepodge is because I was on the radio yesterday and some folks called in and even though I was trying to talk about networking for women this these questions, it seemed pretty good.

So I went ahead and tackled it live on the air. So I'm coming over here on the podcast today just to let you know some of the good stuff that I was up to yesterday with the people who called in on the show. Now, this your first time listening to podcast? My name is Tavi Shima Ayede. I'm a former lawyer turned the business consultant. And what I do almost every day is I pick up the microphone and we solve business problems,

especially problems that can be say that can be solved through a sales and marketing perspective. And that's more what we're going to do over here today. Now, if you'd love to connect with me just like these people did, you can call, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140. And oh, by the way, if you do reach out and you do connect and we agree on the time so that we can have a meeting where I can answer your one free question because Ioffer everybody one free question who who reaches out Then if we need to go in depth to solve any issues,

please, I would just advise that you show up on time and let's try and see how we can make this thing happen. All right, so now back to the questions that I got last night. So OK, so the first caller was favor and then she gave me an update because she's the one who has been calling to the radio show for the last 2-3 weeks. She wanted to acquire machines for her fashion business, you know, the fashion people, you know, you need those fancy machines for ironing, for steaming, for sewing, for stoning, for embellishing, for,

you know, all those sorts of stuff. And anyway, so she was the one that inspired that particular episode. If you remember when we talked about how to find how to finance, I can't remember the title, but anyway, if for those of you who need machines for your business, we did a few episodes where we spoke about how you can raise the cash that is required to buy the machines for your business. So was Favor who inspired that episode?

So eventually she called back to say that she was going to bootstrap. She had created 5 pieces and she had stoned them and embellished them and made them look really nice. And if she was going to be able to sell the five items of clothing she would net, she was going to bring in close to 1,000,000 1/2 or something like that. And then she was going to use the proceeds from that to acquire the machines. So Favour called again last night and she said she gave me some good news that she had already acquired one machine.

And I was really, really happy to hear that. So I say it time and time again, I'm saying it again today. So please, dear listeners, take note. It's not just about listening, listening, listening. It's about taking action because so many people are listening to good content, they're subscribed to good podcast, they are listening to good mentors or good mentees or good consultants or whatever, but not a lot of people are taking action.

So at the end of the day, the difference between the people who move are those who don't actually is people who take action. So she called one week, she's like, you know, what kind of ideas do we have? I measure on bootstrapping. She called the next week to say I'm going to do bootstrapping. I have created 5 pieces. And then she calls the next week to say I've sold a bunch and I've acquired one machine. And she said, God willing, I'm going to be able to buy the second one next week.

And I won't be surprised if next week when I hop on the radio, she calls again to say, now I have all my machines in place. So that's how it works. Take action, take action, take action. So I was happy to hear from favor. Then next was a is in a isn't it called? OK, our question was about the Christian life. So I am not going to tackle that question here because well, you know, the radio station is a not-for-profit. So yeah, people call asking certain kinds of questions, you know I'll answer.

But the podcasts were focused exclusively. So excuse me, sorry about that. So for the podcasts were focused exclusively on business. So I'm not going to answer that. Then next was David. Yeah, so David called and David's problem was that he is in a business that has lots of high competition. Yeah, he's in the business that has lots of competition because he's into phones and accessories. And I confirmed that he's in the Bannex area of Abuja.

And so for those of you who are based in Abuja, you will know that Bannex man, it's a, it's a madhouse. So Bannex in Abuja is essentially the same as, you know, that Bannex tower in Lagos or think about Computer Village in Ikeja. Well, I haven't been to Computer Village in a while, but while I lived in Lagos anyway, Computer Village could be kind of rough and kind of kind of ruckus. So, you know, you have lots of people there, different buildings, everybody's selling essentially the same thing,

touts running up and down. You know, Ibros, what do you want to do? You want fixed phone, You want fixed laptop? A brush should be an iPhone. I get, you know, and all that kind of behaviour. So I understood, I understood perfectly well what Mr. David was complaining about when he said was competition. But however, what Mr. David tried to do to deal with the competition was he decided he was going to diversify into affiliate sales and a couple of other things.

And news flash, what do you think? And he met competition there as well. So excuse me. So Mr. David's situation was the first one that we tackled on the podcast. And that's the reason why I'm even making today's podcast episode. So forgive me if my thoughts are a little scattered because I didn't write anything down. I'm just looking at my notes from yesterday's session. So First off, I told Mr. David and anybody who is listening,

especially those of you listening to the podcast right now, and you're complaining about competition. The fact of the matter is competition is a given. Competition is just a normal fact of life. We cannot get rid of it, especially with advances in technology. Access to information and access to resources sometimes have now been democratized. So there are going to be much more people playing in your space. So I told Mr. David that, yes,

20 years ago, if somebody wanted to get into the phone business, OK, there was something stopping everybody. Not everybody had access to information. Not everybody knew where to go to in China to buy the phone direct or live. Not everybody could go online and do some online course and learn how to be phone technicians to repair phones or to repay repair a PlayStation 4 and you know, stuff like that. But you know, it is what it is.

You know, access to the Internet is now here. If somebody wants to get involved in the phone business, they don't even have to travel to China anymore to buy all this stuff direct like in the good old days. They can just sit down on Temu or Alibaba or whatever and order all their stock if they choose to run business that way. And and if some of you think it's not possible, I don't know if Niger people run business like that, but definitely the American kids who that's how they run their business.

You stay over in America, you stay in Wisconsin or Washington or wherever you are, and then you do your thing. You order online and then a couple of weeks later your inventory comes to meet you at home. And then from there you sell. Excuse me. So I'm surprised if there are Nigerian people doing that similar model. But bottom line, what I'm trying to tell them, said David, is that competition is duly competition is certain,

competition is a given. Competition will happen. It doesn't matter whether you are a lawyer, whether you sell mobile phones and accessories, excuse me, whether you're a consultant, whether you are in the fashion space, whether you do recycling, whether you do, no matter what it is that you do. You run a baby crash, you run a secondary school, you sell ceiling fans, you're an architect, you're a brain surgeon, you're a cardiologist.

It doesn't matter. Whatever it is you do, there will be competition. In fact, there's some people who say competition is a good thing, that if you want to step into a business and you see competition, then it means that the business is viable. That's why people do, you know, people are raw farm because it's worth it. But if you want to go into a, a new space and is a see if you know, The thing is cricket, like there's nobody there.

