STOP USING YOUR MIRROR - 3 REASONS

   STOP USING YOUR MIRROR

You're probably wondering why I decided to write about your mirror. 

What could be wrong with using a mirror? or what's EhlWITTEE's business with my mirror? 

Even though I've never been a fan of the camera and mirrors likewise, let's consider this from a different perspective, My own perspective, EhlWITTEE's point of view.

Imagine you're at a junction and about crossing a road, you can see the cars moving to and fro, but beyond that, you can see the other side of the road. In this scenario, the other side of the road is your goal and that's your immediate future that you're seeing and trying to achieve. 

My question now is, 'After you cross the road and achieve your immediate future, What's next?'

Most of us are at this junction in our lives, probably thinking you need a new job, you need to start your own business, you want to go for masters, probably NYSC, or what so ever the immediate future you're seeing is. 

There is a process and there is a goal. But life goes beyond just one goal. 

You should have your long term goals and short term goals. 

Many of us just have short term goals like when trying to cross the road. The short term goals are what should lead to the Long term goals. As such, you can clearly decide and discern if your short term goals will lead you to achieving the long term goals. 

When you can do this, you are better informed in your decision making process.

That is exactly how your mirror works. 

Those short term goals are the mirror effects. Your mirror only shows you your immediate surrounding. Except if you're futuristic with long term goals, you're just floating in the direction the waves of present circumstances and uncertainty pushes you.

THE WAY OUT

Apart from the question, What will I eat?

Here are my three favorite questions. You must give a well detailed answer to each of these questions in order to determine your present state in life, understand where you're going and where you should be. 

These questions if sincerely and properly answered, will give you a sense of direction.

1- Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years?

2- Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?

3- Where do you see yourself in the next 2 years?

Your answers to these questions should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound (SMART).

Its easier answering them in the order I arranged them and not chronologically.

Soon as you answer question 1, you have an idea of what your answer to question 2 should be, which would also lead you to fill in the gaps for question 3. 

Your answer to question 3 should lead you to achieving your answer to question 2, which in turn, should help you achieve your answer to question 1.

The next step should then be to determine the steps you should take and not to take to get to where you want to be in the next 10 years.

This is where strategy and planning comes in.

Take time out today to re-think your life and re-trace your footsteps.

If you find out you're way off track your life goals right now, don't be dismayed.

With a positive mindset, you realise what you are doing is just a means to an end.

Let God direct you, Joseph went through so many off track experiences, unknowing to him, the pit, potiphar's wife and the prison were all the means to an end which was God's divine plan for him.

You can't do it alone, involve God.

I wish to see you succeed. Plan your life and be great.

Think WITTEE! Think Intelligence

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DO YOU WANT EASY?

The Easy life is actually easy

The Information age has made money making much easier for those who can adapt to change. Your ability to adapt to change and maximize the growing potentials of the world around you will determine how far you can strive in success.

It doesn't take money to make money, it takes knowledge to make money - Times have changed, the rules have changed

Hard work is great for stress, Smart work is great for success

You must have heard the saying,'You break your health to get wealth and then, spend your wealth to get health'

This is so for most people. The more painful thing is that in the end, many people don't even have enough of the wealth to revive their health. Sadly, most people die of Money sickness. Money sickness could be in form of cancer, arthritis, hypertension, stroke, HBP etc. I call it money sickness because most people acquire this sicknesses in their pursuit for money.

Money is not the most important thing in life, but money does affect everything that is important :richdad

Many people, when asked the last time they went for a check up, comfortably ate 3 square meals in a day, rested for a whole day or even took a vacation; you hear the most silly excuse, 'I don't have the time'. But the time is created when the body breaks down.
Let's compare our body to a generator set. The generator worsks itself to power other electrical alliances, just as we work ourselves to meet all our needs. If the fuel or engine oil isn't enough in the gen, it goes off or doesn't work properly. Likewise, If the gen is left working for too long without servicing, it develops fault. Many of us don't service our bodies by going to the doctor, many of us don't refill our bodies by eating the right things at the right time and by resting.

We all want wealth, but we dont want to get the wealth and be given a time frame to spend it. God forbid after the wealth comes, the doctor also comes up with a terminal sickness or a food menu of what we can eat and cannot eat. If you ask me that's the worst, because I like food.

If your current job isn't allowing you take care of yourself, my dear, find an alternative for your own good. God forbid anything happens to you, in less than a month, your boss will find someone else. If you're an entrepreneur, God forbid anything happens to you, your next of kin takes over all the dividends of your years of destroying your body,. It gets worse if your next of kin can't handle the business and ruins it. For some of us who are probably thinking of quitting our job, I recommend the book,'Before you quit your job' by Robert Kiyosaki & Sharon L.Letcher.

For those of us who are entrepreneurs, I recommend you go back to your drawing board and work out a plan to bring experts on board who can lessen the burden on you. When you work smart, you achieve more. Warren Buffet, Bill gates, Mike Adenuga all have employees who work hard to increase the value of their businesses. Stop decieving youself with the notion that no one else can handle your business better than you. You will definitely find better professionals who will lessen the burden on you, provided your business has the right framework, both legal and financial.
Think ahead of your now, what's the value of money if you loose the freedom to spend it as you please.

Think WITTEE! Think Intelligence

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COMMUNICATION FOR BUSINESS GROWTH

Communication is the most important skill of any entrepreneur.

In my previous post, I wrote about getting your dream job. If you haven't read that post, click here.
However I personally prefer entrepreneurship, maybe because I'm an entrepreneur and I understand the dividends as compared to a 9-5 job. This week, I'll exposing the secret to great leadership and entrepreneurship.
This secret is effective communication.

As an entrepreneur, you must possess these two types of communication skills, and not just possess, but master them.

1- Interpersonal communication - This is simply self control. Business can be very challenging. When the going gets tough, only the tough get...............
Times of business challenges are when the true character of the entrepreneur is revealed. As an entrepreneur, you must possess strength of character. You character should never change due to challenges in business. For instance, some entrepreneurs go into hiding when they can't pay bad debts or some may device means to rip off customers to make extra-profit, some entrepreneurs would make mistakes and blame employees. As an entrepreneur, you must take responsibility for everything in the business, even when its the employee that makes the mistake. Focus on integrity and master your internal self.
When you face challenges, stick to your core mission and don't give up. Challenges would only make you stronger and smarter. If you break in the face of challenges, you're no better than you were yesterday, you've not grown, you're not smarter than you were yesterday. No matter how long it may last, you ability to face the problem and solve it is what makes you a true entrepreneur.

2- Interpersonal communication- is the ability of the entrepreneur to manage people effectively.

                                               Business is easy, managing people is hard. 

Its the job of the entrepreneur to gather different individuals and forge them into a team who would give their best to achieve the goal of the entrepreneur. Subsequently, its also the job of the entrepreneur to convince investors that his business is the best business they can put their money into and to make them trust him. The entrepreneur has to explain to customers why they can't do without his/her product or service and let them understand that his/her brand is the best that's available in the market. If you're not good at working with people, entrepreneurship is not for you.

You need great communication to convince people to give you their money for an idea that hasn't even become full reality yet. How do you get investors for business when you're not good at communicating your thoughts and ideas.
Communication in this regards goes beyond language. Its more of self expression and your ability to make people understand what you want them to. Its your ability to propel people to action to achieve a goal.

