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The Importance of Marketing for the Success of a Business

The heart of your business success lies in its marketing. Most aspects of your business depend on successful marketing. The overall marketing umbrella covers advertising, public relations, promotions and sales. Marketing is a process by which a product or service is introduced and promoted to potential customers. Without marketing, your business may offer the best products or services in your industry, but none of your potential customers would know about it. Without marketing, sales may crash and companies may have to close.

Getting Word Out

For a business to succeed, the product or service it provides must be known to potential buyers. Unless your business is known in the community and have communication with your customers readily available, you have to use marketing strategies to create product or service awareness. Without marketing, your potential customers may never be aware of your business offerings and your business may not be given the opportunity to progress and succeed. Using marketing to promote your product, service and company provides your business with a chance of being discovered by prospective customers.

Higher Sales

Once your product, service or company gets on the radar screen of your prospects, it increases your chances that consumers will make a purchase. As awareness becomes a reality, it is also the point where new customers start to spread the word, telling friends and family about this amazing new product they discovered. Your sales will steadily increase as the word spreads. Without employing marketing strategies, these sales may not have ever happened; without sales, a company cannot succeed.

Company Reputation

The success of a company often rests on a solid reputation. Marketing builds brand name recognition or product recall with a company. When a company reaches the high expectations of the public, its reputation stands on firmer ground. As your reputation grows, the business expands and sales increase. The reputation of your company is built through active participation in community programs, effective communication--externally and externally--and quality products or services, which are created or supported by marketing efforts.

Healthy Competition

Marketing also fosters an environment in the marketplace for healthy completion. Marketing efforts get the word out on pricing of products and services, which not only reaches the intended consumers, but also reaches other companies competing for the consumers’ business. As opposed to companies that have a monopoly on products and services that can charge almost any price, marketing helps keep pricing competitive for a business to try to win over consumers before its competition does. Without competition, well known companies would continue to sell while lesser known companies or new companies would stand little chance of ever becoming successful. Marketing facilitates the healthy competition that allows small businesses and new businesses to be successful enter and grow in the marketplace.

Considerations

Although marketing is hugely important for a business to succeed, it can also be very expensive. In its first year, a company might spend as much as half of its sales on marketing programs. After the first year, a marketing budget can reach as much as 30 percent--sometimes more--of the annual sales. A marketing program that gives your company the best chance is a healthy mix of different forms of marketing, such as website development, public relations, print and broadcast advertising, design and printing for all print materials, trade shows and other special events.

50 Inspirational Quotes to Motivate You

Great quotes can be inspirational and motivational. You can use quotes to help guide your decisions in life, work and love. Here are 50 of the best inspirational quotes to motivate you:

1. Nothing is impossible, the word itself says “I’m possible”! —Audrey Hepburn
2. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. —Maya Angelou
3. Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right. —Henry Ford
4. Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence. —Vince Lombardi
5. Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. —Charles Swindoll
6. If you look at what you have in life, you’ll always have more. If you look at what you don’t have in life, you’ll never have enough. —Oprah Winfrey
7. Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. —Eleanor Roosevelt
8. I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination. —Jimmy Dean
9. Believe you can and you’re halfway there. —Theodore Roosevelt
10. To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart. —Eleanor Roosevelt
11. Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears. —Les Brown
12. Do or do not. There is no try. —Yoda
13. Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. —Napoleon Hill
14. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover. —Mark Twain
15. I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. —Michael Jordan
16. Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. —Albert Einstein
17. I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. —Stephen Covey
18. When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. —Henry Ford
19. The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any. —Alice Walker
20. The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. —Amelia Earhart
21. It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light. —Aristotle Onassis
22. Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. —Robert Louis Stevenson
23. The only way to do great work is to love what you do. —Steve Jobs
24. Change your thoughts and you change your world. —Norman Vincent Peale
25. The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me. —Ayn Rand
26. If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint," then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced. —Vincent Van Gogh
27. Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs. —Farrah Gray
28. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. —Dalai Lama
29. You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. —Maya Angelou
30. I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear. —Rosa Parks
31. I would rather die of passion than of boredom. —Vincent van Gogh
32. A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty. —Unknown
33. A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.——Albert Einstein
34. What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do. —Bob Dylan
35. I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do. —Leonardo da Vinci
36. If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else. —Booker T. Washington
37. Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless. —Jamie Paolinetti
38. If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat! Just get on. —Sheryl Sandberg
39. Certain things catch your eye, but pursue only those that capture the heart. —Ancient Indian Proverb
40. When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us. —Helen Keller
41. Everything has beauty, but not everyone can see. —Confucius
42. How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. —Anne Frank
43. When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down “happy”. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life. —John Lennon
44. The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be. —Ralph Waldo Emerson
45. We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone. —Ronald Reagan
46. Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear. —George Addair
47. We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. —Plato
48. Nothing will work unless you do. —Maya Angelou
49. I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples. —Mother Teresa
50. What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality. —Plutarch

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20 Business Lessons You Don't Want To Learn The Hard Way

A few months ago, we posed this question to ShortStack's Facebook fans: “What is one business lesson you learned the hard way?” It began as a simple question to garner engagement, but it led to a long list of business owners’ reminiscences that included some great advice.

