The "Good" Problem: How to Handle Overwhelming Demand

Hello and welcome. My name is Tavi Shima Ayede. I'm the host of the podcast that I'm making today's recording at home, so expect to hear some noise in the background. Now on this podcast, I tried to solve business problems, people struggling to get customers issues, marketing, sales, side hustles, career, something holding your business back, all these sorts of things. So if you're interested in these sorts of issues, then this is the show for you.

So subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, Apple, or any player of your choice. And if you'd love to connect, then call, SMS or WhatsApp me on 08064662140. Today we're going to look at what to do if you have too much demand in your business. I repeat, today we're going to look at what to do if business is going so well, like you have too much demand in your business. And before I begin, I'd like to credit Joel, the Joel brand or the active brand.

You can check him out on Instagram. He's the reason why we're having this conversation. So he is in the, excuse me, he's in the apparel business based out of Lagos and business has been going well. He's also a listener of the podcast. And then he reached out. And then of course, like I promised you guys, I'm always down to having conversations and answer one or two questions when I can, you know, where my schedule permits.

Also, we had a conversation. This is not going to be one of those, this is going to be one of those more freewheeling type episodes because I've had a busy couple of days. So I didn't sit down to just, I didn't have enough time to gather my thoughts and make this really comprehensive. So I'm just trying to remember the conversation that Joel and I had. So again, if you want to check him out, he's into fashion and apparel in Lagos.

The first Instagram handle he gave me is the active brand written together as one word. And then the second one is the Joel brand written together as one word. Now Joel has been in business for about four years. Oh, by the way, I'm sure he wouldn't mind me doing this. But Joel, if you mind, you know, it's too late. This episode is really out there. Anyway, so he's been in business for for about four years and he had some bottlenecks in the past.

Well, currently he has some bottlenecks rather and the business is doing very well. I mean he told me how much the guy is making weekly and it's pretty good and I'd love to give you the figures over here. But thing is, you know, if I give the figures, you know, babes good for sure. I'm up and down and he wants to live the quiet life. He doesn't want babes to be following him. So it's OK, no problem. Let me not say how much it is,

you know, or else babes start chasing him anyway. So The thing is in high demand. But the problem is that there's him and then there's a team of four who have to do fulfillment because everything that Joel does is bespoke. So for those of us who are big guys now and want to make gym wear for us who measure us top to bottom, everything, even make allowance for the potbelly and then design your own gym wear custom fitted.

For those of you women who are snatched, you know he will design it, take all your measurements, snatch everything, deliver it to you custom. But for a team of four now plus him, and the man is looking good. It means as they're working back-to-back to back-to-back, and so is the problem. So he told me that was the problem. And this is the first thing I told him that I'm going to tell you guys because there's some of you who don't realize this,

although some people have already told him. I repeated it so he can hear, but I'm still going to tell you again, if you are in this kind of situation where the demand is too much, yes, there's a problem. The very first thing you do is you go to church, you lie down before the altar, and then you cry. You cry a cry of Thanksgiving. I repeat, if business is going this well, demand is too much, the first thing you do is you go to church, lie down before the altar and cry, cry like a bastard, a cry of Thanksgiving because most Nigerians decry that they're crying is Father Lord, when my bank account, 0

customer, nothing inbox, no traffic telephone, no traffic customer, I know they see them. So the average Nigerian, that is their cry. So those of you who are lucky to now crossover into that kind of situation, prayer of Thanksgiving, that's what you go and do first. After that, you know, come and sit down and solve the problem because yes, it is a problem. If demand is too much, you know, you're cruel, you're going to be overworked.

If you're overworked, you might start rushing jobs. If you're rushing jobs, quality will start to fall. If quality starts to fall, some people will say, don't mind this guy flash in the pan, then they will start to disappear. If they start to disappear, you're back to stage 1 where you wake up one day and now start crying and you say, Father, Lord, when where are my customers? So yes, it is a problem, but trust me, it's a good problem to have and it's not a problem that most people face.

So yeah, he said, well it's true because he reckon he remembers when his prayer used to be the other one before, but now things are tight. So I was talking about, we talked about a couple of alternatives, like for instance, him abandoning the bespoke model and he said ordering from China because there's some people that do that, you know, something he was thinking about. But I told him I said no, do not even consider that option because what you're doing is bespoke and you're either bespoke or your mass market.