They're on. It means that there's no money there. That's why people are not rushing it yet. So I'm not saying I subscribed to that school, but I'm just trying to say that there are some people who say that competition is, is, is a good thing. So there's this guy, he has his podcast. What's the guy's name again? The sweaty startup. Nick Cuber. Yeah. I think he's Nick Cuber. So he runs storage space companies. And so for Nick Cuber, you know,

this is his thing. Nick Cuber says so. Excuse me. So excuse me. I had a busy day yesterday, you know, coaching calls and you know all that. Then being on the radio again. So my voice is a bit tired today. Yeah. That reminds me. The. The TV show is tomorrow. That's for those of you who listened. I'm all looking forward to seeing me on TV. So it's tomorrow again. DSTV channel 365 12. I can't remember if it's 11:30 or 12 noon, but then I'll confirm and let you guys know.

So yeah, so Nick Cuba, sweaty startup American guy. So this is thing. So he started with storage space businesses and then later on moved to real estate. So this is what Nick Cuba says. This is his own point of view. His own point of view is when you're ready to enter into business, you should shine your eye and look for places where there's competition. Because the people who are in those businesses ordinarily speaking in lots of time, you know, they're not too sharp, you understand, like they're not too sharp.

And, you know, they don't really apply. They're not really focused. So those of us will be saying like we have any modicum of intelligence by the time we come in and look into this place that has high competition by the time we survey and we apply. So we're executing every day, right by the very fact that we're operating better than everybody who will thrive and will survive. Do you understand, You get, maybe some of you don't get, let me repeat, let's say there's plenty of competition in the business.

Most of the people who are going to be in that business are not terribly smart and a lot of them are going to be lazy. So the fact that you enter into the space and you're hard working and you're smart, it will make a difference. So let's use a favor fashion design that tailors all over Abuja, that tailors all over on Nisha, that tailors all over in Lagos Abbey and people who want to be stylist. So the rationale for the Cuba is that a lot of the people in the fashion space are going to be lazy.

They won't show up to work every day, they won't deliver to customers on time. When they deliver, there will be mistakes, they will have a poor process for following up with customers, for matching orders, you know, things like that. So there'll be plenty of problems. So if you come in and you say you're going to be disciplined and then you use small common sense, you'll be able to be much more successful than other people.

So if you come into the fashion space, then you implement a CRM that's a customer relationship management tool. The CRM keeps you focused, it keeps you on point, you're able to deliver on time. It also allows you to be able to follow up with people and build relationships effectively. So by doing that over time you will begin to stand out and you will begin to get a better reputation and start getting more business and be able to raise your price ahead of the competition.

Just because you have come into a place where there's high competition and you know that most people will be lazy. So you decide I will not be lazy. I'll work hard. Then you also bring some intelligence into it because of course the Cuba is assuming that you know is you know, those of us boys and girls, we we know books small. So that intelligence plus the hard work we go make them. So there are people who actually when they're coming in, they just look where's their competition?

So Nick Huber, the sweaty startup, listen to his broadcast by the way, him looking into real estate. It was not a matter of, you know, real estate is gang gang or real estate is the thing like that was a matter of what are people already doing? Let me go and shook my hand there because I'm a hard worker and because I know book because I'm smart, All I have to do is just change one or two things over time. Eventually I will not just survive, I will thrive.

So competition is a given and competition is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, there are some people multi millionaires because the Cuba is a big boy. It's a big boy. People who are multi millionaires, you know, just by looking around like where is the competition? No problem. Let me go and die there. I must, you know, let me go dominate. So there's some people who do that. So since competition is a given, since you can't run to another industry because there's no industry that you run to where there is no competition, none.

If you think there's an industry that doesn't have competition, please send me a message. 08064662140. I'd like to investigate that industry. You know, just do some small research. But I can assure you truly, truly, there's no competition. But that business is profitable. Forget it. People will discover, before you know it, they will flood that place. Basha, I'll be curious. I want to know what kind of businesses do not have competition.

All right, So what I told Mr. David was, since competition is a given then the challenge now is we should learn how to distinguish ourselves from the competition. That's the only thing that we should, that should be our prime focus because when we learn how to distinguish ourselves from the competition where you are now, if you try another business sector or another industry tomorrow, you would have learned some skills that you can transfer that will help you to set yourself apart from the competition there.

So remember, he started off in phones and accessories. He said competition one kilam. So he decided to move out to affiliate marketing only to find that competition one kilam. But this is the thing, if you learn how to distinguish yourself while you are selling phones and accessories, computer accessories, when you move over into affiliate, you will also know how to distinguish yourself because you don't learn one or two things in your previous place of business that you now carry over now.

So let's learn how to distinguish ourselves Now, since this is a sales podcast, unsurprisingly, I told him that, look, the first way that we differentiate ourselves, all right, is by our sales process and by you, the salesperson. You're the salesperson, you're the business owner, you are the differentiator. This is what I tell a lot of my clients because let's face it, when in sales last, last, at the end of the day, everybody's selling the same thing.

Let's be real here. So he's in the phones and in the accessory space, the iPhone 17 Pro Max that he's selling. Materially speaking, is there any difference between his own iPhone 17 Pro Max and the next shop or two shops down or three shops down? Is there any material difference between or what they're selling? They're all selling exactly the same thing, some of you say, and as we call physical products. Oh, really? You say, oh, I'm a, I'm a consultant.

They say, oh, really? OK, good. As a consultant, what am I selling? Am I not selling access to greater revenues, you know, do business with me, you make more money. Or am I not selling time, for instance, you know, deal with me, you get your time back. Or am I not selling transformation, you know, deal with me. This is how your life personally will be transformed or this is how your business personally will be transformed.

OK, no problem. Which other consultant is not selling exactly the same thing? Are we not all selling the same thing? We are. So the distinguishing factor now in the modern era is not what you sell. The distinguishing factor is who is the person that is selling it. Because for service based businesses like me, in the consulting space, people are buying into you. Even self in the physical commodity space like phones or accessories, when people come to your shop, people are buying you if you're a correct guy.

Because let's face it, now these things are expensive. iPhone 17 Pro Max, Somebody told me it's like 5 M like 5 million. I don't know how true it is because I'm not really a phone guy, but that's what I was told. So let's just say you think people have 5 million to just be dropping anyhow. You think so when somebody finds a phone plug like oh, this phone guy is a decent fellow. This phone guy is a correct guy. The guy there responsive.

If there's any issue, the guy will answer me one time. Any problem the guy will help me solve it. Once you've found a decent phone plug, you think the person when they're ready to buy another phone, the next phone costs you know 7 million. You think they're going to start looking for somebody afresh or they'll go back to the guy that they already know the same Mr. David, what's up ID now I bet you get iPhone, you know 27 Pro Max.

