₦airaland Forum

45) THE community and capitalsim

Capitalsim is a zero sum game. Forget what many western economists try to paint of it. They overlook this only because of their western perception of what wealth is all about. Like I indicated earlier, writing on capitalism and competition is a textbook on its own, so once more I'll try to be brief

Nigerians and I guess many african communities are by their culture nature communal in with a strong tendency towards socialism. We tend to have two structures in a community -the commoners and the rulers. The rulers are more capitalist, while the commoners are more socialist. This distinction appears to be further accentuated in the hausa/fulani north (to better understand, you can read Malcolm Fabiyi's thesis at http://mobile.saharareporters.com/article/kaduna-my-kaduna-malcolm-fabiyi)

With the comming of the Europeans and their education to Nigeria, this delicate balance has gradually been eroded. The 'commoners' now push for more fulfilment within the 'elitist' structure. Now, what many people including Nigerian entrepreneurs doing this pushing tend to overlook is the 'zero sum' nature of capitalism. Your gain is another person's loss if measured using the same set of indicators.

Lets use money for our measurement here. If a closed system like our earlier village has only 100 Naira distrubuted amongst 3 persons in the ration 4:3:2, and the third person desires to amass more money and increase his ration to 4, it simply means, one or two person have to loose money to him

44) THE COMPETITION

This might be a long write up if I try hard to bring you into cognition of the potency of competition. However, I'll try my best to finish it up as quickly as possible

Two opposing ideologies ruled the world in the last century, they were the capitalist vs the communist ideologies. The communist ideology as gradually softened into a socialist one. The capitalist ideology believes more in competition as a way to ensure and drive development. It acknowledges that greed is the nature of man and then tries to harness this greed into a structure in order to unleash dvelopment. You can read Adam Smith's "The wealth of nations" to better understand the thinking that it enspouses.

Communism/socialism on the ther hand tends to believe in equal distribution of resources amongst people. You can re-read my first sets of posts on the village scenario in order to better understand both concepts.

I once read somewhere where capitalism was described as being evil and nasty on paper, but more workable in practice, whereas communism/socialism looked real good on paper/theory, but is quite tough, untidy, and un-implementable in practice

@Nextworldnx
Thanks for your comments. Looked through your posts. I'm curious, do you have any relationship with LBS?

on a lighter note

see the big rounded belles of our young men . Their fat tommies makes them look more like sea puppies
kai!! these are men that probably want portabe ladies

O father, thanks for giving me the time of my life
its been wonderful and when I think about it
tears can't help but slip down my eyes
your love has encompassed me
soo much

You walked with me, and took away restrictions
i watched them melt away gradually as you gathered me tighter and tighter in your embrace
into your core
ahhh,.. those days that I trembled in fear,
fear of the unknown passed down by the teaching of mortals disguised as gods
see papa, i'm free now, free to soar as an eagle into unthinkable heights

I loved you I thought
.. no you loved me i heard,
and this made all the difference
its amazing that this was all possible
possible because of my big brother Jes

now i've been hollowed out
without loyalty to creeds, rules nor men
that struggle has been removed, and now you know what...
sometimes it feels empty *sighs*

papa, its freightening being thrust forward
knowing that one has received, and now one must give
a light burning bright as the beautiful camp in the wilderness

Up must i get
forward must i look
heights must i attain
others must i grasp
nostrils with breadth of fire


see dad, watch me pick the baton
i said i'd be like u when i grow up
now i guess its time
time for flesh to be as gold

dad, its been beautiful

.....and it keeps getting better

ijigbamigb: The truth about Bakassi, Nigeria and Cameroun – Bola Ajibola
By Bashir Adefaka
Prince Bola Ajibola (SAN), former Nigerian Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, was on the Panel of Judges, at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which decided on the issue of Bakassi between Nigeria and Cameroun. 

