tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-634275416089298682024-03-12T17:18:12.342-07:00WELCOME TO BUSINESS STREETStart-up Ideas that MAGNETS Money scattered in YOUR STREETSAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.comBlogger95125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-50390282862920440262014-10-29T02:47:00.000-07:002014-10-29T02:47:30.285-07:00<div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSdRvGt-E3ym8AkaIvP3_qfc2EIEeM_GilPGLFvWN6BTKhFlGe6sw" style="background-color: transparent;" />E</span>veryone has a talent. So maybe yours is blowing milk out your nose… it’s still a talent. And most talents can be monetized. The key is to find your talent and then turn it into a scalable business. Too bad many folks get stuck on the “finding the talent” part. Here is a list of 55 ideas, all contributed by the TPE community, on how to find your hidden talent. You have it! Now find it:</div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sorry, no excuses allowed: First, figure out what benefits you are getting by not finding your own talents. For example, are you really afraid to try something new because it might not work, so not letting your talents surface gives you an excuse for not succeeding – or do you just feel safer being able to blame your problems (boredom, lack of money) on someone or something else? Once you know what you are gaining by not seeking out your own talents, it is easier to let go of those old outdated beliefs about yourself and move on to new ideas.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jar painting out of necessity: I discovered my hidden talent of painting jars in 1998 when I wanted something decorative to hold my 80 flavors of tea on my kitchen counter. I have now painted over 5000 glass jars (jelly jars, pickle jars, mayonnaise jars etc.) No two are alike and I’ve sold or given most of them away filled with candy, tea, paperclips, rolled-up dollar bills.</span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Mirror, mirror on the all: Think about the things that you do naturally that others say “I wish I could do that. as good as you do” and you say “whatever, no big deal, that’s nothing, etc., etc.”</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Others see it before you: One key to discovering a hidden talent is to remain open and receptive to new ideas – no matter how crazy they may seem. For more than a dozen years after entering the workplace employers and clients regularly told me that I would make a great teacher. I never took the idea seriously because I could never see myself being comfortable in a conventional classroom environment. In 1994 I discovered a subject I am passionate about – chocolate – and now I love teaching because it’s fun, not work.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Find your strengths: The best way to find your strengths or hidden talents is to take the online test of the book, “Now, Discover your strengths!” by Marcys Buckingham. This online test will show you your hidden talents.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Capitalize on Your Strengths: Read the book Strengths Finder 2.0 (by Tom Rath). Take the assessment and Pay Attention to the messages it either provides or that it affirms.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Go with your gut: Go with your gut. Whatever gives you the most personal satisfaction is more than likely your hidden talent.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Do what you love: The best way to discover a hidden talent is to think about what you love to do. What have you always wanted to try but haven’t yet? What do you see others doing that you wish you were doing? The best tip for discovering your hidden talent is simply to think about what you love to do!</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Take an improv class: An Improv Class will encourage you to think across so many genres: different movies, countries, accents, periods of time. Then you must become what is needed for the scene: an alien, an 18th century aristocrat, a 60 year old truck driver, a 5 year old girl. Get your different voices out, walk with a certain gait, dance, sing. Transform yourself on stage, and you will discover more passions and hidden talents within!</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Listen carefully: People will tell you everything about themselves if you listen carefully and do not interrupt them. For hiring, friendships or doing business with them always do some background checking (credit report for example will often tell you where they live and have lived for evaluating their resume or conversation).</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Follow Eleanor Roosevelt’s Suggestion: Do something that scares you every day.” Following this quote from Eleanor Roosevelt will help you find your hidden talent(s).</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Try Everything: Try everything! Whatever your hidden talent is will shine through as you’ll be mediocre (or completely suck) at everything else. The trick is to quickly realize what you’re not good at.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Comfort zones stunt your growth: The best way to explore hidden talents is to try completely new “scary” things for yourself. Skydive, sing at a Karaoke, visit a church you know nothing about, volunteer for a crisis center, join a club, study something completely foreign to you. Break out of your comfort zone and you might be surprised what gets waked up in you.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Be Creative: Each day set aside 2-3 minutes of quiet time to contemplate a project or idea you are working on – give yourself space and time to do this, if you get distracted write a note.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The idea here is to let your mind wander, we don’t see idle thinking as work yet most of us know our best ideas pop into our heads when we’re not thinking about anything in particular. So sit, be quiet and just wander, you will find wild, wacky and creative ideas that you can later develop or reject but which might just give you a whole new way to look at your world</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Listen up: Listen to people that know you. You may not be that aware of the things you do best but people who know you do. Listen to people when they say, “have you ever thought of doing____?” or “You are really good at___.” Next time someone says something to you–don’t blow it off, follow up instead. Being open to other people’s experience of you can expand your ideas of yourself!</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">You knew as a child: Remember what you imagined or pretended when you were playing by yourself as a child, under the age of seven. This will key you into your soul’s purpose. Were you a teacher, did you build things, make clothes for your dolls, heal your pets? It is important to remember what you imagined when you were alone, and therefore un-influenced by other people, and under the age of seven when the “inner self” is more pronounced than the conscious mind and conscious ego.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Is it really hidden: Sometimes, I think our hidden talents aren’t really hidden – more like repressed or discounted and ignored. Be especially aware of what other people “see” in you that you may or may not validate or give much attention to yourself.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What’s easy for you: We all think that the things we are good at are easy, so we tend to discount their value. Conversely, we value things that we find difficult – which other people find easy. If something comes easily to you, chances are you’re good at it, too – and often the people for whom it’s not easy will pay you to do it.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Find Your sweet Spot: In order to find your sweet spot, or your unique gift, think of those things that come easy to you. To you it’s no big deal, but to others, it’s incredible. What are those things that others come to you for that for you, it’s as easy as breathing and you’d do it for fun whether you were paid or not? When your operating out of your sweet spot, your true talent will shine!</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">One thing with effortless ease: What did you ALWAYS dream about doing or becoming? What did you dream about doing when you were a kid? What kind of success in other people´s lives make you the most jealous or uncomfortable with your life when you see it? (even if it´s in a movie, song, book or real life)</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ignite the spark within: Our true entrepreneurial talents may be divined by the emotion sparked by engagement. Listen to your heartbeat, when it speeds our intent becomes fueled by passion which enables action. Action is the key to realizing our identified entrepreneurial talents. If the spark isn’t there, you won’t have the stamina to withstand the inevitable setbacks.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Smiley face: What do you do that makes you burst into a genuinely happy smile? Do that!</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Don’t get mad, get paid: If you see something wrong, why don’t you right it’ the song goes. If something bugs you about the way things are, making a difference can make you money. Chances are if you’re annoyed by something, other people are too. All the better if you can do something profitable that helps everyone!</span></div>
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<strong>Mike Michalowicz</strong></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-33240502298338085332014-10-27T03:28:00.000-07:002014-10-27T03:28:10.774-07:00<h1 class="entry_title" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 26px; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: red;">Personal development and leadership coaching (3)know</span></h1>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">F</span>or a man to achieve all that is demanded of him, he must regard himself as greater than he is (Johann Goethe).</div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Personal development is a broad term that largely refers to the various ways and processes by which people are able to assess their personal attributes, talents, dispositions, skills and other qualities in relation to their life goals and potentials. It describes the personal drive of a person for continuous improvement in one or more area(s) of his or her life. It also proves the desire of such a person to achieve certain heights and/or levels of personal excellence and distinction through diligence, constant learning, capacity building and goal setting.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Personal development is not only the greatest investment that a person can ever make; it is also the greatest motivator of personal transformation. It is thus the best indicator of the power of a person’s inner self to access his or her internal (mind) resources to compel desirable change. That is why the people who actively seek, and constantly invest in personal development are dream clients for any coach.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For a team leader or any leader for that matter that operates as an internal coach, getting people to buy into a corporate vision is usually made much easier if and when personal goals dovetail into corporate goals. The leader, who is for all practical purposes a coach-leader thus emphasises the needs, desires, processes and strategies for achievement of goals, because it is a win-win situation for all. Such a situation therefore demands constant assessment of goals and desired outcomes.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It is this constant and continuous assessment that inspires and motivates the quest for more knowledge and drive for achievement, especially by the individual in positioning for excellence. Although personal development is a personal and individually-driven process, it almost always requires the inputs of other people, such as the coach who can through their engagements create and add value to the process. As a matter of fact, within the corporate business sector, that is what is required of a truly inspirational, visionary and transformational leader.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The fact cannot be overstated that the major responsibility of any team leader is to continue to facilitate the unlocking and unleashing of individual and corporate potentials, so that personal and corporate goals are achieved as desired. That is the why it is so important that leaders at various levels of responsibility, especially in the business arena also seek continuous personal development. The best way is to also be a coach and mentor, as well as a leader to others. The resultant effect is that the dreams of the leader becomes realised as he or she helps others to achieve their dreams.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The truth is that people naturally have the craving for a sense of belonging, acknowledgement and recognition. Therefore, the leader who is perceptive, supportive and eager to listen is able to build great rapport with people. Such a leader is therefore better placed to create confidence, self-belief, responsibility and accountability in people by acting as a team coach. The usual response is that people are personally inspired to act rather than being pushed to do their leaders’ bidding.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">There is hardly a better and more sustainable way than this to encourage personal development in people. It is definitely the best way to facilitate the unlocking and utilisation of individual gifts of people for the benefit of the entire team. That is why coach-leadership is so powerful, because the major aspiration of every coach-leader is to impact peoples’ lives through positive influence. The goal is always to inspire such people to commit to making the same difference in the lives of others. Therein exist the critical element of continued personal development and the reality of the kind of influence that other people can make at some stages in a person’s life. </span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Having lots of money and occupying high positions have never been the true measure of success. So, true success in life cannot just be about being exceedingly affluent. Rather, it is more about making positive influence through whatever affluence may exist. The extent and sustainability of your positive influence determines not just your success, but also your significance. Success is good and must be desired, but bringing significance to the lives of other people is more enduring, hence more fulfilling. The question should therefore always be about whether there is significant influence through much affluence.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This is what ties personal development, leadership and coaching together, because what we try to do in every leadership coaching is to support the leader to set and achieve goals of true influence (significance). The most successful leaders in this regard are those that help to move their people to the highest possible levels of personal development and empowerment. But, this comes with a high price of selflessness, humility and extreme servant-leadership. That is the price that transformational leaders have to pay, but the rewards are always great at the end. Are you ready for personal development? You can read more about the transformational power of coaching at www.ceedcoaching.com.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-88367605169470587362014-10-27T03:23:00.003-07:002014-10-27T03:23:57.840-07:00<h1 class="entry_title" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 26px; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: red;">Advancing ICT based Entrepreneurship education in Nigeria: The MTN Link forum example</span></h1>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I</span>n today’s world, technology and innovation are driving many economies in no small measure. Exciting trends are sweeping across the world. In the advanced economies such as the US, UK, Japan, and China, technological knowledge is fast becoming a strategic asset for economic development. Technological advances and ICT based businesses are gathering pace. Advances in information and communications technology are occurring on a tremendous scale. For countries tapping into the new ideas, innovations and technologies that proliferate in a knowledge-driven economy, there is abundance of wealth and opportunities for them.