You are the distinguishing factor. Hear me out and listen clear please. Today you are the distinguishing factor. It is not your, it's not the product, it's not the service. Stop looking for differentiators in the product or in the service. You are the distinguishing factor. Nowadays, people are buying you primarily if you're a service based business, you're an architect or you're a brain surgeon or you're whatever, people are buying you.

If you sell cars or you sell phones or you sell ceiling fans, people are buying you. So my rice David was you didn't fix up your sales process because he didn't have to tell me. I know that he doesn't have a sales process that is just giving. In fact, 99.999999999999998 of you listening to this podcast now on an old guest sales process that is just basic. It's a giving. If you'd like to have a conversation, you'll see what that entails, how you can come up with your own sales process.

That's not a problem. Call me send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064. 662140 Don't worry if I sound expensive, I'm reasonably priced and I answer one question for free, so that's not a problem. Just hit me up, let's have a chat. You'll be fine. Oh, by the way, the conversation I'm going to have with you guys, I prefer to have the conversation in Telegram. The reason why is because I want the session to be recorded.

The reason why I want the session to be recorded is because I want you to leave there with the recording so you can listen back to it later on because we're going to discuss a couple of ideas. You know, when we have the conversations. I'm not going to create any notes because I mean, come on, it's a free session. I'm ready, giving you my time. I'm not going to sit down and create notes. So at least you will have the audio recording that you can listen back to later on.

That's the reason why I do it in Telegram. So if you want to reach out, I beg download Telegram before you hit me up. Then I will fix the time where we'll have our session. The audio is yours. I will not play the audio anywhere. I will not share the audio with anybody. That's the reason why you have not heard any of those audio sessions on the podcast. The best I'll do is I'll come back and say I had a conversation with and these are the things we spoke about, but I

will not play the audio right. So any personal issues that we talk about there and stuff like that will be kept in confidence. And that's why I'm not going to use the audio. Matter of fact, once I have confirmed that you have downloaded the audio, I will delete the group in typically another, you know, 2-3 days. But once it's done, it's done. So when you download the audio, keep it. That is sort of like your own personalized private podcast.

All right, so where was I? So I know that Mister David does not have a selling framework. So I said, look, you need to come up with the selling framework now because it's Banix and you know, the, the, the, the play is high traffic, high for traffic. Everybody knows that. Look, it's Abuja. If you're looking for the iPhone 16, if you're looking for the Samsung V Fold, you're looking for the techno blah, blah, blah. You want to buy a PlayStation Five, you know, whatever,

Everybody just knows, OK, you go to Banix, just like in Lagos, you know, you're looking for Samsung Triple Fold, you're looking for PS-7, looking for whatever it is. Everybody just goes to Computer Village. So high traffic. Now since high traffic is already there, I won't talk about lead generation. Lead generation does means how you find people who might be interested in your product or service and how you get their contact details.

So I didn't even talk the lead generation route with Mr. David. So as I'm said, David, now the next thing is this high traffic, good. People are walking through your store. Good. Now you need to come up with a framework. You need to come up with a process, You need to come up with a strategy. We need to write this thing down so that you can train your boys on this thing later on. Because it will be terrible if you come up with this thing.

But this thing exists only in your own head so that when customers come into the shop and they meet you directly, they have a wonderful experience. But then the day you go out and leave your boy in charge and then they come and they meet your boy or to meet your sales girl, then they now have a terrible sales experience. So we guys write this thing down somewhere on the sheet of paper in the Google Doc document on a post it note on.

We have to write it down so that by the time you get a ball in your shop or you get a sales girl in your shop, you can sit down, down and say what this is the process, this is how it works. And then you train them so that when you're in the shop and somebody comes wonderful sales experience. If you have to travel to the East, you know, for meeting or you know something and your sales boys in the shop or your sales girl is in the shop,

anybody that comes wonderful sales experience. So this framework has to be written down somewhere. It cannot, I repeat, it cannot exist in your brain only everything exists in your brain. Only you are wrong. You cannot train somebody or something that only exists in your brain. You can't. So write it down. So for Mr. David, I said now we need to come with the process. When somebody come into the store, how will you greet them?

How you greet them? It's important, right, How you greet them. How do you like your customers to be greeted? Some of you are wondering down to that level, yes, down to that level. Have you entered some shops where you enter and then the sales girl is just changing come and then she's playing a Candy Crush on her phone. She'll just look at you and then look down. Continue to chew Ching Gong. You've not seen that kind of shop before.

There are plenty. So even something as when my customer calls me to the shop, give me this is how we greet them. Even a conversation. I need to have it. Is it a browse out now? Is it? Good morning Sir. Is it Yes. How can I help you? Is it sure you need to have that conversation. How are we going to greet people when they come into the shop or when somebody ping on Instagram DM, When they ping in WhatsApp DM, how are we going to greet them?

How are we going to acknowledge them? You have that conversation, then the next step need analysis. You need to be able to figure out why this person is here. So I told Mr. David and other people who are listening, whenever somebody comes in front of you, the person is coming in front of you not because they don't have where they are going. It's because they either have a problem or they have a vision. I think I've spoken about this recently.

Anybody that enters your shop has a problem or a vision. The goal is to try and figure out which it is. OK, now the David, OK, Mr. David, phones and accessories. OK, cool. And I pose one question and I'm sure all of you will notice this thing. Have you noticed that when a young lady walks into a store and she says do you have iPhone 17? If you notice the lady already happens to be holding an iPhone something. If that is the case that most of the times when a young lady enters into your shop, she says do you have iPhone 17 Pro Max?

She already has an iPhone. Does it not stand to reason that either she has a problem, the current iPhone wouldn't work again, or she has a vision like she's a big babe and she's supposed don't upgrade so this iPhone 16 is no longer suitable for her. So now you need to find out how to engage in conversations with this young lady who has walked into the shop to figure out what is it exactly? Is there a problem? I've been a vision so that if it is a vision, we can find out how to move her along.

Because there's some people who say iPhone Pro Max 17, by the time you call 5 million, they'll say 5 million. As it is like that. You say, yes, sister, she's OK, thank you that she will start going. You now don't know what to say. The reason why you don't know what to say next, because if you say sister relax now where you do go, come back, come back, come back, come back, yeah, no problem. You know, even though we say now 5 million because now you bring 5.7, you see already eroding your, your, your, your margins,

giving up discounts. The reason why you don't know any which other way to carry this conversation is because you do not engage with her. You don't know whether and a problem have been a vision. If it's a matter of vision, you now know how you can finish situation to say that you know what yes, the iPhone 17 Pro Max now 5 M, but you know you also get some kind phones way for beams of your stature. You know still they represent well that kind of thing.