Do not be doing some mass market kind moves and then pretend that you're bespoke. These things can backfire. You know, it will take a while, but people will find out and it's hard to recover from that kind of thing. So I told him just pick a lane and I do mass maker or do bespoke. And based on the figures that he told me and based on how much is retailing each item, each short knicker, each shirt, each everything, I told him, oh, I

think bespoke is the way to go. Just continue this bespoke something so that when people reach out to you, they know that look, this thing that I'm ordering, I'm ordering it to fit my exact measurement. It will accommodate my potbelly, it would accommodate my big head, it will accommodate my long hand. As in whatever your problem is, it will accommodate you. So like for women, if you're size 8 up, but then down, you're size 16, you know, all those wonderful figure who will accommodate you.

So I told him, I think that's, that's, that's the way to go. Oh, by the way, I don't know if that's a realistic thing to have a woman that is size 8 up and then size 16 down. You know, I don't even know what the size is. So I'm not saying anyhow. So just in case those of you in fashion say that that's unrealistic, don't mind me, I'm just making stuff up. So I told him stick to bespoke. That's what people like you for.

That's why people F with you. That's why people are doing business with you. Because yeah, bespoke. And it's something that I can understand really, because for me, my arms are I think like 1 inch longer. So I've always had issues back when we're doing back in my undergraduate degree in OAU, studying law and then law school, and then all of that was always an issue. So what I used to do was I'll just dress up, you know, I'll now roll my sleeve.

You know, I've got a form like bad boy. It's not as if I was doing fat bad boy. The problem was just that sleeves are too short for me. If I get the one that sleeves much, the shirt will now be too big. So I just used to form as if, you know, I'm a hard guy. Meanwhile I'm not a hard guy. So that's how I got through as I got through undergraduate. Then by the time you now get to law school where you have to wear coats, you have to wear a suit on top.

I was like, OK, problem solved. I'll roll my sleeve, I'll roll my sleeve under the suit and I'll come and wear a suit on top. Problem solved. By the time, excuse me, by the time I got to Aberdeen, my, my wife, then my girlfriend, she was like, there's not a problem. Now in this part of the world, they make shirts, you know, plus two inches. I said, really? She said yes, no. So I went to Marks and Spencer and lo and behold, I saw it there.

Shirt, normal shirt. And then if you just look a few shelves and say plus two inches. I said OK, problem solved. And I started wearing plus two inches. Well, The thing is I'm back now in Nigeria. And in Nigeria there's no +2 inches. So if you see me wearing a proper shirt and my sleeves are folded, it's because my hands are too long. So it's not like I'm forming a bad guy. I'm not a bad guy. My sleeves are just too short,

so I have to roll them. So, you know, I look cool. I look like I'm forming gangster. So there's a market for this kind of stuff. So. So I want to know what to do basically. So we're just fooling around, coming up with a couple of options. Now, traditionally this is what you do when demand is high. Number one is you increase production capacity. If you can produce 40 a week, but the demand is 60 a week, you say, Oh, yeah, no, increase production capacity, which he wants, which is what he wants to do ultimately.

But the problem is this is a bespoke business. So, you know, before you bring some new boys on board, you know, you guys train them properly so that quality won't drop. Because sometimes the problem with increasing production capacity is, you know, you just go out, you hire anybody, and then, you know, quality begins to sleep. So yes, he will increase production capacity. But what to do in the meantime to bridge the gap?

So #1 increase production capacity, the number 2 raise price. This is the idea behind raising price. For those of us who studied in secondary school, a secondary school in Niger, you remember when they taught us economics and they taught us demand and supply curve. You know, you just draw that line up. You draw the line down, then you now Draw Something that looks like a funny, you know, like a camel's hump. And then they'll try and show you how when the price is low,

everybody could rush out. They'll be rushing your stuff now as the price is going up, the number of people that are buying your stuff will be reducing, be reducing, be reducing. So that is what do they call it against of Please, those of you who study economics about, you know, don't be annoyed if I give the wrong name. I think is it price elasticity or something? Price elasticity curve or something like that. I can't remember.

