Hello there, I'm back again. ? Our baby's naming ceremony is tomorrow ?. I'm super excited. Lemme gist you about my experience in the delivery room. Yeah, I was there. And I didn't faint. But after she delivered, I cried men! ? The labour pain was so intense my wife almost clasped her legs when the baby's head was coming out. At that point, I had to hold her legs apart and "pushed" with her. Thank God the grunting sounds I made did not make me poop cos I nearly did. She was brave I tell you that! When the baby came out, there was great relief. In between the time the head was coming out and the rest of the body, it was a matter of life and death. But we thank God. Now lemme bring it home to you. Perhaps you have a dream you are pushing hard but seems it won't materialise. Hold on, keep on keeping on. And get help if you have to. It will end in praise. In case you are nursing a dream of starting your ready to wear business but have no clue how to go about it, then I have good news for you. On Friday 18 December, I'm hosting a ready to wear masterclass for anyone who needs help making their ready to wear dreams a reality. Does this apply to you? If so, register now here: - Ready to Wear Masterclass - https://sendfox.com/lp/1k64g4 Please forward to anyone who needs it. Only those who really want to go into ready to wear should apply please. Cheers Laoye Curtis

It's a new month, a new dawn. December marks a turnaround for you and I in this year of turbulence. God has been faithful in keeping us till this moment so all glory to Him for preserving our lives. This month you shall recover all that you have lost in the last 11 months. This month is also a watershed for the new year. It's time to dream new dreams and start making plans. God bless you. Laoye Curtis

QUESTIONS ABOUT PRICING SHE ASKED: For those who are still trying to find their feet in the fashion business, should we always turn down the price conscious customers and look for the value conscious ones, how do we balance both sir. LAOYE CURTIS' ANSWER: You do not have to turn them down. All you have to do is ask them, "what's your budget?" You can decide if you still wanna work with them based on their lower price or you negotiate a middle ground. More importantly this class has opened your eyes to the fact that your destiny is in your own hands. At least you now know the two kinds of customers there are based on price perception. If they are value conscious, most likely they will accept your price. Or think it's too low. If the latter is the case, it means you have a big fish customer. Shoot up the price immediately, and tell them you were only trying to establish a mutually beneficial relationship when you called the initial price. With this approach you have a simple price calculator. However, you still have to tell the customer the price and watch their reaction. If they are price conscious, they will force a drop in the price. You are at liberty to accept or not.

VALUE CONSCIOUS CUSTOMERS and How to Manage Them Value conscious customers on the other hand, are people who pay attention to details rather than the pricing. They want excellence in the designs you sell them. They are more concerned about the value they'd get from wearing your designs, and as such are often finicky about the details. These kind of people can be long term customers if you keep delivering excellent product and excellent customer service. Should you disappoint them with your finishing, they may never return. So tread carefully when you have a value conscious customer on your hands. The amount you charge isn't their priority. However they may negotiate the price with you, but not with the desperation of a price conscious customer. When you meet them, you can easily identify them by their incessant questions about details relating to the design you want to make for them. The only set back may be in terms of the price you charge. It is either within their budget or not. If your price is way more than they can afford, they often times may request a discount or go out of their way to raise the money. Either way, treat them nicely. They make loyal customers. So far so good, I have shared insights with you on two types of customers based on their perception of pricing. This is as far as I can go in this series on pricing. The topic is wide. For example, there are other areas like: Pricing formula Confident pricing Pricing psychology And so much more. But then these are enough for now. Laoye Curtis

QUESTIONS ON PRICING How do one get to get an adequate price that will be comfortable for both the customer and the business? LAOYE CURTIS'S ANSWER: For bespoke tailors, bespoke shoe designers, this is a guide: For every design you make for a customer, sit down and calculate the cost of producing that design per outfit. Then add your desired profit (margin). Add a miscellaneous amount to serve as a negotiation margin so that when they negotiate the price, and you are forced to drop the price, it is this amount that you cut out of. This way your profit is guaranteed.