The babe can say like which one. You now say no problem. You now go and show her Samsung V4. I say Samsung V fold. That one is 3.5. You will start talking if you do a good job talking more I mean you never know from there you might be able to slide into techno because I think techno is one that has the is it the triple fold instead of opening up like V, you open like WIB. Is it like I know like letter N uh huh, the triple fold yes, you have options because you know that this person that came in front of me now vision where she the poor shoe You will have options.

Now, let's say it's a matter of problem and the problem is she has iPhone 16 the iPhone 16. Maybe the screen is cracked. The screen is not working. So you know it's a matter of problem. So she was just thinking, OK, maybe let her just ask. Maybe it's doable. She can move from 16 to 17, but since it's a matter of problem, you'll be able to discuss other options. OK, Oh, you know what we do trade insurance. If you bring this 16, even though the screen is cracked,

we'll be able to take so, so so and so off blah blah blah. And now you have a new phone or OK, trading in and or not down or pass your power. No problem. We do screen repairs at so, so, so and so, but you will not know how to continue the conversation and you will not know what options to pursue unless if you engage with somebody who comes into the shop. So before people start walking into your store, you figure out how are we going to engage people in the conversation so that if no problem, we'll figure it out.

If no vision, then a Porsche, we'll figure it out. That is what we give us options so that we'll not be in those silly situations where I don't know about you, but when I'm in that situation, I feel like an idiot. When somebody comes in, I say, Anna, 5 million. Then as I walk in and I say, Bros, relax now, like where are you going? You live here, relax now you know what is is 5 million. But if I call my old guy, we can give you at, we can give you at 4.8.

Am I the only person who feels like an idiot when I'm stuck in that situation? I'm sure I'm not. The only way we avoid those situations is when we have a proper framework and we know how to be able to assess and figure out who are we dealing with. Now, here's some side effects that you guys haven't thought about. When you engage with somebody on that kind of level, you know that we're in Nigeria, right, where most people are just peddlers.

So if you go to Barnex, most of the people you meet there, they're just peddlers, you know, peddlers, hawkers. Now, like when you're in traffic by groundnuts, by groundnuts, you know, it's just this is the groundnut. It's 2/5 per bottle. You start pricing oil, you know, give me one eight, you know, blah, blah, blah. You know, you take it for two, one that is peddling. So most of the people in Bannix, most of the people in computer village, most of the people in,

you know, all these areas, even computer village in sorry, GSM village in Abuja, like I think it's area 1 or so I'll be, I'll be area 3 anyway. Most of the people, they are peddlers. Now, if you have a process, I actually engage people in these kind of conversations. Have you noticed that you are already standing apart as a professional? Other people are peddlers. You're professional. The babe who's in the shop, the customer, potential customer,

she might not know how to put a finger on it, but already you sound different because the babe has gone to three shops. Excuse me, this is Nigel. So let's be real. Before she came to your shop, she has already gone to two shops or three. After she leaves your shop, she will go to another two or three shops. Don't you want to be the guy that she remembers as there's something about that guy she cannot say with her mouth.

Like I'm saying it because me, I'm saying you're being consultative, you're being a professional, you're standing out and you're offering a superior customer experience. I can put it in those words. The customer can't put in those words. They just know that that person I saw in shop B3, I kind of like that guy or my spirit is calling me back to that. Those are the kind of things that do say my spirit is leading me here.

Yeah, I've heard people say that. So, yeah. So I went to other places, but something about my spirit kept bringing me back to your shop. Yes, they say it is my spirit because they don't know how to quantify it. No, be spirit, nothing spiritual right here. It's a very scientific something. It's because the person has a well thought out process that the person is using to distinguish themselves. So when you work on that, you can see how your sales process in itself sets you apart from the competition and give somebody a reason to remember you the next time it it's time to, you know, it's time to go ahead because meantime I've been in a situation where I need something to be repaired.

I need something to be replaced. But the guy's phone number, I honestly cannot remember what I stored it as. So I will make time and I'll go to by next and I'll go to the exact shop. And if I don't see the guy, I'll leave a message and say they tell the guy that he should call me when he enters the shop. That level of trust because you know, now you know how these boys can be, you go and drop your phone with somebody and then before you know, they remove some parts and you know,

your phone, you know, they fix the screen, but now volume control is not working, you know, or you drop your computer, they fix it, but you're not worried. How do they have access to my data? You know, and all these kind of issues. I remember when I was a bit younger in Lagos, this Nollywood actress that had some, you know, unfortunately she had some, you understand, some bad, bad, bad things on her computer and unfortunately bad, bad things involved her and she went to computer village to have the thing fixed.

And then you know, boys had access to material. That's how her video now leak. But luckily for her, I was back in those days when social media no to you know, social media was not really social media. If it was today, they think would have gone viral, viral all over the place. But luckily back then team not to spread so security of data, you know, all these sorts of things. So when you find a phone plug that you trust, a mobile accessory person that you trust,

you want to buy PlayStation, a PlayStation person that you trust, you all wanted that person for a long time. So your sales process is what is going to set you apart. And so I told Mr. David that your sales process in itself is the beginning of setting you aside. So you don't have a sales process. You want to see how you can use your selling process to distinguish yourself, set yourself apart from the competition. Call me, send me a text message or WhatsApp message 08064662140.

Like I said, don't worry, I sound expensive. Don't be afraid, I'm reasonably priced. Apart from that, I don't bite and answer one question for free. You have nothing to lose. Install Telegram on your phone before I reach out, because we'll do it on Telegram. The session will be recorded so that you have access to the audio. It's audio only. Believe me. I don't want you people to see my face off. So it's an audio call.

I don't do video. Don't ask me for video. So where are we? So that's Mr. David dealing with competition. Yeah. And I said, I think that was the main message for Mr. David, that your sales process in itself will be the distinguishing factor and you are the person that people are buying into. It is not the phone. So let me say one more time in case people didn't hear me correctly. If you sell insurance, the reason why somebody is buying insurance from you is not because the insurance product is better.

In Nigeria, there are dozens of insurance companies and all the products sound the same. The difference is, is not much. The difference is you know, your rate is, you know, 3%. Another person's rate is 3.2. I mean, at the end of the day, is somebody going to decide based on that 0.2 it is you that they are keen into, they trust you as an insurance agent. So wealth management, it's the same thing. The rates are all the same.

If treasury bills is 11% in GTB, it will be 11% in FCMB or maybe 11 point 111.2. It is not that .1 or .2 that is making somebody to buy treasury bills from your bank. They are buying the treasury bills from you because they trust you, Kemi, or you Kunle, or you Hamza. They trust you. As a certified wealth professional, you have their best interests at heart. You're familiar with them, you know their goals, you know their aspirations.

