Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
MYTH #1: Work hard and the money will come.
TRUTH: If hard work was the key to success, then the bricklayer, the bus driver, the trader in the market and the cleaner, will all be rich. The theory of wealth is knowing who’s got your money and being smart enough to get it from them. Repeat after me: “Hard work will not kee (kill) me”. Amen?
MYTH #2: If you build it, they will come.
TRUTH: (laughing in two by two 😂 ) Unless you are Noah and have been instructed by God to build an ark for all the animals on earth, then no. People who tell you that if your product is good, people will automatically buy, have never had to sell a thing before. If you want to make money off your product, you have to sell it, and to sell it, you have to market the right product to the right people, at the right time, using the right marketing strategies.
MYTH #3: Find a Niche Market and stay there.
TRUTH: If you read my posts on Business Audits from last week, or you joined the live class or watched the replay, you know how this particular one irks me. Stop reading books that tell you to find a niche market. Instead, learn how to niche your message so you can take it to any market and still achieve results. I work with SMEs, large corporations, HNIs, Pastors, Politicians, Thought Leaders and more, using the same message. Money is everywhere, why limit yourself?
MYTH #4: You must out-do your competition to stay ahead.
TRUTH: The day I tore my list of competition and focused on collaboration and innovation instead, my life changed. The sky is big enough for everyone to succeed, and the more you work together with people who share your core values, principles and objectives, the faster you grow. This doesn’t mean you should work with everybody o. Be careful of business espionage and sneaky spies who brandish themselves as collaborators. Pikin wey dey cry still dey see road.
MYTH #5: You don’t have to market your products everyday.
TRUTH: Uhhhhh…yeah you do! If the market woman chooses not to go to market to sell her goods 3 days in a week, guess what? That’s 3 days that she isn’t making money. What makes you think yours is different? A closed mouth is a closed shop. If you’re not marketing on your Facebook group, Instagram page, messenger bot or email list, you are marketing in your inbox and one on one with people. Don’t be sleazy and salesy in your marketing though. There’s a huge difference between trying to strong-arm your audience and telling stories that make them run to you for help, with your arms open wide with a product that can help them.
BONUS MYTH: Audits are only for big companies. My business has nothing to audit.
TRUTH: I call BS on this. We treated the subject of business audits for online business owners in a live class and the mails I have gotten so far, have been eye-opening. A lot of you have never carried out a business audit for your business and that’s why it seems like there’s an invisible glass ceiling that you cannot cross. I found that after every major audit in my business, my monthly income doubled. Co-incidence? I think not. I started auditing my business when I made my first N100,000 two years ago and now that I have an 8-figure business, I take audits even more seriously.
Wouldn’t you want a simple guide with worksheets that will help you audit your entire business in 90 minutes? Best part is that it is printable so you can print copies out and use it over and over again.
An audit for your business helps you create products that your audience actually wants, helps you to see how your business is growing financially and customer-wise, and helps you plan for the future of your business. Without an audit, you will grope in the dark, grasping at shadows.
What other myths have you heard?
