WARNING: Imitating Dangote’s Three-Hour-Night-Sleep Will Leave You Broke

 

You may have seen the report that Africa’s Richest Man, Aliko Dangote, is so caught up with work that he sleeps just three hours a day. “I believe in hard work and one of my business success secrets is hard work. It’s hard to see a youth that will go to bed by 2am and wake up by 5am. I don’t rest until I achieve something,” a story on Ventures Africa quotes the World’s richest black man as saying.

As admirable as Dangote’s passion and dedication to his fleet of businesses are, more than admirable when you throw in the fact that he built Africa’s largest conglomerate from scratch, your desire to follow in his footsteps should not make you adapt his sleep pattern. Doing so will put both your career and health at risk, so says several LinkedIn Influencers cited by the BBC.

Here is why you should take their warning seriously;

 

Sleep Deprivation Can Kill You

If your motto is “hustle till you drop”, lack of sleep could see you drop before you even profit from your hustle. LinkedIn influencer and Chief Executive at Advance Performance Institute, Bernard Marr, wrote in his LinkedIn post; “You may think that burning the midnight oil and staying constantly busy are good for your career — but you might be seriously damaging your career — and your health”. He explained that stress, among other things, increases the risk of heart disease by 40 percent, risk of heart attack by 25 percent and risk of stroke by 50 percent. “Many people thrive on stress and love the buzz that comes with it, but ignore the effect it has on their physical and mental wellbeing.”

 

And for those stretching their body limits because of money (or because they want to be like Dangote), Marr points to a research that showed that “the increased stress and fatigue of working overtime was not offset by any increase in happiness or wellbeing that might accompany the extra income”.

Like Dangote, you have to also find time to blow off steam.

 

And it can kill your career

You may be obstructing the very thing you are trying to achieve by depriving your body system of its required sleep. Travis Bradberry, another LinkedIn influencer and the President of Talent Smart, wrote in his post; “The short-term productivity gains from skipping sleep to work are quickly washed away by the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation on your mood, ability to focus and access to higher-level brain functions for days to come.” He added that the negative effects of sleep deprivation are so great that people who are drunk outperform those lacking sleep.

 

As to why we need sufficient sleep to perform better, Bradberry points to a new research from the University of Rochester (United States) which provided the first direct evidence for why our brain cells need us to sleep. “The study found that when you sleep, your brain removes toxic proteins from its neurons that are by-products of neural activity when you’re awake. Unfortunately, your brain can remove them adequately only while you’re asleep. So when you don’t get enough sleep, the toxic proteins remain in your brain cells, wreaking havoc by impairing your ability to think — something no amount of caffeine can fix,” Bradberry wrote.

 

“Skipping sleep impairs your brain function across the board. It slows your ability to process information and problem solve, kills your creativity, and catapults your stress levels and emotional reactivity,” he added. Thus, seven to nine hours of sleep is an obligation, Bradberry stresses, stating that the consequences of lack of such includes memory lapses, impaired moral judgment, impaired immune system and higher risk of heart disease and stroke.

 

Instead, get enough sleep, it will better your career and your Life

Good sleep and rest has immense benefits, sacrificing it may mean sacrificing your life and everything that you think you’re trying to achieve. This is not saying you should neglect Dangote’s 5 excellent entrepreneurial tips, rather it is an advice to also consider Bradberry’s 10 strategies for getting better sleep. Among them: “Avoid blue light at night; wake up at the same time every day; eliminate interruptions; and learn to meditate… (Those who meditate) report that it improves the quality of their sleep and that they can get the rest they need even if they aren’t able to significantly increase the number of hours they sleep.”

 

Bernard Marr also offers quality advice on how can you cool down and diffuse the pressure of work. “Often the difference between a fun and challenging situation and a stressful one is simply understanding what’s expected of you,” he wrote. “So, the number one way to reduce job-related stress is to have a clear idea of what’s expected of you and manage those expectations.”

 

If you are among those who constantly stress about work after you get home, Marr says you should take the time to make a firm plan of how to deal with problems before you leave the office. “That one step will help you leave work at work,” he declares. Automating as many tasks as possible can also help reduce stress, Marr adds, “This can also include simple daily decisions such as what to have for lunch or what to wear.”

First a Reader, Then a Leader

“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.” – Haruki Murakami

 

"Each employee is required to read one recommended book per year.” Here is what Chinese business tycoon Wang Jianlin, who leads the Dalian Wanda Group, asks his entire staff to do (The ‘Read One Book Per Year’ requirement is part of the company’s official mission statement).

 

One of the things I really got to understand throughout 2014 is that fresh ideas, actionable insights, and imaginative solutions to a range of pressing challenges face current and future leaders of Africa.

I will like to leave you with some of the most inspirational books that business leaders from around the world have managed to read and recommend for your intellectual stimulation.

For this publication, I like to start out with a book that has really inspired my mind around creativity and innovation development, especially for emerging markets like Africa.

The Opposable Mind by Roger Martin. The book deals with integrative thinking that is much needed by professionals, future leaders and current leaders of today. It’s a new dimension that intrigued me when the CEO of LEGO, Jørgen Vig Knudstorp introduced the book as one of his reads in 2014.

 

CREATIVE LEADERSHIP BOOK OF THE YEAR

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces that Stand in the Way of True Inspiration – Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace,

Catmull, co-founder and President of Pixar Animation Studios, one of the world’s most admired creative businesses, shares insights and profitable techniques for harnessing talent, using teams and structuring organizations  to produce unique and original creative work.

A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger

Earlier this year I wrote an article that spoke to the content of this book indirectly. Remember don’t ask your kids what they learnt at school for the day. Instead ask them if they asked a good question. Most people believe great leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and activists are distinguished by their ability to give compelling answers. This assumption is shattered, proving that asking the right question make the real difference.

The Promise of a Pencil by Adam Braun

With an Ivy League degree and a coveted consulting job at Bain, and a gaping hole where passion ought to fit in, Adam Braun’s knew something was amiss. With age (24) and $25, he started Fast-forward five years, and Pencils of Promise, since then building more than 200 schools worldwide.

Business Adventures by John Brooks. “Warren Buffett recommended this book to me back in 1991, and it’s still the best business book I’ve ever read. Even though Brooks wrote more than four decades ago, he offers sharp insights into timeless fundamentals of business, like the challenge of building a large organization, hiring people with the right skills, and listening to customers’ feedback.”

Stress Test by Timothy F. Geithner. (Another that I have read) The central irony of Stress Test is that a guy who was accused of being a lousy communicator as U.S. Treasury Secretary has penned a great book that details the juxtapose between business lie and family in some parts.

The Rise: Creativity, The Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery

In this multi-layered and wide-ranging meditation, the writer takes on the increasingly over-simplified notion of failure as a central driver of creative work.  “The gift of failure is a riddle,’ concludes the art critic and curator, even suggesting in passing another term, ‘blankness,’ to emphasize the necessary dynamic, of those who persevere, of wiping clean provided by experience and then looking to what’s next.”

Essentialism by Greg McKeown

A must read for anyone considering managing themselves, not time, in different way. The book holds a set of instrumental keys to solving one of the great puzzles of life: how can we do less but accomplish more?

The Art of War, Sun Tzu

Simply because I have a personal interest in lots of Chess and military strategy, this is a brilliant read for anyone moving in the strategic direction. Written more than two thousand years ago in China, it’s a cunning depiction of military strategies and operations of brilliantly executed manoeuvres in Asian warfare.

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, by Elizabeth Kolbert.

It’s on everyone’s lips – Climate Change. It is a big problem. Humans are exerting massive amounts of pavement, displacing species around the planet, over-fishing and acidifying the oceans, changing the chemical composition of rivers, removing ancient tribes from the only form of living they know – without learning the intricacies of human and nature – not to mention the remedies that exist and used by these tribes…..a fascinating read.