</div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Entrepreneurship and technological entrepreneurship in particular are now considered as the engine for economic development. Most developed and emerging economies have adopted Technology Business Incubation to fast-track the creation of new technology-based enterprises because of its more than 80 percent success rate of new venture creation. Its multiplier effects include technology/knowledge transfer, employment generation and wealth creation. Technology-driven and knowledge-based developments not only exhibit tremendous business potential, it also offers a range of innovative applications beneficial to various sectors of the economy and society at large.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In business, knowledge is more than important. It takes you beyond where you can ever imagine; it reduces your error rate, it keeps you safe and helps you maximize your greatest potential. Knowledge is the take-off point of any kind of value, business and national development.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Technology industry is pivotal to the success of building a tech entrepreneurship ecosystem in Nigeria. It is the most dependable way of creating both job and wealth in the 21st century. So, for Nigeria to solve her high rate of youth unemployment, over-dependent on crude oil and <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>to build great economic backbone for the future, there is need to invest in entrepreneurship education, particularly, technological entrepreneurship.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Over 80 percent of Nigeria GDP comes directly from crude oil. This mono-cultural economy has created more problems than it has solved. It has resulted into irony of a rich country, poor people. However, the time is now ripe to change the configuration and embrace technological-driven economy. To bring economic freedom and prosperity to its people and help tackle the menace of poverty in the country, Nigeria needs a change of direction. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The forces of change outside Nigeria are driving the need for change within it. Therefore, to maintain itself on a par with the rest of the world, and to be able to compete successfully in the fast moving world, Nigeria has to radically reform itself and embrace knowledge-driven economy.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It is in recognition of this that the leading telecommunication network in Nigeria, MTN, has over the last four months provided a platform-MTN Link Forum for young business professionals and budding entrepreneurs to learn new skills and follow the latest trend in technological world in order to take their businesses to the next levels. The MTN Link forum is an idea sharing platform where those who have built successful businesses using the new technology, share and encourage young Nigerian business owners to follow same route in creating wealth for themselves and the nation at large.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jonathan Doerr, managing director of Nigeria’s leading online trading firm while relaying his experience at the Port Harcourt edition of MTN Link Forum, recently reinstates the need for Nigerian entrepreneurs to source for new ideas that can transform their lives and create jobs from developed countries and domesticate it here in Nigeria. In his words, “Nigerian entrepreneurs can take business ideas that have proved successful in America and Europe and domesticate them in line with realities in the country”.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">According to him, “online retail business had been thriving in America and Germany before it was introduced into Nigeria with little adjustment in the area of delivery and payment. You don’t necessarily need to pass through the stress of product development; there are products that have been developed elsewhere. You only need to modify them, and replicate it here in Nigeria and it will be an instant success just like Jumia”, he says.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kazeem Mustapha, a Medical Doctor and Health Insurance expert while speaking on the importance of technology in today’s world, says, “in any business that you are doing, you have to befriend technology. You have to befriend technology for information, for operational efficiency and most importantly, as your businesses are growing, you are confronted with challenges that your brain alone cannot cope with, you have to depend on latest technology that can help you maximise your potential”.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The main source of value and competitive advantage in the new economy is human and intellectual capital. With a population of about 160 million people, Nigeria, in theory has the capacity to make a successful transition into a truly knowledge driven economy.</span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Just like the US, China and Japan, it is also possible for Nigeria to become a knowledge-driven economy. However, this can only be achieved if the Nigerian government and other multinational companies can follow the path laid down by MTN in promoting the transfer of new ideas and technological-based businesses in the country. </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-16652670865115185742014-10-27T02:04:00.002-07:002014-10-27T02:04:41.598-07:00Two businesses worth undertaking<div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<span style="color: red;">Two businesses worth undertaking</span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">There are two businesses worth taking a shot at owing to their high return on investment (RoI) and short payback period. The businesses have bright prospects as long as the prospective entrepreneur can look beyond profitability now and focus more on market penetration and potentials, process description and raw materials sourcing, among others, experts say.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Experts at the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO) have compiled a list of 50 tehno-investment opportunities for the micro-, small- and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs). Start-Up Digest has picked out two of such businesses with highest RoI and not-too-long payback period.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">One of such businesses is soy-ogi production. Soy-Ogi is a fermented maize breakfast cereal, which is low in protein. It is the traditional Ogi, fortified with soybeans to improve the protein content. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Experts identify the raw materials requirements as soybeans, maize and vitamin premix. These are all locally available.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">“The demand for Soy-Ogi is high in Nigeria,” says FIIRO, headed by Gloria Elemo.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">“Target buyers are adults of all age categories living in Nigeria, ECOWAS sub-region and Nigeria in Diaspora with focus on all levels of income,” says FIIRO.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">According to the experts, the process of preparation involves corn Ogi wet cake and soybeans cake. The processes involved in corn Ogi wet cake preparation are weighing and cleaning. steeping and milling, sieving, fermenting, sedimenting, dewatering and granulating.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Similarly, soybeans cake preparation involves weighing and cleaning, roasting and de-hulling, cooking and milling as well as dewatering and granulating. Machinery and equipment that should be acquired for the production of this are flash dryer, steeping tank, grains destoner, sedimentation tank and milk pump. Others are disc mill, roaster, hydraulic press, cake granulator, pressure cooker, centrifugal sieve, mixer, powder filling and sealing machine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">RoI on this investment is 74.6 percent, while return on equity is 189.9 percent. Payback period for this business is 1.9 years, while the break-even point is 34.3 percent.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Estimated cost of machinery and equipment depends on the capacity, which could vary from 500kg to 2.5 million tons per day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Secondly, entrepreneurs can also move into solid minerals processing, which has 93.5 percent RoI, 165.6 percent RoE, 1.1 years payback period and 33.3 percent break-even point.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Experts say solid minerals business is now a gold mine as the country is aggressively looking away from crude oil to diversify into other productive areas. The sector presents bigger opportunities as it is still largely unexploited , according to the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">One of such solid minerals which should be of interest to entrepreneurs is the precipitated calcium carbonate, which applies to the commercial types of calcium carbonate produced by precipitation process. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The raw materials used here are limestone and carbon dioxide.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">“There is high demand for precipitated calcium carbonate In Nigeria. The demand is largely found in the paper, food, paint, pharmaceutical and plastics industries,” says FIIRO.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Processes involved include crushing, calcinations, hydration, Co2 collection and purification, carbonation, screening, drying, milling and packaging.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Machinery and equipment involved are vertical shaft kiln, hydrator (stainless steel), carbonator, electromagnetic separator, rotary dryer, pulverizer, heat exchanger, scrubber and weighing scale.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The estimated cost of the machinery and equipment depends on the capacity, which could vary from two to five tons per day, says FIIRO. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Gloria <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Elemo, director-general/CEO, FIIRO said, <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>“In an effort to make research results relevant to human needs, FIIRO has engaged in the promotion of its research results and transfer of same to the investing public,” she said, the FIIRO Investment Day and Technology Week held on Wednesday in Lagos.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">According to Elemo, Nigeria can no longer continue to depend on the external sector but must place emphasis on the MSMEs to harness the country’s sizeable domestic market <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>and abundant resources to ensure steady supply of vital products to the economy.</span></div>
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G.U Ugochukwu</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-11922751603900172192014-10-27T01:58:00.001-07:002014-10-27T01:58:22.914-07:00Real estate: Some tips for new investors<h1 class="entry_title" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 26px; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: red;">Real estate: Some tips for new investors</span></h1>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A</span>n investment in real estate is likely to be one of the most significant financial decisions you will ever make. A tremendous sense of pride, fulfilment, stability and security comes with owning your own property, particularly your own home.</div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Increasing property prices and the demand for quality rental accommodation mean that, with a carefully selected and well-managed rental property, landlords can enjoy a return on investment not just from capital appreciation but also from the steady stream of passive income. Even where there are downturns in property values, properties generally continue to rent and often without a corresponding decrease in the rental income.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Most people borrow to buy property. Before you buy a property, be sure that you can actually afford it and are able to service and repay the debt. Having a pre-approval in place will save you time and energy as the lender would already have reviewed your financial status to determine how much you can afford and how much they are prepared to lend you.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Apart from the actual purchase price of a property, which reflects its location, features, age and condition, there are other significant transaction costs that come to bear including lenders fees, valuation and survey fees, estate agents fees, legal fees, transfer taxes, stamp duty and insurance cover.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Whilst the documentation requirements can be cumbersome and can make investing in real estate somewhat tedious, it is important for the security of your investment that all documentation reflecting the true title of the property is in place.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Seek professional advice to determine the most appropriate structure. There are implications for you and your heirs for holding title in your name, in the name of your beneficiaries as well as in the name of a trust or a limited company.</span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Real estate is relatively illiquid and it is risky to invest with a short-term view. Like stock market investing, the property markets go through cycles. Maintain a long-term outlook as it usually takes time, patience and energy to reap the benefits from this investment class.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Investment is most intelligent when it is most businesslike,” according to Benjamin Graham. Do your homework. Every investment comes with a degree of risk and real estate is no different. Of course you can never cover all the unknowns and you cannot accurately predict what the property will be worth in five years, but you can certainly get some sense of its prospects.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We have all heard the old adage: “location, location, location.” The value of property and the success or failure of this investment is largely dependent upon its location. Neighbourhoods change; market conditions, community issues, the local economic and political environment, poor enforcement of regulatory policies – these can all affect an area adversely and diminish property values considerably.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Unfortunately, the property market, as other financial markets, can be fraught with some unsavoury characters so be very careful with whom you are dealing. Choose your agent carefully; a tested, dependable, and responsive professional who comes recommended, has sound market knowledge. Be cautious of high-pressure sales pitches; they can be very persuasive yet a “once in a lifetime opportunity you cannot afford to miss” can turn out to be the worst investment you ever made.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The right tenant can be a joy, but the wrong tenant can make a landlord’s life a misery. Request for references and always follow up on them.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As performance in one asset class will help offset any downturn in another as economic and market conditions change over time, it is advisable to spread your risk amongst a range of assets including stocks, bonds and cash rather than concentrating on the property market.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Real estate has long been regarded as a sound and tested investmentclass that has proven its worth over centuries to be a stable and profitable investment, a trend that long-term investors are likely to continue to enjoy.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i>Nimi Akinkugbe</i></b></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-35175890158368583862014-10-27T01:51:00.002-07:002014-10-27T01:51:52.682-07:00Handling the unexpected<h1 class="entry_title" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: georgia, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 26px; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 26px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 5px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: red;">Handling the unexpected</span></h1>
