It was December 2017 during the festive season; I needed data (MTN) for my phone and I was a bit confused about sticking to MTN considering the rate at which the data disappears into thin air in less than twelve days of subscription but respite came when I saw an advert on a friend’s Facebook timeline offering to sell 1gig of data for 600 and 1200 for 2gig.



The moment I saw this, I heaved a huge sigh of relief as the price is cheaper to what I had been spending to subscribe through the usual data channels. I requested for a gig to confirm the authenticity of the seemingly sweet data package which was promptly delivered from the seller. I fell in love with it and I became a regular customer.



On my fourth purchase, he calmly requested that I inform my friends about his data business and I did just that since the reality was just as sweet as the gospel. It has been a good deal ever since. He has been making sales and I have had access to unlimited data supply free of charge. To show how far I have gone, from January 2018 till date I have sold more than sixty thousand naira worth of data with an average sale of 10,000 naira per week as a middle man.



The inference above is necessary as my experience inspired the topic of discourse. The main challenge of entrepreneurs, especially startups, is making sales. Because Businesses are established to offer services, what keeps the business moving is when the services are in constant demand by clients.



In other to increase demand, entrepreneurs often spend a lot of money on advertising with little or nothing to show for it. Startups spend thousands on social media advertisement monthly and this has not guaranteed expected results which could sometimes be frustrating.



This is where referrals as an art, comes to play. As an entrepreneur, do you know it costs less or nothing to push your business further through referrals than advertising? If you don’t know, my experience should serve as a starting point.



Now that you know about referrals, how do you go about it? (To Be Continued)

Scripted- Tosin Adesina.
Edited by – Toyosi Ayeleso