Gboyega Adebayo

Gboyega Adebayo is on a mission to demystify entrepreneurship and help every person start their dream side hustle or business. Gboyega is the CEO & Co-Founder of Yencil, a platform for knowledge professionals to sell templates online. They help working professionals passively sell what they know to small business owners and individuals needing their expertise.

Over a decade in industry and management consulting, Gboyega has supported organizations across the globe with Technology Business Management. But his dream of starting and running his own business never left him. While his best friend and cofounder, Les Ragsdale, developed the MVP of Yencil, Gboyega launched The Be Helpful Podcast. The Be Helpful Podcast (BHP) explores the stories of relatable business owners in hopes to demystify entrepreneurship for people wanting to pursue their dreams.

Where did the idea for Yencil come from?

With my professional work, I fell in love with Microsoft Excel and started managing my life within spreadsheets. I often would have friends and family ask for copy of my spreadsheets when they had similar problems to solve. As a consultant, I created PowerPoint decks for a living and would often share scrubbed examples or templates with team members. After another request from a family member for one of my spreadsheets, I thought, what if I could put this online and sell it, without having to build a website and drive traffic to the site.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

To maximize my productivity, I start the night before and organize and prioritize my to-do list for the next day. My morning starts with the family routine and the workday starts when I get to my coworking space. I eat breakfast as I catch up on emails and answer messages. Then I try and “eat the frog” by completing the most important and challenging tasks earmarked for the day. Before I pack it up and head home, I try to get a quick workout in-between completing the less intense tasks for the day. I block family time every evening and after my son goes down, I squeeze in a few more hours of work before bed.

How do you bring ideas to life?

First, I start with the end in mind and create a clear vision of my target outcome. Second, I back into the milestones and steps required to get there. And lastly, I obsess on completing the tasks to achieve the first milestone.

What’s one trend that excites you?

Side Hustles. Everyone seems to be starting something on the side for a little extra income. It challenges people to think about what brings them joy. I believe everyone can be their best selves when they pursue what they are passionate about and that leads to more autonomy over their time. I get excited about a world full of people professionally doing what they love rather than just doing what pays their bills.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Doing a weekly brain dump onto my to do list. Getting everything out of my head and into my productivity app allows me to sort, categorize, and prioritize everything.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Dedicate your after-work hours to genuinely explore your interests and things that energize you. And if you find something that makes sense to explore commercially, try and learn as much as you can when you’re still employed. Either get a job in the field, work atmosphere (e.g., startup), or good ol’ YouTube.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

Voting in America should be mandatory and we should universally do rank-choice voting, ranking our preference rather than selecting a single candidate.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Talk to strangers or other entrepreneurs daily. Watch what you unexpectedly learn that somehow helps you and your business.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

Joining local and online communities for the people my business aims to serve. This is not intended to selfishly and shamelessly plug my business, it’s to better understand who you want to serve. You have to consistently challenge your own assumptions or hypotheses about your target customer.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

Thinking that if you build it, they will come. Completely revamp my go-to market strategy.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

Marketing agencies that do not have cash flow challenges should offer a revenue-sharing model to serve solopreneurs and early-stage startups. This aligns incentives and allows agencies to have skin in the game. Solopreneurs spend way too much time learning how to do activities that should be commoditized. Right now, highly skilled professionals are too expensive, and cheaper professionals must learn how to guide a novice.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

I rented a dedicated gym locker. I use my gym’s co-working space, and having a dedicated locker for everyday gym items is super helpful. My daily bag functions as a gym bag and a briefcase with a laptop compartment. So eliminated all excuses for not working out, and this allows me to maintain my physical health even on those mentally stressful workdays.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

Todoist. I use it as my day-to-day task manager. I have a project for personal tasks and projects for my respective businesses. Each week I do a brain dump, and each night, I select the tasks I need to tackle the next day.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg.
It helped me understand how the brain works and the habits we’ve formed. Achieving success in anything requires a heavy dose of discipline and consistency, and this book gave me principles for achieving this.

What is your favorite quote?

“It’s only crazy until you do it” – Nike.

Key Learnings:

• Write down your thoughts, don’t keep everything in your head.
• Talk to strangers every day. As an entrepreneur, you get to use every experience you have for your business. New perspectives can make a surprising impact on how you think about your business.
• Most of the battle is discipline and a consistent willingness to “figure it out”.