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There’s nothing harder to plan for than unexpected events that impact your life and finances. Yet loss of a job, the death of a loved one, illness or other unexpected occurrences happen at one point or another in most of our lives.</div>
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The key to successfully surviving these life-changing events from a financial perspective is to anticipate hard times. Shore up your financial situation before you are hit with an unexpected expense, so you will be covered in the event something happens.</div>
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The Importance of an emergency fund</div>
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Because we cannot predict when life will throw us an unexpected challenge, it is important for everyone to build and maintain an emergency fund with three to six months’ worth of living expenses. The key to building an emergency fund is to set money aside every month, no matter how small the amount. This Emergency Fund calculator can help you get started.</div>
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Financial experts recommend that, unlike retirement funds, emergency savings should be kept fairly liquid, in a savings account or a money market fund. Hopefully you will never need it. But if you do, you’ll be glad it’s there.</div>
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<b>A new financial picture</b></div>
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Once the immediate financial matters are taken care of after an unexpected life event, it will be time to take stock of your new financial situation and create a plan for yourself moving forward. Whether you have faced job loss, divorce, illness or another event, you should create a new budget reflecting your situation. This is the first step toward financial security and rebuilding your emergency fund, which you may have tapped into to manage a financial crisis.</div>
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To develop a budget, write down your current expenses, indicating whether each expense is a necessity or a luxury. Pulling out recent credit card bills and bank statements can help with this process.</div>
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Next, estimate your monthly income, including only income that you are certain you will receive. Then compare your income to expenses. If your expenses are higher, you will need to trim your expenses until your income is higher than your expenditures.</div>
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You can learn much more about budgeting and utilise our free budgeting worksheet here.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-52790074622570478962014-10-27T01:45:00.000-07:002014-10-27T01:45:03.770-07:00Between savings and investment, which is better for you?<div class="p1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<span style="color: red;">Between savings and investment, which is better for you?</span></h1>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Financial experts have advised that it is important for one to build investment culture rather than leaving money in the bank. This is because investment, with its high returns, has the potential of enhancing ones earning capacity than savings does.</i></span></span></h1>
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According to them, though it is good for one to save, but it is also good for the person to learn to invest good portion of the savings in a long-term plan, capable of yielding returns.</div>
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Studies have shown that saving a good portion of one’s income each month is only an opportunity to have access to the money whenever the person is in needs it, such that at the end of the day, the income is used in taking care of the person’s immediate or unexpected needs.</div>
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Olumide Emmanuel, an investment adviser, opined that depositing one’s entire money in bank is a costly choice because in the bid to avoid liquidity risk involved in investment, one ends up getting lower returns, but investment brings higher returns that can secure ones future.</div>
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Also, studies has it that the current Nigerian economy with unstable Naira value including high inflation rate, makes it difficult for people to leave say N500,000 in a bank and it get the same value in a year’s time. As a result, it has been seen to be far better to invest such money rather than keeping it in the bank for inflation to eat it up.</div>
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Experts’ view that investments provide higher returns, but come with lower liquidity risk and fluctuating values, which one can manage by aligning the appropriate investment perspective for the products considered in line with one’s goals. Thus, funds for immediate needs and emergencies should be kept in banks, while the ones for meeting long-term goals should be held in investments that give better returns.</div>
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<b>What are these investment options?</b></div>
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1. Think of buying land if you want to be a house owner in the future because investment in landed property is hard to depreciate.</div>
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2. Invest in shares and stocks, though there is liquidity risk involved but if you are a smart investor, you will be smart to sell-off your shares or stocks at maturity stage.</div>
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3. Explore the option of building your own house or buying finished residential or commercial property, and you will not regret it because the risk volume is low.</div>
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4. Have you thought of investing in bond or debenture, it can also pay you in the future than banking your entire earnings.</div>
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However, always remember to review and modify your investment choices periodically to ensure that they are suitable for your current investment goals.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-62710364136595615052013-11-23T03:37:00.001-08:002013-11-23T05:09:26.524-08:00Cars sold for 9m in 2013 will be 20m naira next year<div class="post-entry" style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21.59375px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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By MOSES AKAIGWE<span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">P</span>rice tags on cars and buses are likely to go up by about 250 per cent next year, following the introduction of new fiscal measure by the Federal Government, as part of the new development plan for the country’s ailing auto industry.<br />
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A memo by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy/Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Thursday last week, to the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs, directed that imported fully built unit (FBU) cars shall now attract 35 per cent duty and 35 per cent levy, totaling 70 per cent charges.</div>
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According to the document, the duty on buses has also been raised from 10 per cent to 35 per cent without levy. Hitherto, imported cars attracted about 20 per cent duty.</div>
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The minister’s directive dated November 14, and also sent to Federal Inland Revenue Service, </div>
<a name='more'></a>pre-shipment agents (Cotechna Inspection Limited and SGS Nigeria Limited) and another agency, Global Scan Limited, said approval for the introduction of the new fiscal measures was given “by Mr. President.”<br />
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On the other hand, as part of the policy, local auto manufacturers, like Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Ltd, Nnewi; VON Automobile (formerly Volkswagen), Ojo; National Trucks Manufacturers, Kano; PAN Nigeria, Kaduna and other auto makers in the country, will no more pay duties or levies on their Completely Knocked Down (CKD) sets imported from their overseas partners.</div>
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However, Semi-Knocked Down components for the production of vehicles locally, shall attract only five per cent duty without levy.</div>
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The circular, which was obtained exclusively by Daily Sun<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">,</em> explained that the new measures, coming about six weeks after the Federal Executive Council approved a far-reaching automotive industry development plan, were designed to boost activities in the industry and also attract foreign investments.</div>
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“The above measures are to create an environment to support existing assembly plants and attract other Original Equipment Manufacturers who have expressed interest in Nigeria”, the minister remarked.</div>
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However, while the automotive policy and fiscal measures are being lauded by the National Automotive Council, NAMA (the umbrella body of local auto makers, and the auto manufacturers themselves, importers of fully built vehicles, have been crying foul.</div>
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Reacting to the new tariff regime, NAMA Executive Director, Mr. Arthur Madueke, described it and the development policy, which as the best thing to happen to the industry in many years.</div>
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Madueke, who has been in the forefront of the manufacturers’ campaign for more stringent duties on imported vehicles as is done in other countries, said: “It has been long over due. Nigeria cannot continue to be a dumping ground for other countries’ auto manufacturers. Nigeria has all it takes to be a leading producer of vehicles. I, therefore, commend President Jonathan for the courage to approve the bold steps, and ignore protests by unpatriotic people who do not want the best for our industry.”</div>
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He listed some of the immediate and direct benefits as employment for no fewer than 100, 000 Nigerians, and stimulation of investments in the linkage industries, adding that with full implementation and consistency, the industry is capable of achieving 400, 000 jobs in the next few years.</div>
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In their comments, both the Chairman of Innoson Group, Chief Innocent Chukwuma and the Managing Director of Proforce Limited a vehicle armouring plant based in Ode-Remo, Ogun State), Mr. Ade Ogundeyin, hailed “this latest auto industry-friendly pronouncement by government”.</div>
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Speaking to the Daily Sun yesterday, the President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Chief Eugene Nweke, predicted that the measures would reduce the volume of jobs handled by his members as less cars are likely to be imported from 2014.</div>
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According to Nweke, high levy and duty on new cars, would further push patronage towards imported second-hand (tokunbo) cars.</div>
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In his reaction, a very influential car importer said the new fiscal measures and the auto development plan are outrageous, citing a provision in the minister’s circular which allows an auto plant to import cars and buses and pay the applicable duties without levy, as a guise to give undue advantage to a particular manufacturer that imports vehicles and also owns a plant.</div>
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“It is either you are an importer or you are a manufacturer”, the importer said. “The Trade and Industry Minister said there is no going back on the new measures, even as flawed as they are. He has vowed that he would defend them with every drop of blood in him. On our part, we the vehicle importers will fight the policies with the last drop of blood in us”.</div>
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Some car importers, including Elizade Nigeria Limited, Globe Motors, Coscharis Nigeria Limited, CFAO Motors, SCOA and Toyota Nigeria Limited, under the aegis of Auto Manufacturers’ Representatives Group in Nigeria, had in a recent petition to President Goodluck Jonathan, called for the reversal of the new policy.</div>
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Meanwhile, there were indications yesterday that auto showrooms might start any moment from now to effect a gradual upward review in their vehicles’ prices in response to the minister’s memo, which they got wind of over the weekend.</div>
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At a Kia showroom in Lagos, a source disclosed that meetings were being held and prices of other brands’ vehicles being monitored, “to know when and by what margin to increase our own prices.” The source also feared that that the price of the base model of a Rio was likely to rise by more than N3 million, from the present N2 million by next year.</div>
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At a Toyota showroom, also in Lagos, a source hinted of “a sharp price increase” on the cars. “For example, paying 20 per cent duty, our Camry is about N9 million now. But I can assure you that when we reflect the new 70 per cent duty and levy, which represent about 250 per cent increase, Camry will be about N20 million.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-30331231438072587492013-10-28T05:49:00.000-07:002013-10-28T05:49:18.185-07:00Great MIND; ‘I want my business to become an empire’<div style="border: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.6em; margin-top: 1.6em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<em style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">At a time when tens of thousands of Nigerian youths are roaming the streets in a hopeless search for employment, Martins Enoh, a hair stylist in New Karu, a fast growing suburb of Nasarawa State bordering Abuja on its south-east end, is counting his gains. He reveals his big dreams to ABAH ADAH and flays those who blame crime for unemployment.</em></div>
