Wise Words from Peter Jones for Young Entrepreneurs

I’m sure you all know peter Jones, and for you that don’t, he is a British businessman, most of us probably know him from his appearances in dragons den or American Inventor.
As of 2008 he is worth an estimated £157million, so take your time listening to what he has to say.

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Interview with the founders of Teddy Bear Club(T.B.C) Clothing

On Today Interview on “Your Hidden Potential”, I have been Privileged enough to interview the Founders of the Fast growing clothing line, Known as “The Teddy Bear Club”.
As they say on their facebook page,

The line is a new funky, soft, retro…. No scrap that it is what you make it, colourful designs made to suit every individual!!

I think I need to get myself one of them jumpers as soon as possible, I’m jealous that I still haven’t got one.

I’m not just saying it because I am interviewing you guys, but the sky is your limit, and you guys have got some unique brand right here and I believe it’s staying.
I just want you guys to know that you both are an huge influence to young and aspiring entrepreneurs out there, and I want you to keep doing your thing.
Anyways enough of the Chit-Chat, let’s jump straight into it.

How are you both today?
Very well, just been working on the designs for our official launch, due later this year

You need to understand that i’m a very big fan of your clothing line and I have been following it for quite a while now, and I have to say that for a long time, I haven’t seen such a unique brand as this before. I think it is simple, elegant, and classy with the simple touch of youth?

We appreciate the love, everyone have been good to us and we are working hard every day to bring in new ideas and still stay loyal to our self and the people that have supported our simplicity, my Dad always says that simplicity is genius, and that has stuck with me ever since, I personally studied graphics design (Yomi) and as a designer we are taught to keep our designs easy on the eye, there’s a word that my lecturer used to use all the time when he didn’t like something “that’s visually busy, change it” so to avoid him saying that about my work, I tried to make everything simple, but effective

Before we proceed – can you give us a little background information about yourself – your names? Where you live? How old you are?

Name: Yomi Akosile
Age: 23
Location: East London
Background: Graduated 2007 in Graphics Design & Photography, was working freelance for about a year, then God inspired the TBC design, and now working part – time on the clothing line, also working full time for a management company, Starmix Management, check us out @ http://www.starmixmgt.com, that’s our family there, we organise events and also running a record company, check out the site, but yeah i design all the flyers, logos and anything that we need for our events or our artist, also in charge of the music department, finding new talents etc, and also play football for Newham united, so my weeks are very packed lol

Name: Akin Cole
Age: 23
Location: East London
Background: Graduated 2008 in Business studies, working for Starmix Management as the P.R and also organising different event

When did you start?

Akin rang me about 2 years ago and said, since you do graphics and i do business, i think we should start our own clothing line, we are practically family so i didn’t give it a second thought, we played about with different designs, playing with words, just doing lots of research, different ideas and designs was coming through, but something didn’t click

Then in October 2007 i broke my ankle playing football for my team and was in hospital for 9 days, Akin bought me a sketch pad and pencil and told me to see what i can come up with, but i was more worried about my operation than anything else, to God be the glory the operation went well and i was dis-charged, over the Christmas period i wanted to treat myself, so i got myself a new laptop and started designing and one day i was looking at a teddy bear that a female friend got and decided to try and use that concept to design a logo that everyone can relate to, and since everyone had a teddy bear growing it, that was the click that we was looking for, loaded the logo on to myspace, the comments just kept on rushing in and we decided to print them on a tee, took a few pics in my studio and loaded it up online, and next thing you know people started placing their orders, and this was the black & white logo, then we started adding colours to it, and people started asking to get their bear personalised, and it just blew from there, the amount of people wearing our design is wonderful, and i am like a lil kid when i see someone with the top on, because out of my adversity came a beautiful design that everyone can relate to, and to see the support we are getting, just makes all the hard work pay off

What I want to know is what inspired you to start this business, not to mention the amount of clothing line out there today? Wasn’t there a bit of pressure to succeed?

In everything you do in life you have to believe in your product, we knew that there was nothing like this in the uk and all the other clothing lines out there only played with words, but we had graphics and colour, and that was the prime time when everyone was into their funky colours, and our generation actually take more care about their appearance, we both like to look good and every time you see us, we are always on point, and as you can see that shows in our design.

And the main thing that kept us going was the amount of people messaging us asking how to join the club, and pressure is a useful tool if used in the appropriate way, we didn’t have no pressure because we felt like we had a league of our own

How confident where you when you started, did you think the brand will get so popular so fast?
We know it was going to blow, but the rate in which it did was a surprise; we talk about it all the time and feel very blessed to be in the position and have this opportunity to make a difference in the fashion world

You know what let’s go back into the past a little bit, How did both of you meet each other, even then start a company together?