It was a long time ago. All my economics teacher is not listening and I got a name the course back then. That's all that matters. So that's the theory. Now if you want to curtail demand, raise the price. The higher prices are, the less people go to rush you. And then the good thing about this, and it's also nothing that they taught us in economics back then. See those of you who say, well, what they teach us in school is not practical, is not useful,

rubbish. Everything they teach us in school is practical and useful. The thing is, you're a dance and you're not paying attention. So now that you're old, you cannot see how all the things they were telling us back then were relevant. All you people that go around saying education has lost its value something. So that's absolute rubbish. The problem is, yeah, it dance. Admit it. Sorry. I shouldn't be calling anybody a dance.

Education is valuable. Sure. That's what I'm saying. So when you raise price, the amount will go down. It now creates another effect. What was this thing called again? I can't remember. Something about optimizing price. But The thing is this, as you raise the price and demand goes down, it reaches an optimum point and ideal point where even though you have lower customers, you actually are making more money than before because per head, per one, you're now collecting more money.

So let's say before you are charging 100 hundred naira and you had 100 customers. So OK, I should have written this on paper. Let me not betray my ignorance now. So 100 naira, 100 customers, is that multiply? You know what? Let me not show my lack of math skills yet, but you get the point. So you can be doing 100 naira, I have 100 customers, or you can raise the price to 200 naira and then maybe only 20 customers disappear.

You'll find out. My guess is if you do this rough math, you find out that you might be making more money, doubling the price and having less customers. They're keeping the price low and having plenty of customers. So that is also another thing he can do, which is raise the price. It will curtail demand. And then he told me that he has already raised the price before and he told me how much he had raised it. It wasn't too big, but you know,

like from 15K to Abby was a 14K to 22K or something like that. That's the first time he raised the price on some of the small, small items. He's not affordable. Don't be deceived. You know, he has different things, you know, shirts, short knicker, you know everything. So all the lower price items. So he told me how much he raised the price and I said the anything change? He said no. I said wow. So you know what that means.

In fact, those of you listening, do you know what that means? Normally when you raise price, there's something called attrition. Attrition means that you know, people will just disappear, as in people will fade. Like take for instance me back in the day when me and wifey were enjoying the single life, you know, when we're engaged, you know, before we got married. Now as we like to flex even into our marriage, so before the children came used to like to eat shama and misbehave anyhow,

or back then shama was, you know, affordable, you know, 300. Now for shama 400 naira, you know the price would be going up 500, you know 800 as the price is going up, the number of shama me and wife would be to be going down. We'll be going down, we'll be going down but now that Sharma has entered like you know, 3K4K, you know it depends on places 5K6K for one Sharma. I say I beg you should hold yourself. How can I be eating one Sharma 5K?

Am I mad if I wash around my 5K Wifey eats one Sharma 5K by the time I had drinks on top and as in just basically on this like small shops, that's how like 20 K will just miss. So anyway, as the price has gone up, the demand for shawarma has gone down. So it's like that where was I attrition? Yes, that's what I was trying to. So there has now been attrition in shawarma. So back when shawarma was 200 K, SO200K budget was 200, now 300,

now 400, maybe 500. Now, you know, plenty of people were 18 shawarma, but the price has gone high, you know 3K5K depending on where you go. So there's no attrition. Some people have now less, some people have now miss, some people have now disappeared because the cost is high. Those people disappearing, that is what we call attrition. So if you raise your price and there's no attrition, what that means is the quality of your product or your service is so high and so good that as you've increased the price now and people didn't disappear, it means that there's still room for you to raise the price even more.

It means that your quality is top notch. I prefer to look at it that way. Some people will say that means that your product is dead cheap. When I prefer to look at it the other way, I said the quality is top notch because if you say your product is dead cheap, you know, somehow they double the price and people didn't disappear. So it's a good sign. It shows that there's room for him to capture more value in the future so he can raise more his prices or more.

Of course, I told him that, you know, this thing has to be properly planned because by the time you raise, you know, let's say generally you raise price, March, you raise price September, you raise price. Some people will just disappear just based on the principle. Like, look, guy, you're taking a Mickey. You can't be disrespecting us like that. So it's something that has to be done deliberately and well planned out so you don't cause people to just leave just for the sake of being disrespected.