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<em style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="barbing-hair" src="http://smeonline.biz/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/barbing-hair.gif" /></em></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Twenty-nine-year-old Martins Enoh is an Idoma and hails from Utonkon in Adore local government area of Benue State. He is the proprietor of Martin Luther Barbing Salon which is located in the heart of New Karu. A bustling place, the barbing saloon caters for the fashion needs of women, men, teenagers and even toddlers, who can be seen trooping in and out of the saloon daily, to get a variety of haircuts, maintain their styles and do some hair-wash.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Enoh carries himself with the pride of one who owns a business which employs a few hands, the sharp outlook of one who has aspirations and the good sense of one who does not look down on his customers.<span id="more-4063" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">When he was encountered by this reporter, he confessed the obvious: It pays to run one’s business, no matter how small. More so, he has one of the virtues which many who hope to be successful or already are possess – he enjoys what he is doing and sets his heart to it with a burning passion.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">According to Enoh, due to the sub-urban nature of the area and the current economic state of the country, he does not make what he always hopes to, unlike top saloons in the city-centre.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Enoh revealed that at the end of every week he makes an average of N20, 000. However, out of this, he has to figure in expenses like fuelling and maintaining the generator (since the area of New Karu where he lives and works is in constant black-out), commission for labour and other running costs, and at the end, he said, N7000 or N8000 may be what is left of it.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">“I have being doing this work for close to 10 years now and, by God’s grace; I used to earn just enough to care for my basic needs. In fact, the freedom I enjoy being in-charge and on my own has made me feel as if I cannot work as an employee elsewhere. It is not as if I have all I need but I cannot see myself becoming a busy-body and a societal liability,” he said.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Martins disagreed totally with those who blame the current spate of kidnapping and terrorism in the country on unemployment. According to him, youths who perpetuate such criminal acts under the guise of unemployment are only out to destroy the country and make staggering wealth overnight.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">“How can you say that is unemployment? Many of them will not work if you give them. Besides, can’t they try their hands on what they can do to survive even while working towards securing gainful employment?” he asked. The Benue-born stylist, however, lamented the economic situation in the country which has given rise to the daily, unemployment figures.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">According to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), between 2006 and 2011, Nigeria’s unemployment rate averaged 14.6 per cent, and hit an-all time high of 23.09 per cent at the end of 2011.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">While blaming the Nigerian government, which he said is not helping matters at all, Martins advised Nigerian youths to always discover their God-given talent and use it to sustain them, especially when the white-collar job they crave so much is not forth-coming.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">“It is true that the government can only provide an infinitesimal portion of the jobs needed, but it is incumbent on it to create the opportunities. Small-scale businesses should be encouraged and empowered across the country. Look at this business; for now, it is all I have, but I intend to open two or more branches across Abuja, in order to improve my income. My dream for my business is for it to become an empire soon. I have all my plans and blueprint; I just need funds to get it on the road. Meanwhile, I have to postpone everything which I hope to do, until I raise the required fund,” he explained.</span></div>
<span style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">Its either you don't have idea or you choose to be where you are. It is yet a choice. Seek information and take the lead.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-90946310076399694772013-10-28T05:05:00.002-07:002013-10-28T05:05:29.575-07:00<div style="border: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.6em; margin-top: 1.6em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Building your<a href="http://agbeat.com/business-news" style="border: 0px; color: #fd0004; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </a>business<a href="http://agbeat.com/business-news" style="border: 0px; color: #fd0004; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 400; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </a>with the help of haters</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">When starting a company, most people handicap themselves on day one. They show their idea to people they know will be amenable and will rally behind them, people that will instantly become evangelists and spread the good word. While for some it becomes about ego, for others it becomes about making that golden idea even better for its instant fans. The cycle of goodness just keeps spinning and sometimes that entrepreneur gets lucky and makes it big time.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><img alt="hate" src="http://smeonline.biz/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/hate-300x245.jpg" /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Doesn’t this all sound like the right way to go? Rally the troops, surround yourself with positivity, right? Wrong.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">On day one, your idea should go straight to someone that you know will hate it. Not necessarily an enemy or someone who hates everything, but someone or someones who you know is a critical thinker. Looking for someone who won’t cheerlead, but someone who you are sure will have everything negative, even mean to say, will make your idea a thousand times better.<span id="more-4049" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Doing so before even entering the beta phase will give your cheerleader evangelists even more happy. Going to market with an idea vetted by the haters first will also help you avoid surprises, or the painful sting of someone crapping on your idea when it’s too late to make certain changes.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">Elon Musk and Dharmesh Shah agree</span></span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Globally famous inventor Elon Musk said in a recent interview, “Always seek negative feedback, even though it can be mentally painful,” adding that even if you want to ignore negative or constructive feedback, you should pay attention. “They won’t always be right, but I find the single biggest error people make is to ignore constructive, negative feedback.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Dharmesh Shah, Founder and CTO of HubSpot, agrees. “Seek out the most critical opinions of your plan that you can find,” Shah notes. “The natural tendency for a first-time entrepreneur is to fall in love with an idea and then look for friends and colleagues to support it. After all, who wants to have a fledgling idea crushed by naysayers? But these are exactly the types of folks you should be looking for.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Shah adds, “Have them shred your plan and designs from top to bottom. If you find yourself agreeing with them and having doubts, then your plan (and possibly you) may not have the mettle to make it. But if you are able to defend it with conviction, repeatedly, then you probably have both the moxie to last through the long, tough grind you’re facing, as well as a plan that just might work.”</span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-84400781463493412162013-10-28T04:40:00.001-07:002013-10-28T04:40:42.355-07:00Five essential ingredients to doing what you love for a living;<div style="border: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.6em; margin-top: 1.6em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<img alt="5-essential-ingredients-doing-what-love-living" src="http://smeonline.biz/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/5-essential-ingredients-doing-what-love-living-300x191.jpg" /><span style="background-color: white;">When I decided to leave my own corporate job years ago to pursue the culinary arts, I couldn’t think much further than doing what I love on a daily basis: cooking. But it soon became clear to me that leaving the safety of one career to take up another is not quite that simple.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Doing something you love will make you work harder at it, but that alone doesn’t mean you have a good business. Hard work, ultimately, has to meet with the right opportunities, and that’s where entrepreneurial spirit can come in, allowing passion to meet real business sense.<span id="more-4052" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">My own journey in the kitchen has taught me innumerable lessons that extend far beyond time and temperature. If you are looking to change yours, here are some tried and tested lessons I can share:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1. Treat goals like recipes. Remember to take it one step at a time.</span><br />It’s easy to get mired in the day-to-day, and though you may be doing something you love broadly speaking, that doesn’t mean you will love it all the time. Segmenting my goals and having a clear vision has allowed me to stay calm and focused on the process. Keep your ultimate objectives in mind, but try to appreciate and not look past where you are today. I often remind myself that I’m always learning and getting a little closer to my dream.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">. Get to know the people who came before you.</span><br />When I changed careers, I studied star chefs like Jean-Georges and Thomas Keller as well as people with successful food and lifestyle brands like Martha Stewart and Giada de Laurentiis. I wanted to better understand the landscape as well as the successes and mistakes these guys had made. I never expected to take their exact path, but I did gain an understanding of what went into their level of achievement.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3. Always have something to offer.</span><br />I do a fair bit of traveling, learning from chefs and home cooks around the world. When I visit a new location, I like to shadow cooks in professional or home kitchens to learn their techniques and dishes. This has been a huge challenge as both a foreigner and a female. I usually start small, asking if I can watch service for the day. In exchange, I offer to prep and make something, whether that be the staff’s family meal or a recipe the chef may not know. Taking a little more time to build trust and having something to offer helps open people up more.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">4. Seek help from those who do it better than you can.</span><br />Use your network and resources thoughtfully. If you don’t have a skill, you likely know someone who does. For example, I wanted to photograph the recipes from my book myself but I wasn’t a pro food photographer. I bought a great camera, reached out to a talented photographer and friend who was willing to teach me and prepared myself for trial and error.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">5. Prepare to be uncomfortable, both physically and mentally.</span><br />Some of the greatest lessons and most gratifying experiences have come from times when I wasn’t entirely comfortable with what I was doing. I’m not just talking about having to lift 80 pound vats of stock in some of the kitchens where I worked. When I signed on to write my first cookbook, I was pregnant and already working full-time. I had to write, cook, test and photograph the entire book. This idea terrified me. There were days when I was so exhausted it was hard to get off the couch. But the book is done and will be out this year.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">It just goes to show: When you’re pushed, you push back. Rise to the occasion because success might be waiting around the corner for you.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">SEE YOU THERE.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-5829776218386264942013-10-25T13:29:00.004-07:002013-10-25T23:02:48.359-07:005 Things Super Successful People Do before 8amRise and shine! Morning time just became your new best friend. Love it or hate it, utilizing the morning hours before work may be the key to a successful and healthy lifestyle. That’s right, early rising is a common trait found in many CEOs, government officials, and other influential people. Margaret Thatcher was up every day at 5 a.m.; Frank Lloyd Wright at 4 am and Robert Iger, the CEO of Disney wakes at 4:30am just to name a few. I know what you’re thinking – you do your best work at night. Not so fast. According toInc. Magazine, morning people have been found to be more proactive and more productive. In addition, the health benefits for those with a life before work go on and on. Let’s explore 5 of the things successful people do before 8 am<br />
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1. Exercise. I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again. Most people that work out daily, work out in the morning. Whether it’s a morning yoga session or a trip to the gym, exercising before work gives you a boost of energy for the day and that deserved sense of accomplishment. Anyone can tackle a pile of paperwork after 200 ab reps! Morning workouts also eliminate the possibility of flaking out on your cardio after a long day at work. Even if you aren’t bright eyed and bushy tailed at the thought of a 5 am jog, try waking up 15 minutes early for a quick bedside set of pushups or stretching. It’ll help wake up your body, and prep you for your day<br />
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.2. Map Out Your Day. Maximize your potential by mapping out your schedule for the day, as well as your goals and to dos. The morning is a good time for this as it is often one of the only quiet times a person gets throughout the day. The early hours foster easier reflection that helps when prioritizing your activities. They also allow for uninterrupted problem solving when trying to fit everything into your timetable. While scheduling, don’t forget about your mental health. Plan a 10 minute break after that stressful meeting for a quick walk around the block or a moment of meditation at your desk. Trying to eat healthy? Schedule a small window in the evening to pack a few nutritious snacks to bring to work the next day.<br />
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3. Eat a Healthy Breakfast. We all know that rush out the door with a cup of coffee and an empty stomach feeling. You sit down at your desk, and you’re already wondering how early that taco truck sets up camp outside your office. No good. Take that extra time in the morning to fuel your body for the tasks ahead of it. It will help keep your mind on what’s at hand and not your growling stomach. Not only is breakfast good for your physical health, it is also a good time to connect socially. Even five minutes of talking with your kids or spouse while eating a quick bowl of oatmeal can boost your spirits before heading out the door.<br />
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4. Visualization. These days we talk about our physical health ad nauseam, but sometimes our mental health gets overlooked. The morning is the perfect time to spend some quiet time inside your mind meditating or visualizing. Take a moment to visualize your day ahead of you, focusing on the successes you will have. Even just a minute of visualization and positive thinking can help improve your mood and outlook on your work load for the day.<br />
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5. Make Your Day Top Heavy. We all have that one item on our to do list that we dread.<br />
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It looms over you all day (or week) until you finally suck it up and do it after much procrastination. Here’s an easy tip to save yourself the stress – do that least desirable task uon your list first. Instead of anticipating the unpleasantness of it from first coffee through your lunch break, get it out of the way. The morning is the time when you are (generally) more well rested and your energy level is up. Therefore, you are more well equipped to handle more difficult projects. And look at it this way, your day will get progressively easier, not the other way around. By the time your work day is ending, you’re winding down with easier to dos and heading into your free time more relaxed. Success!<br />