LOL!! We met in secondary school (Royal Docks Community School) Akin came and sat next to me in year 7 and said, Yomi what’s going on, and i am thinking how did this boy know my name lol, but we are both easy going people and that’s why we have worked so well together and people think that we are family because of how close we are, and we both see each other as family and we are there for each other no matter what, a partnership made from heaven lol
NO HOMO

How did the name TBC comes about, who formed the name?

(Yomi) After the logo was designed, i was thinking of a name to match and thought that if we call it with something to do with a group, people will be more interesting in asking about it, and i saw the Chris Browns breakfast club thing, so i decided to call it The Teddy Bear Club, and it got people asking what this club was all about, and the more they ask, the more people knew about the range and the more interest we got and people started calling it TBC and we just decided to go with that as well

I heard friends should not do business together; more or less young adults how do both of you cope?
Like we both stated before, we both came from a hard working background, and loyalty is a big part of our culture (Nigeria) like i said before, we are like brothers and our personality is different which makes it work because we never clash over anything, we both have the same goal and if we ever fall out, our family will get us talking again, so i don’t think there’s any way of us falling out, unless he sleeps with my wife lol.

Young adults can work together, only if success and not money that drives them

How are you coping with the popularity at this moment? Hope you are not encountering too much Paparazzi?

LOOOL, we wish
The popularity is good for the growth of the clothing line and everywhere we go, we get mad love, facebook has done a lot for us and i am surprised about the amount of people that knows about the clothing line, but i wouldn’t mind the paps following me around for a day tho, as long as i got my TBC top on, then i am blessed lol

So have you got any up-coming events and shows that you’re organising or par-taking in, so consumers are able to follow you?

We are currently working on our launch party, set for summer 09, just getting all our collections done, for example Jeans, Polo, Shorts etc
But they can join the group on facebook, type in the group search : The Teddy Bear Club and join the group where we send regular updates about what we are getting up to.

How can people get in touch with you, most importantly, how can they purchase their own pair of TBC.

We have got a temporary shopping cart running, and that can be found @ http://www.TBCClothing.com or you can e-mail us: teddybc2008@aol.com or info@tbcclothing.com

So at the moment, what you do is just hoodies and shirts right? Are you going to diverse into other designs?

Yes, we are very excited about the collection we have got coming out and that’s going to take us to another level, that’s why you haven’t seen us at no fashion shows because we don’t feel like we have got a collection with just Tee’s, Sweats and Hoody, but with Jeans, Dresses, shorts, Varsity Jackets, Fitted caps, shirts etc coming out, if you love the range we have got out now, you are going to fall in love with our range

I mean it must be intense, you guys must be really busy, and how do you do it?

We both work for the same company, which makes it easier for us to get things done, we both ask for different days off to get what we need doing, and we are getting managed by Starmix that we both work for, so things run really smooth and very professional, its not easy and our social life has gone down the drain, hard work pays off and we know where we are going.
We both go gym twice a week, Akin is my personal trainer and that gives us time to release the stress and talk about our plans for the future

Have you encountered any setbacks or negative experience so far and how did you cope with it?
If you’re not doing something Wright, no one talks about you, and you get negative vibe with everything that you do, us black people find it hard to support each other which is a shame, that’s why we don’t grow as a group because there’s no trust or support, we had a few people bad mouthing our design when things started picking up, and the same people are now wearing our clothes lol, sometimes you just have to ignore any bad vibe you get and prove them wrong, now when i see them i just laugh

What do you do in your spare time? When you’re not in the TBC site?
Pro evolution soccer is an addiction, and we are both Christians so we go to church every Sunday, also play power league football during the week, and Yomi plays for his team on Saturday
I do freelance graphics design and photography (Yomi)

Who are your Role Models/ Influences?

(Yomi) 2pac, and when i say Pac i am not talking about all his gangster west coast thing he was hiding behind, the real Pac, the intelligent Pac, if you read more about his early life you will understand how brilliant this guy is
Kanye West, Nas, Will Smith – Just people that have achieve something out of nothing and still stayed true, Pac drifted abit but he was still a big role model in my life
I can say that music is my main influence because that’s all gets me through any situation in my life
(Akin) My mum really, she taught me the value of life and money from an early age and i have taken that into the business world
Music plays a big part in my life aswell

What are the most important lessons you have learnt so far?

