This piece is an eye-opener, so read to the very end.

The art of business is the art of giving people what they want, not what you think they need.

As long as it's legitimate and does not trample on your moral or personal principles, by all means give it to them unreservedly. The more you can satisfy people's whims, the more willing they'd be to part with their hard-earned money and give to you. Take football for example. It is indisputably one of the largest profitable and well-paying industry, worth billions of dollars. The reason is quite plain. It is satisfying the craving of billions of people_ the need to be entertained_ and oh, how fanatical the people are.

To further buttress this point, I'll share with you a joke I once heard. The comedian was humorously trying to explain why the ibos do well in business than any other tribe in Nigeria. He created these three scenarios.

Scenario one: A customer walks into a Hausa man's stall and tells him he wants 'so, so and so' product. The Hausa man checks around the stall and realizes he doesn't have that particular product. He turns to the customer and humbly tells him he doesn't have it, so he should try somewhere else. Customer thanks him and exit.

Scenario two: The customer then finds himself in a stall belonging to a Yoruba man. He places demand for the 'so, so and so' product. Sadly, the Yoruba vendor doesn't also have it. But unlike the Hausa trader, he's not going to allow a potential sale elude him. So, he tries persuading the customer. "I don't have the exact product you want, but I have this other one. And take my word for it, they both have the same function. In fact, the one I have functions even better than what you're looking for__I speak from my many years of experience in this business." Customer doesn't budge. He insists he's only interested in his "so, so and so" product. Our Yoruba man gives up and ushers the stubborn customer out.

Scenario three: The customer who is determined to find the "so, so and so" product stumbles into an Ibo man's stall. He tells the trader what he wants. But the Ibo trader, like the others, is lacking in the product. As the smart businessman he is, he tries the Yoruba trader's tack. The customer, however, proves to have a heart as stolid as Mount Zion which God has promised cannot be removed. He knows what he wants, and no one can wheedle him into buying something else.

But this is where the Ibo trader is different from the others. Seeing how mule-like persistent the customer is, he realizes he either loses the customer completely or gives him what he wants. "Let us go to my other stall", he says. If you're a Nigerian, you clearly know that 'my other stall' isn't the trader's stall, but his brother's. Yes, the Ibos have that brotherly solidarity and co-operation. Rather than lose a customer completely, they'll instead take the customer to one of their brothers they know has the particular product the customer wants.

But my lesson here is not brotherly solidarity_though that is a noble virtue. However it is this: in business, rather than focus on trying to persuade and convince a customer to buy what you have because he needs it or because it can benefit him in many ways, find out what people want and give it to them. And not only will they pay you handsomely for it, they'll love you as fanatically as football lovers and sing your praise.

I'm #Penwielder, and I'm interested in seeing you become the best version of yourself.