Lockdown- How I came out on top! Interview with Jimi Sotimehin, Nomadic Fun Casino Hire owner.

 

Jimi Sotimehin

'Last year, I invested in a business coach and a financial coach before the dreaded Covid-19 struck. My business coach's first assignment was for me to accurately record all my business invoices, receipts, costs, hours, and expenses on spreadsheets.

The results were shocking; it had nothing to do with the witch from the village. It was me!'

Jimi's introduction

Hello. I’m Jimi Sotimehin. I’m an entrepreneur and small business owner and I run 'no money' casino events for charities and corporates. My business is called, 'Nomadic Fun Casino Hire.'

What exactly do you mean by a no money casino? When you’re talking about gambling people are thinking money, money, money! 

The idea is to hold events where you have team building or family events. We did a lot of those during the lockdown where families would come together to play Black Jack. They would come together online to compete for prizes. The idea was that we weren’t looking for ways to get people addicted to gambling events, so instead we have no money events where people hired me and we would play all these games for fun. It's all about games and strategies so we would not be playing with real money as we create our own money and chips. The idea was to give people a different experience of gambling.

Regarding the lockdown, when in your own mind did you become aware that this might be a reality?

We had an event coming up early March and it more-or-less got cancelled because people were pulling out with the fear of Covid. This was scheduled just before the lockdown so I was aware of what was happening. It brought a bit of fear to start with because I thought it meant I wouldn’t be able to work. So yes, I was aware of this early on.

When faced with the lockdown, what impact did you fear it would have and in view of that, what actions did you take?

My initial reaction was that this meant I had to look for a way where I could work from home. Also I was thinking of the things the government had put in place to support small business owners who would not be able to do their work normally. Those were the things that were going through my mind and it was about finding out what I needed to do to get myself back on track.

And what did you need to do?

First of all, I went on some of the government websites to find out a bit more about the support they had. I called around to find out if there were any jobs such as driving jobs and helping deliver essential things, working for the ambulance service and all that. For the first two weeks or so I spent so much time just looking to see what I could do because I didn’t want to be sitting at home not earning any money and struggling. The first thing was I sold my van early in March. The intention was to buy a brand new van, but as soon as Covid happened I put that on hold because it also meant that I had a little money for me going into the lockdown and it gave me options as to what I would be able to do. I was thinking about it carefully. I didn’t want to find myself stuck or depressed. I was against all that.

So what were the actual steps that you took with your business to ensure that it didn’t crash?

The first thing was I went on the government websites and found out I was ineligible for support. It was something to do with my accountant not handing things in on the submission date. I think he handed them in three days late. The fact that I found out I was ineligible for support made me start thinking quickly about how I was going to do this. So I started talking to a few people to find out if there was any way of having a virtual service. I watched a lot of things- funeral services, the zoom activities people had, the entertainment and eventually I realised that I could actually run my Black Jack service from home. It was going to be a normal event, just something to keep people occupied and keep people happy during lockdown- and that was the start of it.

Having known you during that period Jimi I understood that you were receiving mentoring to take your business to a more serious level. Can you talk about that for a minute?

I joined a lot of groups, a lot of networking groups and I spoke to a lot of people. In fact, I spoke to everyone who was happy to speak to me. During that time I was able to reach people who I would probably never have met in the real world, but the good thing was, there were so many people who were happy to speak to me, who were happy to teach me about camera work, the steps you need to put in place to grow a business. I spent a lot of time talking to people, especially in the mornings and it really helped because I went into the lockdown as a beginner and I came out with a lot more knowledge.

I know that prior to the lockdown you had quite a mixed clientele that included celebrities which you mentioned as you were speaking about the importance of confidentiality etc. Have you got the same client base now the lockdown is over? What changes have you seen?

We have a lot more clients and a lot more bigger companies hiring us. The thing is, once you start working for one person and you show yourself to be trustworthy they always pass your name on, so you get calls from other bigger firms and their friends and that’s what really works. I believe that there’s something important I learnt which is working consistently, just doing everything you believe you can do the right way, being consistent about it because that’s the key there that will grow your business.

Clearly you’ve been through a period of huge personal development which started from the business perspective. Has that reached over into other areas of your life?

Oh yes it has! One thing I’ve learnt is that life is too short to worry about things, so you have to look at things and deal with them on a daily basis. So many things happened during the lockdown. So many of us went through so much and I learned that we just have to live in the present, live each day as it comes with a lot of courage. You can’t afford to just lie there and wait for life to be kind to you because that’s not how it works.

So, taking this forwards, if something happened again and we were subjected to another lockdown because of another disease or any other circumstances, what lessons would you take forward from the previous lockdown?

There are a few things that are transferable but there’s one thing that someone said to me some time ago that will always stay with me… ‘That the ball has no memory.’ This is the term pertaining to all those gambling activities, meaning, when you say that because something has happened many times this does not mean that the next time it’s going to be the same thing. You have to look at each situation based on exactly the information that is handed to you and deal with it accordingly. The ball has no memory, life just changes all of the time so you have to adjust to it.

Well, as you have given that as an example, I know that for you the gambling isn’t just about the gambling. You’re always looking for the life lessons that you find in the gambling arena and I remember you talking about this in relation to politics. Could you give another example of something that you’ve learnt from the gambling situation.

Every situation is unique and if say you’re investing and things, you have to look at your risk reward situation and just think to yourself what’s best based on the incomplete information you have in front of you right now. You can’t afford to be caught up in all these stereotypes. It’s like all the things that are happening. I remember someone speaking to me about the situation with the government in a pessimistic manner. Okay, that position became untenable but we have to move on to the next stage and you as an individual, you always have to think of how can I move forward. How can I? And not stop and wait. I’ve had the privilege of working with some extremely wealthy people and their thinking is different. They don’t spend their time dwelling on their disappointments. They don’t have two heads, so I refuse to be the guy who spends his time looking over to Boris or whoever to save us because it’s becoming obvious they don’t have it in them.

Jimi, I always know you to be a very compassionate person. Obviously you have faced situations in your life that have been very challenging and you have had to find your way through. On a very humane level, what advice would you give people if they’re facing extreme, sudden change like bereavement, loss of job or anything else that really drastically affects them?

I know it’s tough but I always think about it this way. I know the first thing is to stop and be still, start from what you have. If you’re alive, you’re healthy, look at those situations. If you’ve got family, if you’ve got kids, whatever you have. Always start with what you have, what you can be grateful for and then start slowly because if you look at it from the things you don’t have you won’t cope.

From Jimi's Facebook page

We're supposed to focus on the right things happening to us even in a storm.

What are the best things that have happened to you during the lockdown?
My top 10 are:

1.Developed some Entrepreneurial skills
2 Appreciate nature and hiking much better.
3 Developed excellent relationships with many businesses
4 Learnt to listen rather than wait to speak
5 Wendy's kitchen
6 My faith has become stronger
7 Check up on loved ones more often
8 Become more resilient
9 Priorities have changed for the better
10 Like the good book says I've learnt to worry less

Big thank you to Jimi for sharing his knowledge and experience with us.

All shares and comments, especially directly under the post are appreciated!

Jaz McKenzie~ The Word Magician

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