Let's take a deeper look at how communication can affect your affect your business.

Communication is necessary for success in all departments of the business.
These departments include - Mission, Team, Leadership, Cash-flow, Communication, Legal, Systems and Product :copied from Richdad's B-I Triangle.

The team won't properly understand the mission of the business if the entrepreneur doesn't communicate it well to them. Even the entrepreneur won't be able to come up with a realistic mission if he has a weak character.
The entrepreneur, who would initially lead the team, wont do it well without effective communication at all the levels.
Cash-flow is only consistent when communication at the sales and marketing level flows freely and effectively.
The Legal aspect is useless without effective communication, instead of company management, it becomes crisis management if communication at this level isn't effective.
The systems is basically how the different parts of the business works including production, staff structure etc. Imagine a company where all the departments don't work in unity or all the department heads are in disagreement; that's not a company, that's a mob.

Basically, as an entrepreneur, communication skills is what should first be developed. You don't need to be an expert in all the skills needed to run your business, but you need to be an expert to get people who have the skills required to run your business.

I doubt if Dangote knows how to mine limestone to produce Dangote Cement, nor does he know how to extract sugar for Dangote Sugar but these two products are the fastest selling in the Nigerian market today with over a thousand units produced daily.

Communication can either build or break you and your business. 

To gain effective communication skills, you will need to learn it. Read motivational books, read books on Leadership, read books on strategy; I would recommend, 'The ART of WAR' -SUN TZU : translated by Thomas Cleary, 'The Leader within you' - by Myles Munroe. Also read, 'Before you quit your Job'- by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon L Letcher.

As a true entrepreneur, communication would take you farther than talent can. Communication first with God, within yourself and with others. You're good to go. Adolph Hitler, Alexander the Great, Nelson Mandela and all other motivational speakers and Men of History all had great communication skills which is why they were effective leaders. You can't be a leader with bad communication skills.

Develop yourself, communicate well, build your team, build your business. Be a leader, Be great. I wish you success in your chosen field.

Think WITTEE! Think Intelligence

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HOW TO GET YOUR DREAM JOB - 4 MAJOR STEPS

  Lets get a job now

We can't all the entrepreneurs. If everyone is an entrepreneur, who would be the employees? besides, not everyone has what it takes to be an entrepreneur. Unlike most of my other posts, this post is for the great people who are more productive working in a corporate setting.

Just like every great achievement in life starts with a vision and a plan, so does getting that dream job. The principles you're about to learn are not principles for getting just any job, they are principles for getting your dream job.

We have probably heard of some professionals who switch jobs as often as they want because they have built an irresistible repetition. It all started from somewhere.

To get your dream job, you should ask yourself these questions;

• What company/companies do I want to work? 
• For how long would I work there?
• What position would I hold there?
• What legacy would I leave behind there? 

Upon answering these questions, you're ready to get your dream job.

When you determine your 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice of company, you then go on company survey.

The purpose of this survey is to find the loop holes in the services the company offers and determine how you can add value to the company.
Having this properly figured out, build yourself into an arsenal that would help your dream company succeed.
This could be in form of learning skills, disciplining yourself to be able to do certain things you wouldn't do ordinarily, training yourself or even having others train you. It could also be in the form of getting additional certifications and qualifications and know how to effectively implement what you've learnt.

Now that you're that value adding arsenal your dream company cannot resist, compose your CV to feature those additional skills your dream company lacks or needs; you can also attach a write-up or document of your personal achievements or proposed solution to certain problems you feel the company is facing.
Of course, be careful not to give all your ideas, lest you shoot yourself in the leg.

Approach the company to summit your CV, whether or not they are hiring.
You can either do this by going to the company and submitting your CV to the HR officer or by booking a meeting with a top official in the company, AMD OR MD if possible, and sell yourself to them.
Remember you're there to offer value and not to negotiate price or sell yourself.

Since you might not have any relevant working experience, this might not work.
However, to prove to yourself and the company that you really want to add value and not after just the money, you can apply for internship and work yourself till your value is noticed and leveraged upon.
Internship might be without salary, don't be dismayed- You have a vision.

If you are really adding value to the company and they can't do without your services, its only logical for you to be offered a job.

You should not forget what legacy you plan to be known for.
In every office setting, take it or leave it, everyone is always known for something, be it gossip, farting, over eating, lateness, talkative etc.
Choose your legacy wisely as this would speak for you most especially in your absence or in your time of less productivity or challenge.
Your legacy could be Innovative genius, God fearing, hardworking, Early to work, etc.
Even as an intern who earns little or nothing, a legacy is expected of you, and you either form your legacy intentionally or unintentionally.

You should also know  when to ask for a salary raise and when to resign.
Except if your vision is to become the Managing Director, don't spend too much of your time in that company after you have achieved your goal there. You could begin to get redundant and loose value.

Expose yourself to challenges and always keep improving yourself, whether or not you're jobless.

The key is to keep yourself productive and busy, keep doing, don't stop doing. Also, don't let money be your primary target, money is good, but money can never bring you complete satisfaction.
Remember, when the value you add supersedes the amount you charge, you become invaluable.

Think WITTEE! Think intelligence

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GREATNESS IS A CHOICE

Good is the enemy of great - Jim Collins

The word GREAT is a very big and diverse word.
In some dictionaries, it is defined as, 'Very big, Large Scale, Very good, Important' etc. From this definitions, it seems like all the interpretations of GREAT all mean the same right? Wrong!!!

Greatness is relevant, Greatness is diverse, Greatness comes in variety.

This means that what may seem great to me might not be seen as great to you and vice versa. Subsequently, my level of greatness may be bigger or smaller than yours, but its all a matter of perception. However, any form of greatness will have the following characteristics;

• It would bring joy
• It would bring satisfaction
• It would bring recognition

This three characteristics all come with greatness. If your definition of GREAT doesn't have these three features, its not yet GREAT.

The ability of a person to become great isn't hidden in luck or chance, its a CHOICE.

To become great, you have to make sacrifices. I don't think there's anyone who has ever being great who didn't have to make sacrifices.
To be great, you first have to decide that you want Greatness - No one can decide whether or not you will be great but you.

When you finally decide to become great, you have to start taking steps toward greatness. The first step is to discover yourself. Remember greatness brings joy and satisfaction, so if you're not doing something that would bring you happiness and rest of mind, no matter how big it is, from the definitions above, it isn't greatness. Discovering yourself often comes with finding your gift, what you're passionate about, what you can do for free no matter how long and what you're happy doing.

Self Discovery is the platform for greatness.

Its easier to become an expert when you love what you do.

We don't hear of great workers or great followers or great servants, you only hear of GREAT LEADERS.

You have to become a leader to be great.

When you discover yourself, you have found the leader in you. No one was born a leader; if you've ever hear the statement that people are born leaders, it is very wrong. Contrary to that, leaders are not born but developed. You have to develop the leader in you to be great.
Humans are like seeds, the more you nurture the seed, it can become a great tree tomorrow, so also, if you develop yourself, you can be a great leader tomorrow. It depends mostly on how you choose to nurture your seed.
Come to think of it, all so-called leaders had to go through some form of apprentice training/development before getting to where they are today.
Religious leaders started from being workers in church, political leaders started their training from very minor posts, Business leaders started from being average businessmen also.

