It’s simple maths my dear.
You either make more money or you reduce your cost.
In one of the companies I worked for in the past…the favourite word everybody liked to use was “Cost Cutting”.
Every day!!! “We are cutting cost”.
Cost Cutting Measures!!!
They told us to manage paper because they were cutting cost.
They stopped training people (to be better at their jobs) because of cost cutting.
The managers were rewarded for how well they cut cost, so to get approval for anything ehh!
Fire!!!
I watched this company fire exceptional people every year…just because of cost cutting.
I kept wondering to myself, this doesn’t even make sense.
Why don’t they just focus on how they can make more money instead?
I have found that this making money topic is a mystery. Lol
It seems like it’s rocket science but really…it isn’t.
Let me explain it in the simplest way I can.
There are two ways to make more money.
You either increase the number of customers you have or you increase the number of income streams you have.
To increase the number of customers you have, you have to improve your marketing.
To increase the number of income streams you have, you create more products or offerings.
I usually talk about how to improve your marketing, so today I will focus on income streams.
Now many people think that increasing your income streams means that you should start different businesses to bring in money, so you find entrepreneurs dipping their hands in all sorts of businesses.’
They call it hustling…and truly, that’s why they are hustling.
Somebody sent me an email, and listed the 12 businesses she has. The only problem is that she does not have customers in any of them.
Ummm…hello ohhh. That’s why you don’t have customers. Lol.
You are running a hustle, not a business.
A business is an entity you want to grow into an empire.
An empire has different streams of income, around the same topic.
The different streams of income support themselves.
Let me give you an example of someone who has built an empire in Nigeria.
You know Tara Durotoye? CEO of House of Tara?
Her company has 3 key streams of income, and each of these streams have different products and packages.
1. Individual Makeup
Personal Makeup
Bridal Make up
Fashion and Runway Makeup
Gele tying service
2. Make Up Training School
Basic Beauty Make Up Course
Advanced Beauty Makeup Course
Professional MakeUp Course
Refresher MakeUp Course
Theatre MakeUp Course
Personal MakeUp
3. Make Up Products
Face products
Lip products
Eye products
ETC
You see the difference between having different streams of income from a business and hustling with many businesses?
The other advantage of doing this is that you can leverage on what you already have and know.
Anytime I talk about how people should have a focus, people say…Oh Stephanie, what of Dangote.
So let’s talk about Dangote now.
I listened to him speak during my time at Lagos Business School, and we were also privileged to be invited on a tour of one of his refineries. During his talk, he told us stories of how he failed in several businesses because he went to put his hands into areas he knew nothing about. He went into it because everybody was doing it.
He told us of how he opened a bank and it was a total disaster, and after that experience, he told himself that he will only focus on his area of competence, and become so good at it. He focused on commodities, because that is the business he has been doing since 1977. The big and famous Dangote started by selling rice in 1977. He didn’t start with all the products he has now.
As his business grew, they introduced new products that could leverage on their existing infrastructure.
Emphasis on “as his business grew”, which means that he could now employ credible hands to run his business, so it was not him, being a one man ninja, doing everything by himself.
It really takes a lot of work to make one business successful, and success requires focus.
Instead of dipping your hands in different businesses, trying to see which one will work out…focus on one.
It is possible to milk out several income streams out of that one thing you are doing…even if it is just a blog.
Look at my blog. Am I making money from advertising like Linda Ikeji or Bella Naija?
No…I have other revenue streams.
I even have revenue streams that I am yet to launch.
Possibilities abound, and I will be helping the people in the Diamond Circle Mastermind tap into these opportunities.
This month, we will be talking about how to create new income streams in the Diamond Circle Mastermind.
Don’t be like the people who just get excited and never take action to better their lives.
I’m not a motivational speaker.
Best Regards
Stephanie
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