Friendship, and to treat people how you want to be treated and our people skills have improved alot
What has been the best advices you both been given so far?
Don’t think about money, that will always come after the work is done

What has been your greatest achievement so far?

JLS wearing out tee on the X-Factor finals, that was one of the proudest days for our business, and we hope there’s still more to come

What are your advices for Aspiring young entrepreneurs looking to break in the clothing industries or other industries?

Take time to study the market that you are going into, it took us 2 years to come out, you might that’s too long, but look how long we set to be out for, the quicker you rush into things, the quicker people forget about your product

So what’s next for TBC?
The Launch party, get TBC known worldwide and hopefully by this time next year you will see our range in shops all across the UK (Choice, Topshop, Size etc)

So finally, before I leave you both, I need to ask for your secret, come on, why have you been so successful, what’s your secret weapon?

Just having fun with what we do, what i always ask anyone that asks for advice, if they will buy for their own product if it wasn’t them doing it, would they pay for it? If the real answer is yes, then you’re on your way, we are fans of our own product, that’s why we are putting so much time and effort into it.
Our secret weapon is God, with his all things are possible

Thank you very much for your time today, I wish you the Very best in the upcoming future, hopefully on the TV with other top clothing lines in the world.
We would like to thank you for the interest in our clothing, and taking the time to set all this up, which you all the best in the future and God Bless

Yomi Akosile
Akin Cole
C.E.O TBC Clothing

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Review on Rich Dad, poor Dad

So you ask, what is so special about this book?
All I can say for myself after reading this book is that it was an inspiration, something that really shook me up.

The book got my adrenaline pumping, couldn’t wait each day to continue reading it, not that I have never heard about it, I just couldn’t be bothered to read it like most of you, but my reading habits changed that day, I truly understood the true meaning of knowledge.

This book gives you an insight about someone that tries to break the barrier, the cycle, getting out of the rat-race, a rat-race is a race that you can never win in, and that’s the race that most of us are in.

It makes you think outside the box, I’m not saying if you read the book, you are entitled to wake up from your slumbers straight away or become the smartest person right away, but it does give you an insight of being caught up in the rat-race, what it takes to break the barrier.

It makes you see things from different perspectives. It acts as a stepping stone into the world of freedom and self-actualisation, breaking you free from the chains of limitation.

But, as much as I like this book, there are some points which I totally disagree with, that’s why we all have to make up our own minds, the books we all read are beliefs, opinions of different individuals, trying to give us an alternative, an option, the opportunity to see things from their point of view, the same thing I am trying to achieve here, but at the end of the day, you will have to make your conclusion.

Back to the book, He includes many vague stories about buying real estate properties for cheap with little or no money down and flipping them for great profits.
Don’t for one second; believe that because you read a good book, or you woke up inspired, with your adrenaline pumping, it makes everything easier, or you can just read a book and become rich the next month, it takes more than that.

Education is a good thing, and you have to just see if education is for you or not.
You need to work for your money before it works for you; even though he makes it sound way easy to become a millionaire.

I’d recommend this book as an excellent way to challenge your thinking about work and money,
Even though most of his points he points across, comes out vague, what do you suppose he say, he needs to make everything look easy so that we all can buy his books, but at the end of the day, the book does inspires us in some way and at the end of the day, we did buy his book, even though it was criticised or loved.

I wouldn’t advise people that want to learn about finance to read the book, or think deeply into it, not saying that when he says things like you should buy assets, not liabilities, saying assets such as real estate, stocks, and bonds, makes you money. Liabilities, such as your house, car, gadgets, takes away your money, that it is useless, but look elsewhere for advices on financial literacy

What do you think of the book; let me know your views?

Till next time

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“You’re an entrepreneur when…”

While browsing the net, catching up with my regular dose of news from different blog sites, I came across few things that I thought would be helping in motivating and encouraging us to get up, and acknowledge that already have what it takes to become the future entrepreneurs.

All we need to do is to take the necessary steps required.
You know you’re a young entrepreneur when you start to look around in your classroom and think of ways your classmates can profit you in some way (not monetary necessarily).

You know you’re an entrepreneur when eating food or sleeping seems like a chore to you.
You know you’re an entrepreneur when your enthusiasm keeps you awake at night and you start to think of ways to profit from insomnia.

You know you’re an entrepreneur when…you work 16 hours a day for yourself, so you don’t have to work 8 hours a day for someone else…

You’re an entrepreneur when time freezes while you are doing what you feel passionate about. You forget that there’s a thing called breakfast, lunch and dinner. And you forget what is sleeping, and you forget that everything else is there.

