Two days ago, my friend (the only guy that knows my house in this town) called me to come check out the work, he was doing at the site he wanted to set up his business.

I had advised him to get a container if he really needed a shop because it was movable and he didn't need to pay rent every year. Every shop was over 150,000/200,000 naira for rent. Fortunately, we found a container for 200,000 and I managed to get the price down to #140,000.

A new one costed over #350,000 so it was a good deal...


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Now the first problem was solved, he erected it at his father's land. He wants to sell drinks, food, meat and other "enjoyable" things.

He was tired of slaving away in a bakery, working overnight and still not get appreciated by his colleagues and boss. It equally motivated me because we discussed about something crazy that I'll talk about soon...

But first, I advised him to:


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But first, I advised him to:

1. Paint the container an attractive color that gives that "my eyes has been on this place, what's up with the color?" reaction. Since he wants to paint it, yellow, pink and green would do, especially the first and second.

Why yellow?

I rarely see people paint their houses thick yellow except MTN shops and there isn't any of them close to him. He should stir up controversies like "who the heck paints his restaurant like it's owned by mtn?...

As for pink, it gives off that "girlish and gentle" vibe. The plan is to get people's attention, get them talking!


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2. Give it a unique name:
He doesn't even needs to paint the whole place, since he's running low on cash — he could start with the front side that faces the road and design a name "Thunder Fire Poverty blah blah blah" and see people coming to check it out.

Let it stand out, remember the goal is to gain people's attention. Imagine if you see a restaurant or bar with a name like:

i. "If you no get money, wetin you gain bar & restaurant"

ii. "Suffer no dey tire you bar & restaurant"

iii. "Overtaking is allowed bar & restaurant"

iv. "Thunder fire poverty bar & restaurant"

What do you think would be your reaction?


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Following.

3. Go to crowded place and advertise or at least, write something enticing on carbon paper like "Come and patronize me at thunder fire poverty, let's destroy poverty together".

Just do something different, this is what P.T. Barnum did. He understood that...


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He understood that humans are very curious creatures, we can't help it. This is why as kids, we did crazy things like:

I. Closing the refrigerator slowly to see where the light goes.

ii. Putting a rubber band in kerosene and see what happens.

iii. Ask weird questions.


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When P.T. Barnum put up flyers and ads about the "161 year old African American nurse" of George Washington; while it was unbelievable, people still wanted to know how he would pull it off.

It was shocking and funny, but remember that then, America was more religious than it is today. Ignorant religious people tend to believe or fear the unknown. Besides that, Barnum had triggered their curiosity.

He successfully made huge profits off an innocent woman and asked her to play along telling stories about "little George".

Before Barnum, there's been others that tried to profit off the "161 year old nurse" but they weren't as successful as him...


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Anyway back to my friend, dude always wanted to start up this business for years but couldn't because he wasn't financially buoyant enough. With the help of his dad and uncle, he's about to fulfill one of his dreams.

This guy is good at cooking, carpentry and also works as an electrician. Imagine if he recorded himself cooking and upload on YouTube, Instagram etc.

I know you'd ask "why not tell him?" I told him this already but you know, most Nigerians don't care about the power of the internet plus he doesn't use social media except WhatsApp.

Anyway, I'm willing to help him with the little business tips and borrow him a few thousands — there's another thing we wanted to do but I will talk about that some other time...


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The moral of this story is, but before that, poverty is a disease — it keeps you far from God. With money, you can deal with Caesar and still have time for God.

Being non materialistic will not save you from the predator...

Oh, yeah, so the moral of this story is:


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1. Never give up, keep chasing your dream as long as you know it's the right thing.

2. Advertising is key.

3. This one is still related to number 2. Staying quiet as a business man is being suicidal, make noise and let them know you can deliver. If you're an introvert, pay someone to do the job or become an ambivert.

4. Life's too short to waste it doing something you don't love.

5. A lot of people hate their job but still do it because they've got to eat and pay the bills.

6. Speak out, you might get some help.

7. Good friends are rare.

8. Think well before taking action.

9. Money is hard to get but easy to spend.

10. Let people's success motivate you.


Thank you.