So if you tell them that we will do 20% of your wealth in treasury bills, then we'll now put another 20% in index funds. We'll now put another one in this growth stock in this whatever in that, whatever it is you that they are trusting, it is not the financial product because at the end of the day, any other wealth professional out there is selling the same product and the price is more or less the same. The difference between 11% and 11.2%, yes, things compound over time, but for the average person, 11 percent, 11.2%, yeah,

it's neither here nor there. It is you that they are buying. So anyway, excuse me, it's been 40 minutes. Let me not overstress this one. Let me move on also, so I can go and have some honey and lemon tea. Let me soothe my voice. Be ready for my TV debut. What I'm is, I need to go and cut my hair, I guess, to appear fresh when I'm on TV, you know, you never know. I'm not looking for a second wife, but you never know, I

guess to be fresh. All right then Mr. Isaiah. Oh yeah. So Isaiah was the one that was interested in the recycling industry. Now the reason why is because the week prior Mr. Samuel called in and he was talking about other business opportunities because I was scolding one guy about why he is he's wasting his time in multi level marketing. So Mr. Samuel called in to say that there are other business opportunities and he spoke about the recycling industry in Nigeria.

Well, in Abuja, let me just put it that way. So he was talking about how he could take pure water, sachets, plastic bottles, all these kind of things, take them to Jabi Park in Abuja, sorry, Jabi Market, I think. And then the thing will be melted down into pilot pellets and then sold to people coming from Kano who buy the pellets as raw materials. But it's a high volume kind of business because he said what he said. I have not verified and you know, I didn't go to the place so I do not know.

So please be hearing this for the first time, go and do your own research. No say because you heard me say it, therefore it is a good idea. Go and do your own research. Be security conscious, protect yourself. Verify all the information that you hear, whether from me or from any other place. What I am saying is not an endorsement. If you're listening to another radio show, another podcaster, what they're saying is not an endorsement.

You are responsible for the decisions you take. So please go and verify, go and investigate. So what Mr. Samuel said, it's 1/5 per KG. And that's not, that's not much. That's not much. So if you want to earn 20 kilograms from the deal, look, think of the amount of pure water such that you have to go and pack. I mean, that's a lot. But anyway, I appreciate what Mr. Samuel was saying. Basically, he was just trying to say that look, there are other ways to make money.

We should all stop looking for this whole money while you sleep. The secret to eternal wealth, you manifest to the universe, money by doing nothing at all. And you know, all these funny, funny, funny ideas, they end up putting you in trouble, especially in the Nigerian context. You hang around those circles, you hang around those boys, you hang around those girls, eventually get into some kind of trouble, You know, you lose money or your reputation gets burned.

But of course, there's genuine multi level marketing. There is. Well, let's just be careful. So, OK, so as I called him because he wanted access, how do we get into this sort of industry? That's the reason why he called. And he also complained that he has plenty of water bottles, plastic bottles that he hasn't sold. Now, the guy was trying to pull your first one to see how he can advertise his stuff on the air. But I caught the guy sharp.

I told him, I look, you know, this radio station is enough for profit. And apart from that, it's not a good idea to try. And just like radio stations will not allow you to just go and do free advertising for what? I guess what I'm just trying to say is that look, some of you who call in, whether you're reaching on the podcast or you're calling on the radio show, some of you are trying to be too sharp, like you think you're the only one who is smart.

Not only, you know, book, calm down. People are no idiots. You will actually make progress if you respect people, right and you level with them than if you're trying to pull a fast 1. So let's say you're trying to stylish Lee. Let's say you call in on the radio show. You want to advertise your shop. If you just carry on and have the conversation normally, you never know, the radio show host might be saying, oh, by the way,

where's your shop self? Let us let us support you. He can say so on his own, but then you call in and lose as if you're trying to stylish Lee sneak in your shop's name or your shop's location. The guy will shut you down. Stop trying to be smart and respect people. Don't think you're the only one who is sharp, right? OK, so, so excuse me. So Mr. Isaiah. OK, yeah. So anyway, I just told him that look, all he has to do is to go to Jabir, just like Mr. Samuel said, and then he has to do the research on his own.

The only thing I could confirm was that while I, I was living in in Kano, because remember, I'm a former lawyer. So while I was living in Kano after my youth service, one of the one of our clients for the firm that I worked at, yes, the guy was involved in the production of bathroom slippers, bathroom slippers and then letter back. So I can confirm that yes, there are people in Kano who that's their line of business and they're always looking for raw material to use to produce the things.

So that's how we ended with Mr. Isaiah. So that's a little bit. I know about recycling bottles industry in Abuja. If you're based in Abuja and you do you go to investigate this sort of thing and you you get some more information then reach out to me 08064662140 let's chat. Let me see what it is that you've found out. You know, let's educate some people. Then here another important question for the night during our roundup soon because it looks like we're going to hit one hour.

Those Elizabeth who called and really why she calls because her husband is involved in the boutique business. In fact, her she just reached on the team made my heart melt because you know, as a self-employed person, I understand these squirrels because I have these squirrels with my wife. You know, once in a while. No, maybe not now so much, but when I was younger, yes, that quarrel used to come up. So Elizabeth was confused,

seriously confused because her husband has a boutique and then the guy who gave stuff out on on credit and then the guy will call the people to say, oh boy, how far now you never pay me or call the babe. You say, Madam, you haven't paid any people. People will now be making all kinds of excuses. And then Elizabeth was frustrated because her husband is not fighting for the money. Elizabeth Vex I understood perfectly well.

I understood because if I I remember one day, I can't remember what it was, but I remember this was before we had our our first born before we had our first born. But I can't remember the exact deal, but I know that the money was 50K. And this way that my wife vex whenever is small money. If I go out and I come back, my wife wants you to be good money, good money. I see young men, when you will say your wife is not supporting you, it's not as if she is not supporting you.

It's just that she loves you. She respects you. She thinks you're a man of immense value and she thinks you're selling yourself short when you do some kind things because there are some kind deals that if the money is justifiable, the way your wife will stand behind you because I remember the first time there was one deal, I can't remember how much it was, but the money was money was not bad. I think it was close to like a million or so.

This is how we had our first one. All surprised is my wife that woke me up in the morning. She woke me up is how boiled water going above. Don't be late. I was shocked. So young men, it's not as if your wife, it's not as if she they disregard you. She loves you, she values you. She thought you were a sharp guy. She thought you were intelligent. She thought you were capable of taking over the world. So when she married you, it's not just marriage.

Like a woman saying yes to you is like vote of confidence. So a woman gives you the ultimate vote of confidence. I'm with you. Ride or die to Infinity and beyond, from here to the grave. And you're now selling yourself short. It effects them. It effects them powerfully. So, young man, don't be angry. That's just where it's where it's coming from. You love somebody, you carry them up in your eyes only to see them go out into the world, then they will not be bringing themselves down.