When you're a leader in your field, you attract greatness.

You have to start from somewhere, Greatness doesn't come overnight.

Ever wondered why many success stories come with a lot of hardship? It's not really about suffering or torture, its just the development process. Just like gold which has to go through a  super hot furnace to be refined into a priceless metal, you have to overcome circumstances and challenges to become a leader and achieve greatness.

What makes you happy can make you great. 

Decide to be great, work towards it because your life depends on it. See challenges as tests you must pass to attain greatness. Just be great. Greatness requires a process, keep doing the right things and stay true to the process.

       "Don't overdo the do, don't overwork the work"- Chuck Bauer

Pastor E.A Adeboye, Pastor S.I Makinwa, Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki, Albert Einstein, Nelson Mandela etc. all found greatness in their gift.
Serve your gift to the world and be great.

Think WITTEE! Think Intelligence

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3 LAWS FOR SUCCESS

     Improve yourself, don't stop, don't be basic

Want to be successful? everyone wishes success. The interesting fact about success is that
SUCCESS IS RELATIVE. To a soldier, coming back alive from war could be success, whereas, to another soldier, say a commander, winning the war could mean success. An employee is successful when he/she gets a good job with good salary, incentives and promotion, an entrepreneur is successful when the business is successful.

Success is a journey, not a destination.

Which means that when you achieve one level of success, its only a matter of time before you set a new goal for success,knowingly or unknowingly. For instance, You finish high school with all round distinctions, that sensation of joy that that success brings is only temporal till you begin to aim at entering college to attain that success sensation again. Same goes for marriage to children, Starting a
business to expanding the business and having branches, getting a job to getting a promotion and a pay raise.

However, there are some skills we need to acquire to keep our success gauge full as often as possible.

1- IMPROVE YOURSELF:

Similar to success, self improvement is relative depending on what success goal you're trying to achieve. It could be in the form of studying to pass an exam, taking an extra course to qualify you for a promotion, taking financial classes to become a better investor or even using more makeup and perfume to appear more attractive.

However, I would admit that in what ever field or whatever success goal you're trying to achieve, self improvement would always happen better in the process of learning and practicing.

Learning can be through reading, attending seminars, seeking advice from mentors,practical on-field learning. The major key to success is to keep learning. Learning never stops, keep your mind open, no knowledge is lost, keep learning, keep practicing what you've learnt and keep attaining success.


2- DON'T STOP LEARNING:

Prior to improving yourself through learning, Keep learning, don't stop learning.

We live in the information age characterized with free access to so much information. The advantage of the information age is that there's so much information that can be accessed for free, the disadvantage of the information age also is that there's too much information that's free to be accessed.

This means information overload and also means the wrong information can fall into the wrong hands for free. But the key to staying above the game in this new global village is to keep learning. Don't stop learning. Don't stop being successful.

More so, Learn never to be satisfied with one level of success! Learn to crave for success! Learn to achieve success through the right means. Learn success!


3- BE INNOVATIVE, BE CREATIVE:

To achieve the extra-ordinary, you have to be extra-ordinary. Don't be basic

A major function of being creative or innovative, as the case maybe involves practicing what we learn. Even Jesus in the bible gave strict instructions to his disciples not to just be readers of the word but also to be doers of the word.

Practice what you learn, don't be scared to practice, if you're scared to practice what you've learnt, how do you know you've learnt.

Until you practice what you learnt, you've not learnt. 

No wonder they say the grave is the richest place on earth with so many ideas that were never executed. Don't take your idea to the grave, utilize it while you're alive so others can benefit.
Learn, Keep learning, Don't stop improving yourself, Practice what you learn, Be innovative and Be successful!

It doesn't take money to make money, it takes knowledge to make money- The times have changed. INVEST IN YOURSELF.
I wish to see you achieve success in whatever endeavor you set your mind to.

Think WITTEE! Think intelligence

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HOW GREAT IS YOUR IDEA?

It starts with a pen and paper (black and white)

When I was much younger, I heard someone say all human beings are entitled to 5 minutes madness daily. I don't know how true that is, but I think its absurd and scary. It means someone who lives for 70 years has spent about 127,750 minutes in madness; approximately 90 days as a mad man.
Contrary to that, I believe every one is entitled to a life time of greatness.

Greatness is a choice, you too can be great.

Ever wondered how people develop multi-billion dollar ideas? You read someone's story and wish you had the idea instead, in some cases its a very simple idea and you feel you could have done better if you were in the person's shoes.

The secret to being great is execution.

Execution starts with a paper and biro or any writing material, even your notepad, thanks to technology. Every now and then, ideas popup in our heads, great ideas that we neglect.
How do you know an idea isn't great if you never executed it?

To execute that idea that came jokingly which probably has the potential of greatness, the first step is to write it down.
No matter how good your brain is, you are bound to forget some things every now and then, and if not the entire idea, some key elements.
When you write it down, you can always go back to it, re-read, develop, make it better and plan towards it.

After you must have written it down, take your time to think carefully about it, then go back and re-edit the idea.

The next step is to write down an execution/operations plan.
Your plan could be to start the execution now, next 5 years, lesser or more, but most importantly, write down a plan with a time frame and a deadline. Often times, go back to the idea and just re-read for the sake of it, new ideas will definitely come out of it.

Whatever your execution plan is, be disciplined and work according to it.
This is where you need to combine hard wok, consistency and strategy to keep you pushing.

Greatness is relevant;

No matter how great your idea is, you need to clearly define the goal and the vision of your idea. No one else can see your vision clearer than you, no one else can execute your idea better than you.

The next step will be to seek opinions from those around you, could be parents, friends, mentors etc. Since its still an idea, you can't patent or copyright just an idea, so be careful how you present it and who you present it to. Choose those you'll work with strategically and tell God about it. You might also consider expressing your idea in Power Point to look more vivid, but most importantly, start the idea, no one will take you serious if you have not started something. A business plan and financial projections are also necessary, don't skip that part.

Procrastination will kill the idea even before maturity.

Criticism is good; only if you use it to get better. So far you're sure of your goal and vision, don't let anyone discourage your greatness, they can't see what you're seeing. If you're doing it for the right reasons, with the right attitude and the right people, You can and you will be great.

Think WITTEE! Think Intelligence

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BE A YOUNG FAILURE

Be a young failure - Fail while you're young and fail fast

Failing is a good thing, but it depends on how you fail. There are two ways to fail
1- Failing successfully
2- Failing  while failing

1- Failing successfully - This is the good way of failing. It is learning while failing and being able to pick yourself up, retrace your steps, examine and evaluate why and how you failed and understanding steps to take and not to take in order to fail or win in such an endeavor. Failing successfully, briefly explains the concept of - you can't do something the same way and expect a different result.

2- Failing while failing- Contrary to the above statement, people who fail while failing are committed to doing the same thing the same way and expecting a different result- that's if they even try to redo the same thing after trying and failing once. Failing while failing is for losers who want a fast way out, neglect the process and are more focused on the goal.

The process is more important than the goal.

