Meet Risha Ferdinand | Boutique Business Strategist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Risha Ferdinand and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Risha, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Everyday we take risks. We take risks in leaving our homes, not knowing if we will return in one piece. We take risk when trying a new meal/dish. We even take risk when hiring UBER placing faith in a total stranger to take us to our destination safely.

The risk appetite is what sets people apart.

Some folks rather take risks by trusting a stranger to take them to their destination safely instead of investing in their education or business.

Risk appetite is influenced by our relationships with money, people and our past.

As for me, my risk appetite is influenced by money and my past.

I can recall, back in 2013, I applied for a job that required the candidate to have certain credentials, which I did not possess. Yet, I applied. I was interviewed and was hired. I was given a 6 months contract and told by the employer that they are still looking for a credential-qualified person. I was holding on until they find that candidate.

I had two options. (1) See it as a temporary job. Get paid for the 6mths and move on or (2) Show the employer that I am the person for the job. Credentials does not define me.

I opted in the for later!

I worked extremely hard in that role for the 6months. I knew I had the competence, experience and leadership of a credential-qualified person. After the 6 months, I was offered the job, got a salary increase and a bonus. The directors were quite impressed. I worked in that senior role until I branched out into full time entrepreneurship in March 2018.

I took the risk!

Taking risks is part of who I am.

I see challenges below me rather than above me.

When the pandemic hit, I had two choices (1) get a job or (2) go hard in my business.

I chose to go hard in my business.

I became extremely active on Facebook. I joined over 100 FB groups. I “worked” on FB whilst others “scrolled through” FB.

Each day I logged in, commented under posts, joined trainings, hosted trainings, had a lot of Zoom Meet-ups and so much more.

I am not American. I do not have an American accent. I shy away from camera a lot because of my Trini accent. I felt people would not want to hire me as their Business Strategist because I did not speak like them.

But that was short lived.

Bills were due! I needed money NOW!

Each time I had to show up in front of the camera, I took a risk! Risk of being called out for giving business advice to businesses across the world where I have not visited. Risk of being laughed at because of my accent. Risk of being overlooked.

Yet! I dressed up professionally, ensured I was well groomed, my torch light at that time was fully charged and I taught from my well of experience.

Each time I did a FB live, I got a client.

The risk of failing seemed more distant every time.

If I crumbled under pressure, I would not have been where I am today.

I started my Television Talk Show because I wanted to grow my brand and other people’s brand in the process. I had zero TV experience yet all I know it was going to be a huge success!

I created the landing page for interested people to apply. I connected with a TV Network. Signed the contracts. Scheduled all the interviews. Edited the video content for release. And before you know it, Season 1 had 8 episodes.

I took a major risk by pitching to celebrities such as Serena Williams, Tamera Mowry, Tiffany Haddish, Sarah Jakes, Michelle Obama, and so many more celebrities to be a keynote speaker at my Global Summit in 2020.

I can recall pitching to over 30 celebrities. I got some responses, some yes’ and some no’s. Unfortunately, I did not have the budget to pay those who said yes. The very fact that I got responses was a major win for me. I felt like I was on top of the world lolololol Absolutely no one schooled me on how to pitch. Glory be to God.

Because I stepped out, pushed past the fears and trusted God each step of the way, is what have me here!

Not all risks I took was favourable.

I lost money along the way. I lost valuable time as well.

I would not say they are losses but rather lessons.

I know better now on what to do and not do. I am more experienced lol

I challenge my clients to do the very same. Think outside the box.

Who said you cannot pitch to a celebrity or a fortune 500 company to partner with to get your brand out there? Write that pitch, send it out and hope for the best.

It is better to try and than fail to try.

We have to test different hypothesis in order to determine what is best for us. Playing it safe would always keep us in a box.

If I did, I would have remained within the perimeter of Trinidad and Tobago and no one in Australia, the UK and the USA would have known me.

I am a Global Boutique Business Strategist because I trusted God and jumped!

What should our readers know about your business?
Strategic Business Management Agency was registered in March 2018 in Trinidad & Tobago, just two months after resigning from corporate. I have been operating a side hustle since 2011 whilst I grew into senior roles in my career. By 2018, the side hustle was established and I was able to make the leap into full time entrepreneurship.

I have 16 years experience in Finance and Accounting and I use that as my USP. I work closely with product-based businesses by auditing their financial data, operations and systems, identify the areas for improvement, then conceptualize the strategies to grow the business.

I do not pull business strategies out of a hat but rather create a growth map that is specific to the business because each business has access to different resources, sell to different markets, have different goals and risk appetites.

Business is more than having a sleek marketing campaign. As we know, a business can have lots of sales because of the marketing campaign but make a huge loss.

That is where I come in. I teach business owners the difference between sales and profits. I show them how to price products to earn a profit and a salary. I pick out the expenses that are total waste and either reinvest it elsewhere in the business or cut out the expenditure entirely. I create sales forecasts and help my clients map out the steps to take to achieve their targets. I aggressively plan months ahead so that running a business does not feel like a 9-5 job but rather an income generating machine.

My clients’ success comes from implementing the tailored strategies.

I grew into an international brand because I am allergic to failure lolol

I knew I needed to earn more money in order to live the life I envisioned so I had to chart my own course to get there.

I started off by heavy networking over Facebook. I leveraged a lot of people audience by hosting live trainings in Facebook Groups and Summits. In 2020, I hosted my very own Global Summit which had celebrity speakers.

In 2021, I launched my television talk show which first aired on ROKU TV. I was then interviewed by Australia’s #1 streaming news network, Ticker News.

All of these cemented my credibility. All TV, print and digital features were free! I paid for none!

The more I became findable, the more credible I became. Plus, my clients got results which validated my offer.

I have worked with over 250 store owners thus far of which 95% are based in the USA whilst the other 5% are from Australia, UK and Caribbean. Amazingly, I grew my brand into a global brand from right inside my home office, located in Trinidad and Tobago!

I think I have worked the hardest in my career, since 2020. A lot of late nights, lots of meetings & trainings…fails and wins.

I had some MAJOR embarrassing bloopers…but I had to toughen up. I could not go back to where I came from. I have gotten too far plus a lot of sacrifices were already made. So, I cried, dried my tears and went back at it.

Unlike working in corporate where there is an orientation day / training period for new hires to learn the company operations, the software, etc….There is no blueprint for entrepreneurship nor is there any “handover” or “training” for a new business owner to learn from. Everything is done through trial and error. Thus extending the journey to success, even further.

As such, I created a framework that helps Product-based Businesses get off to a great start, reduce their learning curve and save on unnecessary costs.

Established boutiques get to use me as their external board member who audits the business and design the map that will increase efficiency, productivity and profits. Established boutiques already have staff and a huge audience…they now need to further streamline operations.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to shoutout my family. They have been very supportive during my business journey.

Back in 2020, when I started to use Facebook Live to host trainings, I did not have a ring light nor light stand. My 14 year old daughter (at that time) held up the torch light for the entire 45-60 minutes of my trainings lolol we eventually graduated to using books as the light stand…hahahaha

My husband would do some of my chores along with his list of chores, just to allow me time to meet with clients etc.

What a journey!

My husband, daughter and son deserves the shoutout!

Website: https://linktr.ee/sbmaltd

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rishaferdinand_sbmaltd/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/risha-ferdinand/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/risha.ferdinand/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrBpwUSbUQAdgdga6s-q3SA

Image Credits
David Walcott of Point and Shoot Pix