So there's room for raising prices in the future. But for everybody else, just know that if you raise price, you expect to have some attrition. If you raise price and there's no attrition, people do not disappear, customer no less. It means that you can raise price again in the future. There's still value to be captured, which is good because the typical Nigerian person, what they do is any small team, they would drop price because they're hoping to close a deal.

They'll be dropping price and I don't like that. It's not good. We're causing ourselves to suffer. I understand that once in a while you can be so broke that you say, you know what limb does close my eye and do this one, use the money and settle one or two things. I understand, you know, but this habits that we have of dropping price, dropping price, dropping price, no, you'll be looking for avenues to be raising our prices, especially in this environment where, you know,

hyperinflation, the cost of everything is just going up and up and up and up. So, yeah, when you're desperate, I understand how you just carry some some kind of paying jobs. But we should be looking for ways to raise our price, of course, commensurate to the value that we deliver. So the reason why people haven't run away from the drill brand is because the quality is worth it. So where was I now? Should have written this thing out.

OK, any, I guess I'll just try to show how in his own case, there's room for him to raise the price. So that's option two. Number one, increase production capacity. That's all we're going to do in the long term. So excuse me then in the short term, what to do? Raise price then #3 I told him you can't create a waiting list because there are some businesses that do that. Like for instance, I can't remember if he's Bentley or Rolls Royce.

There's one of these companies that the waiting list is, is like 3 years, three years. So the people understand that you know what, this car I don't think is Bentley. I'd be easy. Rolls Royce. I think it's silver, silver spirit, The Rolls Royce silver spirit. I think that's one that has waiting list of like 3 years. So the quality is so high or any I don't know, I've never driven A roll voice, but I hear that the quality is so high, The thing is so top notch that people don't mind they'll say take my money now in 2025 no problem I'll collect the car in 2029.

It's not a problem. I will wait. So there's some people that are up for it so long as you let them know now he was afraid of creating waiting lists. He turns on people away, you know, but sometimes, you know, it's the best of, I put it the best of the worst situation, like you're already under stress anyway. So you have to figure out something that we need to do. And I think that was the only part of the conversation I

didn't like that I wasn't able to give him an answer that a clear answer on what he ought to do right now. But these are some of the options that we raised. I had to run quickly because, you know, we we had a meeting, but at least I put out the major ideas. So another option is create a waiting list. So long as you set the expectation because there are some people that that's how it is. It was OK. Thank you very much for your order.

But sorry, right now there's a bit of a backlog. So instead of fulfillment being one week like we normally do, your order will be ready in 12 days. Are you OK with that? It's OK. Yes, I'm OK. All right, thank you very much, Sir. I will send you a receipt and blah, blah, blah. And you know that whole whatever. Basha, you let people know there's a waiting list. Then we also spoke about expectation setting. You could change the text.

Anyway, you know, he wants to make sure that he delivers on time. I think right now he wants to deliver within. Is it four days? I'll be 5 days. So, you know, I was thinking, you know, if you tweak your Instagram handle and you put it there, that delivery is 12 days. I really don't think that's a problem, but you know, I'm an outsider. He was trying to show how with within that industry, you know, it might be a problem.

I was trying to say that when people want to buy gym clothes that actually needed like yesterday, they have a babe shows up and say I beg do you have this gym wear for babes that are size 8 up and then size 26 down? The reason why she's asking is because she wants to go to the gym this Saturday and tomorrow and you know, and today is Monday, you know, that kind of thing. So he said that would be a problem. You know, he's a specialist in his own business.

I'm only a specialist when it comes to the sales process. So, you know, I don't know everything. So I guess that's a problem. But it's one thing you might consider if you are in a situation like his and your industry allows, you know, just look for ways to set expectations with the customer when you're having a chat with them. You start the conversation off that way and I told him, you know, when you're on the phone, people start off conversation the right way.

Thank you very much. We're glad that you're looking at the Joe brand. Based on what we've discussed, definitely we can sort you out. We can make this sort of thing for you, blah, blah, blah. I can ensure it will be the best. However, Boss Novak's right now. Right now we are. How did I say it again? Did I say there's high demand? I'll be production? I can't remember. But The thing is, you know, you want to say this in a way that is not going to, you won't sound as if you're you're feeling big because if you want, if you sound like you're feeling big,

you don't need their money. You know, people feel disrespected. So I have to look for a nice way to say it. I should have written this thing down, but there's a nice way to see each other. But The thing is, you always tell it from their own perspective that because of XYZ, you know, we love to give our customers the best. I want to make sure that every single thing is bespoke. I don't want these boys to rush. I want to make sure that we take time and that we do our job properly.