The process is what shapes you into what you become when the goal has been achieved. The process is what teaches you the steps to take and to avoid when trying to achieve the goal.

Thomas Edison once said it would take him just five years to rebuild everything he has achieved if he looses it. He was so confident of this because he was true to the process and he understood the process of how he achieved his goal.

Being a young failure is my way of advising you to start young.

Its easier to start business while you're young than when you're old. What are the odds of starting young?
- You practically have nothing to loose
- Time is on your side,
- You can explore so many other options while you're young
- You can afford to fail more and fail fast so you can learn quicker and retrace your steps.

Lets get practical, would you rather buy a biro from a 30 year old man or from a 10 year old boy with his cute face trying to be entrepreneurial? Most of us would prefer to support the child, at least till he gets older and enters the labour market, not because his pen is better, but because we are proud of a young entrepreneur and want to encourage him. But in reality, the old man needs it more probably to support his family, whereas, the boy can always be fed by his parents, whether or not he sells the stationery.

Get your hands into as many things as you can while you're young, be true to the process and learn, don't let people do it all for you, get your hands in the dirt and try to solve business problems yourself.
Fail fast, fail young, learn and be great.

Think WITTEE! Think Intelligence

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WHY MANY STARTUPS FAIL

90% OF ALL STARTUPS FAIL

Many of us today have great Ideas, in my experience, 20% of youths I have met have mind blowing ideas running through their heads. The only but here is, many of these ideas don't make it through to the execution stage, and for some who do, they don't make it past the startup stage.


Here's the scenario, you have a wonderful idea, you have all the marketing and revenue generation systems in place, possibly even a business plan and a power-point presentation, you have also planned your strategy carefully. All this is just a piece of a very big complex puzzle. This doesn't always guarantee success.

         Jason Ndoku said - "Startups don't die, they commit suicide and the owners are usually
                                          the ones who do the killing"


Some of the key factors you must possess to build a successful startup, which are probably the most important, are: - Passion, the right Team, and an External Source of Income.

Passion is what will keep your fire burning till your startup becomes profitable. Passion is that voice in your head that hunts you whenever you think of giving up.

Your team will get you farther than you alone can go - If you want to walk fast, walk alone, if you want to walk far, walk with people. Your startup has to stand the test of time to be successful and it will wear you down if you're alone in it. Your team members should be positive minded professionals in their fields. The fields in question doesn't necessarily have to be an academic field, it could be a track record of success in a department relevant for the success of your startup. Carefully choose your team and make sure their purpose on the team is relevant and well defined. Likewise, if you have the wrong team, that can be a major cause of stagnancy for you and in some cases may force your passion to die.

YOU NEED AN EXTERNAL SOURCE OF INCOME - this is one truth many startup visionaries deliberately ignore with the notion that 'where there is a will, there will be a way'. Yes, you're right by being strong in your faith, but a startup is a business, 'you can't start a business without capital'.
You need something to keep your fuel refilled till your startup becomes profitable and investors start getting interested. What if your startup doesn't make any profit within the first year after launch, Do you give up? You might not get incubation support like others did. An entrepreneur who plans to be successful will plan for the worst and hope for the best.

There's no short-cut to success, neither is there any given formula. It worked for him doesn't mean it would work for her, but nevertheless, if you have this three things right, with God's backing, you are good to go. I wish you unimaginable success.

Think WITTEE! Think Intelligence

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BUILD THE BUSINESS, NOT THE IDEA

Build the business, not just the idea

Ideas are intangible forces, but are more powerful than the brains that give birth to them.

Africa is blessed with so much talents. Nigeria for example, Nigeria has over 50% of her population under the age of 40. Such a population will have so many mind blowing ideas flying around. This is truly evident as experts have gone as far as comparing Lagos-Nigeria to Silicon Valley-USA, where Apple, Microsoft and so many other multinational brands were born. Lagos also has its startups that are now big businesses such as Iroko Tv, Jumia, Jobberman, Hotels.ng etc.

Many startups envy these companies and aspire to be like them. Most have what it takes to be better than them, but many neglect some very few important details. In the end, you find yourself going about pushing A VERY GREAT BUT NOT PROFITABLE IDEA. In most cases, these ideas are actually very profitable, but the neglect of the business aspect of the idea on the part of the entrepreneur not only slows down the growth of the startup, but also pushes investors away.

The one mistake many startup entrepreneurs make is not documenting their profit/business model before they build the startup, most just concentrate on making the idea great. Many startup entrepreneurs when asked about how they intend to make money from their startup, come up with some mumbo jumbo and the conviction that when they the startup is big, money will start flowing in. Its not magic, have your own unique business/profit model that will ensure money will keep flowing in for your startup, if not, it would never be big. This is one reason startups find it difficult to convince investors; Investors need to be sure their money will return, if you can't guarantee that, no matter how great your idea is, they are not likely to give you their money.

HAVE MORE THAN ONE CASH-FLOW STREAM

Cash-flow is the revenue your idea generates. Have a plan A, B and C. The idea in some cases is first of its kind, for something that has never existed, so many things could go wrong at the beginning, including the revenue generating system. Develop comprehensive backup plans, so if your plan A doesn't bring money in, plan B and C will. You may seem not interested in the money and be more concerned about adding value, but trust me, if money doesn't come in to sustain the startup, your startup might die faster than it started.

We heard the story of Whatsapp being sold, and recently, one of the biggest social media sites also. If the business behind these ideas were strong enough and generated enough profit, the owners would have definitely not sold them out.
As a startup entrepreneur, you should form the habit of studying other startups, both those that failed and those that succeeded.

One entrepreneur I respect so much is Robert Kiyosaki. When his startup company 'Richdad' was just a startup, his first product was The Cashflow Game. He knew he needed a plan B and C to generate cash-flow so he wrote the book, 'Rich dad, Poor dad', which apparently went viral and became even more popular than the initial product, but subsequently, it sold the initial product - The Cashflow Game. An entrepreneur needs to plan and predict the future to be successful.
PLANNING IS KEY TO SUCCESS, STRATEGY IS KEY TO EFFECTIVE PLANNING.

Think WITTEE! Think intelligence

For business ideas, click here  To get capital for your business, click- Business Capital 

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BUSINESS CAPITAL

Queen's Young Leader 2017 Programme

The Queen's Young Leaders Programme discovers, celebrates and supports exceptional young people from across the commonwealth, leaving a lasting legacy for her majesty The Queen.

Last year a search was launched to find exceptional young people to receive the first ever Queen’s Young Leaders Awards. Hundreds of applications flooded in from incredible young people all dedicated to making lasting change in their community and beyond.

This Award recognizes and celebrates exceptional people aged 18-29 from across the Commonwealth, who are taking the lead in their communities and using their skills to transform lives. Winners of this prestigious Award will receive a unique package of training, mentoring and networking, including a one-week residential programme in the UK during which they will collect their Award from Her Majesty The Queen.

The deadline is: September 4, 2016

Eligibility:

Each application/nomination must meet the following criteria:

Applicants need to have proven experience of working to improve their communities locally, regionally or at a national level and be able to show evidence of their achievements.

Applicants must be aged between 18 and 29 throughout 2017

Applicants must be citizens of and working in a Commonwealth country or citizens of an Overseas Territories (of a Commonwealth Member).                                          NB- Nigerians are eligible.

