Hello @everyone
Ibadan was the 10th edition of the fair, and I was really intentional in making sure that we gave the best experience seeing the short time we had to pull it off.
Through it all, God came through for us and it ended praise.
Laying on my bed this morning. I caught myself reminiscing on the processes I and my team went through just to pull this off.
I can’t help but be grateful to God for His faithfulness, and the gift of men that he made available to me. Kai, you need good people in this life.
I’m grateful to Wema Bank ehhh! They did it again this time, they showed up in their numbers and made it happen.
How about our other partners? They were just too fantastic! God bless them for me.
Ibadan was a new territory, I was so scared, I needed all the assurance in this world to take this fair to Ibadan.
So, here are a few lessons I picked from holding the fair in Ibadan.
1. Ditch Naysayers!
Folake, do not make big business moves based on the opinions of the crowd.
Always ensure that you’re making your business decisions based on factual data.
Do not follow people who say “come to my city”, we would buy from you. Do not listen to people who say your moves are impossible.
Make your decisions not with the opinions of naysayers, but make them based on the quality of the information at your disposal.
2. Expand Your Market!
Nothing beats the man who consistently and slowly expands his market.
Just imagine me doing the fair only in Lagos, do you think my impact would be felt across other states of the country?
You were not born into this world to sell only one product or to serve only one audience, to make more money you need to expand your market.
If you were selling only pap for newborns, can you add another product that can serve a different vertical of your market segment, maybe a product that helps newborn mothers with breastfeeding.
3. Be creative with your Marketing:
Yes I’ve always known this.
But seeing what Ibadan vendors pulled off in the last two weeks.
I confirmed that there are levels to this content marketing thing.
As a startup or vendor, don’t do the generic marketing, can you start being intentional with being creative in your marketing content.
4. Know Your Market Forces:
Well most people won’t believe this, buttt, it’s the truth.
If you want to penetrate a new market in your business. Don’t act as though you know it all.
Find the gatekeepers or the forces of that market and align yourself with them.
Life is too simple to struggle. The success of the fair can’t be accredited to me alone.
They were people whom I aligned with to ensure this fair was a great success.
They know how things are being done, they understand the terrain more than I do. I simply aligned and it ended in PRAISE.
5. Never look down on any customer.
This was where most vendors failed. They looked down on Ibadan.
One even said her friend wasted money on joining Ibadan. But that friend made over 2.5M in two days.
Never underestimate any customer in your business.
Never! Never! Never! Do that.
Let me stop here.
Thank You!
#naijabrandchick