And so because of that and the production constraints that we're having right now, instead of four days, this thing is going to take us 9 days. Are you cool with that? The person that says I'm cool with it and then you collect the money, you set expectations, so no problem. The person that says they're not cool with it, well, any help would do. Like I said, it's the we're just trying to consider the best of all possible bad alternatives.

So ultimately Joe says is going to increase production. Already told me about the plans. I was going to get more machines and, you know, hire more people and stuff like that. So it's just a matter of what to do in the meantime. But I just thought it was a really, really interesting conversation and I wanted to share the general gist of what went on because there are some of you right now who are at the low point in your business and you can't even possibly conceive that the time will come when you'll be overworked.

I just want to let you know that it does happen. It does happen, and when that does happen to you, Joe, always remember that is a good problem to have. The first thing you should do, you should be very, very grateful and you should thank God. But then don't think you have to be overwhelmed forever because traditionally the goal is always increase production capacity. And so people have always tried to produce and produce more.

But just know that there are other things that you can fiddle with as well. You can raise price that will curtail demand. It will also make your profits go up. Then you can also create a waiting list. There are some businesses that do that. There's a waiting list, like high end, high end salons, for instance. In America, you know, they do that. So let's say I'm a hairstylist and my name is ZDP, for instance, and maybe I'm the best I do, I don't know, dreadlocks or whatever.

And everybody knows that when you come to Washington, DC that ZDP is the very guy for dreadlocks. You know, if I'm the guy, I'm the guy you call me, I'll say sure, no problem. I have an opening in six weeks time on September 12th. Are you cool with that? You know, so there's some businesses that they run like that. So high end people that make hair in America, in America, you know, that's, that's just how it is. And I hear that some of that culture has even entered Abuja too, that there's some kind of hairstyle is that you know, if you need them, it will be on your own terms, not on your own terms.

You won't say Madam, when are you free? It's a matter of you call Madam and say Madam, when do you have a booking? Then you will now plan your life around her own booking. I know some of you are saying God, when? Don't worry. You know, with with hard work, prayer and some dedication, you know, we will all get there where we're doing this, calling the shots where the customers are saying boss, are you free? They're now trying to align with your schedule.

No, we'll get there. We'll get there. We'll make this bastard Bonnie, don't worry. Right here, we're together, then let's see what else. And then, yeah, set expectations. But most importantly, whatever you're doing, whenever you're communicating with customers, be up front with them, be frank with them, and always explain things from their own point of view. If you make it look as if, oh, we're so good, we're so swamped like them, they rush us, that's an insult.

But if you say, you know, we're having some production constraints, but I want to make sure that we deliver the best possible value to you. I don't want the boys to rush his job. And whenever they finish everything, I personally look at the stitching, I look at the lining before, you know, I give my signature and we send the thing out. So instead of four days like how we did your order the last time, this time it's going to take 9

days. Bros, no vets, are you cool with that? So we set expectations. All right? I think everything should be well. So that's it. I can't remember if there was any other thing that we discussed. I think that's a summary of all the business related things that we discussed. But yeah, it's a, it's a good problem to have. And if you have those problems, traditionally these are some of the options that are available to you.

Now for someone in his own situation, you know, perhaps if I sat down and thought and thought and thought we would have come up with some other alternatives. But at least traditionally, Sir, those are some of the options that are in the rule book. So let me bring it to a close because this is already 30 minutes. So that's it. And that's all for today. Remember, if you would love to connect, you can call, you can send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140.

Don't worry if you don't hear from me immediately. I respond to everybody eventually because I think for I think for Joel, I think I responded to him in, you know, reach 24 hours Shaw, but I didn't respond immediately, but I responded to him. So don't worry. I respond to absolutely everyone. I promise you that, especially now that I never blew. I'm telling you guys, like when I blew, now is the time to talk to me because when I blew, I

even told another podcast listener today I say like, look, when I hammer, I know what they pick all again. I'll be a big boys. I know what they pick up. So now is the time. So thanks for your time and attention. I will catch you guys next time. Same place in your headphones and in your speakers.