 

Books to read in 2015

Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead

By Laszlo Bock

“Heads of human resources typically aren’t known outside the companies where they work. Enter Laszlo Bock, The head of Google’s “People Operations,” Bock runs a department that’s been described as “more like a rigorous science lab than the pesky hall monitor most of us picture when we think of H.R.” The book clinically depicts what Bock learnt managing H.R. at one of the most generous — and also most data-driven — creative and innovative centres in the world.

A Curious Mind, By Brian Grazer and Charles Fishman

By Brian Grazer, the producer behind “Apollo 13,” “Arrested Development” and “A Beautiful Mind,” scheduled weekly “curiosity conversations” with outstanding achievers he doesn’t know: scientists, spies, CEOs and anyone else who sparks his interest and is willing to spend a few hours with him. Certainly for the inquisitive mind.

Their Own Sweet Time: How Successful Women Build Lives That Work , by Laura Vanderkam

How does she do it – at all? This book endeavours to answer that perpetual question, examining how highly paid professional women manage themselves hours Laura Vanderkam explores the “time-logs” from 1001 days by these women unpacking the vault of time management by successful women.

Resilience by Zolli and Healy

Recommend for anyone interested in Social Innovation dealing with the implications of system failure that remain inevitable.

Keeping up with the Quants, by Davenport and Kim

A definite read for the CIO and CTO. A firm grasp to data mining and quantitative analyses for non-mathematicians.

We do hope that 2015 will usher in a new reader and so, a new leader!

Does An Undying Business Drive Validate A School Drop-out?

As more university graduates in Africa go on to become entrepreneurs, while others enter a long, sometimes swerving, career paths miles away from their academic discipline, there is an rising mindset among the emerging labour force that resources – luxurious to many within the continent – could be better utilized to fund a brilliant idea than expend on a lengthy, presumingly not-so-rewarding  academic programme.

The education system – be it the learning environment, educators or infrastructure –  in Africa is evidently no where close to commendable, with the best university on the continent, University of Cape  Town, South Africa, only ranking 350 in the world. Worse still, business and entrepreneurial ideas are far from encouraged within these vicinities, the very places designated to nurture such traits and ideas at its early stages.

 

A long list of school dropouts who became renowned for their admirable entrepreneurial achievements might have the younger generation questioning the rationality in seeking a university degree over a compelling business idea, particularly with the poorly developed educational system in Africa. Across the continent, a pool of successful drop-outs is emerging, drawing up a stronger case for many to follow behind. One thing is however synonymous among most of these entrepreneurs; they have mostly emphasized the need for a strong educational backing. Here are some Africans whose ideas couldn’t just wait for a long academic upbringing:

 

Ashish J. Thakkar

The Ugandan-born serial entrepreneur is the founder of Mara Group and Mara Foundation, and an early school drop-out. “My name’s Ashish J. Thakkar. I’m the founder of the Mara Group and the Mara Foundation. I was a refugee. I’m a school drop-out, an entrepreneur, a philanthropist,” said Ashish at a panel during the just concluded U.S. – Africa summit in Washington D.C.”

Despite his success, the outspoken billionaire still harbours deep yearnings to pursue an academic-driven career. “I hope to be an astronaut next year,” he enthused.

 

Although Ashish’s decision to quit school was not motivated by a dreamy future, it was borne out of necessity. After surviving  the Rwandan genocide, Ashish’s family was forced to relocate, leaving everything, including a fledging business behind. The then 15-year-old boy was looked upon for his support, necessitating a drop-out. At the time, Ashish took a loan of $5,000 and set up  a little IT company in Uganda, rapidly building it to a pan-African business today.

His bold step 18 years ago now holds the foundation for what is now the Mara Group, a multi-business conglomerate with interests in 22 countries, with about 11,000 employees.

 

Cosmos Maduka 

After losing his father at age 4, life became difficult for Maduka. But determined not to live all his life in poverty, his foray into business started as he struggled from being a bean cake seller to becoming a sole distributor for BMW in Nigeria.

He dropped out not because he had a dream of becoming one of the biggest car dealers in Africa, but because he could not afford to pay his fees.

His apprenticeship in automobile repairs at his uncle’s workshop taught Cosmos all he needed to boost his interest in cars and his first major business venture went from 300, 000 to millions within a year. Today he is the Chairman/CEO of Coscharis Group of Companies.

 

Justin Stanford (South Africa)

Justin is only 29, but he is seen as one of South Africa’s leading entrepreneurs and investors. The tech genius had left school few years after he started his first business (aged 13; He sold apple juice to his classmates, while still in school). Justin had just one reason: classroom was too boring for him. He made his way to the top by starting his first company at 18 and now he ranks among Africa’s youngest millionaires.

 

Similar stories can be told of Said Salim Bakhresa of Egypt; Moroccan Anas Sefrioui, and South African Johann Rupert, all of whom left school in their early ages and had ventured into business.

At the end of the day, everyone of the billionaire ‘school dropouts’ had a very important decision to make at some point; choosing between their passion/guts and school. While some who left school because they had no other choice may be safe, but for others, a lot has to be put into consideration before making the life-altering decision to continue or stop schooling because of your business idea.

Bigger Is Not Always Better

Small- to medium-sized enterprises, or SMEs, are invaluable to any economy. They can help catalyse job creation, reduce poverty, provide basic goods and services, and generate the export and tax revenues that help societies develop. They can even help to provide infrastructure and facilities like water, roads and electricity, and to diversify the country’s economy, making societies more stable.

Ghana’s economy has reaped many of these social and economic benefits from its high percentage of SMEs. Making up 92 percent of the country’s firms, they employ about 85 percent of the country’s manufacturing workers. Until 2011, the manufacturing sector, which is dominated by SMEs, had been contributing about 70 percent to Ghana’s GDP. (This figure then dropped to 49 percent, mainly thanks to the commercial natural gas and oil production that began in the first quarter of 2011.) With the exception of a few privatised state- owned enterprises or natural-resource monopolies, most of the large, successful firms in Ghana evolved from SMEs.

 

Realising the value of SMEs, Ghana’s government has taken steps to promote them. In 2004, the Venture Capital Trust Fund Act created a federally administered fund for such firms in Ghana. To date, it has dispensed $17 million, financing 48 SMEs through five intermediary funds, while also providing technical assistance to local entrepreneurs and investors.

 

The act defines an SME as an industry, project undertaking or economic activity whose total asset base, excluding land and building, does not exceed the Ghanaian cedi equivalent of $1 million in value. Other definitions of SME focus on revenue: Ghana’s National Board for Small Scale Industries considers enterprises with annual turnover greater than $200,000 but not more than $5 million to be SMEs. While some of Ghana’s SMEs succeed, many do not. One of the main reasons for failure is a lack of training.

 

Many of the people running SMEs could improve both their entrepreneurial skills and their ability to manage finances. But there are also circumstantial problems. Ghanaian small-businesspeople have limited or no access to high-quality and affordable business-development services, technical services, and management-support services. They face an erratic power supply, technology gaps, and problems with access to both markets and information about them.

 

Challenges, Regulation and Reformation 

The problems for SMEs start with a lack of access to capital. Banks and financial institutions tend to assess them as inherently risky because of their insufficient assets and low level of capitalisation, their relative vulnerability to market fluctuations and their high mortality rates. SMEs thus suffer frequent credit rationing be- cause of a lack of reliable collateral of the type required by banks.

 

When SMEs are granted credit, they access it at comparatively high interest rates, sometimes coupled with delayed disbursements. A lack of available credit has crippled many SMEs in Ghana despite efforts by government and private institutions to offer financial support to businesses. With microfinance institutions and savings-and-loans companies proliferating in Ghana, it seems possible that the barriers of inadequate capital and limited financial support will fall. But so far the inverse seems to be true. Given how much SMEs contribute to Ghana’s economy, one would expect government regulation to support their development.

