You don't need friends, you need clients!!!

So I've been MIA for a couple of weeks. Seems like years since the last time I blogged. I have been busy with the business side of things. If you recall, my last Train of Thought asked what the major problems facing women entrepreneurs were? Well...I'm living it right now!!

First observation - when you are trying to build a business or get the word out you don't need friends....you need clients! 

Now, I don't mean you should become a hermit (that would be business and personal suicide!), but I mean that it's all nice and dandy for friends to ooh and aah over your products... but the punch line people....is when they pay for it!!! That's the only time you can quantify your revenue.....money in the atmosphere or somewhere in transit is not yours! If it hasn't been paid for, you cannot record that as a sale. It's a basic principle in accounting but we always have a way of totally ignoring it. Women are blessed with intuition - we should use it a bit more. You'll most likely notice a specific spending pattern of 'friends' or acquaintances. Errr.....it's not going to change because he/she is your friend. In some cases being 'friends' can spell doom for the business before it even sees the light of day.

Some friends will be genuinely interested in seeing you grow. They may not buy your products (because they genuinely don't need them or are not in your target market), but they would go around town drumming the benefits to everyone with ears! So you do need your friends to either become your clients or refer you to potential clients. In this regard, they are more useful in helping you spread the word accurately and enthusiastically.

Moral of the story...bottom line is cash, profits, kudi, ego, owo, mulah, benjamins!!! That's what businesses run on....goodwill is jara. If it doesn't make money, it’s not a business, it’s a charity. I am still struggling with this believe it or not but na small small.

Image courtesy http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1757

The M-Word.

I tried to find answers to help out with issues raised from my last "Train of Thought" post on problems facing female entrepreneurs in Nigeria. I had it all worked out and had a nice little article of what to do, when to do it and how to do it to make all your financial woes a thing of the past. But then I realised that the fundamental issue was ....the way women deal with money.

It just struck me that giving pointers from different esteemed authors and picking the brains of Harvard MBA graduates will do little good if women keep thinking about money and financial matters in the same way. For example, research shows that figures give many women the creeps and I couldn’t agree more. Women would much rather leave all the calculations, postulations, pricing and debt collection to someone else, but in a small business, the calculator, postulator, pricing specialist and debt collector is most likely just ‘you’. Therein lays the problem.... For the most part, baking and running a bakery are two different things and if you are like me, all you would want to do is bake which was why you decided to open a bakery in the first place. That unfortunately is not the way the cookie crumbles. To top it off, the general view is that men are still given more benefit of the doubt when it comes to hard core business deals than women...I had to take out time to think why? (It’s a man’s world doesn’t count as an answer-that is so 80’s). It’s not that women aren’t intelligent or ambitious or capable, women are all these and more. So what exactly is the problem?

Smart Women

Ok so this is not my regular post for today but I guess all is well that ends well. Started out trying to find a good image to use in my posts and proceeded to Google “smart women”. After looking through pictures that had very little to do with passing the desired message I tried looking through the web and stumbled upon this article in the Sunday Times. It’s quite an old article but hilarious all the same.

Title: Men Married to Smart Women Live Longer- Shane Watson

According to the writer, “Swedish scientists have discovered that long life and good health have nothing to do with a man’s education and everything to do with his wife’s. Men married to smart women live longer – simple.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6872519.ece

Enjoy!!

Train of Thought

Train of thought is my way of finding out your views on several issues as they arise or just to see things from different perspectives.

Just reading an article about funding for women entrepreneurs and I wonder - In order of priority, what are the top three issues facing women entrepreneurs in Nigeria and why?


Looking forward to hearing from you....

Image courtesy: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1152

You get me...

The root of frustration is expecting those closest to you to just get what you’re about by virtue of your closeness. It makes logical sense to assume that but it’s rarely true. Case in point - your family is usually the last to know who you really are...they are too busy being family. Your aunt is trying to remind you of how you had a runny nose as a five year old for three weeks straight to understand that you currently have a tight and nearly impossible deadline to keep your 10 million naira portfolio growing. Your mum is too busy explaining to everyone how you made straight A’s in your O levels to understand that you’ve been slowly losing interest in formal study and leaning more towards a vocation. Your father is too busy telling his friends how generous you were at 10 years of age that you would share your last biscuit with your classmate but cannot reconcile how people describe you as a slave driving Mobutu-wannabe at the office.

In summary, the only people who really know you are those who want to get to know you, not just those that are around you. In this regard, your spouse might be in better standing because you actually get to talk about your dreams and aspirations, share ideas and express your fears (hopefully!). That’s what it should be. One of my biggest pet peeves is having someone think they’ve got you all figured out after 5 minutes of conversation. Never mind the laughable sentence... “Noooo, he/she can’t do that, I’ve known him/her for 25 years. We played in the sand together!” Life does a lot of things to a lot of people. If you aren’t influencing the world around you, you can be sure that the world is influencing you. Having a best friend in kindergarten and hoping he/she is still your best friend in your 20’s is a dangerous game to play. Remember, if it’s not been exercised, it’s not muscle, it’s just flab.

Don’t worry if your family and closest friends with whom you go way back don’t go with your vision. It’s entirely up to you to make it work. From an entrepreneurial standpoint, it helps to look at it this way, your family is your toughest market...if you can sell to them; you can sell to anybody. If you can’t sell it to them, well that’s fine too...they’ll love you anyway! Be rest assured that family will try to convince you to take the path of least risk and resistance because the number one priority is safety and security which isn’t bad in itself but like I said, it’s up to you.