Of course every business owner will have his or her own trials, but here are 20 reminders our community shared that just might save you a headache:

1. You can't do everything on your own. Building a team is essential because there are only so many hours one person can devote to a business. Exactly when you reach that limit depends on your other obligations. If you’re a young single person, you might be able to do everything for a year or two. But if you have a family, your dedication will eventually hurt those relationships. Build a team that can carry on when you’re not around.
2. You may think your product is perfect, but your clients won't. Listen to user feedback: Your opinion may not be the best one. The key takeaway here is “release your product early and release it often.” You won’t know if you have a great product until it’s in the field and users are beating it up. It’s like some of the contestants on American Idol. They think they’re talented, and their friends and family think so, too, but when they get on a bigger stage, their flaws become obvious.


3. Do one thing really well. Entrepreneurs try to be everything to everyone, but it's hard to be the store that sells bait and baby toys and vintage Beatles albums. Specialize, and you can charge for what you do provide. That said, if there is a skill or service that would make your core product better, provide it.
4. Get paid before you hand over a project to a client. This is especially important if you provide a service. Once you turn over that contract or website or design project, you won’t have much bargaining power. When I was a graphic designer, I watermarked all my projects and hosted websites on a private domain until the bill was paid.
5. Undercharging is not sustainable. You think, “I don’t need to charge $150 an hour, I can charge $70 and make way more than I was making as an employee!” But you might find out a short time later that your “great” rate is unsustainable. By the time you pay taxes, employees, business licenses, insurance, etc., that $150/hour is looking more realistic. Compete on quality, expertise and your niche focus (see #3) instead of price. When competing on price alone, the clients who are price-shopping will always leave for the person or company that undercuts you.
6. Patience and flexibility help you survive the lean times. ShortStack started out as a side project at my web and graphic design studio. We weren’t a software development studio, but when a client asked us for a software product, we didn’t say no. We were patient, scaled slowly -- partly out of necessity -- and it allowed me to build with company without debt.
7. Build for your actual market. All of my software-building experience so far has been in answer to a demand. It is purely opportunistic. If you’re an app developer and you think “Wow, I think xx industry could use xx,” you might be disappointed. Put another way: I would never start a restaurant without having worked in one...for a long time!
8. Never enter a partnership without a buy/sell agreement. No matter how well you think you know someone, you just don't know when he or she will want to retire or do something else. Even if it’s on amicable terms, know how you can get rid of one another when it’s time for one of you to move on.
9. Be grateful. Appreciate loyal customers who show you there is a demand for what you do. There is no dollar amount you can put on brand advocates. Good will translates to loyal customers.
10.  Look after those who look after you. We offer referral commissions at ShortStack, but it’s very much under the radar. We want people to recommend the product because they like it, not because they’ll say anything for a dollar. If we notice someone said nice things about us publicly, we might send them a t-shirt as a thank you. If they do it again and again, we might say, “Hey, you should become a referrer and earn a percentage of the business you send our way.”
11. It’s not a sale until it’s paid for. This sounds obvious, but I’ve known small business owners who get very excited about orders and/or meetings with prospective clients. But until the money for those products or services is in the bank, it doesn’t count.
12. You'll make more money being “wrong” than proving you are right. Rather than fight with an unhappy customer and say, “You’re using it incorrectly,” or “You don’t know enough CSS to use our product,” we just refund their money. In the long run, these people consume so much of the support team’s time and energy that it’s more cost effective this way. They're not our ideal client, and that's OK.
13. People don’t leave companies -- they leave management. This lesson goes for both employees and customers. A manager will lose staff if the employees think they’re not being listened to or valued. Customers will stop using your products or services if they are dissatisfied with them. The quality and reliability of your products and services is a reflection of management.
14. The way you present your business should be a reflection of your audience. If you have serious clients, be serious. If you have hip, fun-loving clients, have a sense of humor. You have to find your niche and build your content to suit them. For example, Constant Contact CTCT +0% and MailChimp do essentially the same thing, but their marketing content reflects very different client bases.
15. Agree on scope in advance. Have a clear contract before work begins. Once a project goes beyond the documented plan, charge for it. If you agreed to build a website with 10 pages, but soon the site is 20 pages, the client should pay you for them. If your contract makes that clear at the outset, it is easier to control scope creep.
16. If your company sells a variety of products, make sure you know how to use/operate every single one of them. It might sound like a tall order -- depending on how many products your company sells -- but learning to use what your company sells will help you look at things with fresh eyes.
17. When you think you’ve tested your product enough, test it some more. Never release a product until it has been tested and tested and tested by people who don’t work for you.
18. Understand how social media networks work. When Twitter was first available for businesses, I’d see people use it like an ad in a newspaper. If you go on a channel and use it the wrong way, it could do more long-term harm than good.
19. Save up. You can operate at a loss for a number of years but you can only run out of cash once. Have a rainy day fund that has at least two or three months’ operating costs in it. And have a line of credit available, even if you don’t plan to use it. Having a CPA look at your books once a quarter is also a must.
20. Always let the CFO pay for drinks. Cheers!