Forbes.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-65302464867905652662013-10-23T07:54:00.000-07:002013-10-23T07:54:25.736-07:00Seven ways business networking is like online dating <div style="border: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.6em; margin-top: 1.6em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Networking guru Rob Brown discusses how the lead generation process when networking bears a close resemblance to that of online dating.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Some people have said that business networking and career connecting is just like dating. With the advent of work intranets and social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, the world of business networking is as much about online interacting as the more traditional, face to face offline gatherings.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">When you network online, you’re simply finding, connecting and engaging with people to fulfil your commercial or career objectives. If you swap the words ‘commercial’ or ‘career’ for ‘romantic’ then you’ve stepped into the world of online dating, a multi-billion pound industry in the UK alone.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">For many a lonely, busy business professional, online dating is a convenient ‘lead generation’ mechanism which hopefully puts you in front of any number of eligible, available and interested romantic prospects. Indeed, it’s said that one in four relationships is initiated online.<span id="more-3199" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Millions upon millions of profiles, bios, descriptions, images and personas inhabit the online world. Motives range from purely business to purely sexual, and everything in between. However, not everything is as it seems, with a range of unscrupulous scammers, bogus sites and fake profiles purporting to be your next date or love interest. A recent Panorama programme on BBC television (Tainted Love: Secrets of the Dating Game) uncovered several of these websites preying on the millions of people looking for love.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">In truth, online dating is an easy way for anybody to connect. It’s anonymous and secretive, you can be anybody online. Your avatar, your profile and your description can make you sound and look like a million dollars. The problem is that you’ve got to ‘come out’ at some point. You’ll need to shake someone’s hand and look them in the eye. That’s when the real relationship building begins. But as my mother once told me, ‘You can have the best sex in the world with someone, but sooner or later you’re going to have to get out of bed and wash the sheets!’</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">What she meant was that sooner or later, people are going to find out what you’re really like. You’re going to have to talk and be real. You’ve got to do the ordinary stuff that you can’t hide behind. Authenticity counts.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The parallels between online dating and online business networking are obvious. Dating is having conversations and turning strangers into partners. It’s only the motives (love vs business or career) that change. In both you’ve got to be ‘sticky’ and engaging, differentiated from the crowd, credible and responsive. You’ve got to sell yourself and attract others. It will not serve your career or business purposes to be incredible but anonymous!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">While I can’t promise you any success in the murky and unpredictable world of online dating, there are some lessons the online dater can learn from today’s savvy online business networker. Here are my top seven tips for to guarantee you greater networking (and dating) success. They will hopefully help you avoid some of the scars, financial losses and often wasted time and effort in your search for contacts.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">1. Make it visual</span></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white;">It’s a cliché but a picture does paint a thousand words. Good networkers know that a business card is much more likely to be kept and reviewed if it has a photograph on it. Business is personal, and people hire, promote and buy people that they like and trust.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">2. Keep it real</span></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Stick to the facts and the up to date photos. It’s no good putting up a photo of you from five years ago – they’re just not going to recognise you when they see you. Similarly, if you say you’ve got a great sense of humour and you haven’t, you’ll be found out. If you act like they’re going to meet you for real at some point, it should keep you honest!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">3. Play to your strengths</span></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white;">We all have weaknesses and flaws. Change can be difficult, so what if you just embraced them and gave them a positive spin? For instance, instead of disorganised, are you creative? Stubborn or dedicated? Arrogant or self confident? All weaknesses have a corresponding strength, so sell that.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">4. Go face-to-face</span></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Good networkers blend their offline and online efforts. Nothing beats shaking someone’s hand, seeing the whites of their eyes and engaging face to face. Even a Skype video call establishes rapport and develops trust. If I was looking for love, I’d go for the speed dating/mingling approach with genuine ‘meet-ups’ and real people.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">5. Trust your instincts</span></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white;">If someone seems too good to be true, they probably are. Ask good questions, do your ‘due diligence’ and check things out. Anyone can be anyone, so if you’re getting a sneaky feeling that all is not as it appears, ask your other contacts for their insight. At least do a little digging.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">6. Spread your net</span></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white;">People meet people through people. Many people meet their partners through friends and colleagues. Build your network of contacts as widely and diversely as you can. The more people you know, the more likely it is that you’ll be introduced to their network. Each person is a door to another world.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">7. Play a long game</span></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Good networking is about long-term relationships, not one night stands. Unless your agenda is purely sexual, your dating should be the same! Ignore your biological clock and take the time to get to know people. It’s harder to fake it over time. So if you think longer term, you’ll hopefully connect with the real people and develop real, lasting relationships and friendships.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Matchmaking is not an exact science. There are broken relationships in business as well as life. But if you take heed of these business networking lessons, you’ll significantly increase your chances of making the right contacts, or meeting you ideal partner!</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">- See more at: http://smeonline.biz/seven-ways-business-networking-is-like-online-dating/#sthash.fzx13cdU.dpuf</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-11475825547510250032013-10-23T07:38:00.001-07:002013-10-23T07:38:37.679-07:00How to turn time wasters into gold dust<div style="border: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.6em; margin-top: 1.6em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="background-color: white;">How do you feel about people, who either ask you questions about your service or look around your products, then leave without buying? </span></div>
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<img src="http://smeonline.biz/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/gold-bars-300x179.jpg" /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Some business owners get angry at what they perceive to be <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">time wasters</span>. In doing so, they miss out on a massively valuable opportunity. They leave a huge business asset on the table… untapped.<span id="more-3399" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">I’m referring to the feedback these so-called time wasters can provide you with.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">Time wasters are attracted to us for a reason</span></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white;">If you’re attracting lots of the wrong kind of inquiries, there’s a reason. It’s usually a sign that:</span></div>
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<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Your <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">marketing message</span> needs to be improved.</span></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">You are <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">marketing to the wrong people.</span></span></li>
<li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Or both.</span></li>
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<span style="background-color: white;">It’s extremely easy to learn which applies to your marketing, so long as you ask these people for feedback.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Before they end the call or leave your premises, ask something like: <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What was it that prompted you to (visit or call) us today?</em> This will give you some feedback to work with.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">For example</span></span></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white;">If they often say they were looking for a low priced (whatever), yet your prices or fees are average or above average, you need to review your <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">marketing message</span>. Take a look and see if you are overstating how low your prices or fees are.<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span>If you are <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">not</span> overstating how low your prices are, then you could well be targeting your marketing message at people with too small a budget. You get the idea…</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The key is to try and get as much feedback as you can from those who fail to hire you or buy from you. It will help you improve your marketing message, improve your targeting and generate more business!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In short:</span> Speak with people who don’t buy from you. Listen. Learn from their feedback. Then, make the necessary improvements to your marketing. Don’t just assume that someone is a time waster and therefore of no value to your business.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Their feedback could be commercial gold dust. In fact, it often is!</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-79988576730849439182013-10-23T07:21:00.000-07:002013-10-23T07:21:12.082-07:00A bird’s eye view of how to succeed as an entrepreneur:<h2 style="border: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1em; margin: 0.75em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yep. They are going to think you’re crazy.</span></span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white;">So you’re thinking about jumping ship, leaving that so-called steady job and go off on your own… you’re thinking of starts a<a href="http://agbeat.com/business-news" style="border: 0px; color: #fd0004; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> business </a>and living the life. It all sounds perfect in your head, even on that spreadsheet of how you will make the transition. Then, you tell your friends and family. They’re going to think you’re crazy.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Just about every business owner I’ve talked to over the years has had a similar experience that they laugh about it now, and hold it up as their inspiration to make it. As for me, I was too young and naïve to know a single mom couldn’t make it without a job – supposedly. The fact of the matter is that I <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">did</em>make it, my family and friends <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">did</em> think I was crazy, only I <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">did not</em> understand why. The older you get the harder it becomes to throw caution to the wind and do the ‘impossible.’<span id="more-4032" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span>I’m so glad I did.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">Scared? That’s a good sign.</span></span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Fear means you are already on the path, and all that is left is to open your eyes and start evaluating how to navigate the road ahead of you. Fear is telling you to grab on with both hands and look your future straight in the eye and declare only victory. Fear is not telling you failure is defeat – THAT is your conditioning – failure is a lesson that gets you one step closer to success. No one makes it to the top without a wheelbarrow full of failures teaching them to become stronger, better, and more agile.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">You are thinking outside of the box when you dream about a life that has purpose. Now it’s time to get to work; purpose doesn’t just happen, it is created.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The key to success is simple, really – you have to want to, I mean REALLY want to. Simple doesn’t mean easy, the truth of the matter is that if you want it enough ALL of the road blocks will be overcome, the strength to be more than you’ve ever been will show up, and the skills that are currently missing become obtainable. When you want something bad enough, mountains will move because you will find a way to move them, climb them, or go around each one. There is no room for mediocrity when success is the goal!</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-14880255536542347772013-10-23T07:08:00.000-07:002013-10-23T07:08:00.693-07:00Top 5 sacrifices startups have to make in order to grow:<h2 style="border: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1em; margin: 0.75em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Startups, be they tech, retail, or service, dream of making it big time. Popped collars and fast cars motivate some, while financial independence motivate others, but in order to reach that point, all young brands have some major obstacles to overcome in getting to market, much less becoming a household name.</i></span></span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Devanshi (Nikki) Garg is the Chief Operating Officer of Icreon Tech, a global IT consultancy deliveringbusiness solutions and custom applications since 2000. Garg has years of experience in the startupworld and tells AGBeat that there are five major sacrifices any startup will have to make if it wants to grow. In Garg’s words, below are the top sacrifices:<span id="more-4040" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">1. You have to give up complete control</span></span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Diving into a startup requires you to embrace chaos. Whether you’re the founder or one of the first hires, expectations about what aspects of your job you control should immediately go out the window. Invariably, most startups have too many things to do with too few people to complete them. This means you’ll need to exit your comfort zone, lest you quickly fall to the wayside. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg is often quoted, “Move fast and break things. Unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough.” Members of startups need to be able to sacrifice their desire to have complete control over their day-to-day responsibilities and embrace the collective needs of the company.