 

Unfortunately, at times, government has done just the opposite. For example, after the 2007 discovery of oil in the western region of Ghana, many local oil and gas businesses tried to enter the market. Yet the legal regulation until November 2013 made the business environment more favourable for international companies, which already had an advantage of capital and know-how in the oil and gas sector. The SMEs received inadequate information on contracts, and the bidding process for access seemed to favour foreign companies. The tilted playing field made it difficult for local SMEs to even compete. After strong complaints from many

 

SMEs, Ghana’s parliament passed the Petroleum (Local Content and Local Participation) Regulation on 20 November 2013, in an attempt to ensure that Ghanaians benefit from the country’s new resource. Among its other goals, the law seeks to create jobs for Ghanaians by setting minimum local employment levels and minimum in-country expenditures for firms accessing its petroleum re- sources. Education, skills transfer, transfer of technology, and active research and development programmes will help develop local capacities.

 

The incident showed how important it is for Ghana’s government to take the country’s home-grown business sector into account. Yet despite the training and advisory services that the country’s universities and government make available, many small business owners and managers still have limited managerial knowledge and skills in their fields of work, as well as low financial literacy, inadequate operational skills, and insufficient business planning experience.

 

Poor training restricts the ability of managers to make sound decisions, and makes it more difficult for them to compete. While globalisation and trade liberalisation have brought possibilities as well as challenges to Ghana’s SMEs, few firms have identified and exploited the opportunities. The majority of Ghana’s SMEs have fallen further behind due to a lack of literacy in new technologies.

 

To make matters worse, local SMEs often find themselves competing with foreign firms and cheap imports in local markets. The high costs of formalisation, including licensing and registration requirements, pose another obstacle for SMEs. While efforts have been made to streamline business registration processes in Ghana, they have only partly succeeded. Many businesses have chosen to stay in the informal sector rather than struggle to enter the formal sector – which means they do not contribute to national growth. Issues processing export documents and clearing goods from ports are also a concern for many businesses, due to the cost and time involved. Despite all of this, the sector’s future in Ghana looks bright.

 

In a move towards bridging the persistent gap between financing for SMEs and other businesses, Ghana’s government, together with development partners including the International Finance Corporation and the government of Italy, has launched several financial schemes to accelerate the flow of financing to SMEs. The latest of these is the Ghana SME Fund, launched by the Ministry of Finance with the country’s 2014 budget. The fund is expected to make more than $20 million available to SMEs. Financing skill-deficient businesses and entrepreneurs who do not know how to make the best of funding is, however, an exercise in futility.

 

It is prudent to en- sure that SMEs have skilled labourers in their ranks and knowledgeable managers at their helm. Several new institutions and initiatives have been established recently in Ghana to serve these education- al and training goals. Among these initiatives are the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) and the Private Enterprise Foundation. The EDC, launched in May 2013 with a start-up fund of $5 million, is a five- year project jointly sponsored by the Jubilee Partners – Tullow Oil, Ghana, Cosmos Ghana, Anadarko, Petro SA and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).

 

The fund, which is jointly super- vised by the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, aims to support to Ghanaian SMEs trying to enter the oil and gas sector. The EDC provides a range of services such as business training, capacity-building programmes, advisory services, and access to markets and information. The Private Enterprise Foundation was established as an autonomous, non-profit institution, comprised of Ghanaian business interest groups like the Ghanaian National Chamber of Commerce. The goal is to create a fertile environment for private sector businesses by lobbying for favourable policies and legislation.

 

Technology, banking and Finance

Today’s businesses must continuously incorporate new technologies into their production processes, marketing strategies and management functions in order to stay competitive.

Many SMEs in Ghana have been unable to take advantage of such advancements, however, often because they lack access to and knowledge of the Internet, technology-literate managers and workers and sufficient financial resources.

 

The Ghana Regional Appropriate Technology Industrial Service (GRA- TIS) Project was established in response to these basic staffing and information needs. GRATIS has set up Intermediate Technology Transfer Units (now called Regional Technology Transfer Centres) in nine regions of Ghana to train small manufacturers and supply them with tools and equipment. The evolution of SME banking in Ghana is expected to boost SME performance in the near future as businesses take advantage of the growing sector to find funding and credit support.

 

Financial institutions that previously focused only on corporate clients and large organisations now have SME departments dedicated to small enterprise financing, and several banks have started developing innovative products specifically aimed at SMEs. Among these products are term loans for acquisition of capital goods (fixed assets like equipment and land); and working capital, by way of cash credit or overdrafts.

 

Looking to solve the collateral issue many Ghanaian businesses face, microfinance companies and banks are moving towards accepting more flexible forms of collateral, particularly for SMEs with few fixed assets. They are also embracing the use of group guarantees for SMEs and placing more emphasis on cash flow than on balance sheets when assessing borrowing capacity. They also have simplified loan application assessment procedures. With these developments and other campaigns geared towards developing SMEs in years to come, the SME sector in Ghana is expected to grow significantly in the future.

 

Moving Towards the Future

The persistent fall of the cedi against major international currencies like the US dollar, the pound and the euro, together with the current high import rate of goods and services into the country, stand as major threats to SME development. But, as the country tries to reduce its imports and increase local production and consumption, it is expected that the government’s commitment to SMEs, which hold great prospects for manufacturing and agriculture, will increase.

To fully exploit the latent opportunities in the SME segment of Ghana’s economy, the government should focus on building up suitable infrastructure, education and training facilities, capable public and private institutions, simplified legal and regulatory frameworks, and good governance.

Five Quotes From Dangote On Why He Is Immensely Successful

 

To become a successful entrepreneur is not a day’s job. Successful business men all have a driving force and this motivation is what keeps them going in the face seemingly insurmountable challenges.

 

Many of we young entrepreneurs might not have met Africa’s richest man Alhaji Aliko Dangote, but if you can connect with some of his quotes you can grasp the scope of how he thinks, his motivation. These five quotes are words by the man himself and I hope you will find inspiration from them. To all Africa’s young entrepreneurs, regardless of the type of enterprise you are trying to build, applying these words gleaned from experience to your daily activities and your business would be immensely beneficial.

“I enjoy myself a lot but I derive more joy in working. I believe in hard work and one of my business success secrets is hard work. It’s hard to see a youth that will go to bed by 2am and wake up by 5am. I don’t rest until I achieve something.” 

 

Africa’s richest man sleeps 3hours a day!!! Are you oversleeping? Do you love your business?

 

“I built a conglomerate and emerged the richest black man in the world in 2008 but it didn’t happen overnight. It took me thirty years to get to where I am today. Youths of today aspire to be like me but they want to achieve it overnight. It’s not going to work. To build a successful business, you must start small and dream big. In the journey of entrepreneurship, tenacity of purpose is supreme.” 

 

The tenacity of purpose is supreme. The harder you work the luckier you get.

“After my death, I want to be remembered as Africa’s greatest industrialist.”

 

Here is a question to every entrepreneur: “What do you want to be remembered for?” Is your enterprise driven by a vision of stomach infrastructure and sustainability or a larger-than-life purpose?

 

“If you don’t have ambition, you shouldn’t be alive”.

 

Strong words akin to Jack Ma’s quote: “If you’re still poor at 35, you deserve it!”

 

“Every morning when I wake up, I make up my mind to solve as many problems, before retiring home.”

 

First, Dangote boosted local cement production, plummeted cement importation and reduced cement congestion at Nigerian ports. Now, he just slashed cement cost by 50 percent! Are you seeking to just enrich yourself without thinking of how to solve the market’s problems? If your answer is in the affirmative, you need to learn from Africa’s biggest industrialist. He knows better!

