Self-Devpt. Nuggets™

"(The Church Records & Accounts Manager has) really helped me in the preparation of my monthly Accounts..(Tayo Solagbade’s Excel-VB service is okay. He is always on ground whenever you call him and solution to problem is (provided) without delay or alteration of data"- Finance & Admin Manager, Anglican Church Of The Ascension, Opebi, Lagos."

The above handwritten testimonial (received in 2008) is one of a number I got from users of custom MS Excel-Visual basic driven apps I built, back when I still used to give out my specially designed client feedback forms.

I have since dispensed with the use of those forms, and no longer request testimonials from clients, as I resolved, to do less development work, and focus more on promoting custom Excel-VB apps I build for sale.

Most people, the uninitiated especially would have considered my decision to stop requesting testimonials an unwise move…

Especially since I was doing something very unpopular, and basically having to create my own market, where none previously existed.

The results I have since gotten however point clearly to the fact that I was right. It’s been a long journey to get where I today, at the level of mainly passive income earning success. A lot of persistence, and courage, had to be applied, diligently, over the past decade, starting from a very humble beginning.

When I say "humble" beginning, I mean that in every sense of the word. Like I have noted in several of my past articles, in 2002, I quit my high paying, promising career as a high flying manager in Guinness to pursue a long standing dream of owning my own business.

However, like many others before me, I soon discovered that success in business, especially in my part of the world (Nigeria/Africa), required a lot more than credentials and hands-on competence/expertise at what you do…

You also have to understand a lot of the unspoken rules (e.g. about spending on sales/marketing in micro, small or medium business), how to deal with mind game playing counterparts you will encounter, and various forms of intrigue!

Quite often, mastery of these aspects have to be picked up from the streets as you go along. No formal learning institution can teach you the ropes in this regards. You simply have to undergo the experience to acquire critical street wisdom that will help you compete effectively!

That was what I did, and it was VERY painful, but I knew it would be worthwhile, so I gritted my teeth and endured.

One of the most important lessons I learnt was the need to drastically cut down ALL spending, and to be VERY slow to commit funds to expenditures. But I learnt it a little too late, at a point when I had exhausted the funds I left Guinness with.

In the long run however, that experience provided me the incentive or stimulus I needed to uncover the valuable lessons I needed to learn.

Over time I found out the hard way, struggling with no funds, to market and promote the solutions I offered to my target audience, that I could successfully get A LOT done without having to spend much …sometimes without spending ANYTHING monetary.

As you can imagine, that was a discovery that excited me greatly, and I explored it with great zeal subsequently. Today, I use all that I’ve learnt to repeatedly and consistently attract and sell to paying clients/customers at low to zero cost. Plus, I help my clients – those who diligently put what I do for them to use – do the same.

Some have complimented me on my seemingly uncanny creativity, which enables me continually come up with practical solutions to challenges they need to overcome. I always reply by saying that I honed my skills in this regard during the periods of extreme and prolonged financial hardships I passed through. During those times I learned to dig deep, and THINK all the time of how to get what I wanted without paying money …since I often had NO MONEY.

After coming into better times, I have remained committed to using the same principle, because it enables me reap fatter profit margins from what I do, than if I chose to spend more.

In other words, even though I can afford to spend more to get more, what I continue to do is actively challenge myself to explore even more ways to spend less and less, and less, to earn more and more and more.

Guess what? I AM succeeding in doing so!

Plus, I want to help others do the same. It does not matter what field, or vocation you’re in. Neither does it matter how much you make currently. I also do not need to know the technicalities of what you do.

What matters is that you be convinced and willing to diligently apply the solution once it’s setup for you.

If you want me to help you, click here to let me know.

I’ll end this piece by repeating something I first said in an article titled "There Is Nothing Wrong With A Humble Beginning: Achieve YOUR Success With Honour & Integrity"…

For those who may feel that the "tone" of this article suggests I am trying to show off or blow my trumpet (i.e. I am not being humble…or not humble "enough"), I will say that my attitude has always been that it does NOT do me or anyone else any good to keep useful information in my possession away from those who may benefit from using it simply because I want to avoid being perceived to be "UN-HUMBLE"!