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">2. Sacrificing your ego, and sometimes, your idea</span></span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white;">All startups start out as ideas. However, for a startup to truly grow, members must be willing to sacrifice them and do so mercilessly. In a growingly entrepreneurial marketplace, the only certainty is competition, and ultimately, a bevy of competitors and pressures may require you to sacrifice the foundational idea your startup is built upon. Whether your ideas have been rejected by consumers or have been better executed by competitors, successful startups need to be able to pivot rapidly to avoid being rendered obsoletely. Just ask Bill Nguyen how important being able to pivot an idea is.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">3. You’ll sacrifice your down time</span></span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white;">For startups, it’s often a zero-sum game where the next day’s existence is not guaranteed. This means that your downtime is crucial to your startup’s success. Elon Musk recently stated during a Google Hangout with Richard Branson that, “you should be ready to work 100 hours a week”. If that sounds like too much of a sacrifice, you may not be cut out to achieve global success and notoriety. Establish the internal mindset that each and every hour is crucial, to not only your startups’ prosperity, but more importantly its survival.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">4. Sacrificing financial security and stability</span></span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white;">There are countless tales of entrepreneurs placing their entire life savings into their dream. While for some it pays off, for many it is the most stressful decision they can make. Pouring your heart and soul into a startup may not always be enough. Which is why many of today’s successful founders and CEOs have had to personally fund their projects. To help revive his near-failed dotcom era startup, Cvent CEO Reggie Aggarwal personally signed the lease for his company’s office building due to credit issues. This decision could have personally bankrupted Mr. Aggarwal, but instead he helped grow the company to 1,000 plus employees as of 2013. Although the light at the end of the tunnel may sparkle with monetary success, the journey to get there will have much less glitz and glam.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">5. You’ll have to give up full ownership of your dream</span></span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Sweat, blood, and tears go into every startup. Taking your company to the next level often requires the involvement of outside venture funding and support. Identifying parties that believe in your startup is a crucial step forward. While the tradeoff involves having more stakeholders in your project and less personal ownership for yourself, this sacrifice is often one of the best ways to leverage a set of resources, (capital, technologies, or humans), that are extremely difficult to come by organically. Ultimately, it’s one of the biggest sacrifices to make for the sake of going from niche to mainstream and publicly recognizable.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: small;">Are you ready to sacrifice?</span></span></h2>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Tech blogs and news outlets glamorize the life of a startup, reporting on awesome offices and work perks, but the grunt work of being a founder of any company is often swept under the rug. Garg points out some of the top sacrifices any startup will have to make if it wants to scale, if it wants to grow. As an entrepreneur, are you ready to make the sacrifices necessary?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">lets work together, we have been there. contact greghugohills@gmail.com or drop a note here.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-54704678401647784542013-10-21T03:03:00.000-07:002013-10-21T03:03:37.179-07:00Five tips for aspiring Start-up CEOs<div style="border: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.6em; margin-top: 1.6em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="background-color: white;">If you think you want to start a company, questions ought to be buzzing through your mind: How do I know I’m ready to start a company? Which of my ideas is worth betting on? How do I get a risk-averse customer to try my product? If I get customers, how do I scale the business? How do I build my start-up’s team?</span></div>
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<a href="http://smeonline.biz/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ceo-300x199.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="ceo" border="0" src="http://smeonline.biz/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/ceo-300x199.jpg" /></a><span style="background-color: white;">Mobiquity founder and CEO, Bill Seibel – a serial entrepreneur — offered his take. Briefly, Seibel’s answers are: Because you’re passionate about something you’re good at doing – not just to get rich; pick a simple idea that solves a big problem; show how your product beats the competition and build the best team; pick customers that need your product the most; and build a team of people with the best skills who work well with others. <span id="more-3978" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1. Am I ready to start a company?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Seibel argues there are plenty of reasons not to start a company. “If it’s for the money or if you are doing it because it makes you feel important – don’t do it,” said Seibel.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">You should start a company if it helps you pursue an obsession that you love — tempered by an exit strategy. Seibel argues, “If you believe in it and are passionate about it, don’t let other people convince you otherwise. You need to continue to believe that you can do it. Your team needs to depend on you for that.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Why is passion so important? “If you love what you are doing, you’ll spend every possible moment thinking about it. True passion is infectious. It will keep you and your team going when others give up,” exhorts Seibel.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2. Which idea should I bet on? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Seibel believes that you should pick a simple idea. As he explained, “When I evaluate the idea, I look for innovation, not invention. My favorite definition is: ‘invention is the conversion of cash into ideas; while innovation is the conversion of ideas into cash. To me, that means that the most successful ideas are often simple and perhaps even a little boring. It doesn’t have to be a big idea. Big ideas are often complicated, and therefore difficult to successfully execute.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">A colleague — Seibel named him Ian — started a company and sold it a few years later for a small fortune. Jealous friends asked him: “How can someone as dumb as Ian be so successful?” When he got business pitches, Seibel would ask the entrepreneur, “‘Could Ian be CEO of you start-up idea?’ If he answered ‘no – Ian’s not nearly smart enough,’ I’d advise the entrepreneur to make his business model less complicated.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3. How can I get a risk-averse customer to try my product?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Seibel suggests that entrepreneurs should try to build a product that satisfies three tests: it’s innovative, the customer has a budget for it, and it’s easy to explain why your product solves the customer’s problem better than competing products do.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">When buying a start-up’s product, the customer is placing a bet on its team. According to Seibel, ”At Mobiquity, after we won our first deal, the customer told us that we won because ‘You are in a people-centered business. And you have assembled the best group of people that I have ever met in a people-centered business. And if you can work with the best people in a people oriented business – why would you select anyone else?’”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">4. If I get customers, how do I scale the business?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Seibel suggested that scaling a business depends on carefully selecting prospective customers. He told the story of a wealthy, 30-something sales vice president from a computer aided design/manufacturing firm who had developed a simple algorithm for scaling a start-up.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The source of the young retiree’s wealth was a simple five-step algorithm that he described to his sales people. He told his sales people to “Be driving on a highway at 8am every morning. You can select the highway, and you select the direction – just be driving on it by 8am.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The other five steps guaranteed that his sales people would only get out of their cars and walk into the lobby of companies that had three billowing smokestacks, parking lots jammed with cars, and offices filled with employees.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Only then, did the wealthy young retiree tell his sales people to “walk to the front door, ask for the Director of Engineering, and explain to him how we can help with drafting productivity.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Seibel said of his approach, “It was brilliant! It takes longer to find a qualified customer. But when you do, the sales cycle increases in probability of success and decreases in time. The key to scaling a company is to find the niche that you can successfully compete in, and perhaps dominate. And then find a way to enter the sales funnel as close to the bottom as possible.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">5. How do I build my start-up’s team?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The basics of identifying the skills you need are straightforward. An enterprise technology start-up needs a sales person, a technologist who can communicate, and an analytically oriented operations person. “And you need to fill the rest of the team with the skill sets required by the specific venture,” explained Seibel.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">He finds the best people by networking with the top people he knows. Seibel argues, “After I get one or two of the most highly regarded people to join my team, it becomes so much easier to attract other exceptional people. It works the same way as throwing a great party: Invite a few people that everyone wants to hang-out with, and everyone wants to come.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Niceness counts. “As you’re building your team, make certain that you only hire nice people. If anyone flunks the Jerk Test, pass on them regardless of how talented they are. Only hire people that you believe would love to work at your company, and that other people would love to work with,” says Seibel.</span></div>
<span style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">adapted from forbes.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-38846323676515664652013-10-21T02:56:00.004-07:002013-10-21T02:56:49.982-07:00The worst business plan mistake entrepreneurs make<div style="border: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.6em; margin-top: 1.6em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Years ago, I was hired by a group of entrepreneurs to write a business plan I will never forget. That is because we made a fatal business planning mistake that caused the venture to lose it chance at VC funding.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The founders had a personal connection to one of the VC partners and they seemed interested in the business ideas. It felt like everything was set up for success until we met with them in person.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">As the meeting developed, I became painfully aware of a problem. I wondered anxiously whether my clients saw it too, but couldn’t tell. They gave no sign. <span id="more-4008" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The plan itself wasn’t the problem. It conceived a specialty computer product that would have addressed a real need for a large market of middle managers and small-business owners. The team had the experience and background it needed. We had a good-looking well-edited document, a detailed financial model and convincing market statistics. We had a good summary slide deck.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The problem, however, was that I had done the plan, built the financial model, written the text and shepherded the document through the painful coil binding, yet I wasn’t part of the team. I didn’t want to be. I was getting my MBA, in my early thirties, married with three kids and my part of this venture was writing the plan, period. I needed the money to pay tuition. I couldn’t afford to jump into a startup.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">And my limited role might have been okay except that the three founders never really got into the plan. It was a hurdle they paid me to jump for them. Every meeting we had behind the scenes, generated new changes, so I would go back to the basement computer at the business school, and re-run the financial model. Since the team of three didn’t include a financial person, they left all the tweaking to me, which meant I was the only one who knew the plan. I’d re-run my financial model, edit the text, and publish a new version of the plan. They read paragraphs here and there, glanced at the numbers, but stuck with the strategy and left the details to me.<br />At key moments when VCs would ask critical questions, all heads would turn to me and I would answer. I knew the plan inside out. But I was the only one who did. It was my plan.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The same scenario played out at every meeting we had. The three entrepreneurs assumed that business planning was a function they could always delegate to someone with special skills, while they generated high-level strategy. However, founders who don’t know their own plan aren’t very convincing. So, in the end, they didn’t get financed, and the planning didn’t work.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">A business plan should be measured by results, and in this case, good as the plan document may have been, it was a part of a failure.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The lesson here is as clear as day and as much a problem today as it was then. In general, business plans have to be the work of business owners and managers, not outsiders. A business plan can last only a few weeks without revision, so the idea of a finished plan is flawed. And business plans are about business execution and management, which means those in charge have to own the plan in the intellectual sense.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">In those rare cases when having a specialist develop a plan as a consulting job could work, the owners must make very sure they still own it, know it, and live it. After all, it is their business.</span></div>
<span style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">article by TED IWERE. the business dispatch.</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-91781464506607719922013-10-21T02:52:00.002-07:002013-10-21T02:54:30.600-07:00Five ways to build momentum for your business idea<div style="border: 0px; color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.6em; margin-top: 1.6em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Entrepreneurship is en vogue. You cannot walk more than a few blocks in a major city without stumbling upon a startup accelerator. But while startups are central to this new economic age, making it as an entrepreneur is still tough. It means building the right momentum to get your business idea off the ground.</span></div>