Applicants need to demonstrate evidence of their leadership qualities.

All applicants need to be supported by a suitable referee (a professional in one of the following occupations; a teacher or counselor; a registered physician or nurse; a church or community leader; social worker or family services; or business leader). Referees must not be related to you.

Priority will be given to individuals who have overcome challenges to achieve their goals.

All applications/nominations will be considered based on the young person’s achievements to date as well as their potential and future ambition. Award winners will be shortlisted by an Advisory Panel made up of young people from across the Commonwealth and a Board of advisors representing the three partners. The shortlist for Award winners will then be presented to The Queen’s Young Leaders Programme Board, which contains members from all three partner organisations, for final selection and decision.

Benefits:

- As a Queen’s Young Leader you will be allocated a mentor with relevant experience and expertise who will support you over the course of the year to continue and develop your work.

- Online learning will be provided with materials relevant to your area of interest, as well as serving as a place for you to meet and share experiences and knowledge with other Queen’s Young Leaders.

- It is a one-week residential programme in the UK:

- The Award winners will have the opportunity to meet with inspiring people and visit organisations in the UK that have expertise in areas such as media and communications, social action and advocacy. 

During this week, Awards will be presented by Her Majesty The Queen at Buckingham Palace.

To apply, click:Queen's Young Leaders 2017  

For business ideas, click:here 

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BAD ECONOMY IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS

The major characteristic of a bad economy is an economy with high inflation rate.

Let’s understand a few techniques to grow your business with inflation.

Investopedia defines inflation as a sustained increase in the general level of prices for goods and services.

All over the world, inflation has become a ‘viral disease’ that is gaining momentum in its torment in many countries. Here are a few facts about inflation:
• It’s a global problem
• It can never stop
• It could fluctuate but will always be on the increase
• It can be very advantageous for a good business person and could destroy a bad business person
• Inflation causes a lot of economic hazards

A bad economy can help young brands become popular easily and grow market share. Likewise, it could help known brands maintain customer loyalty and increase their market share. How?

Inflation comes with a trend and involves every player in the production/distribution chain. For instance, when price of raw materials go up, price of production goes up, manufacturers increase their price of supply, wholesalers are next, and retailers are next, then the final consumers complain the price of goods have increased. In some cases, inflation is caused when some players in the distribution chain choose to hoard products that are of necessity, thereby shortening the supply and increasing the demand.
Whatever the cause of inflation, you can use it to your advantage. Here's how;

In a bad economy, people want to spend less and get more, that is, they want more value for their money. You can leverage on this.
You, as a new brand in the market, having to compete with established brands can manipulate inflation in your favor. This strategy is adaptable if you're not profit oriented but value oriented.

When business starts going bad for most companies, they cut down their expenses beginning with advert budget, laying off some staffs etc. Often times, this isn't the best solution.
When business is going down, that’s when you should spend more. Spend more on adverts and sales promotion and not otherwise else your products become less visible in the market.

Now my question is; ‘how do you intend to revive your sales when you're no longer advertising or running promos’? Don’t cut down on advert cost.

The next step is either to maintain your price, offer more sales promotions or use coupons/price slashes. Of course, this will mean lesser profit but more market share, loyalty and patronage. This means you make your profit based on quantity and not quality of sales. Of course, this strategy cannot work for all brands, but will definitely work for most upcoming brands. The most important point here is to never reduce your quality, but rather increase advert and PR regardless of inflation. By so doing, you will later on increase your price, and by then you'd have created loyal customers.

Leverage on digital marketing, it’s cheaper and more effective

When you offer people more value for their money, they become addicted to your service.

Another strategy if you have an already established market and your product is of necessity, could be to hoard your products and when demand increases, you distribute the product with a sales promo that will pose as a threat to your competition and not only will your customers be happy to have your products back, even the marketers would be happy to sell a now available high demand product on promo.

Smart investors also like inflation because it’s usually the best time to invest. Take real estate for instance, the value never reduces but rather increases when the economy is bad, likewise, failing prominent businesses are more likely to sell shares/ownership during down-times.

Though times of hyper-inflation might be the worst time to purchase some goods from the international market, but sometimes it’s also a good time to find local merchants desperate to make some money in a bad economy.

Please note; I'm not advising you to take advantage of people, I'm only advising you to understand the times and increase your financial IQ.
I'll reference the men of Issachar in the bible who understood the times. You can rule your world, whether or not the economy is bad. A good business will strive even in the worst economy.
When value satisfies need, compensation exceeds supply.

Think WITTEE! Think Intelligence
For business Ideas, click here   To get business capital, click here

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CHOOSING YOUR BUSINESS PARTNER

Choosing your partners in business
Put God first, get an exit strategy before starting, work with passion, and determine if what your partner brings to the table is what is needed the most at that moment.

Have you ever heard of any successful partnership and wished it for yourself? Definitely, we all must have heard of successful partnerships, good examples are: the Jumia friends, the Google boys etc. Its only Nigerian music partnerships I know that barely lasts; even twin brothers ended their business partnership.

A partnership can be a good thing, and a disastrous thing. Just as we all know of successful partnerships, we might have probably heard of the disastrous partnerships; even marriage partnerships turn out terribly wrong at times. A partnership would only be great if you have the fundamentals played out right.

Since we are specializing on business partnerships, I would expatiate on building a successful business partnership.
For a business partnership to be successful, certain things have to be set in place, some questions have to be answered and some consultations need to be made.
Ask yourself these questions-
                                                *   Why do I want a partner?
                                              *   What kind of partner do I want?
                                       *   What will be the terms of the partnership?
                                         *   How long would do the partnership last?
Before answering these questions, you should understand yourself, which is probably the most important thing.

Answering these questions entails, whether you need a partner for intellectual capital, financial capital or you need an assistant, if the latter is the case, you should probably get a PA, sometimes, pressure and stress make us think we need partners. You should do this to forecast the future of the business and your partnership, from your point of view as well as your partners'.
You also need to understand yourself first before you can understand your partner, you should be frank with yourself to know if you're a good team worker, if you're not, your partnership would definitely have an expiry date.

Expiry dates in partnership isn't actually a bad thing. 

Before you start a partnership in the first place, you should legally spell out the terms of the partnership which should entail an exit strategy (this could serve as the expiry date) should in case the partnership doesn't work out. That's similar to stating the terms for a divorce before marriage commitment. The terms should also contain other details such as revenue contribution and profit sharing ratios, duties of each partner and the rules and regulations binding the partnership. Many of us overlook having doing the legal work for various things we put our hands into, which is why 10years hard work and sustained partnership can become a death threat within days.
The legal backing stands as your insurance in a partnership.

Most importantly, understanding yourself first would help you determine the partner you want, who should definitely share the same passion you have for the success of the business. If one partner has passion and can commit all for the success of the business while the other can't, one party begins to feel cheated, jealousy sets in, bitterness takes over and disagreement isn't inevitable—funny enough, someone may land in the doctor's care.

You should also understand the personality type of your partner. To be accurate on this, it’s advisable to have known your supposed partner for a while before going into any business together. If you're not compatible, ‘put your slippers on your head and run’.

