📚 WEEK 1: BUSINESS MINDSET — STOP THINKING LIKE EVERYBODY
🎯 DON'T START WITH THE PRODUCT. START WITH THE CUSTOMER.
Lagos. 6:38 a.m.
Emeka sat at his usual spot, looking through his notebook.
The past three days had changed the way he looked at business.
Day 1:
CAPITAL NO DEY? LEARN FIRST!
Day 2:
BUSINESS NO BE JUST “BUY & SELL”!
Day 3:
YOUR PROBLEM FIT BECOME YOUR BUSINESS.
But that morning, Emeka had another question.
He had learnt to look for problems.
He had even started noticing problems everywhere.
But then he asked himself:
> “WHO EXACTLY WILL PAY ME TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM?”
That question opened another chapter.
🕘 9:15 A.M.
Emeka stopped at a small food business near a busy office area.
He watched the customers.
One person bought rice.
Another bought beans.
A woman asked for a smaller portion.
A man complained about the price.
Another customer asked:
“Una dey deliver to office?”
Emeka opened his notebook.
He wrote:
THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT ALL THE SAME.
They had different:
• Needs
• Budgets
• Preferences
• Locations
• Buying habits
• Reasons for buying
Suddenly, he understood something.
A business cannot simply say:
“EVERYBODY IS MY CUSTOMER.”
If everybody is your customer, you may not understand anybody deeply enough.
🕚 11:20 A.M.
Emeka met Kunle.
“Guy, I think I don discover another important thing.”
Kunle laughed.
“Another one?”
“Yes.”
“Wetin be this one?”
“Customer.”
Kunle looked confused.
“Customer? Everybody na customer.”
Emeka shook his head.
“That's the problem.”
He opened his notebook.
“Imagine say I wan sell lunch.”
Kunle nodded.
“I fit say everybody wey dey hungry na my customer.”
“Correct.”
“But that's too broad.”
“Why?”
“Because I need to know WHO I am actually serving.”
He continued.
“Are they students?”
“Workers?”
“Drivers?”
“Business owners?”
“Families?”
“People looking for cheap meals?”
“People looking for premium meals?”
“People who need delivery?”
“People who prefer to eat at the location?”
Kunle nodded slowly.
“So you're saying I need to know my customer?”
“Exactly.”
🕐 1:10 P.M.
Emeka decided to test the idea.
He imagined starting a lunch business.
Instead of saying:
“I want to sell food.”
He asked:
WHO EXACTLY AM I SERVING?
Maybe office workers between 25 and 45.
People who have limited lunch breaks.
People who want affordable meals.
People who prefer ordering before lunch.
People who don't want to leave the office to find food.
Now the business looked different.
He could think about:
📍 Location
📦 Packaging
📱 Ordering method
🚚 Delivery
💰 Pricing
⏰ Delivery time
🍛 Menu
📣 Marketing
All because he had become more specific about the customer.
Emeka smiled.
He wrote:
KNOW THE CUSTOMER → UNDERSTAND THE NEED → DESIGN THE SOLUTION.
🕒 3:25 P.M.
Then Emeka remembered something.
His friend had once started selling clothes.
He bought plenty of stock because he thought:
“People like clothes.”
But after several weeks, some of the clothes were still hanging in his room.
Emeka understood the problem now.
He had started with the product.
He had asked:
“WHAT CLOTHES CAN I BUY?”
But he didn't ask:
“WHO EXACTLY WILL BUY THESE CLOTHES?”
What age group?
What style?
What budget?
What occasion?
Where do they shop?
What do they already buy?
Why would they choose him?
The product was not necessarily the problem.
The lack of customer understanding was.
🌙 THAT EVENING
Emeka returned home.
His ₦350,000 was still untouched.
He opened his notebook.
At the top of the page, he wrote:
WHO DEY BUY FROM ME?
Underneath:
1. Who exactly is my customer?
2. What problem are they experiencing?
3. What do they need?
4. What can they afford?
5. Where do they currently buy?
6. Why do they buy from their current supplier?
7. What would make them choose me?
8. How can I reach them?
He looked at the page.
Then he wrote one more sentence:
> “IF I DON'T KNOW WHO I AM SERVING, HOW DO I KNOW WHAT TO OFFER THEM?”
That was the lesson.
💡 THE BUSINESS LESSON
Many people start businesses by asking:
❌ “What can I sell?”
But better entrepreneurs ask:
✅ “WHO AM I SELLING TO?”
Knowing your customer helps you understand:
• What to offer
• How to price it
• Where to sell
• How to communicate
• How to package it
• Where to find customers
• What problem to solve
• Why they should choose you
You don't need to know everything about every person.
You need to understand the particular people you want to serve.
Because:
CUSTOMER → NEED → SOLUTION → VALUE → TRANSACTION
The clearer your customer is, the easier it becomes to make better business decisions.
🔥 DON'T JUST LOOK FOR SOMETHING TO SELL.
KNOW WHO YOU WANT TO SERVE.
🎯 DAY 4 BUSINESS CHALLENGE
Think about a business you want to start.
Complete these:
MY TARGET CUSTOMER IS:
THEIR MAIN PROBLEM/NEED IS:
THEY CURRENTLY SOLVE IT BY:
THEY CAN AFFORD:
THEY USUALLY BUY FROM:
I CAN REACH THEM THROUGH:
THE REASON THEY MAY CHOOSE ME IS:
Don't say:
❌ “EVERYBODY.”
Be specific.
KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER.
📚 WEEK 1: BUSINESS MINDSET — STOP THINKING LIKE EVERYBODY
This is Day 4 of 30 in SCHOOL OF MONEY.
Day 1:
CAPITAL NO DEY? LEARN FIRST!
Day 2:
BUSINESS NO BE JUST “BUY & SELL”!
Day 3:
YOUR PROBLEM FIT BECOME YOUR BUSINESS.
Today:
WHO DEY BUY FROM YOU?
Tomorrow, Emeka will learn something that many new entrepreneurs discover too late:
SALES NO BE PROFIT.
Because selling ₦100,000 worth of products doesn't automatically mean you made ₦100,000.
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