Family is a blessing that is difficult to quantify, they are such a joy to be around and be yourself with, no airs, no pretence, just you....runny nose and all. There are always two sides to a coin though and I just looked at the second side...... You get me?

Who Says?

Hello people! Feels good to be back (never mind that its been barely 24 hours!). Ok....so I'll have to warn that this is the rant that many of us would like to scream out but really can't for the fear of being labelled evil a little rebellious. So being the philanthropist I am, I decided to help out. I am sure there are many more but being a woman, erm..let's just say I leaned a bit more to 'our' issues. Enjoy!

Who says that you can only measure the strength of a woman’s prowess in the kitchen by her ability to carry a red hot pot by the handle and not feel pain? I shudder to imagine what the poor person who took out time to invent mittens and napkins feels about this theory. While we’re at it why don’t we include pot handles with spikes and walking around on hot coals while cooking?

Who says that a woman who is successful in a chosen career cannot be successful in the home front? Success in the minds and hearts of people is relative thus the argument shall be left open.

Who says that a woman is only homely when she does her chores with a smile? I am yet to understand how sweeping, dusting, mopping and cleaning can be used in the same sentence with smiling. Unless you are listening to some really good music to take your mind off the monotony of the chores, the only person I can think of who did chores with so much joy was Walt Disney’s Cinderella...and she was a cartoon character whose close friends and confidants were some hyperactive singing rats; enough said.

Who says your desire to write a screenplay for television even though you have a PhD in Bioinformatics will in some way diminish your brain’s capacity to process scientific information from then on? This is the product of man’s insatiable desire to categorise any and everything. In this age and time, one box just doesn’t fit anymore so I guess we need to stop asking questions like... He has a PhD in Bioinformatics, why is he wasting time writing screenplays? ...Because he can!

Who says that every minute of your life has to be full of some form of activity? Having to respond to the question “What are you doing now?” with “Oh, just thinking” without being dubbed slightly mad takes some courage. The greatest people in the world made out time to stop and think...then they acted accordingly. It’s not about being busy; it’s about what you are busy doing.

Who says I have to feel sorry for a customer service officer in a bank who refuses to work with a smile? Seriously, it’s amazing how one is expected to sympathise with someone who is paid to make the fact that you rush into the bank drenched in rain from trying to make a dash for the sci-fi capsule doors while trying to keep your boss convinced that you are still by your computer working hard fade into the background. Seriously people... everyone has problems. Deal with it. If it gets really bad then just remember that you are one of the few who are paid to have issues...Lucky you.

Who says that sharing your opinion whether or not it is asked for makes you intelligent? Having an opinion is great but letting out every single thought on every single issue to us mere mortals who have to nod and look interested makes you opinionated, not intelligent. There’s a distinct difference. 

Phew!!! Woo saaa!! (Rubbing temple and chanting a mantra).   

The Fool and the Superstar.

Writing has been in the woodwork for me for a long time and I realised it was about time I shared my thoughts with like minds and those willing to share in my journey. I wrote this fictional piece a few years ago and it has stuck in my mind as being a very important one. With the recent events in the country, this seems a befitting entré.....

In a crowded classroom with little or no ventilation and a black wall for a chalk board, the teacher howls to get across to the unruly students. John is silent in his seat, looking around and observing, always observing. His grades are non-existent, his IQ even more of a mirage but he is happy being the underdog; it is his way of life. James is the superstar, the smart student with excellent grades, the athlete, the teacher’s darling, the truly gifted one. He doesn’t mind being the centre of attraction; it is his way of life.

And so John the fool continues making seemingly stupid decisions that only a fool can make with such precision. He goes on to attend a college that is nowhere on the rankings, squeaks though with a degree in a course that is reserved for those who can do no better. He gets a job in a run-down local office that is only kept afloat by the infinite mercy of the local council. John is happy that his job description is pushing files from table to table; it is his way of life. James the superstar is right on the money as is expected of a smart young man. He goes to an Ivy League university and graduates with honours. He gets a fantastic job with a prestigious firm before he can hand in his final essay. He goes on to become a well respected employee and rises through the ranks with enviable speed. He doesn’t mind being the man of the moment; it is his way of life. 

Fast forward twenty five years and both men share something in common. Married with children; older and wiser John the fool has succeeded in sitting his way to the top of the council office while James the superstar begins to round off on an illustrious career. John lives in council quarters while James owns three houses around town. James seems to have it all, a comfortable life, stocks and bonds, trust funds for his children’s education, a fantastic group of friends and family. John may be happy in his own right but for some reason he seems to have dropped off the radar.

James returns after a night of celebration at the office. His farewell party with all his colleagues that have been a huge part of his life for so many years leaves him with mixed feelings. He turns on the television to catch up on the news. That can’t be right! It’s impossible! Alas, John the fool has been nominated as the council candidate for Mayor! How, who, what, when, where?! James watches with keen interest and the unthinkable unfolds before his eyes. The campaign is aired and John the fool speaks about issues James is certain he doesn’t understand. Elections are held and he watches in disbelief as John the fool is sworn into the highest office in the town. After a successful life and career, with only dreams of having a restful retirement, James has a dull feeling in the pit of his stomach that his problems have just begun.

John the fool and James the superstar; how wrong could one be?