The PRICE CONSCIOUS CUSTOMER and How to Manage Them The price conscious customer doesn't care how much you tag your products or services. What matters to them is the amount in their head that they are not ready to go beyond. They don't care about the effort you put into your work. Or the attention to detail. All that matters to them is the price. If they don't like the price you are charging, they won't buy. Unfortunately, they are very good at talking down on your work so as to make you feel bad and charge less. For instance, out of desperation to sell your designs, you charge N3k for a dress you could have charged N9k, a price conscious customer that doesn't want to spend more than N2k will talk down on your dress to the extent that you will be willing to collect N1500. It can be that bad. . The major point to note about price conscious customers is that they are all about the price at which they can buy not the real value of your work. Anytime you meet these kinds of people, always ask them, "what's your budget?" If their budget doesn't fit your desired price point, or a lower price point that can still guarantee you a healthy profit, PLEASE DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THEM. So you see, a price conscious customer is all about their own interests. They have an amount they won't go below no matter how well you sold them. The value conscious customer, on the other hand is different. Find out more in my next post. #pricing #pricingstrategy #fashion #fashionbusiness

WHEN IT COMES TO PRICING, PERCEPTION PLAYS A BIG PART. What is PERCEPTION? The impression you have about something, that is perception. And for this you need to understand the two major ways people perceive your brand. Can I tell you? The kind of people you are targeting as customers matter a lot. This is why you should know about customer avatar. Customer avatar helps you picture your ideal customer including their interests, mindset, and way of thinking. Whenever someone approaches you with intention to buy from you, there is a perception they have of what the pricing is. You have no control over their perceptions. What you have control over is the kind of customers you would rather have. The mindset of your target audience is very key to getting your pricing right. Remember, perception is the impression people have about something, your products inclusive. . - Two types of customers based on their perception of pricing - There is the price conscious customer and there is the value conscious customer. Watch out for the breakdown of these in my next post.

Last week I was hospitalised for 3 days. I had acute malaria and food poisoning. I never knew one could stool every 10 to 15 minutes till there is nothing left but water. That happened from 3:00am to 9:00am. And then I began to shake all over. Thanks to a good doctor friend of mine who ordered me to the hospital on account of the shakes and the loss of body fluids. Had I not heeded her instruction on time, I may not have been here telling you this story. Please thank God for my life. And thank my wife for her unflinching support. The experience bonded us together even more, after our marital crisis had been over. The year 2020 has been a tough one, but God has been kind. None of us shall die untimely. Amen. Cheers Laoye Curtis

Please I have a word of encouragement for you. And it is: DREAM AGAIN. Granted this year has been tough, really tough. And recent events may even have affected you emotionally. Please remember, weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Every morning is an opportunity for you to dream again. In case you have forgotten why you invest so much in your work, your business, your personal development, lemme remind you. It's your dream. You had a dream that you can make it big in this line of work, fashion. You had a dream that you can live a better life doing what you love, fashion. You had a dream to one day travel across the world ? on account of the financial resources you have pooled from your fashion business. Please dream again. I want us to awaken the giants within us. Lets not lose sight of our dreams. It's easy to get trapped in the struggles of day to day grind. It's easy to lose track of where you are going and be caught in the rat race of trying to eke out a living. Granted, bills are there to pay. I won't dispute that. Some of us even have dependents. And that piles more pressure on us. In spite of these, please don't lose sight of the future you dreamed for yourself. Hold on to that dream. Commit it to God. Trust in Him to guide your steps. And He will help you. He will cause His grace to abound towards you. He will cause ideas to flow to you. He will bring you opportunities and people who can help you. Above all, He will bless the works of your hands. As I close this writeup of mine, my charge to you once again is, dare to dream, again. And commit your work into God's hands. Only He can bring you across the finish line, your dreamland. I'm Laoye Curtis, fashion business coach

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