So when our wives, our girlfriends are babes, when they, they vex, that's that's where they're coming from. That's where the pain is coming from. That's where all the chukri, the chuk chuk, that's where it's coming from. That's the pain thereof. They see you, they put you on a pedestal up. When you go outside, you put yourself on a pedestal down. It makes our wives and our girlfriends makes them. They're confused, like what's going on here?

What's going on? This is not what I signed up for. This is not who I thought I married. So Elizabeth, I understand her situation. I really understand her situation. So my heart went out to her and she's confused. That hobby is not fighting for the money. So, you know, I'm not a marriage counsellor. And I told her, well, don't have to have that conversation, but I had to tell Madame Elizabeth that, look, there's some fundamental issues that involved.

So the matter of whether your husband is fighting for the money or not, that's a separate issue. It's a separate issue. And I hope they are able to have that conversation. But I told her that she needs to call her sweetie because these money conversations can be, can be hard. It's also one of the reasons why I make this podcast because marriages and relationships, it can be difficult. And I remember when before my wife and I got married, the guy that counseled us, he told us that every single person on this earth will quarrel about 5 main things in their marriage for some reason.

Unfortunately for you dear listener, I only remember 3, so I can't remember what the other two are. I keep racking my brain and I can't remember the other two, but the guy said that every single couple on this planet, no matter the country will quarrel over 5 things. Unfortunately, the three that I remembered was just money, sex and then in laws. Those are the only three that I remembered and actually like the guy said, he came to pass.

My wife and I, we've quarreled about money, we've quarreled about sex. Surprisingly, because I was wondering, I have sex, how would they be quarreled again? Any you know, this is not that kind of podcast, but yes, they do be quarreled around sex and then around in laws. I was wondering how people quarrel about in laws. But you know, if you haven't married yet, don't worry, it will come and I'll try and remember the other two.

So part of the reasons why I make this podcast is if at least we sort out the money and people are only quarreling over sex and in laws is good, at least you've removed money pressure. So that's part of the reason why I make this podcast. I don't want you to quarrel about money. You're a man. I don't want you to quarrel about money. You're a woman. I don't want you to quarrel about money. Let the money be sorted. Any other quarrel, let it be in laws or your mother is coming.

I don't like your mother, your sister is coming. I don't like your sister. And that kind of quarrel, or let it be sex quarrel. You know you're not paying attention to me. You only come here when you're hungry or you're not adventurous. I want you to be more spontaneous. You know all that can quarrel. But at least the money one. Let's remove that one from the equation. That's part of the reason why I made this broadcast.

Sorry, I'm preaching. So I told Elizabeth that she needs to call her sweetie and I need to sit down. The bigger thing is that they need to have a conversation around the credit policy for the business. Now, the reason why lots of Nigerian businesses struggle on this credit thing is because they do this credit thing on a case by case basis, on a face by face basis. I'm looking at you now. I can see your face now. You're asking me for credit now.

I will decide now and I will give credit now. And because of that, the credit I will give to you will be different from the credit that I will give to another person and I will be different another person and another person, you know, and then the thing just becomes a huge mess. So I told her the first thing that her and her sweetie, her and her husband need to do is they need to sit down and they need to agree first on the credit policy.

Number one question, are we giving credit or are not giving credit? Now, I'm not going to decide for any business, but it's a question you need to answer. There are some businesses in Abuja, I don't know about other parts of of Niger. There are some businesses where you walk into and you see it, they paste it on the door. They say please in order to avoid embarrassment, don't ask for credit. That's the funniest one I saw.

They said please to avoid embarrassment, do not ask for credit. In my mind I'm wondering what kind of embarrassment. Like if I ask for credit, you shout at me, I'll be you insult me or what? Anyway, but that business owner has decided no credit. Don't even ask. Now there's another shop where I saw the thing was pasted on the door and he wrote no credit, please. I think there was another place where I'm not a bank. No ask for credit.

But that business owner, those business owners, they have decided we will not give credit. So that's the first conversation that Madam Elizabeth has. Sweetie, they need to have credit or no credit. And once you decide to stick to it, no more credit. Good. You carry a sign and you put there, no more credit, please, so that by the time they're coming, they will see it on the door. Not even to ask. Now, let's say you are Madam Elizabeth, sweetie, you're in that kind of situation.

And generally genuinely you, you like your customers, you trust them. You can use your wife as a bad guy, All right? It's allowed. It's a trick in business. We do it all the time. You can use your wife as a bad guy. Women, you can use your husband as a bad guy too. So you sell clothes, your girls come, they want to buy stuff. They collect goods of, you know, 300,000. And they say, oh, you know what, I'll pay next week Friday.

You say, I know the me and Chukudi, we had this quarrel last week. In fact, my sister, I thought this marriage was about to end. I thought this marriage was about to end. Chukudi has said no more credit. You make Chukudi the bad guy, say really, yes, now you know, I trust you now, but you could have said no more credit. Make you could be the bad guy then, Mr. Elizabeth, sweetie, make Madame Elizabeth the bad guy. Say my wife.

We don't require this thing too much. Elizabeth has said no more credit. OK, so put the notice there. Use your spouse. Use your business partner as the bad guy. If you're not firm enough to say no more credit, use your spouse as the bad guy. No problem. And then there's women that are very strong, like my wife. That's why I like her. Once we decide something, if I'm not strong enough, I can use as a bad guy. She doesn't mind.

She will stand in the gap. Oh, by the way, even us to there's some things that she wants to say no to her mom. I hope her mom is not listening to this podcast, but she doesn't have the liver to say no. I said it's no problem. That's the reason why I'm here. I'm here to take the fall. So I'm the one that will now say no to her mom. See. So it's like that as a couple, people should be supporting yourself once in a while.

You stand in the gap, your husband is not too strong on some teens stand in the gap. Wifey is not too strong on some teens stand in the gap. That's way they be right. When we enter into marriage, we're also, you know, also we also become bodyguards also start doing bodyguard work. So credit or no credit, that's the first conversation. Good. Now the next thing that I have to decide is if I want to do credit, the terms of the credit have to be clear.

And this is how I begged Madam Elizabeth that she should advise her husband because my cousins used to be in the clothing space. And so I know that credit is just a way of life in that space. When it comes to, you know, you will go to the UK, you go and buy shoes, you go and buy bikes, you go and buy this. And I know that credit is your is your way of life. So you should protect yourself. Yes, your customers expect credit.