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<a href="http://smeonline.biz/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/5-ways-build-momentum-business-300x137.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="5-ways-build-momentum-business" border="0" src="http://smeonline.biz/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/5-ways-build-momentum-business-300x137.jpg" /></a><span style="background-color: white;">Here are five steps to give you a framework for building the momentum needed to successfully chart your own course:<span id="more-4005" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1. Find every alternative. </span>Just because you identify a problem does not mean you are the right person to solve it. Problems are opportunities for the determined. Always put the problem above yourself. Maybe there is a way you can help, but you have to find the problem-solvers first and that requires diligence.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2. Talk to everyone you know.</span> Momentum grows exponentially. Including others early in the process will pay huge dividends later on. This is not about feedback. You can buy feedback, but you cannot buy people who feel invested in you and your business. By engaging friends from the beginning, you are building trust with potential ambassadors.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3. Read everything you can about the industry. </span>People listen to experts. Study the map. Knowledge gives rise to confidence and confidence gives rise to conviction. You want people to not only be confident, but convinced that your brand is right for them.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">4. Build a lo-fi prototype.</span> Develop a prototype that your friends can test. It does not need to be high tech. In fact, the simpler and cheesier it is, the better. Cheesy makes for a good story. Make a board game or rudimentary website populated by stick figures. Limit yourself to building it over a weekend. You do not need a developer or loads of money at this early stage. Building a lo-fi prototype shows you can create something out of nothing.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">5. Ask yourself why you are here. </span>Do you want to change the world? Do you want to meet Richard Branson? Do you want to make your former colleagues and lovers jealous? None of those things are likely to happen. Probability suggests that you will find yourself somewhere between making a modest living and Tom Hanks in Castaway. Are you okay with that? Is the perfect solution worth seeking even if you fail?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Never start something that you do not love. Last week, I looked at my product and felt genuine love for it. Do I feel that every day? No. Have I created the perfect solution? Absolutely not.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">And I certainly have not met Oprah or Larry Page. Not yet, at least.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-22897924961791620102013-10-21T02:48:00.002-07:002013-10-21T02:48:51.521-07:00Five-places-your-great-ideas-are-hiding-and-how-to-set-them-free.<div style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.6em; margin-top: 1.6em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<a href="http://smeonline.biz/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/5-places-great-ideas-hiding-how-set-300x137.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="5-places-great-ideas-hiding-how-set" border="0" height="182" src="http://smeonline.biz/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/5-places-great-ideas-hiding-how-set-300x137.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="background-color: white;">Studying the marketplace is one of the best ways to come up with new product ideas. If you ask the right questions and look closely, you will find opportunities to invent everywhere. When you study the marketplace for ideas, you’re all but eliminating the need to ask yourself whether people are willing to pay for your product and if they need and want it.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">When you pull an idea out of thin</span><span style="background-color: white;"> air, you have to find out if there’s actually a need or desire for it. Remember: you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to come up with a great idea. I’ve supported my family for decades by making small improvements to existing ideas.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Here are five places to look for your golden opportunity:<span id="more-4014" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1.With your competition.</span> What do leaders in your industry have planned for the future? Where is the industry headed? These are big questions, but they can be answered in part by checking out your competitions’ patent applications. Many patent applications in the United States are published 18 months after they are filed. I don’t spend a ton of time perusing the USPTO or doing Google patent searches, but I like to know what my competitors are up to. Checking out other innovations can be a great way to jog your creativity.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2. Inside product reviews.</span> Check out reviews on Amazon.com and other websites. What are consumers saying about products in your industry? What are their complaints? What do they wish were different? You may be able to come up with a better solution to a particular, persistent problem you now know people would pay for.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3. At trade shows.</span> Trade shows are great places to discover opportunities for invention. They always have a special section for new products. This is the first place I visit when I arrive. The excitement and energy at a trade show is palpable. It’s impossible not to listen to the speakers, make new relationships, enjoy the special events and not get fired up. There’s always at least one speaker who focuses on problems plaguing the industry. Can you be the one to find a solution?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">4. In the aisles of your local retailer.</span> Talk to store managers and employees during a quiet time and ask them what kinds of problems customers are having. What are they looking for when they come in? Are they satisfied? They know what is selling and what isn’t. There is so much knowledge to be gained simply by asking. Form relationships and tap into that knowledge to jumpstart your brainstorming.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">5. In your online search results.</span> There are many articles published online by writers who report on the minute ins and outs of an industry. For example, because I am still inventing for the packaging industry, I keep abreast of what’s going on simply by searching for “hot packaging trends” online.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Identifying opportunities ripe for innovation is just the first step. You still need to put your creativity to use and come up with solutions to the problems you identified, inspired by the new trends in your industry. All of these tips share a common thread: In order to keep coming up with great new ideas, you need to stay up-to-date and question the industry you’re interested in. Don’t get complacent. Get creative.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">- See more at: http://smeonline.biz/five-places-your-great-ideas-are-hiding-and-how-to-set-them-free/#sthash.MLATjPlU.dpuf</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-13247274736152277112013-10-21T02:41:00.001-07:002013-10-21T02:41:38.010-07:00‘Grass-cutter business in Nigeria is lucrative’<div style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.6em; margin-top: 1.6em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<em style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Emmanuel Edeh</span> is a grass-cutter farmer at Badagry, Lagos. His farm was established about 15 years ago. Currently, there are up to 3,500 heads of animals in the farm. He spoke with <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ZEBULON AGOMUO</span> on the prospect and challenges in the business, insisting that the returns on investment are worth the stress. Excerpts:</em><img alt="GRASSCUTTER" src="http://smeonline.biz/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/GRASSCUTTER-300x176.jpg" /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Cost implication:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The cost depends on location. If it is in a village, the cost will be far less than in the city. In the city we build a complete house, like a normal living house, and within that house we build some huts where the animals will stay. To start the business, one needs about half a million naira. When the animals are increasing, you build more accommodation for them.<span id="more-3962" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Bottomline</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">For those going into the business, we have what we call the basic stock that we sell. Another type we call the table – those who have outlived their reproductive stage; there is a ready market for it within the West African sub-region; even in Central Africa. In fact, the only challenge I see in the business is the initial trouble of raising money to start; once that is done, it pays good in the long run.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Major customers</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Those intending to go into the business; are people like the hoteliers, consumers and of course, people from outside the shore of this country. For instance, we had an order from someone from America. He wanted to take the animal to a tropical area located somewhere in that region. I must tell you that the demand for grass-cutter meat is so large that it is not being met.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mortality rate of the animal</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The mortality rate of the animal is very low. If the basic principles are observed, they do not die easily, unlike other animals. Grass-cutters are mainly herbivorous; require neither imported component of food nor expensive medical expenses if strict hygiene is maintained. They are easy and very cheap to raise.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What season favours the animal?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Intense hot weather affects the animal, and if it is too cold also, it affects it. Temperate condition favours the animal.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Reproduction</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">I think this is the most interesting part of the business. This is because the animal gives birth to as much as eight at a time. The least it can give birth to at a time is three. The more favourable the environment is to them, the more number they produce. So, as a farmer, there is the need to ensure that they are kept at the most convenient place. Gestation period of the grass-cutter is about 154 days or five months.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Government policy and the business</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Well, I can say that since I have been in the business, I have not experienced any government policy on rearing of grass-cutter. There is no such policy because, as I said earlier, the animal cannot survive in Europe; it can only survive within the West Africa sub-region and Central Africa. It can neither survive in South Africa because of cold nor in North Africa because of hot weather. Although we have yet to begin export of the animals, we do not intend to have any problem with government regulations because as a responsible organisation, we ensure we work within the confines of the law of our country.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What other essential things does one need to go into the business?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Apart from money and other material resources needed for the business, I think, the major thing is interest. You must ask yourself- why do I have to go into grass-cutter business among numerous others? If you have the interest, then you look for money. It is the amount of money you have that will determine the scale you will operate. With a reasonable amount of money, you can get a fairly big and conducive farm and then many animals. It is a good business that pays good.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">would you rather give it a try? let us know and we will guide you through.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-80334839383894851752013-10-18T03:32:00.000-07:002013-10-18T03:32:12.151-07:005 Ways Tablets Make SMBs Faster and Lighter<div class="row" style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 16px; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 64em; padding: 0px; width: 1017px;">
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The “Post-PC” world of iPads and other tablets isn’t just for passive consumers: It’s chock-full of opportunity for businesses of all sizes.</span></em></h2>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The Apple iPad and its many Android “sincere flatterers” have comprehensively shaken up the market for mobile computing; in fact, the late Steve Jobs coined the phrase “post-PC<em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;">”</em> for just this situation.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The days of the traditional laptop computer may not be totally over, but is a hinged screen-keyboard combo the only tool for serious mobile work? Nope. Here are five reasons why....</span></b></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">1. For content creation, just add keyboard</span></strong></h3>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Tablets are great for content consumption. Hit the button, and you’re immediately scrolling through Web pages, YouTube videos, annoyed avians and the like. This can lead to the impression that tablets are <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;">only</em> good for passively consuming; that they’re no use for <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;">creating</em> content, such as documents, spreadsheets and other staples of business life, but that’s short-sighted.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Obviously, tablets’ on-screen keyboards aren’t easy or ergonomic typing tools. However, there’s a wide range of Bluetooth options available that can turn <a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/1164210/macworld_buying_guide_ipad_keyboards.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">an iPad</a> or <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9220751/3_Bluetooth_keyboards_for_Android_tablets_" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">Android tablet</a> into a lean, mean, writing machine.</span></b></div>
<span style="background-color: white; display: inline-block; height: auto;"><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img alt="Tablets Make SMBs Faster and Lighter" class="right" height="245" src="http://www.webroot.com/shared/images/EndpointSaSSolutions_thumb.png" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; float: right !important; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" width="215" /></span></b></span><div style="box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; padding: 0px;">
