If there's ever one mistake you shouldn't make in life, I will say, it's been at the wrong place at the right time.
When you're at the wrong place of life, you'll be stalked for life. Until you make a move, nothing will seems to be working, it'll be a rigmarole while time goes by. This is no manipulation or spell but wrong positioning.
My cousin around 2005 complained bitterly how he wasn't making any income from his workshop. He is a mechanic and very good at it. At a point, his people believed someone was responsible for the low patronage and all that. He was based in Enugu struggling to the point he was still living with his Mom.
One day his constant complain touched my elder brother. He was asked if he can relocate to Port Harcourt? Gladly he accepted the offer. Less than two months he arranged himself and relocated to the city of Port Harcourt. My brother accommodated him and then introduced him to his mechanic and they accommodated him.
One day his constant complain touched my elder brother. He was asked if he can relocate to Port Harcourt? Gladly he accepted the offer. Less than two months he arranged himself and relocated to the city of Port Harcourt. My brother accommodated him and then introduced him to his mechanic and they accommodated him.
This cousin of mine specializes on different cars ranging from Benz, Volkswagen, Peugeot and Hilux. I don't know how he learnt all that. The icing on the cake is him also knowing electrical aspect of car repair as well.
At the mechanic workshop where he was accommodated, he was used. The guys used him to make money. They charged work heavily and gave it to him for a peanut. He does that gladly because that was almost the same value of payment he usually received when he was at Enugu.
One day my brother heard the gossip how he was being used and underpaid, got angry and pulled him out from the mechanic workshop. He rented a portion of an empty plot of land for him to use as his workshop. Advised him, this is Port Harcourt and not Enugu. He should brace up and charge what will be sustainable to him as to renew the rent after one year.
In less than one year, this guy blew. Customers almost choked him with cars for repair. Even without signpost, people located him. Those guys from the previous workshop traced him and brought cars they don't specialise on for him to repair.
At the mechanic workshop where he was accommodated, he was used. The guys used him to make money. They charged work heavily and gave it to him for a peanut. He does that gladly because that was almost the same value of payment he usually received when he was at Enugu.
One day my brother heard the gossip how he was being used and underpaid, got angry and pulled him out from the mechanic workshop. He rented a portion of an empty plot of land for him to use as his workshop. Advised him, this is Port Harcourt and not Enugu. He should brace up and charge what will be sustainable to him as to renew the rent after one year.
In less than one year, this guy blew. Customers almost choked him with cars for repair. Even without signpost, people located him. Those guys from the previous workshop traced him and brought cars they don't specialise on for him to repair.
I still remember the first time he fearfully charged someone N15,000 as at 2006 what ordinarily he will charge N4,000 when he was at Enugu. The person being satisfied, happily paid him without argument. It was then he knew he had been in the wrong place all the while.
In 2010, he had already gotten married. Owns a car and doing well for himself.
Sometimes, location could be the reason you're stalked. Also, it could be you're on the wrong choice of hustle, crafts or even job. Why not give this a thought today. Your break forth could be tied to a particular location, line of hustle or even skills.
In 2010, he had already gotten married. Owns a car and doing well for himself.
Sometimes, location could be the reason you're stalked. Also, it could be you're on the wrong choice of hustle, crafts or even job. Why not give this a thought today. Your break forth could be tied to a particular location, line of hustle or even skills.
One of the underrated advantages of being single is the ability to move or relocate pretty much with ease and unencumbered. But sometimes location isn't all there is. Knowing the value of what you have to offer and charging adequately and commensurately makes the difference.
ReplyDeleteTeejay, your cousin probably wouldn't have still broken through if he hadn't realized or was made to realise how lucrative his skills were. Port Harcourt offered him more business but he sold himself short in the beginning. His fortunes wouldn't have changed with that. When he learnt to charge what his skills were worth, his doors opened.
Quite agreed with you but you see, sometimes location is a factor. I have been to Umuahia and noticed it's more of a civil servant state unlike Port Harcourt that has numerous companies and multinational firms. You'll agree with me that the level of purchase or spending will be different in both states.
DeleteLast week I entered a saloon here in Port Harcourt to cut my hair. I sat down and when it was my turn, I sat on the seat only to be told the hair cut is 3,000. Immediately I stood up and thanked him for the information and left. Where I do cut my hair, I do pay 2,000. I can tell you in some states it might be 1,000. At Umuahia I had paid 800 for a haircut which isn't possible in the city of Port Harcourt.
All I'm saying is that, there are prices you can't give in a particular location else you won't see patronage. This is also applicable to people who relocate abroad and in few years they're financially buoyant. Why? Environment and its standard of living.
Finally, we saw in the good book how God's blessings came upon Abraham not until he had left his father's abode.
©️ TEEJAY
@Doggy, location matters a lot in business as well as your target clients/customers. Even if he doesn't charge adequate amount for the services he rendered, the quality of the service could have brought more customers to him, but unfortunately, he wasn't in a good place.
Delete@Doggy,location matters no matter how you know the value of your offer.A barber I know in the East still cuts hair for 500 naira but his mates in my estate here won't even take 1k,same skill different location,he even does better jobs than the ones in my estate.The only time he tried raising the money to 1k, everyone picked raise
DeleteYou also need to restrategise and rebrand to meet your desired standard.
ReplyDeleteEnough has low standard compare to PH.
Exactly.
DeleteIt might not really be the low standard of living, sometimes it's has to do with the mentality of Nigerians. Have you ever heard people say, "Here no be Lagos oo, Abuja or Port Harcourt."
The mindset is already conditioned that things in the afformentioned states will be costly in prices than some 'smaller' states.
©️ TEEJAY
*Enugu*
DeleteAbsolutely right Teejay... locating yourself in a time and a place plus God grace is one of the secrets of breaking through..Right time, Right place + favour = ...break through...whatever that break through is!
ReplyDeleteNice one, Teejay.
ReplyDeleteMore ink to your pen. 🙌
Thanks my beautiful sister. I really wish and want to write like you. You know what I mean.
Delete©️ TEEJAY
Location matters,nothing anybody wan tell me
ReplyDeleteTeejay, environment and self-valuation were the two forces that played out. He met a market with deeper pockets and higher demand. Cities like Port Harcourt carry oil firms, contractors, private fleets. That shifts spending power. In Enugu, his competence met a thinner-wallet economy. Skill without solvent demand feels like failure.
ReplyDeleteBut location alone did not rescue him. When he arrived, he still priced himself like a small-town mechanic. That is behavioural conditioning. Many of us internalise the ceiling of the last room we stood in. He needed someone to interrupt that script and reset the price anchor on which he had pegged his competence. Once he charged in line with the new market, the results followed.
Our mindset explains this plainly. People assess value relative to context. If you underprice in a high-value market, you signal inferiority. If you overprice in a low-income market, you choke demand. Success sits at the intersection of competence, purchasing power, and perceived value - that's simple business economics.
Relocation can expand opportunity. It cannot replace strategy. Before moving, study the economic density of the place. After moving, recalibrate your pricing, branding and confidence to match that terrain.
Sometimes you are in the wrong city. Sometimes you are simply thinking small inside the right one. The honest work is to diagnose which it is - then act without sentiment.