ALWAYS TELL YOUR CLIENT THE TRUTH.

Today, my tenure as Advisory Board Member on a French-Tunisian Startup closed. It was a Full Year of learning and of great exposure from Co-Founders, other Board Members and VC Representatives from Kenya 🇰🇪 , Tunisia 🇹🇳 , France 🇫🇷 , and UK 🇬🇧

During the valedictory meeting earlier this morning, the Co-Founders shared their feedback and their experiences. The feedback to me was that there were specific areas I had argued and debated with them, which they were reluctant to follow. Areas including:

1. The need for a firm corporate governance structure. (They wanted to just be ‘100% owners’ without being accountable to a Board system).
2. The power of FreeMium and Demos. (Their original model was ‘pay before service’).
3. The Aggressiveness of Sales. (They always said they weren’t ready to push for sales. I always argued that ‘less money coming in than monies going out was death of the startup’)
4. The Power of Revenue via Private Sector and Open Markets (their primary business model was via Municipals in Tunisia 🇹🇳 which meant only Government will pay them).
5. Etc.

As they reeled out their report today, one of them said “Sam, I want to thank you for your persistence. Every idea you pushed worked, even though initially we didn’t see the point.”

My reply was: “I am utterly grateful that you mentioned this because I feel overjoyed that my risk turned out to be a blessing. May God bless you all.”

Case in point: TELL YOUR CLIENT THE TRUTH EVEN WHEN IT MAY HURT YOUR PAY.

I learnt this from Dr Bala Muhammed (Dr B.) who once tried to bring me on board a large farm project that the client was being evasive. Dr B told him how his patterns and methods would FAIL and how the project was a WHITE ELEPHANT PROJECT. Of course the man cancelled the contract but Dr B told me “always be ready to walk away with your head high.”

Today, again, I have exemplified my mentor’s counsel. I feel proud. Thank God I earned thousands of Euros 💶 on this Board assignment and also added immense value.

So, if you are my client and I resist your fears, inconsistencies or even your fail-assured strategy, please don’t take it personal. I probably see how your investment may not turn out right and I promise you: I WILL TELL YOU THE TRUTH IN LOVE… unless I have superior information to do otherwise.

On to the next brief…

Have a happy weekend.

m a k t u b !!!

PS: have you tried a cheap stuff from my store yet? Let’s flex this weekend. Just visit https://selar.co/m/sobafemi … if you’re lucky, I’ll give you a gift when you buy something there.

🐙