Lastly, a partnership isn't something you should exempt God from, after all, God is the best partner you can have in a business, He takes care of everything, demands 10% profit and allows you to keep 90%; isn't that a great partner? Involve God through prayers before you begin that partnership.
I hope to hear of more successful partnerships in Nigeria. Partnership could either accelerate your success or give your success a flat tire.

Think WITTEE! Think Intelligence
For business Ideas, click here   To get business capital, click here

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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SELF EMPLOYED AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Is there really a difference between an entrepreneur and being self employed? It depends on how you choose to look at it.
Being self employed is the stage just before becoming an entrepreneur. After you're self employed, then you grow on to become an entrepreneur.

Here are some key words we would be considering and their definitions from wiki

"Entrepreneurship has traditionally been defined as the process of designing, launching and running a new business, which typically begins as a small business, such as a start-up company, offering a product, process or service for sale"

"Self-employment is the act of generating one's income directly from customers through working, clients or other organizations as opposed to being an employee of a business(or person)"

"Capitalist - a wealthy person who uses money to invest in trade and industry for profit in accordance with the principles of capitalism"

From the definition of entrepreneurship above, we can deduce that anyone who would be an entrepreneur is thought to start small and grow big, meanwhile, self employment involves getting your money directly from customers and is opposed to being an employee of someone else other than yourself.
Lets look at it this way, for a self employed person who is usually the owner of a small business, the product being sold, whether its in form of a service or physical product, is usually built around the self-employed person, because you're the one that deals directly with the customers who generate the income for the business. If you're a good salesman/woman, your customers begin to trust you probably even more than your product if you have good communications skills, making yourself the major product or an integral part of what you offer. Self employment then means your customers pay you salary. Your customers become your boss, and later on, the business becomes your boss. You're still employed, but by a more lenient boss. The day you are not around to run the business, you probably don't earn any salary.

An entrepreneur should be a capitalist. From the definition above, the entrepreneur is first a small business starter and then becomes more of an investor and in most cases, the investor is barely involved in the business directly, its the cash-flow that interests the investor, not necessarily the working of the business.
The major reason why most people want to be entrepreneurs is to gain freedom. Freedom from a 9-5 job, freedom from your boss, freedom to go out when they want etc. All this freedom luxury isn't available for most self-employed because they still have bosses, either the customer or the business.
Remember your economics class on the four factors of production and their rewards: Land - Rent, Labour - Wages/salary, Capital - Interest, Entrepreneurship - Profit.
The goal of every self-employed person, is to grow into an entrepreneur/capitalist. If you can do this, then your small business becomes an investment and whether or not the entrepreneur is present, this time he keeps earning dividends/cash-flow/profit but not salary. Its the self employed who is a labourer for his business earns salary instead.
You're still self employed if your employees would call you before making any sales decision in the office, you're still part of the product. You're still self employed if your employees cannot run your business smoothly if you're not in the office. True freedom and entrepreneurship is when you can take a vacation at anytime  and be rest assured your cash-flow would keep going up. One major reason most small businesses never scale through being small is because the self-employed person only trusts himself to run his business. Trust issues were probably even the reason your previous boss in the office was harsh on you. Learn to trust people by employing the right people and adapting the right systems to run your business effectively. Be the boss you wanted your former boss to be. When your business system isn't well developed, then it becomes a struggle for money between you and your employees to monitor cash-flow. Imagine how bosses of multinational companies maintain thousands of staff and the company's revenue keeps going up. Before you start your business, think, strategize and research on your expansion plan so you wont just be self-employed but you will graduate to being an entrepreneur and a capitalist.

Think WITTEE! Think Intelligence

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PROFIT AND LOGISTICS

Product pickup and delivery

Do you know about online stores? Of course, we all do, except if you live outside this digitized age, you should understand what an online store is.

But do you understand how the whole process works? From the production to the delivery stage, its all handled by individuals like me and you. For those of us who think its a computer that does most of the work, I'm sorry but you're wrong. All the computer does is to accept and save images and prices, calculate your order fee and notify your seller/store merchant. Every other process till you get your ordered product is handled by individuals.

We now live in a digitized age where online markets are getting bigger and securing more patronage than physical brick and mortar stores. The major cause of this drift is CONVENIENCE PURCHASE and the most important feature of convenience purchase is home delivery. Online payment, pay on delivery, compare price and the likes are all under the back bone of HOME DELIVERY. Home delivery is done by logistics firms/agents.

Some facts about logistics.
* Its in high demand
* You can be a freelancer and start small
* Its very lucrative, regardless of fuel scarcity or fuel price
* There are so many platforms that can aid your success
* It has a steady market
* It requires good pressure management and accounting skills

The good news is you can start your own logistics firm and begin receiving orders soonest.
You would need a bike or bikes to start with. For a small starter, that's probably the most important machine you would need. The next stage is to make your self known to merchants on online stores and website owners. A good way to do this is to register yourself as a logistic firm on online stores. A couple online stores even grant you the leverage to list yourself on their seller services such as Konga-seller-services etc. You should also send mails to websites that sell products that need to be delivered. You would be surprised at your feedback rate.
You might also want to consider making business cards to you give your customers for professionalism. V-connect is also a good place to register yourself as a logistics merchant.
Note# you must know how to arrange customer accounts in order of product type, delivery contact, seller contact etc.

If you would be the one doing the delivery yourself, then you must know how to navigate yourself very well within your state of location, but if you will be employing a rider/riders, make sure they are conversant with the state they reside in. You should also make sure you have adequate information about your riders and if possible, a surety who can stand for them should in case something goes wrong. God forbid there is a case of a rider fleeing with goods to be delivered, the surety would be your insurance.
Don't overlook insurance for a logistics business. Products could get damaged, delivered to the wrong address or any other mishap, so the expenses don't get out of hand, make sure you have insurance company watching over your business. Logistics could be risky business, but business is all about risks. Ask questions, research and learn all you can before going into this business. If your service is remarkable, growth in this business would surprise even you. Don't be afraid to take risks, be afraid to remain the same. I wish you success.

Think WITTEE! Think Intelligence

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THE PROFESSIONAL CONDUCTOR

Not taking risk is a risk itself

I remember a while back, I boarded a public vehicle. Even though it wasn't so comfortable, it was memorable. I remember the vehicle parked at a bus-stop, there was a man having a chat with someone just outside the bus speaking very good English, then the conductor got down to call for passengers and just as the vehicle was about moving, the man speaking good English jumped and hung on the vehicle, but this time, he spoke Yoruba in a very deep voice telling the conductor he wanted to follow them. At a point while the vehicle was still in motion, this same man jumped down. Apparently, he was the conductor of another public transport vehicle and he jumped down soon as he saw his vehicle. The driver of the bus I was then made a comment, he applauded him for jumping down while the vehicle was still in such motion and said to his own conductor, "That guy na professional conductor".
Then I thought to myself, could there be anything like a professional conductor?

I remembered when I heard the quality of English he was speaking. A series of questions began crossing my mind, "Could this young man be a BSC Holder? Could he be a professional in a different academic career path? Where did he get it wrong?

He was probably excellent at something order than being the 'professional conductor', my guess is, when life got tough, he wasn't able to get tougher which led him to his current job, maybe he couldn't get a job, probably he didn't like his previous job etc. Whatever the case may be, you must be better than that. Tough times don't last, its only tough people that last.