Make sure that credit terms are in your favor. So my first advice to you, my name Elizabeth, was that nobody should enter into the shop and carry something and did not drop nothing. I repeat, nobody should enter your shop and carry something and then they did not drop nothing in sales. We call that unprincipled concessions. Somebody wants a concession, you know, let me carry this now, I'll pay later or reduce the price for me, or this or this or this.

If somebody wants something, we take something in return. So somebody wants credit, There's no discount. You want credit, you pay full price. In fact, mark up the price. No, on principle concessions then #2 if somebody wants credit and they're taking stuff, agree ahead of time before the person gets here. Because you have to protect yourself. Because some people are smooth. There are some people that will come and smile and win and dine you and stuff like that.

You know, especially for we men, you know, the woman comes in, she's looking fresh, you know, she's smiling, you know, maybe she touches, rubs your hand lightly, you know, before you know, that's how. No, no, no. Create the policy. The policy is there to protect you and the policies that could protect the business. OK, You want credit? No problem. It means that you're going to pay full price. That 10% discount that we gave you does not apply.

Really. Yes, it does not apply. But I want the 10% discount. OK. If you want the 10% discount, sister, you have to carry everything now and pay in full. That's the only way that this 10% discount applies. And then stand strong, stand strong. Remember, if you're not strong enough, use your wife as the bad guy, use your husband as the bad guy or be strong. Then I also advise her that back in our event days, the tradition, at least in Abuja,

back then, vendors used to try and collect 50% of their money. So if the, if the work was let's say 5M 5 million, the wedding is in March. Most vendors typically you want to collect like 2.5 million, you know, maybe like the month before or something so that as the date is drawing closer, it's just the remaining 2.5, the people are now dragging. And then some people used to do OK after we deliver. So, so, so you now pay the balance.

But even at 50%, I wasn't happy with it because me, quite frankly, I don't like chasing people for money. I don't. So even as a wedding photographer and then providing media services for NGOs, my own was I like to collect 80% like before we start the work. And that's why I don't like working with international NGOs because international NGOs have this thing of net payment is payment is net 30. In other words, I delivered the work in January.

I've already finished work in January, you'll now pay me in February. But anyway, my wife says it's not a big deal. She looks at it as a savings, that's where she looks at it. But I won't like the thing vexes my spirit anyway. How for do so? Back in the event days, yes, at least in Abuja, people try and capture 50% before the thing. My own opinion, if you can collect 8% of money is not bad. So if somebody comes and carries merchandise from your shop worth 100,000 is not a bad idea to say no problem we will give you credit, but you will transfer 80,000 naira now before you leave and I will hear bring him and confirm from my bank app that the money is there before you leave.

Yes, I will give you credit, but the first time is you have to pay 80% of the money. So I told Elizabeth and sweetie, you will need to sit down. You will need to agree. So credit or no credit. OK, We have agreed no credit. Put the sign out there. When the sign is there, I agree with your wife. I agree with your husband, who's going to be the bad guy so that if you break, the bad guy will be able to stand strong. Then we've agreed credit.

OK, no problem. No unprincipled concessions. If somebody wants a discount, we cannot give you credit. You want the take advantage of the of the discount. You have to pay in full. OK, good. So pay in full carrier, then go. OK, no problem. You still want to do credit, OK, no problem. The policy that we have agreed to, you know, me and Elizabeth or me and Mama Princess, me and Mama Chukudi, what we have agreed is that everybody has to drop 80% now before going forward.

So the clothes that you have carried is 120,000. You bring out your phone, you calculate ping, ping, ping, ping, ping. OK, that means you need to transfer 95,000 to us now. Oh, by the way, I don't know if that math is correct, but you get my point. Then the final thing that I told my mind, Elizabeth, and this is where a lot of you get it wrong, especially those of you in the boutique space who are giving people on credit.

You will do not agree explicitly on the timelines. Somebody will say I will pay you around that kind month ending. OK, good. Now this is I explained it to Madam Elizabeth, Somebody who say month ending, you say no problem, I trust you. But it's the problem for some people because right now this is March 11th as at the time of making today's podcast recording for some people when they say month ending, what they mean is,

yeah, March 22, March 25. And that's good, right? The problem is some people when they say month ending, they mean March 28th, March 30. Some people when they say month ending. Even though I am March, they actually mean like April 4th, 5th, 6th, maybe even April 7th. To them, those people is still month ending. How does it work? I have no idea. I'm just simply telling you that those people exist. There's some people who will tell you in May that they will pay month ending.

You will call them May 31st to say how far where's my money? And they will say come why? Why are you? Why are you the provoke like what's going on? Did I not say month ending? You will say Dino say month you say month ending now month ending not reach now should be you know May 31st now and the person will say oh come on. So you mean if I pay you next week Friday, is that not month ending? You now say next week Friday.

Is that not May 7th? May 8th you say no be month ending. You're not saying training to all kind quarrels. Good. So when somebody say month ending, you say OK, fantastic, no problem. When you say month ending, what do you mean, Sir? What do you mean, Madam? And hear what month ending means. But for me, for those of you who listen to the podcast, you know that I don't like putting things in people's hands because you can't do say something I don't want to hear.

For instance, some people who say month ending means first week in May. I don't want to hear that kind of thing. So I am the one who likes to propose when somebody says month ending, I'll say, OK, fantastic. So that means I should be expecting payment on or before March 25th. I will say it if there's going to be a problem. Let us find out now. Some people who say, like people who say who 25th is now a month ending, at least the quarrel has started now, not that they've taken the goods and then they've left and then the quarrel has started.

If there's going to be a quarrel, let the quarrel happen now. Let me protect myself, let them leave my merchandise. So I prefer to propose. So that means I'll be expecting payment on or before March 25th, March 28th, March 30th, whatever, pick the date. Remember it's a policy. You and your spouse, you and your business partners agree. So that's step one. That's a mistake that lots of people make Mont ending. So no problem.

But Mont ending to me means something different. Mont ending to somebody means something different. It will shock you, it will shock you. My sister was in this business. It will shock you. There's some people who carry goods in January, then the January 1st, they'll pay February 14th. In their mind, they still paid you Mont ending. Don't ask me how it works. There are some people that clearly you know, oh and January finished on the 30th.

I was able to pay before Valentine's Day. It's still month ending. So that's me how it works. Let's be clear then what next? Now the follow up now, because some of you in this fashion space, in this boutique space, you don't have the CRM. You think, oh, there's no need for fancy computer and all that, no problem. Your CRM doesn't have to be on a computer. You know, you can use your phone, but sure there's some records or a physical diary.

So like my sister used to use physical diary and damn, she was disciplined, very disciplined. I've never seen somebody so disciplined in the diary. So it was all there. Who paid? When did they pay? How much did they pay? When is the balance? When was the last time she called them? She just write everything in the diary now because this thing is boutique. Plenty, plenty customer, plenty, plenty volume. If you're not recording it somewhere, forget it.