Six Life-saving Wisdom Required For A Successful Business Start

 

Entrepreneurship by its very nature is tough. Taking a path less trodden and building sustainable businesses that previously were non-existent exposes the inexperienced entrepreneur to an unknown fate, loneliness and doubt. Many entrepreneurs who took bold leaps into uncharted courses for their lives have ended stuck in debt, regretting their actions and wondering if they did the right thing in the first place not taking the employment offer relatives secured for them or resigning their fat paying jobs. Truth is many of them have been victims of ignorance as reports have shown that serial entrepreneurs got better and survived with every successive business they built.

For any employee truly thinking of being a successful full-time entrepreneur, here are five must-keep laws to escalate your chances of survival and success.

 

Get a Financial Cushion

The relevance of having a savings culture cannot be over emphasized though due to the expensive cost of living in major cities across Africa, you find that most employees have barely enough to pay bills not to talk of saving enough funds to venture into a business with. However, it is very important for an aspiring entrepreneur to having enough saving that can fund his/her cost of living for as long as it would take for the intended startup to become sustainable. In a harsh yet lucrative business climate like Africa’s, a one year span would be fine. If you cannot determine how to and eventually capture value or start making profit from your business within twelve months then something is fundamentally wrong with your understanding of the business or you have poor startup know-how.

There is no overnight success in entrepreneurship so save ahead to have a financial cushion when your small business isn’t bringing in any money; except of course you have no job in the first place and have nothing to lose. Otherwise, your girlfriend might just be leaving you for the C-suite exec who was your junior in secondary school.

 

Don’t Burn Your Bridges Just Yet

At times business ideas are only ideal and not practicable in the market. That’s why businesses do testing and beta phases. It is dangerous and unadvisable to take blind leaps or resign without first proving your business idea in the market. This is a primary reason many entrepreneurs end up burnt, exhausted and frustrated. Don’t resign your job just yet. Don’t take that major life decision just yet. Keep your job while you test-run your business. Let is keep growing, amassing customers, market share, brand value, connections and government recognition. The time will come when it’s all grown, buzzing with promise and profit and would require undivided attention. iROKO tv boss Jason Njoku suffered and battled poverty and depression for years because he did not keep a job while nine startups he founded failed. Fortunately, the tenth one has succeeded. Tara Durotoye also did not quit Law school just because her make up business was waxing.

 

Now, Burn Your Boats

One of my favorite stories on Napoleon Bonaparte is his famed Russian invasion in which he crossed an ocean and on arriving ashore he saw that his army was largely outnumbered by the enemy and his soldiers were beginning to show signs of fear. He gave an order to his generals to “burn the boats”. “No retreat, no surrender. We either fight to win or die”.

Same rule can be applied on entrepreneurship. One cannot be preparing on go into entrepreneurship and still retain part-time jobs and expect ones startup to function at optimum levels or grow to its full potential. You need to burn the bridge. Cut all job ties.

 

Everyone Won’t Support You

On my flight back to Lagos from Abuja recently, I sat next to the founder of a major transnational transportation company. He told me of how he started his transportation business. He said he first consulted a respected cousin of his to seek his opinion on venturing into the transportation business. He spoke of how his cousin discouraged him and told him that it’s too risky a business, and that competitors are usually bitter and could even go fetish and all that. And some people even told him that he has only recently returned to the country and may not know how businesses are run in this clime. He however persevered and believed in his dream. Today his transport coy can be easily be described as one of the fastest growing brands in the road transport business.

The truth is, love makes sincere relatives and friends worry and dissuade entrepreneurs from their pursuit. Haters too would take the opportunity to spite.

 

Find a Company of Kindred Spirit

When the going gets tough, nothing can be more exhilarating and thrilling for entrepreneurs as meeting fellow entrepreneurs, especially intelligent and highly successful ones. The time shared with these fellow risk-takers can quench depression caused by the toll of a lonely business pursuit, and re-enforce ones believe in the original purpose of building a company. During the younger days of House of Tara, Founder Tara Durotoye was frustrated due to lack of capital but a fateful encounter with a respected Nigerian entrepreneur Chair Centre CEO Ibukun Awosika revived her spirit and even helped her secure a N500,000 loan from GT Bank.

 

Spend Quality Time Drafting Your Business Plan

A business plan is an entrepreneur’s road map. It shows you where you’re coming from, where you are, and where you’re headed. It is the most important pillar of an entrepreneur. More important than even funding. In fact, it is so important that the entire eighteen months earlier stated as the period or duration of saving, should also be used to build a business plan. No duration used in building and redefining a business plan can be too much because once you get it right in the planning stage, it solves a lot of problems and saves time at the implementation stage.

Starting an enterprise is like giving birth to a child. And just as a child needs all the attention she can get from her mother, so does an enterprise needs all the attention and nurture from its entrepreneur. A real entrepreneur is at it full-time–and much more than 45 hours per week.

Where to Plant, Where to Grow

 

“If you want to go fast, go alone; If you want to go far, go together” – African Proverb

Africa is at a precipice when it comes to sustaining economic growth in the SME sector, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. But given the global change in geo-politico-economic shifts, what lies ahead for the entrepreneur who needs to plant, and those who need to grow?

 

SME’s do generally need to identify the opportunities that are really available in Africa. The challenge plays out in realising which segment of the SME market is well capitalised to take advantage of these opportunities. The challenge when speaking about SME’s compared to the rest of the world is that many Sub-Saharan countries have a large number of SMEs relative to the size of the economy. However, these SME’s are almost exclusively micro companies and they are often not part of the formal economy.

 

“According to an in-depth study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on behalf of DHL Express, approximately 40% of global SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) do not perceive Africa as a growth opportunity, despite the positive economic growth stories and growing middle class in the regions.”

 

Ultimately, Africa remains the place to plant your seed. How and where to grow, under the stalemate of constricted economic growth, will be a matter of how SME’s use their pawns.

 

There exists two fundamental characteristics that affect SME’s, specifically in the Sub-Saharan regions, these being; Lack of finance and unstable electricity supply that serve as severe obstacles to SME growth. Over the last decade many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have experienced high growth. These cyclical phases have been the result many SME’s growing into prosperity and others dwindling into the abyss of SME failures.

 

Growth as the rest of the world knows it still differs widely among countries in the African regions. Angola, Ethiopia and Mozambique display strong growth, on the flip side, economies of Burundi, Malawi and not to mention Zimbabwe struggle severely. Some countries in Africa even enjoyed peaks of growth at 17 percent with the worst trough being 8 percent.

 

“The fact that SMEs expect to generate up to 50 percent of revenues internationally by 2019 is a massive positive and highlights the vast opportunities for Africa from an investment and job creation perspective”, says Charles Brewer, Managing Director of DHL Express Sub Saharan Africa.

 

The growth in sub-Saharan Africa is made up of private investment that has gained momentum since the early nineties and fuelled long term economic growth. In this same equation, growth in public spending and private consumption remains critical components to Africa’s development and growing middle-class.

 

We continue to find that differences in growth rates between countries in various regions are driven by governance and access natural resources. A closer look at the variance exposes that the agricultural sector is substantially larger in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa than in other regions of the world.

 

Identifying some of the opportunities rests in Africa exporting 70 percent of their raw materials and resources. Where the downstream sectors should be developing to convert and create downstream jobs and economies, these processes along with the revenues and job creation opportunities follow.

 

Hindering Growth

So we know with certainty that Africa presents a viable case for investment and SME planting. But what else is hindering the growth needed in this sector?

Cross-border trade in Africa is limited when it comes to growth. Lack of infrastructure that imposes the cost onto the consumer forces SME’s into unattractive international markets. Even in this case, to compete, the SME needs to have the capacity to compete and remain relevant. It goes without saying that border-locked countries in Africa suffer the most.

