BUSINESS IS ALL ABOUT TRADE - WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO OFFER?

What do you have to offer?

Every man has something to offer. I once learnt from a random video I saw online. It was a bit transient, but the thought never left me. We all have something to offer and a thorough understanding of this will help us put things in the correct perspective.

My understanding of this helped me greatly in negotiating even when it seemed I was at a disadvantage. It made me more confident in the face of undesirable odds, because I know I always had something to offer. You have something to offer and the earlier you realise it, the better for you.

You may ask, what are those things that I have to offer….
A man has at least one of the following;
  1. Time
  2. Money
  3. Talent

I call them TMT after my favourite cartoon heroes, Turtle Ninjas. Now that I am grown, I've gotten new inspiration from Floyd Mayweather and retagged them "The Money Team". Ultimately, everyone has been given at least one of those. It is impossible to see a man without at least one of these.

Looking back, I realised that my philosophy about life had been a little bit wrong. I grew up sometimes wondering why I was born into a middle-class family. I sure was getting all my needs met, attended a good school that formed a major foundation for my later years, but there was always these kinds of stuff I wanted and just could not get because they were not on the "NEEDS LIST".

It wasn't wrong to ask for more like Oliver Twist, what I only failed to see was the opportunity that my desires opened up to me if acted upon. I needed money at that time, which was in short supply, but I had the time and some talents I could put to good use. I had friends who kept shop, while others worked at some form of trade or the other, but my "Butter" training and upbringing did not make realise early these jewels I could utilise to trade in the market place of life.

It is impossible to see a man without at least one of these.


In my mind's eye, all I could see were my friends from more affluent backgrounds, who had the means or had parents who had the means to get them their wants. They only needed to ask, fuss or at best save up from the large amounts doled to them as pocket money by their parents, family members and numerous friends. They had the money to get the things they needed, unfortunately, all I had then was time and some talent.

What I did not realise was that all I had to do was to trade in my time and talent for the money I required. The seller of the Terminator game I required was not going to collect my time (he definitely would not have been able to, except being a cartoon witch character), neither was he going to accept my talent or skill outrightly save it was what he desperately needed and commensurate to the worth of what he wanted to get for the game monetarily.

Now, I realised that even my so-called rich kids had summer jobs, where they engaged in trading their time and skill for money during the holidays and rightly tormented us with the proceeds when school resumed. Most of them had taken up being shop keepers and bookkeepers, while others did jobs in factories, either sorting or as part of the marketing staff. All I did was spend time watching cartoons and daydream about a good life.

Even today, I am surprised when people come to me to tell tales of woe. Coming from a religious home and understanding the nature of man, I am empathetic to their plights, but always waiting to hear their next steps. Usually, all they want most times is a temporary solution in the form of money to pay up debt, to sort out a need or something else. I look at them as ask what they have to trade with and as usual hear the same reply " Nothing, I am broke, just help me!"

It is a pity we have only focused on the monetary value we have. Some people's mood changes with the condition of their financial state. You could almost tell when they were broke or without funds. While others, rank themselves based on the amount of money they have, they believe that their status in life is directly proportional to the amount of money they have. This is false in itself because the real worth of a man is the sum total of all the time, talent and money he has at his disposal.

Looking critically, money is the least of these, as a man with talents can always get money and a man with time can always get money. The way the world has been designed, there will always be people in need of one of the three. Ask yourself at this point, there must be one of three that you would certainly want more of. It is time to take stock of what you have to trade with it.


Take stock of what you have. Itemize them in order of abundance. Which are you willing to trade for what you require?

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