Many of us end up in Jobs we don't like and remain at it, not because we don't have other ideas, not because we don't know how to go about them, but because of fear. Fear is the number one killer of dreams in the world. Many of us fear to take risks, because we are scared of the outcomes, we are scared of failing.
We should learn to think like children. Children don't fear failure, for instance, a child learns to walk by trying and falling (failing), but the child keeps trying till he can finally walk. It seems the older we grow, the more fearful we become. We should embrace failure and learn from it. Don't be scared to take risks.
Not taking risk is a risk itself, for instance, if you fall under the category of people who hate their jobs and you have a great business idea or a very good cv which you know many other companies wouldn't resist. In such a situation, not risking to resign your job and probably starting your own business or looking for another job is a risk itself. By not taking the risk, you risk not getting a better job, you risk not starting your own business and being your own boss, you risk not knowing what it feels like to live a better life, you risk always being bitter going to work which could cause depression, you risk not discovering your true self.
Don't end up like the professional conductor, take that risk that promises you a better tomorrow, if you fail, you learn your mistake, pick yourself up and try again.

In today's business world, I doubt if there is any business where the entrepreneur had to try 1000 times to achieve business success like it took to invent the light bulb. The light bulb story is enough proof that failure is a learning process. If you don't learn from your mistakes after failing, then you are failing while failing, but learning from your failures makes you better while failing. Take the risk because really, you have nothing to loose, Vanity upon vanity; all is vanity. Won't you rather make your mark on this world rather than returning to your maker with nothing to be remembered for or no record of achievement? Naked you came, naked you shall return. May you not end up like the professional conductor.

Think WITTEE! Think intelligence!

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TRUE ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT

Take a leap and the net will appear

The most important and possibly the biggest question to begin an idea/startup/business or anything great in life would probably be..'How do I start?'
Whenever anyone asks me this question, my answer is always the same..'Just start'.
I always say, 'take a leap and the net will appear', because I believe strongly in, 'where there's a will, there will always be a way'. There has always been a way for strong minded entrepreneurs who are ready to give it all for a vision they believe in and there would also be a way for you if you are ready to follow through.
I would conclude that being an entrepreneur is the most difficult job on earth. Its the most risky, most stressful and also has the highest returns. An employee only worries about his responsibility in that specific department of the organisation, whereas, the entrepreneur who is the CEO/MD has to worry about every department in the organisation, including partners, clients, staffs and the business itself.
You have to be willing to take risks in life to be successful. The safest way to take risks is to take calculated risks with a plan A, B, C and possibly D.
Don't ever get carried away by discouragements and set backs, have in mind, no one else can see your vision clearer than you. When Bill gates was about starting Microsoft, even the name was funny to some potential investors who were some of his father's closest friends, Steve Jobs was turned down too many times not to give up etc etc.

Relentless hustle in the midst of disappointment is the spice of a success story.

Regardless of what your idea is, if you cannot give up your job, playtime, energy and money, to be fully devoted to it, its not meant for you, its probably a borrowed vision.
Some people might say just starting with nothing is too risky, yeah! its risky. The secret ingredient to taking a leap and hoping the net will appear is Passion.

Your passion will always take you where money can't.

You have an idea that requires a million dollar to execute, start with the 5 naira in your pocket, if you think its impossible, just start, don't think. The more you work towards the success of your idea, the closer you are to achieving your vision. Water drops can form an ocean. Where there's passion, discipline, commitment and hard work, opportunity will meet preparation. The more you do, the more you learn, the more prepared are for your opportunity. Come to think of it, except if you already have something on ground, you might not even know an opportunity when it appears.
Personally, I started my business with 2000 Naira which was borrowed, and now its more than 100 times of that. One of my mentors, Dr. Samson Makinwa started his business with 600 Naira and its now a big business with branches and partners nationwide. The key to success isn't just hard work, its being relentless and consistent.
Just start and it will work out. The more you work towards your goal, the more your vision gets clearer. As time goes on, you forge your own part to success. There is no secret formula for success, you invent your own formula. The best time to start your idea is now. There will never be a better tomorrow for a fearful entrepreneur to start, you will only discover you had better yesterdays you could have started. Start small, start anyhow, start like that, start with the vision all scattered, but start with passion and a goal. Just take the leap and the net will appear. Don't be afraid of failing, its better you fail early and fail fast, so you can pick yourself up and start again. Learn from your failures and be great.

Think WITTEE! Think Intelligence

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HARD WORK OR SMART WORK?

Hard work is great for stress, Smart work is great for success

You must have heard the saying,'You break your health to get wealth and then, spend your wealth to get health'

This is so for most people. The more painful thing is that in the end, many people don't even have enough of the wealth to revive their health. Sadly, most people die of Money sickness. Money sickness could be in form of cancer, arthritis, hypertension, stroke, HBP etc. I call it money sickness because most people acquire this sicknesses in their pursuit for money.

Money is not the most important thing in life, but money does affect everything that is important :richdad

Many people, when asked the last time they went for a check up, comfortably ate 3 square meals in a day, rested for a whole day or even took a vacation; you hear the most silly excuse, 'I don't have the time'. But the time is created when the body breaks down.
Let's compare our body to a generator set. The generator worsks itself to power other electrical alliances, just as we work ourselves to meet all our needs. If the fuel or engine oil isn't enough in the gen, it goes off or doesn't work properly. Likewise, If the gen is left working for too long without servicing, it develops fault. Many of us don't service our bodies by going to the doctor, many of us don't refill our bodies by eating the right things at the right time and by resting.

We all want wealth, but we dont want to get the wealth and be given a time frame to spend it. God forbid after the wealth comes, the doctor also comes up with a terminal sickness or a food menu of what we can eat and cannot eat. If you ask me that's the worst, because I like food.

If your current job isn't allowing you take care of yourself, my dear, find an alternative for your own good. God forbid anything happens to you, in less than a month, your boss will find someone else. If you're an entrepreneur, God forbid anything happens to you, your next of kin takes over all the dividends of your years of destroying your body,. It gets worse if your next of kin can't handle the business and ruins it. For some of us who are probably thinking of quitting our job, I recommend the book,'Before you quit your job' by Robert Kiyosaki & Sharon L.Letcher.

For those of us who are entrepreneurs, I recommend you go back to your drawing board and work out a plan to bring experts on board who can lessen the burden on you. When you work smart, you achieve more. Warren Buffet, Bill gates, Mike Adenuga all have employees who work hard to increase the value of their businesses. Stop decieving youself with the notion that no one else can handle your business better than you. You will definitely find better professionals who will lessen the burden on you, provided your business has the right framework, both legal and financial.
Think ahead of your now, what's the value of money if you loose the freedom to spend it as you please.

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SECRET TO STARTING YOUR OWN BUSINESS

Self development is key to business success.

Only read this if you are serious about becoming your own boss.
With the present economic condition of the country, coupled with high rate of unemployment, we all aspire to be entrepreneurs. Truth is, not all of us are built to be entrepreneurs and not all of us will be entrepreneurs. Starting your own business entails so much, but I will be giving you some tips to make your long entrepreneurial journey somewhat shorter, more productive and easier.

