Why Nigerians Don't Buy (Even When They Need It) | Ayo Akinola - PiggyVest Co-Founder

Core beliefs & entrepreneurship mindset

• Value creation drives revenue: “If you create value, you make money from it.”
• Gap/opportunity hunting: Builds around needs/opportunities rather than “ideas dropping from heaven.”
• Fail fast, but be data-driven: Reduce emotion and use evidence to decide whether to pivot or continue (failures are common).
• Need ≠ willingness/ability to pay: Validate market demand by assessing paying ability, not just whether people “need” the product.

How he started (commercial model before passion)

• Uni photography (competitive, monetizable demand):
  • Not pursued for art—pursued because it could be monetized.
  • Positioned where demand existed (girls wanting edited/“airbrushed” photos).
  • Used a competitive edge at the time (Photoshop + filters effect).
• Clothing line → tech across levels:
  • Kept the same core role: selling and improving the offer, even as the industry evolved.

Framework: When to kill vs. continue a business

He describes a decision logic entrepreneurs can use to decide whether to keep investing or treat the effort as a hobby.

Check 3 questions (commercial viability)

• Are people willing to pay?
• Are people able to pay?
• Can it scale?
  • Example: can you grow from 100 → 1,000 customers/revenue/units?
  • Scaling must “make business sense.”

If “yes” but growth isn’t happening

• Investigate what you’re doing wrong—not emotional attachment.
• He references an “untapped market” joke: when you enter, you discover why it’s untapped.
• Common culprit: emotion + rigid strategy
  • “My baby”, “my vision”
  • Instead of changing direction based on learning.

Business operations & management tactics

• Separate business money from personal money (anti-fraud by founder behavior):
  • Avoid mixing funds—a business can be broke while founders “feel rich” from revenue.
  • “Your business is not you” (separate entity mindset).
• Pay yourself first:
  • Even if you’re claiming “no salary because growth,” you should still pay yourself (even small amounts) so you can eat and think clearly.
  • No fixed formula—decide based on numbers and cash reality.
• Team building playbook (complementary strengths):
  • Choose partners based on skill + goal, not vibes.
  • Outsource work you don’t have time for or don’t like.
    • Example: if you’re strong at sales but weak at customer service, hire for customer service.
  • Build a “football team” where roles match.
    • You may not afford top-tier hires at the highest salaries, but you can hire strong people at your level.
  • He credits PiggyVest’s founding team as complementary skills
    • Numbers, operations, marketing, design, people.
  • Hiring rule of thumb:
    • Don’t require everyone to be finance-code certified—not everyone needs the same expertise if roles are covered.

Scaling a trust-based product (PiggyVest execution)

Product-market requirement (trust products)

• The product must do what it says and work reliably.

Trust-building mechanisms

• User listening loop: “We listen to the users” as a growth driver.
• Open House (community operations):
  • On-the-ground events across Nigerian cities to meet users.
  • Used as a feedback channel that informed features and product paths.
• Approachability/visibility:
  • Users can find founders and company leaders.
  • Position leaders as not “majesty/unreachable.”

Early traction metric / benchmark

• First year savings generated: ~21 million naira in savings (as stated by co-founders as a benchmark).

Growth lever expressed as a process

• Trust + transparency + continuous feedback → product evolution

Sales & marketing lessons (specifically about selling in Nigeria)

• Selling is harder than outsiders assume:
  • Nigerians can “drag” you one day and “love” you later, but that loyalty may not last if you don’t deliver.
  • Selling requires understanding local behavior and psychology.
• Misconception corrected:
  • Exporting strategies from other markets doesn’t work—he says it fails in practice.
• Micro case study: pricing & positioning
  • Two hair sellers:
    • One sells around 300,000
    • Another sells around 1.2 million
  • Customers rush the higher-priced option because market understanding and positioning matter.
• Pricing strategy framework: where to play on the spectrum
  • Volume model: sell cheap/affordable to many
  • Premium model: sell expensive to a smaller set of wealthy buyers
  • Choose deliberately based on where you want to play.

Actionable recommendations for entrepreneurs targeting growth in 2026

• Run a numbers-and-market audit using the same logic:
  • willing to pay, able to pay, scalability
  • then adjust strategy left/right while staying aligned to goals.
• Use mentorship as a growth acceleration mechanism:
  • Learn from people who’ve already reached the level you want.
  • You can also learn indirectly via online content—don’t just “watch stories”; study tactics and ask how to add value.
• Adopt “fail fast” behavior with less emotional attachment:
  • If evidence says it won’t work, pivot—don’t get stuck.

Book / ecosystem (business enablement product)

• Credit Alert is positioned as:
  • A practical guide to selling to Nigerians
  • Told as stories/novel-like rather than academic material
• Timebound commitment/promise:
  • Apply the advice for 30–60 days; if your business doesn’t change, he invites challenge.
• Distribution formats mentioned:
  • Website + audio (he voices) + ebook

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Key metrics / KPIs / targets mentioned

• PiggyVest early KPI: ~21 million naira in savings in the first year.
• Scaling benchmark (conceptual): grow from 100 → 1,000.
• Timebound recommendation: apply Credit Alert advice for 30–60 days to see business changes.

Concrete examples & case studies cited

• Uni photography business:
  • Photoshop-based “airbrushed” photos sold to students
  • Demonstrates demand sensing + product differentiation
• PushCV:
  • Created after inability to recruit for another product
  • Addressed a job-seeking need and took off in ~2014
• Hair vendor pricing example:
  • 300,000 vs 1.2m
  • Shows how customers may rush premium pricing when positioning matches market psychology

Presenters / sources

• Presenter: Ayo Akinola (Co-founder, PiggyVest)
• Host / interviewer: “Welcome, Ayo” / interviewer segments (name not stated in subtitles)
• Other sources mentioned:
  • Joshua: referenced as a co-founder who wrote about “open house”
  • Bam Bam Atalu: voiced the audio version of Credit Alert