Everything, everyone, every situation becomes an opportunity
You know you’re an entrepreneur when you bore your mates with business ideas!

You know you’re an Entrepreneur when you sometimes lose sight of every other thing in your life that has value, and you know it, but you keep pushing because your drive to succeed is too strong and uncontrollable!
You know you’re an entrepreneur when…your friends keeping asking if you’ve totally lost your mind…and you just smile.

You know you’re an entrepreneur when you cringe at the thought at ever having to be an employee again.
You know you’re an entrepreneur when you take your girlfriend out to dinner and try to give her financial advice.

You know you’re an entrepreneur when you are making more while in college than your peers will when they graduate.

For similar topics visit
http://www.youngentrepreneur.com/

I hope this motivates us in our steps in becoming successful entrepreneurs

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The Entrepreneurial mindset.

The Mindset is your preparation into the world of entrepreneurship, as I have said too much time; it all starts in the mind.

If your mind is not prepared, then it needs developing, start reading books, or listening to audios or exposing your mind to different things, but be careful not to take others opinions as your facts.

Challenge your mind, challenge yourself.
Your mindset is what gives you a different approach to life, it makes you understand that you can be great rather than settle to be okay.

It enables you to constantly try to better yourself, progress that is what it is called.

The Mindset is so dangerous, we do not know how powerful we are when we have our minds set on things that matter, we are unstoppable, and why have your mind set on things that don’t matter, things that are irrelevant, things you do without no knowledge, instead chase things that will define your life.

Think outside the Box, not just within the Box, open your mind, and lets thoughts create meaning to your brain.

The Thing is that I understand why a lot of people don’t question things, they just do, because it’s easier, they rather be followers, COME ON!! LET’S BE REAL, THINKING IS HARD, like just BRAINSTORMING IS A KILLER, It deserves the Title.

But you need to understand from when you let someone think for you, or create your mindset, then you’re SLAVE, YOU’RE NOT FREE!!
Yes, I know it is not easy BLA BLA BLA, LIKE I CARE, BUT IT’S THE TRUTH, YOU’RE A SLAVE AND YOU DIN’T EVEN KNOW ”AMAZING”.

Don’t be afraid to be outside the so-called safety zone. To succeed in any business undertaking, one must not be afraid of these risks. Let that be your mentality, your mindset.

However, don’t take risks blindly; you must be able to calculate them. By properly calculating the risks, you can determine if the risks are worth taking or not.

The pace of economic change is accelerating, driven by inventions, process improvements, and our perpetual quest for better, faster, cheaper GOODS AND SERVICES.

Which means you need to start, right now, and begin to develop your mind, you need to start, it is worth it, actually you might just be cool living your Life as it is right now. BOOO YOU.

“The entrepreneurial mind-set transcends the confines of family and tradition, opening individuals up to modern styles of consciousness and securing them a place in modern industrial society” (Brigitte Berger in Spinosa, Flores, Dreyfus, 1997, p.57)

In this world of uncertainty, your mindset should be:

Take control.

If nobody knows the future and what it holds, then the future might has well belong to you.

You can change the future; you can change your future. Your vision of how to navigate it is as good as anyone’s.

And don’t forget that you’re still young, at least kind of young I guess most of us,

you need to start to develop yourself, and I mean work on yourself, none of that CRAP YOU BEEN DOING LATELY LIEING TO YOURSELF, THAT YOU’RE LEARNING.
Take advantage of your youth. Being young, you can come up with lots of new, unexplored ideas to start a successful business.

If you look back, most of the biggest companies right now, began when there was nothing else like it. That’s why they are untouchable e.g. the Bill gates and Rupert Murdock’s; they beat the competition to it!

Find your perfect niche, the possibilities for growths, and advancement, are endless.

Further, even when competition comes knocking, you will already have the experience that they don’t, and a solid customer base, whose trust you have earned.

Get yourself into the right frame of Mind, your Mindset is powerful.
I hope this word of encouragement on the mindset of the aspiring entrepreneurs inspires us.

I am going to change the book which I have told you to read for these couple of weeks, now I want us to turn our focus to nothing less than the great book by Napoleon Hill “Think and Grow Rich”, As I always say if you need it in the pdf format or the audio, do not hesitate to contact me, or if you have any questions in relations to the book or the topic in general.

Also, I hope the video below gives you some kind of strength and motivation to keep pushing harder.

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