...............You see what I mean?  And they should look into all the powers exercised by the colonial masters and all the international agreements and treaties.  It is worth looking at and, perhaps, they should read my Dissenting Opinion.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/09/the-truth-about-bakassi-nigeria-and-cameroun-bola-ajibola/

What's all this crap about calling them colonial masters. They were colonialists/imperialists damn it

Does the US academia refer to the british as their clonial masters?? Please correct me if I am wrong

If na man, I for curse am well well, but na woman. Im get as im be

We can all yab this girl and the attitude of Nigerians to the love of overseas shopping all we want. But I strongly believe that a larger percentage of ladies in Nigeria and all over the world won't think of economics and developing motherland when it comes to shopping. This includes our mothers, daughters, girlfriends, wives and sisters. In fact, as dem dey read the story, dem go dey admire the girl.

Its difficult to take shopping away from women, as its difficult to take young women away from men

Na so life be. So for me, I would be thinking of how to cash in on the various weakness of both sexes

The boy is sure good at what he does.

Justwise, many vaseline to ur elbow, and a jar by your bedside

Any issues anyone is going through in a UK university and needs help with?

43) Stories that touch

Lanre was hopeful of starting a magazine. With all his money he had saved (some few millions), he plunged into opening one. I brought up the issue of risk and failure, but he would hear none of it. I wasn't trying to be negative (i think). I only tried to make him see that he could be fail proof if he took the right steps. My advice was a simple one. That he ensures that he puts his picture on the Editor's page of each of the published magazine. He was not intending to sell the first batch of his glossy magazine, so at least, he would be sure that his face gets seen by MD's of companies (u know the brand thing I talked about earlier).

Well, the magazine died a painless death. He only took away a bitter experience (which to me, is equally valuable if he realizes this)

42) Risk managment 2

Risk is like the burning coal. It is called risk because with it comes the chance of failure. The greater the risk, the greater the chances of failure.
Wisdom however tells you that you can wear special clothing and lift the burning coal unto your bossom without getting burnt. This my friends is one of the ways you manage risk.

Statistically, you may be considered as one of those whose startup business failed, but depending on how u turn things around, that failure can be converted to a success in its own right. Examples of the success potential embeded in your failure are:

1) you gained experience.
2) You gained publicity
3) You sheaved out your true friends etc. The list is endless

I have a thousand and one stories on this concept, but unfortunately many of these stories are about folks that failed and went away with bitter memories whereas there was so much oppurtunity to reap rewards from these failures

41) Risk Management 1

I don't mean to be a spoil sport, but we need to manage risk intelligently. Risk is sure exciting, but if not managed properly, it could ruin you. European statistics show that a larger percentage of startup businesses close shop before 2 years. Of those that go past 2 years, not many become the big names like Apple and Microsoft and Nairaland that you hear about. This my friends is a solid fact.

U could be the success story, but you are more likely to be the story of those that did not succeed'.
**Tufiakpa. I bind and cast. I speak the word
..ok.,.... no problems......I just think we should go beyond theatrics and into gold solid wisdom as we mature

Its almost as senseless (in my own view) as a man with many kids, wives and a rowdy extended family not writing a will.Instead he says I will not die......Ok selfish man, u know say if u die, ... ur family wahala no go affect u

I like the way the xtian scripture puts it: "No man carries burning coal unto his bossom and do not expect to get burnt"

@youngzedd
Did click ur thread. Really cool. But u for just tell me wetin d thread dey all about naw.

@yamakuza
Thanks. I don report them

^^^ Wetin they there? Tell me first before I click on it

40) Seun's Advert Spaces: catch them young

I am amazed that I am not seeing much adverts on NL advert spaces, yet we have folks running amoc and turning to guirella marketing tactics on every post and shoving their phone numbers at us. Do they really expect to be taken seriously? Can you compare that to DailyPost's approach?

A little story to drive home my point:
The group plantation boys are in my view the founding fathers of the 9ja music genre that we have today. How did they start? They made huge sacrifices reaching out to the youths and teenages of their days. These youths/teenagers are today people like me who remember and appreciate them from way back with fond memories. We do not therefore hesitate to promote tuface anytime we have the oppurtunity to.

That's also the way new generation banks like STB started. They were all over universities getting young people to open accounts with them, while the big one like Union Bank where sitting idly on their backside. When we finished studies, we were fondly stuck with such banks and as our earnings increased, so did those of STB et al.

One of the popular pastors did the same thing while he was in schooll and came out smoking hot.

Bill gates, Steve Jobs, DC comics, Mark zukerberg used the same strategy of reaching out to the youths/teenagers while in their early years and emerged big.