Lack of infrastructure then impacts on reliable delivery channels, not forgetting that the cost of not refining oil and producing petroleum on the continent has severe consequences for business, especially SME’s on the continent.

As insane as it may sound, some industries and SMEs may benefit from a certain degree of political turmoil, if their products have relevance in messy situations.

 

Looking for Growth

Despite Africa’s strong growth rates to peak at an average of 5 percent in sub-Saharan Africa in 2015 on the back of investment growth and household spending most SME’s see very few opportunities in Africa. Can this be due to the ease of doing business in Africa which can be cumbersome? Can it be that the average size of an SME in international surveys represents revenues that far exceed those of African SME’s?

 

According to a recent study by the Economist Investigating Unit (EIU) for DHL, “Roughly 40% of both G7 and BRICM SMEs that are planning to trade internationally in the future said the continent offers no growth potential, indicating that the negative impression is set well before SMEs even establish offshore operations.”

 

“US SMEs entering Africa are spending a lot of money dealing with inadequate infrastructure”, says Danielle Walker, director of African affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce. “There are high costs associated with deliveries waiting in stifling traffic and sitting at border crossings because of inefficient customs procedures. SMEs investing in Africa, the final frontier are purchasing back-up generators because of inconsistent power supply. Their employees likely have several mobile phones from different providers, because of unreliable network coverage. If an SME is unable to hire locally because the skill set is not readily available in market, it can be very expensive in terms of taxes to bring in an American to do the work, as South Africa is the only country in sub-Saharan Africa that has a double taxation treaty with the US.”

 

Africa’s problem is intrinsically linked to technological development. The continent despite being progressive, still simply lacks the necessary infrastructure to support hi-tech electronics. “Our products need high-speed Internet connections so it’s too early to start an African business, which needs reliable Internet connectivity,” said Mr Iwasa.

 

Mr Becerra of BuffaloGrid—which launched its first offering in Uganda and is deeply familiar with the dynamics on the continent—concurs with that assessment, adding that petty corruption is also an issue. “The concerns are certainly valid,” Mr Becerra says.

 

Evidence through the latest studies is forecasting that more attention needs to be focused on identifying the hotspots to inject liquidity and support to Africa’s SME sectors. Easing the red-tape for doing business and increasing access to finance for expansion, while being creative by expanding our downstream sectors, are critical opening up opportunities for growth and planting.

Entrepreneurial Lessons From Dr. Myles Munroe

Following the tragic plane crash that killed Dr. Myles Munroe, a preacher, author, motivational speaker and business coach, along with his wife Mrs. Ruth Ann Munroe, Ventures Africa has teamed up with Mara Mentor, an online community that enables ambitious entrepreneurs to connect with experienced and inspiring business leaders, to list the entrepreneurial lessons we should all embrace from the late speaker. 

“The greatest tragedy in life is not death, but a life without purpose,” said internationally renowned Christian preacher, Dr Myles Munroe who passed away with his wife, Mrs Ruth Ann Munroe, in a plane crash yesterday in the Bahamas.

 

Another look at the statement reveals its profoundness. Indeed, what is life without purpose? Put simply, a purpose-driven life is one which is simple, direct and helps channel energies towards specific tasks. Successful entrepreneurs exude this. They’re oft celebrated for focus and determination – many of the most successful entrepreneurs faced great challenges: discouragement, unfair ultimatums, and, even discrimination and abandonment before they became the toast of the media. Thus, we must be purpose-driven to succeed in life and business.

 

From Steve Jobs to Ashish Thakkar the stories follow a similar spectrum of struggle, wilderness, ultimatums, discovery and success. But one unique factor is the dedicated pursuit of set goals.  The entrepreneurs we celebrate remained focused, believing in somewhat vague or complicated ideas that have changed the course of business, technology, science and every other facet of man’s existence. They were not distracted. They did not waiver.

 

Find below five quotes from Dr Myles Munroe on purpose and other things, and an exposition on how it can impact your entrepreneurial journey:

• “Solid character will reflect itself in consistent behaviour, while poor character will seek to hide behind deceptive words and actions.” 

African entrepreneur Ashish Thakkar once spoke of integrity as the major factor to business success. People must know what you stand for, and if your business is good enough, investors will throw in the funds you desire.  You do not need to falsify marketing numbers, social media likes/followers, or compromise your values. An unwavering character is pertinent to building trust in business. Mentorship helps in this regard.

• “People generally fall into one of three groups: the few who make things happen, the many who watch things happen, and the overwhelming majority who have no notion of what happens. Every person is either a creator of fact or a creature of circumstance. He either puts colour into his environment, or, like a chameleon, takes colour from his environment.” 

Entrepreneurs impact society positively. They cause disruption. They make things happen. They lead a purpose-driven life. They know what they want, and go for it.  An entrepreneur colours her environment à ponders on challenges faced in society and comes up with solutions for it, while generating revenue.

• “When purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable” 

There are stories of people of got into business with no clear focus (purpose) and went bankrupt in a few weeks/months. As an entrepreneur, identifying the vision (purpose) of the business you’re building is an integral part of eventual success. You must also sell that vision to your employees. When the chips are down, it keeps everyone going. And when there is little success, the vision, keeps you hungry. It prevents you from rewarding yourself too early/abusing success.

• “You must decide if you are going to rob the world or bless it with the rich, valuable, potent, untapped resources locked away within you.”

Most people get into business for profit. It is legal. Nothing stops you from making profit, but in building sustainable businesses, it is important to incorporate social responsibility. You must make sure your business is not solely driven by profit-making.  If you ensure your business doesn’t have a negative impact on society, you will be the better for it.

• “Desire is craving enough to sacrifice for”

There is no explaining the part passion/desire plays in business success.  Indeed the desire to succeed, coupled with strategy and sacrifice is the benchmark of successful enterprises. Living a purpose-driven life however helps centralizes your desires. There is no distraction and goals are clear. For startups, it is important that goals, backed up with passion/desire, are clearly defined and actionable. It is also important to sell the vision to employees. They have to crave success daily.

Seven Creative Characters You Could Identify With

 

Creativity works in the most mysterious ways. Creative thinking is an unwavering and defining characteristic for some, but it varies based on the situation and setting.

 

We’ve all experienced it at some point. That inspiration and idea that seemingly springs from nowhere, causing an excited perplexed feeling of satisfaction. Unknown, creative thinking does require complex cognition yet is completely distinctive from the cognitive thinking process.

 

Neuroscience paints a byzantine depiction of creativity. As scientists understand it, creativity is intricately more complex than the right-left brain distinction. In fact, creativity is thought to involve a number of cognitive processes, neural pathways and emotions, that transpire subconsciously and spurts out connected and logical neuro-concepts.

 

“It’s actually hard for creative people to know themselves because the creative self is more complex than the non-creative self,” Scott Barry Kaufman, a psychologist at New York University who has spent years researching creativity.

 

He says, Creative types know, despite what their third-grade teachers may have said, that daydreaming is anything but a waste of time.

 

Remember how teachers told us we ought to stop daydreaming? It may seem mindless, but a 2012 study suggested it possibly involves a highly engaged brain state. Most times daydreaming has led to unexpected and significant connections and insights because it’s related to our ability to recall data inputs despite distractions. Neuroscientists have found daydreaming involves the same brain processes associated with imagination and creativity.

 

Creative thinkers are normally the ones who go against the grain. Everyone goes this way, they’ll go the other. Despite this, creative thinkers have some sought of dynamism about them and the way they think. They are normally laid back type of people, yet very effective. So I thought as we wind down the week that we’ll list some of the characteristics of creative thinkers.

 

The Observers

Ever thought that the saying “the world is your oyster” was over rated? Meet the creative person. I call it “David Copperfield intelligence”. These kinds of folks observe and identify possibilities everywhere. Their minds are like super sponges, taking in information that becomes provender for creative expression. As Henry James is widely quoted, “a writer is someone on whom “nothing is lost.”