You are losing money and you're losing serious money. I don't need to be an accountant to tell you. I'm just letting you know you are losing money. There's no way that 20 people came into your store last week, 16 of them bought items on credit. You didn't record it down. You're going based on trust or you're going based on WhatsApp conversations. There's no way that you are losing money. You are losing money, even if it's just on small, small items here and there, you know, maybe there was one shirt that OK, it was not that expensive, you know, maybe 7 or 5 or some.

You are losing money somewhere. Take it from me, you don't need to be an accountant. You are losing money. So whatever it is, whether it's on the computer system, whether it's a CRM on your phone or whether you're using physical diary, you need something like that. Now, the reason why we need this is because this is what is going to help you to stay on the matter because there's something external to you that will help you stay focused.

The reason why we have to stay focused is now when it comes to collections, too many Nigerians, we wait until the last day. If somebody says Mont ending, you agree that Mont ending was March 30th, maybe 30 days of September, April, June and November, all the rest of 31, good. So March 31st you will agree that month ending was March 31st. The problem is you will wait until March 31st before you start blowing up the person's phone.

You are wrong. Ask any salesperson. You can't wait until the day gone gone before you start blowing up somebody's phone. You are wrong. That's where story we start entering the picture. Oh, month ending orange. Ah, sorry I forgot. Or they will say, you know, I had your money ready, but then my younger brother was traveling back to school and then the car tire burst. So I had to wire him money so that they can fix the tire.

You know, I didn't want the boy to sleep on the road, you know, blah, blah, blah. Or or not, something happened in the village. You know, you're not starting a story. So ask any salesperson, any salesperson, they know that we do not wait until the last day before we start chasing people for the money. So this is what I advise Madam Elizabeth the week before. In fact I even told her two weeks before. If they say 30, March 31st is month ending.

Two weeks before you call the person. What's up? How you did, the clothes that you bought. Should be You're enjoying it. You stay well. The wedding you went for. Everything is cool. Abby. All right. No problem. Justin, may I greet you? Uh huh. Don't forget we said you're going to pay. March ending, So no problem. I got you. I got you. March 31st, Abby. I got you. Don't worry. Don't worry. You end the call. That's good.

Then give another four or five days and you find a way to send a text message to reiterate the same point. Then when it is one Week 2 you call again. So you see now that in that two weeks period leading up to you already called three times to put them on notice. That Luco, we agreed on 31st of March 1 of the reasons why we do this OK is because sometimes some people are ready before, but then they say, oh, I promise them much.

Let me use one or two things. If you catch somebody in the period and the person is ready before, oh cool, you can collect another deposit. The money has now gone down. So you call 2 weeks before. After a couple of days you send a text message. When it is one week to, you call the person again and then a couple of days after that. So in the two week period leading up to the end of the payment, you have contacted the person about four or five times.

When you are keeping people on their toes, when you are applying pressure like this on them. Remember the example I gave, 20 people came to your shop, 16 people bought on credit. You can see how with this pressure you increase the level of collections that you have. So this is how we do it. This is how we do it. And because Madam Elizabeth situation pain me, that's the reason why I say today, today, today, I must not forget this and I must talk about this one.

So because I'm in sales, it's something that we're used to. You know, collections is also part of the job, you know, especially for those of you who get paid on commissions. If you go and sign a contract with somebody for 20 M OK, no problem. The contract was for 20 MRB. OK, no problem, people agree credit terms. OK, no problem. At the end of the day the person didn't pay the money completes the person only pay 15-M instead of the 20 M No problem.

You're thinking your guy will pay you Commission on top money that has not that they have not completely collected. So as a salesperson you learn to stay on these type of things so that when the time comes your guy will give you your Commission. Neat. No problem. So please, for those of you especially in the boutique space, this is how you think about it. Step one, decide credit or no credit. OK, no credit. Fantastic.

Put the notices up, Put the notice on your Instagram handle. Put the notice on your WhatsApp handle. Then you decide who the fall person is so that when you're weak, the fall person can be strong for you. In fact, for this photography studio that I loved, Pie and Jessa Π and Jessa. Yeah, Pye and then Jessa JIRSA, they should be really, really big in, I think, like, Florida or so. I don't know if they're still, you know, on the scene.

So Π the guy who takes the photos, the guy does not like money conversations at all. I can't remember if Jessa is his sister. I'll be his cousin. I'll be his wife. So what they do is when it's time for the creative stuff π is in front. When it's time for money π disappears and he leaves his sister there because she is a shark. She's the one that handles the money conversation. And so long as Jessa is talking to the client about money pie no go answer call.

He made a YouTube video where he spoke about it. He will not answer his call. His sister, once the sister says and we finish money good pie will start answering conversation again because him he doesn't like money matter. So he actually is a valid strategy. It's a very, very valid strategy. OK, so then when you decide on the credit, we agree how much is the deposit then? No unprincipled concessions. If somebody is going to buy things on credit, we'll make sure that they pay full price.

In my own opinion, make it more than full price. There's an accounting reason for that, because when you give people credit, it's like you borrowing their money. You borrow somebody money, you are losing money. So there's an accounting reason. I'm not smart enough to understand the math. I just know that there's an accounting reason why. So they want a discount. They'll pay full price or more than full price. Then what is the deposit?

Are they dropping 30%? Please don't collect only 30%. Collect 50%, collect 80%. Then I agree on the payment terms. When are we paying back month ending? What does month ending mean? In my own opinion? Set it as a policy. Decide yourself that month ending for you one moment. OK, sorry about that. There was someone knocking on my door, so I had to go and attend to that. OK, so I think I've said pretty much everything that needs to be said, so no point in summarizing.

Anyway. I can't remember where I was in the summary. So those are the things that I wanted us to talk about today. If you're facing any of these challenges in your business in particular, and please reach out. Like I said, call me, send me a text message, send me a WhatsApp message on 08064662140. I would love to chat with you. Don't worry if I sound expensive, I'm reasonably priced. Apart from that, I answer one question for free for every single person.

If we agree on the time, let's try and make that time happen before you reach out. Please download Telegram on your phone. The conversation will be recorded. That will be your personal podcast so you have the audio. You'll be able to listen back to it. For those of you who we end up having paid consultations, paid engagements, I create summaries minutes after our sessions and then also create action plans before the free calls.

I'm sorry, it's just a lot of work. I'm not going to do that. That's why we're going to have the audio recording. So thank you very much for your time and attention. For those of you who are listening for the first time, please subscribe and then also tell people about the show as you know where you can support me. So thanks for your time and attention. I will catch you all some other time.