What are u guys waiting for?? Please don't ask what about me. I am not selling anything nor jumping around asking for how i can become a millionaire

yamakuza: Do you mean there are no kiosks and street traders?

Before 1004 was sold, there was a shopping complex or several in it.

I'm sure the new owners have plans for that, [s]and kiosks/street traders might not be part of their plans[/s]

I dont know much about the history of the place, but I did see kiosks and some street traders omly outside the gates.
I however discovered that they set high prices for my pals and I. maybe dem think say we be oyibo.

There was so much missing from these little kiosks. I still think that the place provides an excellent retail oppurtunity, that is if the estate owners eventually don't create a competition

Hi guys,

I spent some time in Lagos recently and noticed a gap yearning to be explored.
In 1004 estate, situated at VI close to the law school, there are no retail outlets in that space. I had to go all the way to Shoprite to get my purchases. This is quite strange

Lets do some modest maths here.
-1004 estate should imply that there are at least a 1000 middle class folks in the estate
-If each person is able to give you a profit of at least 100 naira a month,
>> then u would be making nothing less that 1 million naira per month

-if each person gives you a profit of 1000 naira per month
>> this should fetch you at least 10 million naira marging per month

-if each flat has 2 spenders, each giving 1000 naira a month
>> this should fetch you some 20 million naira per month


Me thinks if you're conversant with the space, you could do a drive around the estate and its adjoinings to better understand what I'm talking about.


...Cheers

39) Show me the money

This is a strategy for managing risk
The idea is for you to assess the liquidity of the source of your money.

Say someone approaches me for a loan of 1 million Naira. I would seek to find out how he would pay back. If he replies saying stuff like God will do it, or that he will travel out of the country as the source of the payment, this would immediately raise a red flag. But if he goes further to tell me of a back up plan of using his monthly salary (he lays out the figures for me to assess) and that he could also sell his inherited land in a nice location -This would make the source of liquidity much clearer

I think this should be very useful to those whose livelihoods are based on marketing products. Look clearly to see if you can see the liquidity point of contact between the product and the customers before hinging your economic fortunes on that product line or job.

Seeing that we've reviewed an important foundation for thinking as regards economic success, we can now move on to loading our quivers with arrows that can be drawn at various points of your economic journey.

Before we go on, we must realise that wealth and economic success means different things to different people. When I talk about economic success, I am actually talking of accumulated little victories that are scalable upwards to almost any level based on your personal ambitions. My definition is hinged more on the next step that takes you comfortably away from where you presently are. Kind of reduces the drivers of life's socio-economic systems that by its very nature tends to keep as many as possible submerged in mediocracy and nothingness.

@OP

Not a bad idea,
..But what is your business' USP?
What is your financial aim for the business?

Not loosing money is one of the best business strategies
You won't loose money if you buy stuff at good cost price and sell at a 'none shocking' sales price to nigerians. Babies are born everyday.

This should allay your fears

Other questions are:
-Can your mum and sister extract good bargains?
-can they ensure that payments are collected from customers?
-can they be trusted to hold on to money without 'borrowing' it from u etc?
-have u considered cost for logistics, transporting the good to Nigeria and getting mum and ur sis to move them around?
-What is your risk appetite?

I don't know u, but if I am permitted to make assumptions about you based on your post, i would say ur a newbie to business. So suggest that you start small. After the first lifecycle, u can apply the the lessons learnt and experience in an increased investment


Best wishes

@OP

It seems he has. This is quite interesting. I wish I were privy to how the next steps would unfold.

-Will he wait for businesses to advertise on his site (pull strategy)? or will he use aggressive business development strategies to get businesses advertising on his site (push strategy)?