 

The writer Joan Didion kept a notebook with her at all times, and said that she wrote down observations about people and events as, ultimately, a way to better understand the complexities and contradictions of her own mind:

“However dutifully we record what we see around us, the common denominator of all we see is always, transparently, shamelessly, the implacable ‘I,'” Didion wrote in her essay On Keeping A Notebook. “We are talking about something private, about bits of the mind’s string too short to use, an indiscriminate and erratic assemblage with meaning only for its marker.”

 

The Irregulars

Many great artists have whispered that their best works are achieved either very early in the morning or late at night. Vladimir Nabokov started writing immediately after he woke up at 6 or 7 a.m., and Frank Lloyd Wright made a practice of waking up at 3 or 4 a.m. and working for several hours before heading back to bed.

 

The Over-comers 

Many iconic stories and songs of all time were inspired by gut-wrenching pain and heartbreak.  These times and moments were the catalyst to creating great art. An emerging field of psychology called post-traumatic growth suggests that many people use their hardships and early-life trauma for considerable creative growth. Specifically, researchers have found trauma as a trigger to help people grow in the areas of interpersonal relationships, spirituality, and creativity.

“A lot of people are able to use that as the fuel they need to come up with a different perspective on reality,” says Kaufman

 

The Experience Seekers

Creative people love new experiences, sensations and states of mind that completely relax them.

“Openness to experience is consistently the strongest predictor of creative achievement,” says Kaufman. “This consists of lots of different facets, but they’re all related to each other: Intellectual curiosity, thrill seeking, openness to your emotions, and openness to fantasy. The thing that brings them all together is a drive for cognitive and behavioural exploration of the world, your inner world and your outer world.”

 

The Questioners 

Curiosity killed the cat – not the curious person. Did you know? All of these thing we can instil in kids – not to change their personality, but to instil new way of absorbing things, life and variables around themselves. Creative people are genuinely, insatiably curious. They also have an aptitude to read people very easily.

 

They Passion Followers 

Creative minds are intrinsically motivated. They simply follow their passions, especially if there challenges.

“Eminent creators choose and become passionately involved in challenging, risky problems that provide a powerful sense of power from the ability to use their talents,” write M.A. Collins and T.M. Amabile in The Handbook of Creativity.

 

They Workaholics

Being creative means that you will find activity like dancing, painting or nature as a means of expressing themselves “in the zone,” or what’s known as a flow state. “Flow is a mental state when an individual transcends conscious thought to reach a heightened state of effortless concentration and calmness.”

 

‘Creatives’ reach this state when they are involve or active in something that challenges them or it takes them to a deeper state of thought.

 

“[Creative people] have found the thing they love, but they’ve also built up the skill in it to be able to get into the flow state,” says Kaufman.

 

So, now that we know some of the things that spark creativity, maybe gradually introducing our children and youth to facets of their passion may help improve their personal creativity. Whatever their aptitude, which differs from person to person, each person must have a spark of creativity that can be drawn from connections they really don’t know have already been made.

5 Jobs You Don’t Need An Office For In Nigeria, And Why They Pay Better

The hassle of rising very early every morning, the frustration of going through the rush-hour traffic, the stress of sitting in one (often boring) office all day usually results in exhaustion, burnout and a cannot-wait-to-quit or retire feeling sometimes. But you can avoid all that trouble in Nigeria and still earn good, even better money.

 

And if you are one of Nigeria’s many unemployed, unable to get a spot in the country’s clogged public service nor in the over-stretched private corporate establishments, perhaps it’s time to pause your frustrating search for job openings, stay back at home and make a great living.

Here are five selected ways many Nigerians are staying employed but without an employer, and working a good paying job from the comfort of their homes.

 

Freelance Journalism

Against everything you have heard about journalism being a low paying job, which is relatively not incorrect, being a freelancer can earn well above the average Nigerian remuneration. Aside the fact that a single story, especially for magazines, can fetch a freelance writer over a thousand dollars, by the nature of his job he could also work for as many media houses as his energy allows him to and get paid by all of them.

 

All these he does from the comfort of his home and at his own time. But to be a well-earning freelance journalist in Nigeria, you have to be very good at what you do; your journalism skill (particularly oral communication and writing skills) has to be top-notch coupled with an access to in-depth information.

 

Media houses, especially magazines in Nigeria tend to prefer freelancers and fall head over heels for the ones with amazing brains, “long legs” and “Pinocchio nose” for news. If you have got these attributes and want to avoid the 8-5 schedule of offices you could try freelance journalism, at least it guarantees you your freedom.

Make-up Artistry

Yes, A Make-up Artist is up there in the ladder. Take this in; a significant number of Nigerian middle–class ladies, or with middle-class companions, spend close to $1000 to hire a make-up artist for their wedding day(s).

 

Add this to what you have just taken in; Nigeria’s middle class is among the fastest expanding in the world -meaning an increasing customer base; most Nigerians often have two separate wedding ceremonies (the traditional rites and the Western (Christian) rites) – two opportunities to milk one customer; and tons of weddings happen every weekend in virtually every locality in the Nigeria- providing a portfolio of never ending jobs opportunities.

 

Weddings are however just the tip of the iceberg of money making avenues that make-up artists have; from broadcast TV presenters to actors in movie sets and artists in music video shoots, from models in fashion events and cultural festivals to ladies, especially celebrities, attending special occasions and celebrities, they all need the magic touch of make-up artists. Make-up Artists, the successful ones, also often organize seminars and workshops to train aspirants and those trainings often command an individual attendance fee of up to $500.

 

Though Make-up artists could have or work in salons, for many in Nigeria their office is their make-up bag and social media pages -Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and co- through which they showcase their skill sets and attract clients.

 

However, as in freelance journalism, you have to be really good to make a high earning from the make-up business, it’s all about beauty and trendiness, two things you have to always deliver to get the best clients. Do these and you can avoid the office stress and still make so much money, that’s why it’s called the make-up business.

 

Wardrobe Consultancy

Okay this is a little weirder than the above and a lot less popular in Nigeria. But in the big cities, particularly Lagos and Abuja, Wardrobe consultancy is as fast growing as the pay is exciting with consultants raking up to $2000 per consultation.

 

For those of you that don’t really know what Wardrobe Consultancy is all about;

A Wardrobe Consultant is someone that selects clothing and gives some specific people advice on what to wear. Wardrobe consultants have a lot to do with editorial features, print or television advertising campaigns, music videos, concert performances, and any public appearances made by celebrities, models or other public figures.

 

Apart from working with media and public figures, Wardrobe Consultants get invited by corporate organizations to “educate” their employees on “work dress culture”.

 

Neither of these job specifications requires an office, although a reputation as a fashion connoisseur and portfolio of high class clientèle plays a huge part in swaying more clients. It has to be said however that with clients coming from the minority elite class, it could be a tough occupation to crack. But if cracked, the fruits are well enriching more than the take-home pay of many regular office jobs.

 

Photography

In these days of Smartphones with high powered cameras, every phone owner feels like a photographer, this may feed the notion that professional photography is a dying occupation. In Nigeria, not only is that in the contrary, many are also taking to photography without a studio and still making a good living out of it.

 

All that is needed is a high quality camera, a very good knowledge of how to operate it, an impressive skill set of knowing the perfect shoot angles and positions, a CV of beautiful images that you have captured, and finding customers.

 

Finding the customers is the relatively easier aspect, with professional photographers courted for the many events that happen in the country ranging from wedding ceremonies to birthday parties and anniversaries, social and political occasions, fashion shoots and so on. Wages for the coverage of any of these events could be as high as $5000 for a day’s job. With the average take home pay at around $1000 for one day’s job is actually a lot better than the average of Nigeria’s office jobs which is closer to $900, and that’s for a month.