<b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But if you’re going to add a keyboard to your tablet, why wouldn’t you just buy a laptop? The next three reasons answer that...</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">2. ARM = light weight + long battery life</span></h3>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">PC and Mac laptops are built around the Intel processor architecture, using chips from either Intel or AMD. Often known as <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;">x86</em>, the architecture is great for compatibility with the PCs we’ve used for years, but it’s encumbered with historical baggage that makes x86 machines hot, heavy and hungry for battery juice. Modern laptops have improved but are still a world away from today’s tablets.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Most tablets break from Intel’s historical hegemony by using chips designed by ARM. These so-called system-on-a-chip architectures use much less power than x86 – especially when idle. This and <a href="http://h30565.www3.hp.com/t5/Feature-Articles/The-PC-Post-PC-Nine-Changes-for-2012/ba-p/479#3" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">modern battery technology</a> can give tablets a 10-hour life and weeks of standby readiness, which means you can get more work done on the go.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Intel is fighting back, though the jury’s still out on whether it can compete. Intel tablets will at least be able to run the full version of Windows 8, as opposed to the cut-down, <a href="http://blogs.computerworld.com/20048/sku_news_windows_8_and_rt_make_bloggers_barf" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">ARM-only Windows RT</a>.</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">3. Cellular data: a first-class citizen</span></h3>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Today’s tablets often include access to 3G and 4G/LTE networks. The data networking technology is seamlessly integrated, so that you can switch between it and Wi-Fi with no noticeable interruption.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">That’s much cleaner than the typical Windows or Mac laptop with an add-on 3G dongle; the difference being that cellular data was designed into tablets from the get-go. So there’ll be fewer excuses to not get the presentation finished on time.</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">4. Seriously cool sci-fi toys today</span></h3>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Who can forget countless Star Trek episodes where an impractically uniformed ensign brought a portable device to Capt. Kirk for him to sign off on some Starfleet paperwork? These sort of science-fiction visions drive gadget designers to invent the future... and who doesn’t want to live in the future?</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Don’t deny tablets’ “cool factor.” Your users <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;">want</em> to use them, they want to be <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;">seen</em> using them, and they’ll <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;">thank you</em> for letting them use tablets in business. (However, make sure you stay safe by protecting against <a href="http://www.webroot.com/us/en/business/products/endpoint/" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">Romulan malware</a> and the <a href="http://www.webroot.com/us/en/business/products/web-security/" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">Klingon drive-by</a>.)</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">5. The phablet trend</span></h3>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">There’s also a place in some users’ hearts for a tablet that’s also a phone. In today’s Brangelina world, some refer to these hybrid phone-tablets as <em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;">phablets:</em> big phones that are also small tablets. Why carry two devices, when you can have one?</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We first saw this trend emerge in 2010, with the 5-inch Dell Streak. More recently, Samsung made a splash with its 5.3-inch Galaxy Note. They’re not for everyone, but they do have a growing niche and could translate into greater productivity.</span></b></div>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Tablets: great productivity boosters</span></em></h3>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The fact is that tablets are much more practical and portable than a clunky laptop. However, their coolness potential doesn’t somehow make them magically immune to security problems, such as <a href="http://blog.webroot.com/2012/05/03/you-want-to-pay-for-what/" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">malware</a>, theft, spam texts and unwanted calls. So treat your tablet as you would a laptop: <a href="http://www.webroot.com/us/en/home/products/mobile/" style="box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; line-height: inherit; text-decoration: none;">stay protected</a>!</span></b></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">By Richi Jennings</span></strong></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-62401960181161022082013-10-10T07:37:00.001-07:002013-10-10T07:37:44.299-07:00NIGERIA TO MAKE n2B annually FROM PRIVATE JETS OWNERS<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Bishop David Oyedepo, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Dr. Mike Adenuga are among the top 10 Nigerian billionaires who will pay hundreds of millions of naira annually as luxury tax due to the imposition of a whooping $4,000 luxury tax by Aviation Ministry on private jet owners and operators per departure.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">According to our sources, among the four jets owned by Bishop Oyedepo (Gulfstream V and G550, Bombardier and Gulfstream G430), he uses three regularly personally and for his </span><br />
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<img alt="oyedepo_dangote_adenuga" src="http://thebusinessdispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/oyedepo_dangote_adenuga-300x215.jpg" /> <img height="171" src="http://www.informationng.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/000012.jpg" width="320" /><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Thus, his luxury tax annually will be an average of N399 million. Alhaji Aliko Dangote who has three private jets in his hanger will also pay an average of N399 million per annum. Dr. Mike Adenuga, Jnr, whose Falcon 7x and Bombardier jet are used for personal and business purpose should pay an average of N266 million. Governor Rotimi Amaechi and his Akwa Ibom counterpart, Governor Godswill Akpabio would shell out an average of N166.4 million annually. Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor falls into the same category of N166.4 million naira payer.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Meanwhile, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, Jide Omokorie and Ifeanyi Ubah would pay an average of N133 million annually, while Jimoh Ibrahim falls within the N100 million category. Furthermore, the richest woman in Nigeria, Folorunsho Alakija would spend N66 million on luxury tax.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">The clash of the titans between the Federal Government and private jet owners reached a crescendo with the imposition of the $4,000 luxury tax on private jet owners and operators per departure. A memo was sent to all private jet operators stating that Nigerian registered private jets would henceforth pay $3,000 for every departure, while foreign registered private jets would pay $4,000.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">+ List of top 10 payers</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">NAME NO. OF JETS LUXURY TAX ANNUALLY</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">1 Bishop Oyedepo 4 N399 million</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">2 Alhaji Dangote 3 N399m</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">3 Dr. Mike Adenuga 2 N266m</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">4 Gov. Rotimi Amaechi 1 N166m</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">5 Gov. Godswill Akpabio 1 N166m</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">6 Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor 1 N166m</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">7 Pastor Adeboye 1 N133m</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">8 Jide Omokore 1 N133m</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">9 Ifeanyi Ubah 1 N133m</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">10 Jimoh Ibrahim 1 N100m - </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">Bishop-oyedepo, dangote to-pay-n400m-luxury-tax-on-private-jets. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Imagine applying the least sum out of the aforementioned into alleviating the poverty stricken Nigerians annually or using that money for skill acquisitions for those that desire to be productive. the results will sure be massive. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Arial, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">But my advice? Use this as a challenge to make your way to the top. The goodnews is that; YOU CAN!. </span></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-21890868259909063702013-10-10T06:27:00.002-07:002013-10-10T06:27:31.419-07:00<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
Bende Export-Import Limited, a subsidiary of Slok Group, says Nigerian charcoal is in high demand among EU countries because they are of good quality, easy to light and can burn for a long time. Benjamin Kalu, MD/CEO, Bende Export Limited, who disclosed this during a round table discussion organised by the company for exporters in the country, said EU countries like Belgium, Spain, Poland, United Kingdom, etc are biggest buyers of Nigerian charcoal.</div>
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According to him, his company has been exporting on average 200-300 containers of hardwood charcoal per month to buyers in EU, adding, “EU customers want charcoal that is compliant with quality control in terms of size and moisture content. Exporter must comply or lose money.”</div>
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He lamented that there are not as many Nigerians in the export business as importers and most of exporters do not last more than one or two years in the business and they fizzle out. In order to address this problem, he said his company has kicked off a campaign aimed at grooming one million new generation of genuine exporters over the next three years. “My focus is to groom a new generation of exporters; men and women of integrity who can make money for themselves and the country through foreign exchange.</div>
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“We are working hard to achieve this target in the next three years and the strategy we want to apply is training the trainers. We want to do this programme in the 36 states of the federation including Abuja, the federal capital territory. It is going to be moving from place tom place and it will be quarterly,” he said</div>
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He said that the move was his company’s response to drive by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC, to boost the country’s exporters base, noting: “Nigeria is the least when it comes to non-oil export according to the ranking by the World Trade Organisation, WTO.</div>
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Kalu, a lawyer turned exporter, said: “That spurred me into action and I said: we have to do something about that for non-oil export because Nigeria has been a mono economy depending on oil.</div>
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“We are looking forward to partnering with the Central Bank of Nigeria, Ministry of Agric, and the NEPC as one of the training organization; not only training but also finding exporters contracts, support and mentor them and see that we break the gap between the suppliers and the importers,” he said.</div>
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This is yet another business opportunity for those seeking business expansion and attaining higher financial status in the nearest future. Depending on your choice of money and what success mean to you. if interested in this business, you can state your decision and lets lead you through.</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63427541608929868.post-16149986706215132012013-10-10T05:18:00.001-07:002013-10-10T05:18:30.351-07:00SMART STATES GO AGRICULTURAL<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="background: #E9E9E9; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">With the recent seriousness
on the part of the Federal government of Nigeria, as regards more attention on
Agriculture. One will ordinarily expect many governors to act in such
directions as to create more wealth for its states. Especially as it concerns
the non-oil producing states.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="background: #E9E9E9; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">But for some
selfish reasons, they prefer being perpetual beggars and dependants on the
EXCESS CRUDE ACCOUNT. They make so much researches on the oil revenue and
explorations that they get so busy at begging and activism while some smart
Governors take advantage of the shift.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<img alt="rice plantation" src="http://thebusinessdispatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/rice-plantation.jpg" /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="background: #E9E9E9; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">States like Enugu,
and Ebonyi were known for Rice production in those years. It created so much
job opportunities and fed so many hungry mouths, atleast around the
geo-political zones. But today, less effort and attention are paid to such
sector.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="background: #E9E9E9; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In Anambra, who
dosn’t know about Onitsha YAM, what scale does it produce today? What scale does
Adani Rice produce? While the south Eastern governors depend on revenues
generated by die-hard business men and women, states like Ondo, are busy taking
the stride of Agriculture. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="background: #E9E9E9; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Recently, Ondo state
government hinted that it is planning to cultivate 3,000 hectares of rice
farmland in each of the 3 senatorial districts of the state towards ensuring
food security in the state.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="background: #E9E9E9; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">While speaking to
Journalists, the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo made
this disclosure during an inspection of a rice demonstration plantation in
Ayede- Ogbese in Akure North local government area.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="background: #E9E9E9; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">If the target of
the state government is met and the project eventually becomes a success, Ondo
state will be able to boast of self-sufficiency and even become an export
market for Rice in no distant time.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="background: #E9E9E9; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">And to achieve
this feat, the state government decided to train indigenous farmers with the
consultation of a Malaysian expert, Jamaludin Bin Jaya, who is the Manager and
Consultant involved in training the indigenous farmers in rice cultivation.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="background: #E9E9E9; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">He explained that
a total of 22 farmers are under studying the experts in the new methods of rice
cultivation.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="background: #E9E9E9; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">One of the
officials of the Ministry of Agriculture sponsored by the state government on
training to Malaysia, Omolakin Oluwole says he has gained enough knowledge as
he will be giving professional advice to rice farmers in the state.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="background: #E9E9E9; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The State Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji
Lasisi Oluboyo reveals that the target of Ondo state is to prepare about 9,000
hectares of Rice plantation; 3 thousand in each of the Senatorial districts of
the state, saying farmers have learnt a new method of planting rice which will
bring more yield. This is what a leader
should be doing. </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13213491711146232775noreply@blogger.com0