-Gosh!! I love being around during such incubative processes

https://www.nairaland.com/1058820/retail-business-idea-lagos-make check this for an idea

@OP

Ask justwise the MOD of the travel section. He's an expert on UK stay conditions

Best wishes

PhysicsQED:

ROFL

Kai this boy, u no go kill person Ahahahahahahahahahaah

38 )

Linear thinking
Imagine someone walking down a road, trips on a stone and picks up the stone. Underneath the stone, he find stacks of gold coins. Most likely, for a long time after this experience, he will look beneath many stones and might soon encourage everyone to look underneath every stone (probably write a book)

Web thinking
Another person stumbles on a stone with gold underneath, does a quick search around other stones for more gold. Finding none, she realises that this was a once in a life time occurence. Probably write a book on her experience. Invests the money from the gold and the books into diversified businesses and moves on with her life


**I don try, make I go rest. Im be like say I go soon start to dey charge money sef -get new usernane with phone number attached **

37) WEB THINKING

Web thinking is a dynamic way of thinking that is highly flexible, open to changes, new ways of thinking and emphaty. Like a web, the web thinker has a lot of mental references and scenarios that he can connect to reach his destination. Such a thinking is not restrained by geographical location or prescriptions. The web thinker thrives not for prescriptions, but for understanding the koko behind the koko.

-She sets her goals, understands that the world is dynamic and that the competition might be intense. She cries when she needs to and is cold when this is needed. She reads prescription books alright, pick out the nuggets and move on to the next book.
-She doesn't build temples around rules. Nope. She understands when someone is selling stuff, and buys in only for more information.
-She has fall-back plans, exit strategies, plan B's
-She understand that her needs and wants might change with time, and enjoys the best of today without wasting tomorrow
-She grabs oppurtunities when she sees them, and then work from such points towards her goals
-She could write a book of prescriptions if she wants to, to leverage her knowledge for cash
- and wait a minute,... she sometimes recognises a gap, a need for a new industry. She pioneers/creates this new industry and reaps massive rewards

We all have element of both web and linear thinking, however I have noticed that many of the top folks I have met have considerably greater amount of web thinking abilities compared to the average joe.


(** I'll digress here and speak to my xtian brothers. Go back to the bible and read the stories of Jesus from Mathew to John with this knowledge of 'web thinking'. One minute jesus speaks to an issue, the next, he spits on an issue, then touches an issue. One minute the 'pope' is called satan, in the next he his enjoined to feed the sheep )

33) Web thinking(c) vs Linear thinking

This is the most important part of my entire post. Everything I have written was designed to get us prepared and pointed to this very post
This is what differentiates you from the crowd, from the gamblers, from the prescription givers and prescription takers.
I define linear thinking as a way of thinking that is one directional. I'll show you how this works:


-If you acquire education, you will be successful.
**You then rush off to acquire education and scream blue murder when you don't get a job
-Ok, get certifications
**It worked for some people, the the door closed to everyone just before your time

umhhhhh,... not there yet? ok
Ah, I've found 7 keys to making u a millionaire

- Go get a skill
**You get a skill, nothing yet
-No, I meant get a skill that u love
**U get a skill in painting which u love, Nothing happens.
-I meant a skill that u love and that is in demand
**U do this, try to break in and then the world changes again

-umhhh.... Save and invest
**U do so, and the stock market crashes, banks go burst

Wow.... Ok,
-add God to the mix my friend, he his the key to your success. No man can bless what God has cursed.
-There you go,.. see I have handed you over to Pastor Z to continue from where I stopped. Your case is special.

If you do finally get there after this torment, you'll cling to your benefactor with the last drop of your blood


My posts are all connecting now aren't they?

32) Reflecting on a popular trick (scam)

There is this trick whereby the scammers send posted mails to lets say 500 targetted gamblers predicting the results of a football fixture

>> 250 mails predict that Team A will win, and the other 250 mails predict that team B will win
>> Team B wins, and the scammers have 250 partial believers with 250 doubters (those that got Team A win predictions)
>> The scammers then divide the partial believers into two groups.
>> Mails are sent again predicting football wins for Team B vs Team C.
>> When Team C wins, 125 people are almost fully convinced, while the other 125 stop believing
>> Again, the 125 are divided into 2 groups

>> Towards the end of the project, the scammers contact the 'fully converted' (those whose predictions have been 100% successful) telling them that if they want predictions for the final results, they should pay huge sums of money. Almost all of them fall for it.

Of course, some will win, and the others loose. Interestingly, those that win might still beleive that the 'mystics' have special powers, and will be ready to pay for the next prediction.


CAUTION: Please read this with care and do not arrive at any naughty conclusions. All I am simply trying to do is unveiling the power of 'mind over matter'