 

There is also the freelance photo-journalism, which is similar to freelance journalism only difference being that the concentration is on providing photographic content for media outlets. Such freelancers could be under a contract with several magazines, newspapers or broadcast outlets or just capture great images and pitch them to the media houses.

 

In both types of photography, an office or workplace can be avoided. Thus your schedule remains yours and the money still comes in; picture it, it’s beautiful, it’s Photography.

 

Cyber-preneur

You are probably thinking of who a cyber-preneur is? it is simply the combination of two words ‘cyber’ and ‘entrepreneur’. A cyber-entrepreneur is someone that promotes himself by using an electronic brochure called a home page on the internet to promote brands and products to an online audience or market. You can see he doesn’t need an office.

 

A few Nigerians have emerged from this space and are commanding healthy incomes, sometimes dwarfing attractive 5- 9 jobs.

 

And of course.........................MC/Comedian... Sure you know this.

Five Tips For Every Young Or Aspiring Nigerian Entrepreneur

 

“Entrepreneurship is not for everybody,” says Ini Onuk, CEO and Lead Consultant at ThistlePraxis,” the technicalities of running a business is different from your talent and creativity,” she adds, citing an example that qualified medical doctors, do not necessarily possess the requisite skills to manage a hospital.

 

Speaking on the Mara Mentor Talk Show, Onuk, who is an experience management consultant and a Mentor, on Africa’s largest entrepreneurship community, Mara Mentor, shared tips for young Nigerians who are continuous venturing into the entrepreneurship space.

 

“A role model is different from a mentor,” she says, “a mentor is someone you have an on-going communication and relationship with, thus young entrepreneurs should focus more on getting mentors, not necessarily role models.”

 

See Ini Onuk’s 5 tips for young Nigerian entrepreneurs below:

 

Go beyond be basics of what you do.

Pay attention to your business and be the best at it. Break boundaries.

 

Put structure in place.

Lack of structure helps businesses to fail. Although it is okay to start without a structure, but as soon as you do, start putting structures in place. Do not hide behind the myth: start-ups don’t have structures.

 

Never get comfortable.

Mrs Onuk shares this same philosophy as Steve Jobs, whose “stay hungry, stay foolish” idea keeps inspiring entrepreneurs worldwide.  She however adds to it, as she says, “be consistent and be very conscious of customer service.”

 

Seek knowledge and improvement continuously.

Trends change every day, so be abreast with the latest in your industry, and even beyond that – take cognizance of everything.

 

Take risks.

Don’t stay in your comfort zone. Don’t be risk averse; always strive for greater heights, but in your entire risk taking, be strategic.

Football’s ‘Vanishing Spray': A Story Of Entrepreneurial Lessons

Football, as many purists like to think, is a fair sport. As a matter of fact, there are a number of fair-play awards in recognition of exactly that: fair play. Yet, players have been found to attempt to exploit every way to gain a competitive edge. Before a free-kick is played, the opposition is required by the laws of the game to stand 9.15 meters away from the spot where the free-kick should be taken but that was almost never the case until a certain Heine Allemagne decided to do something about it.

 

In 2000, Brazilian entrepreneur Heine Allemagne began a journey to solving football’s problem with keeping walls in place while free-kicks were being taken. Enlisting the help of a local cosmetics factory, Allemagne experimented with various ingredients while being careful to ensure that his final product was neither of danger to the players or at risk of causing damage to the playing surface. Allemagne eventually settled on a combination of water (80 percent), butane gas (17 percent), surfactant (1 percent), and vegetable oil (2 percent) to create the vanishing spray which referees could use to mark where walls ought to be while a free-kick was being taken. Intriguingly, Allemagne’s vanishing spray ‘evaporated’ after about a minute leaving no trace and not altering the playing surface with multiple white lines where it was sprayed. Allemagne had delivered a temporary yet permanent solution to an annoying problem.

 

Even though the product has been in use since 2001 and commercial production began in 2008, Allemagne hit the big time after the product was used for the first time at the FIFA 2014 World Cup in his native Brazil. Since then, the vanishing spray has been a hit across the world. As a result, Allemagne, who only a few years ago was on the verge of bankruptcy, is set to rake in millions- and there are five simple yet key lessons African entrepreneurs can learn from this.

 

Heine Allemagne, the man behind the innovative vanishing spray

 

Being a visionary always reaps rewards

Foresight is not overrated. The age-old mantra of finding a problem and then creating the solution remains valid. Viability of a product or business is enhanced if there is an apparent need for the peculiar service offered.

 

Some ideas take time

It took Heine Allemagne 14 years to hit the big time. Some ideas possess us and we feel compelled to chase it till the very end with no assurances that the idea will work and armed with nothing but self-belief and conviction. While there is not always light at the tunnel, sometimes lasting the distance results in success as it has in Allemagne’s case and when it does, the feeling of fulfillment, of satisfaction and of accomplishment is second to none.

“After the referee brought it out the first time [at the World Cup] I started receiving text messages from my family and friends. It was the first time I got emotional, my eyes welled up. I remember thinking, ‘I’m not crazy. It was all worth it’.”- Heine Allemagne.

 

Simple does it

The vanishing spray owes much of the attention it gets to its efficiency- but also its simplicity. Compared with the goal-line technology system which has polarized opinion amongst football’s decision’s makers, vanishing spray is a simple solution which has been roundly embraced. It interferes very little with the game, poses no health risks to players or to the playing surface and blends in just fine. As far as simple solutions go, vanishing spray is the gold standard.

 

Where there is a market, there is a way

The vanishing spray was created with a clearly defined market: the football world. It is safe to argue that products with clearly defined markets upon arrival have a greater chance of success and Allemagne’s vanishing spray is further proof. While ideas are varied and products can appeal to a wide range of demographic make-ups, having a clearly identified market helps on the long(er) run.

 

Seeing the bigger picture

At the FIFA 2014 World Cup when Allemagne got his big break, 320 cans were used. The interesting part is that Allemagne’s company allowed them to be used to free as for them the World Cup was just as about getting a break as it was about marketing. What bigger validation did the vanishing spray need than its use at the world’s biggest football competition? Predictably, within minutes of its first use, mentions on media- social, online and traditional- were measured in millions. It was a well calculated and affordable risk (Vanishing spray retails at $10 and Allemagne’s company could have potentially earned $3,200 at the World Cup) but it has begun to pay dividends. Already in mass production, Allemagne’s vanishing spray has made an appearance- as well as a disappearance- in the Premier League and has been confirmed to be used across Europe’s top football leagues including Spain, Italy and France. Even further proof that the vanishing spray has gone mainstream is the fact that it has featured in games on the African continent and in leagues such as the Thai Premier League, The Australian A-league and the Iran Pro League. The dollars he strategically chose to forego at the World Cup have been converted into millions- because Allemagne saw the bigger picture.

 

Heine Allemagne has gone from being a regular football fan to being market leader in referee aids which could possibly evolve into being a product category on its own if others pick up where Allemagne left off. A classic case of rising from the bottom to the very top, Allemagne should inspire all of us in more ways than one.

Business Lessons From Nature

“To truly reach a sustainable economy, the world is going to need to model commercial systems on natural systems.” – Eban Goodstein, the director at Bard College for Environmental Policy in New York. 

Think about it for just a few seconds; there is nothing man-made that is sustainable. Yes, I said it, nothing. From the sophisticate aeroplanes that cost billions of dollars to manufacture, to the streamlined and modernised speed monsters that cost millions of dollars, none have a natural life-cycle.

 

Nature over the years has been a vast source of deep understanding and meaning for our lives and improving the use of natural resources. How do we create a more sustainable future? What are the lessons we have missed and where do we find them? Many business executives around the world are asking these questions of themselves, in their boardrooms and on the golf course.

