A Better way to Beg 

This hypothesis is based on the fact that people begging by the road side do so with the mindset of it being a means of sustenance till they find a more productive means of sustainace.

Today I had a meeting at Lekki at Noon and because I knew Lekki is Lekki coming from the Mainland I decided to leave early giving ample time for uncertainties on the road. My plan worked out fine and got to Lekki an hour 15 minutes ahead of the time, now I felt it was too early I’d have preferred 30 minutes earlier ( Lol, ungrateful right? I know). I hadn’t gotten to my destination yet,  I was only a bike ride away and knew the time in transit on the bike wouldn’t be significant.

I decided to stall, I saw some guy who repairs and polishes shoe, I looked at shoes and decided I would patronize him. My shoes weren’t dusty or dirty but I just felt I could use the extra shine. I approached him and told him what I wanted to do. He was fixing a lady’s slippers so I had to wait while waiting for him I starting looking around observing what was happening around. I hoped to notice something fascinating and I think I did.

I saw a disabled ( his hands were okay) man begging close us, from where I was standing I could see him well and started measuring his conversion rate (how many people gave him money) it was 0% for a long while,  immediately I started thinking of how he could beg better.  Lol, it was sorta default.

The first thing that came to my mind was if he was the one polishing my shoe, he’d probably get more money as I and possibly other people would tend to overpay/give him tips. The first conclusion I reached was he should set up something to do like the polishing and repairs guy then he’d get more money because people would tend to appreciate his effort despite his disability. I thought I had found my answer then I asked myself how would he buy the things he’d need to start the business, just as I was thinking about that a lady passed by and gave him money, the first person converted?, I looked to see how much, it was some notes of 10 Naira. Hmmm, so I concluded most people give low denominations so he’d probably only get enough to eat and make it through the day. Next, I thought to myself what if he asked for the things he needed instead of the money he needed. Perhaps put up a sign board like this

Help me, I really don’t want to keep begging, I want to do something productive that would bring in money. Please donate your polishes, threads, gum…

Well, I guess he’d reach his goal of productive sustenance faster than if he asked for money every time to probably buy those things because we don’t know that’s what he wants to use the money for and even if he said so most people would likely doubt that he’d do as he says.

I’d think on this more and possibly see where else it could be applied, hopefully, I’d get to even run an experiment to test my hypothesis on improving the conversation rate in begging.

If you have one or two ideas please drop em, I’d write it ?

Moyo:  But yeah, true, if the guy was a shoe maker, He’d make a lot more

By the way, I did get to my destination ahead of time and wrote 90% of this article while waiting, so my counter-intuitive act wasn’t a waste. ?