We all ask ourselves this million dollar question, how do I start?
How about things to do before you start? Here is what you should know before you start...

Information is key!!! The easiest way to be successful is to first learn all the rudiments of building, maintaining and sustaining a successful business. Congratulations, you have already started learning by reading this post. If you rush into business inexperienced, you will definitely rush out, which is the major reason banks and other money lenders prefer to give expansion and not start-up loans.

There are so many ways to learn, you can learn by reading Books, articles, blogs etc., they are fast and easy ways to gather information about all aspects of business in any niche. The internet has made it easier to access reading materials as you can download books relating to any niche of your choice in PDF formats sometimes even for free on the internet. You can try sites such as booksboon.com, or select from a list of websites in this link  http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/20-best-websites-to-download-free-e-books/.

You can also learn by attending business seminars. Every now and then, we hear of various seminars being organised by churches, organisations, companies, schools, etc. Seminars help to grant us access to professionals at various levels in different fields of business, from the expert, to the experienced or to even a starter like yourself. Seminars are also a good way to get yourself a mentor, which is also a good way to learn about developing your start-up. Get yourself an experienced mentor who you can always look up to whenever you need advice and assistance. A mentors' advice would always come in handy.

Research on people who have excelled in your field to understand what steps they took, also make sure you research on people who have failed in your niche to beware of what steps they took or did not take, so you can avoid failure also.

Join communities and interact with people in your desired field. Physical and Virtual communities such as forums and groups of professionals is a great way to get up-to-date information of what's happening in the business world. Nairaland.com is a good place for such forums.

When you are sure you have acquired enough information, it gets easier for you to prepare a comprehensive business plan for yourself, your vision for your business becomes clearer and in the process, you would have definitely discovered ways of acquiring funds for your start-up. Don't overlook writing down a business plan, even if you don't want to process a loan, a comprehensive business plan will expose you to some aspects of the business you probably didn't give any thought to.

Start by choosing the right acquaintances. On your journey to success, your personal relationships can be a major setback. If you are surrounded with people who are negative minded and you let that negativity get to you, trust me, you're heading back to your starting point of doubt, laziness and idleness. Change your group, if those closest to you are not positive minded, its better you change them and get a different set of positive minded people. If you're also optimistic and positive minded, it won't be difficult for you to find others such as yourself. Unlike magnets, humans with similar values, opinions and beliefs attract.

When times are hard, Passion is what will keep you going. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going and the passionate would eventually overcome the tough times.

Most importantly, be prayerful if you want to succeed. Most entrepreneurs neglect the God factor when searching for wealth, forgetting that before anything manifests in the physical, it would have manifested in the spiritual. The God factor is what makes you transparent, fair, honest, respectful and work with optimum integrity in business and it would eventually make you successful.
Commit your business to God and don't forget to pay your tithe.

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5 AWESOME BUSINESS NICHES YOU SHOULD CONSIDER

Niches you should consider to start a business - food, clothing, shelter, entertainment, job creation

Have you ever thought of starting your own business or being your own boss? If so, then these questions must have crossed your mind...
• What business do I go into?
• How am I sure I will sell?
• How will I do it?
• Who do I sell to?
• How much am I going to be making?

Today, I will help you answer some of these questions and guide you through deciding which niche fits you the most
Before I proceed, it is important to note that you must have a passion for what you are doing to succeed, because in tough times when there's no income or encouragement, it’s only the passion that would keep you going.
I have also come to discover that in life, no matter what niche you're into, whether it’s legal or not, if you're consistent with it, you will succeed, which is evident in the story of the tower of babel. You probably just thought of some illegal ways of making money and a couple of people you know that are making money through it right?, Please I strongly advice against illegal means of making money. What does it profit a man to gain the world and to lose his soul?

You can find a future in any of these 5 niches:

1- Job creation
   Unemployment is probably the major reason why blogs like mine will captivate the interest of today's youths. The job market is a huge one, the gurus at jobberman and the likes can testify to that. If you're passionate about helping people succeed like myself, you can consider building yourself a niche in the job market. Probably as a consultant that helps people construct cvs and teach presentation skills for interviews, probably being an intermediary between companies and people who offer freelance services such as website development, content providing, custom clothings etc. Just think around this niche, and if you have the technical know-how, starting your own job website isn't a bad idea either

2- Entertainment
   The world has moved from the industrial revolution age and we are now in the information age. The hardship in recent times has called for an increase in entertainment to suppress the negative effects the hardship has on people. Never in the history of the world have entertainers earned as much as they do now.
If you like to be noticed and you like the idea of being famous, then entertainment is a niche you can build around. To be successful in the entertainment industry, get yourself a trustworthy mentor to put you through. You could develop yourself in various entertainment niches such as social media entertainment, which is relatively cheap, or church comedy. You can also consider song writing or owning a blog where you post jokes. Most importantly, make sure you always write down your ideas, because it’s very easy to forget them in the next second.

3- Food
   We all must eat. Food is number 1 in the hierarchy of human needs. Whether you are a farmer, a marketer, a nutritionist, anything food related would definitely sell if you have the right structures. Nigerians are becoming more food conscious as a result of the numerous diseases springing out frequently, most especially cancer, you can take advantage of this and provide advice on food consumption. You can also partner with fast foods, and you run a website to deliver food to customers who order on your site while you get your percentage from both the fastfood and the buyer. You can also offer specialised food services to patients of certain food related ailments such as diabetes, allergies etc. you can either give them recipes on new meals they can prepare or you offer to provide them with the dishes or the ingredients in preparing them. All over the world, the number of diabetes patients is on the increase. To practice this niche, you must be able to work under pressure.

4- Clothing
   Would you rather go hungry or naked?
   Clothing is number two in the hierarchy of human needs. No matter how hard the economy is, you will always need to add one or two items to your wardrobe every now and then. If you are a fashion conscious person, you can consider going into this niche. You can be an affiliate to a cloth producer or marketer and open a virtual shop on an online store such as konga, jumia etc, where you snap the clothes and upload the pictures for sale on your store. You get your discount from your marketer and also could also charge the buyer extra. This way, you don't need a shop, you just link seller with buyer, and the delivery agency ships the clothes while you earn your commission. With nice cloths and good pictures, you can be sure to make sales because of the large audience that visit these online stores daily. All you need is internet access and a camera. You can also get creative and think of other ways of generating income in the fashion market.

5- Shelter
   Everybody looks forward to a place where they can rest their head after a long day.
   Shelter is number 3 in the hierarchy of needs of humans. You can partner with local agents and help university students get apartments off campus, this is a very lucrative niche as such accommodations are always in high demand. Subsequently, you can be an affiliate marketer with a real estate company and source for clients who want to rent or buy lands, apartments or houses. You could easily do this by posting online ads on Facebook and LinkedIn. You could consult a real estate agent to give you some hints and tips about the real estate market, and who knows, you might get inspired and build a niche from some ideas you might get.


These 5 niches are top priority needs that cut across all ages and gender, with the right strategies and passion, you're bound to succeed in either of them. Alternatively, there are several other niches that can generate huge revenue for you out there, BE CREATIVE and STAY POSITIVE.

Think WITTEE! Think Intelligence!

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