 

Goodstein explains it perfectly illustrating how nature produces no pollution, it never relies on a non-sustainable energy source and it operates no systems that grow too fast or that created industry bubbles. Nature has no less than thousands of years’ experience, with a perfected system whereby all of its eco-system citizens are fed, have a living location and provided with adequate energy and clean water. In all fairness, consider that the South American rainforests have existed for thousands of years and the hidden tribes there have never recorded a form of cancer. Yet there are natural remedies that the forest provides that capitalism makes billions of dollars from, as if originally created by man.

Business has only one conclusion to draw from this, “The key to ensuring sustainable human life on earth will come from adopting insights from these proven systems.”

 

Today the term Biomimicry means, “Extracting technologies from nature.” This is a well-established practice in the architecture and engineering circles. Advances in technology have discovered and created paint for exterior walls modelled on the surface of butterfly wings, enabling the ability to self-clean using rainwater. Architects have studied and used termite mounds to understand and design buildings with adequate ventilation. This goes further to designing heating and ventilation conditioning units.

 

Amy Larkin, founder of Nature Means Business and author of “Environmental Debt: The Hidden Costs of a Changing Global Economy,” explains that we need to harmonize the laws of business with the laws of nature. “The financial and environmental world is as connected as your mind and body and until we make this connection we are in a course for collision with the laws of nature,” Larkin explained. “Today we are less and less connected to nature in how we think, spend money … conduct business, consume food, and consume products. All of these measurements are done wrong,” Larkin also suggested, “One of these great doors to go through to help discover new ways to both conduct business and how you measure, what you value in what you count.”

 

Many companies whether big or small, today are all paying the price for over extrapolation on natures resources. Consider the bark of a tree. The bark is the protective layer that covers the trunk of the tree throughout its life. But that is not the only role it plays. Bark also keeps infections from the rest of its surrounding out and protects the chemical balance of the fibre of the tree as it grows. Further, this many other animals use tress as their means of transport. These actions have wear and tear and bark thus protects the intricacies of the life transpiring beneath the bark covering.

 

The lessons from nature’s systems of applied economics and resource management are far more difficult to apply. For one, competition is only compromised when alien plants are brought into eco-systems and compromise the genetic-economic make-up of the eco-system.

 

Monopolies do not exist in nature. Goodstein points out that the closest example of monopolies in nature were invasive species introduced by human migration. “In nature as in economics, monopolies and centralised power choke out competition, increase consumption inequality and lead to predatory behaviour and the existence of unnecessary surplus. It is inefficient and unnatural.”

 

The effects of unnatural eco-systems are seen globally. China has the highest incidence of sustainable pollution that literally shuts down parts of the economy for days at a time. Los Angeles has the highest levels of pollution in the US and is visible from the sky, while the London has by far the highest levels of pollution in the UK. Surprisingly all three cities problems stem from the extensive use of car and yet all three cities has adequate infrastructure.

 

The global honcho’s for ocean research have recently forecast that all the oceans have at least a trillion pieces of plastic floating in them. Over and over we have witnessed the effects of plastic killing off natural living species in the ocean. One of the flowing questions that get asked year in and year out is can we stop the effects of global warming? To answer this question we have to go back to the root of all evil, that being – business.

 

The right question to ask is whether industrial nations can cut production in the absence of a sustainable, clean replacement for the energy needed and used. Again we come back to this fact – nothing man has created is sustainable. Even nuclear power has shelf-life, and is the most dangerous hazard to not only the earth but to mankind as well. Parallel to this thought, are there unnatural replicas for the current resources being used?

 

The reason these questions are so critical is because they beg simple analogies of what we currently use to pollute the earth. For example, we made ourselves very proud that we are moving to a paperless society. But this is not case at all. Till this day, deforestation continues to be a big issue in South America and compounding this fact is that technology requires energy. This energy will be used up leaving a polluting disposable commodity like their batteries and the plastic casing that require special disposing solutions.

 

Over time, money has taken man in the opposite direction to the natural sustainable solutions that exist in nature. The pertinent question remains, "is it too late to repair the damage?"

Personal Strategic Planning Will Make You Succeed in 2015

Everyone seems to agree that maintaining the same approaches within similar contexts will produce similar results, hence a strategic turnaround must necessarily begin with a change of approach. Success is predictable, and this is because there are initial conditions which, when present in any setting, can be indicative of a higher potential for success. A new year does not make everything new, so squeezing the most from a year requires a certain approach, there is the way to begin every new year.

 

“When you establish a destination by defining what you want, then take physical action by making choices that move you towards that destination, the possibility for success is limitless and arrival at the destination is inevitable,” says Dr Steve Maraboli, Author of Life, the Truth and Being free.

 

Planning will be a critical success factor for a productive 2015, and the reason isn’t far-fetched; once a year starts in earnest, things move swiftly and usually, the first month ends without one realizing what had happened. Today’s world moves faster than at any other time in its evolution, and anyone who will succeed in it must determine, in advance, what routes to take, avenues to avoid, flights to catch, and potholes to manoeuvre. Your plan is complete when you have a set of prioritized goals and strategic imperatives that have been properly analysed to include the necessary daily/weekly steps to take in a continuous fashion, but this is not where the plan begins.

 

Vision starts every worthwhile initiative, business endeavour or project. A new year is all of these, and it is very useful to have an overarching vision, a statement of purpose, for the year. This statement could be as simple as; “Position for relevance in “x & y” industries by engaging continuous capacity building in consonance with best practices, while ensuring lessons from last year’s involvement in “z” are fully incorporated into my overall approach this year.” This works for individuals, business units and whole corporate entities. Ensure the vision is relevant to your current stage in life, and clearly states the most significant move to make, going forward.

 

A vision starts a chain reaction, but the vision itself is merely a beacon light so it is not sufficient for success. A vision must be analysed into strategic imperatives. Ask yourself; “what must happen this year for this vision to be realized?” Questions of this nature get you thinking broadly about the necessary strategic imperatives and drivers of the vision. Be sure to capture all of them as these become cornerstones for the year’s success, most people agree on a set of 6-10 such pillars to frame the year.

 

The next layer of analysis will break down each strategic imperative into the logical and creative action points that will help drive execution. Each imperative must be analysed into some 4-7 action steps that must be taken consistently; when all imperatives have been analysed in this fashion, the resulting action points can be assembled in a “Month-by-Month” plan. It is this final outcome that can be called your Strategic Plan for 2015, and this works fine for individuals and all sorts of institutions.

 

Ensure you create a system to ensure these action points are taken consistently, many people achieve this by setting reminders on their gadgets or assigning the responsibility to an accountability person or member of staff. Whatever works for you, ensure the availability of a system other than your memory that pushes you to stay on track with the plan. Also, ensure you grade your performance at the end of every month and this is very simple to do. If your plan says to hit 7 action targets in February and you only achieve 3, your score for the month is (3/7), expressed in percentages, this is simply 43%. Feedback is the breakfast of champions, and when you see live performance scores, you know exactly where to improve.

 

The plan is to be flexible and updateable. If, in April, some new insights emerge that necessitate a change of plans, go ahead to incorporate the changes into the plan as long as they are consistent with the overall vision. Keep in mind that you may not know everything about your year at the start, so be sure to review the entire plan every month and add more targets to the succeeding months as you acquire better clarity.

 

It’s also important to ensure that the sequence above is followed; Vision -> Goals (Strategic Imperatives) -> Plans (Action Points), stopping halfway is part of the reasons many new year resolutions do not work. Until you arrive at the set of points you need to take a day from today and every other day, your vision analysis is incomplete, and execution will be a big fantasy. This sentiment is clearly expressed in the words of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

 

Increase your chances of success in 2015, take a step to plan the whole year, and make this a habit, going forward!

 

Kip Smiln'