Related: 5 Reasons to Slow or Stop the Growth of Your Business 

Have you learned any business lessons the hard way? Let me know in the comments section below.

10 People Who Will Destroy Your Business

If you want to build a great business, you have to be very deliberate about whom you let into it.
Emotions and behaviors may circulate through social networks in patterns similar to what’s seen in epidemiological models of the flu virus. Every positive person you let into your life increases your chances of being positive 11 percent, estimated a study published in 2010 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.
"Just one sad friend was needed to double an individual’s chance of becoming unhappy," Wired summarized about the report.
Figuring out whom to avoid and whom to let in won’t always be easy. But with a little practice, you can get really good at staying far away from people who might bring your business down. Here are 10 people (whether employees or clients) you should avoid if you’re starting a business:

1. The siren.

Sirens are those amazing and enticing people who come into your business and completely distract you. More than anyone else, these people have a way of stealing your focus and throwing your efforts off track.
A lot of promising futures have been sacrificed to sirens. Some people have sold their businesses for way less than they are worth and others have given up on their businesses to chase a get-rich-quick scheme than some sirens pitched them. Don’t let this happen to you. Don’t let an amazing person make you forget that you and your business have something amazing to offer the world, too.

2. The goat. 

Goats are those wildly charismatic, big-talking and full-of-luck people who seem to get away with everything. These people have many strengths.
The problem is that they use their strengths in devious ways. Goats have little ambition beyond convincing others to make bad decisions. If you find yourself constantly making bad business decisions every time you’re around someone in particular, it’s time to cut that person out of your business.

3. The elephant.

An elephant never forgets. Elephants are those people in your business who never let you live down past mistakes. They never let you live down who you used to be or how many times you’ve messed up.
Don’t let an elephant pull you back into the past. Everyone fails, especially entrepreneurs. If you’ve failed, it means you’ve learned. So stay on track and keep moving forward.

4. The hater.

Haters are people who want to be on top but don’t want to work to get there. Instead, they want to push everyone else around them down so it will seem like they’re on top.
Haters are losers but they also can serve as a source of motivation in a strange way. Don’t let haters into your business but use them as motivation to make your business as strong as possible.
Related: 6 Reasons Why You Should Start a Business in Nigeria Today

5. The narcissist.

Narcissists are talented people who are too consumed with themselves to take action. They’re especially bad at taking team-oriented action.
A narcissist might even encourage you to put the image of your business over its reputation. This is always bad idea. When starting a business, it’s best to be transparent and authentic. Don’t try to make things seem bigger than they are and avoid trying to be something you’re not. Instead, be real. Keep narcissists out of your startup and stay focused on your reputation, not your image.

6. The nemesis.

When you’re starting a business, sometimes you’ll have to work with someone whom you can’t stand and who can’t stand you. If you’re not careful, this can become a major distraction.
Try to realize that what you don’t like about a nemesis is probably something you don’t like about yourself or it’s something that you like too much about yourself. Either way, something is at odds with your identity and the only way to fix it is to turn the mirror on yourself, not the nemesis.
Your adversary can be your advisor in a way. If you bring a nemesis into your startup, use this person to learn about yourself. Once you do this, he or she won’t be your nemesis anymore.

7. The Ares.

Ares is the Greek god of war. Ares-type people love conflict. They are addicted to drama and winning at all costs, even if there’s nothing to be won. Any time spent trying to correct or even understand an Ares is a waste of time. You are better off ignoring these people and keeping them out of your business altogether.

8. The Dionysus.

Dionysus is the Greek god of wine, parties and pleasure. Dionysus sorts are pleasure seekers who have very little patience for anything other than instant gratification.
Be careful when letting these people into your business because base pleasure of any kind is both addictive and time-consuming. It’s important to have friends and have fun, but you should never sacrifice your startup to a string of late nights.

9. The black cat.

Some people can walk into a business and light it up. Others walk in and kill it. Black cats are the latter. They are the people who seem to have a dark cloud following them everywhere they go.
These people are unlucky, negative and always depressed. Don’t feel bad for these people. Odds are, they like sitting in the pits. They like the attention it gives them. So, let them sit. Just make sure they’re sitting outside your business.

10. The fat cat.

Fat cats are those people who will come into your business, throw a bunch of money around and offer you the world. Whether these people are angel investors or venture capitalists from top firms, don’t let their flash or their cash distract you from the fact that they want to control your company and make money off you.
Be very careful with whom give your business to. You didn’t work this hard to watch your brand and reputation go down in flames at the paws of some fat cat who is now calling the shots.
Related:5 Tiny Business Habits That Will Make Your Small Business More Money

3 Strategies for Dealing With Toxic People

"Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing," Ralph Waldo Emerson once mused. It's a solid observation about handling interactions with difficult people. Mark Goulston, a Los Angeles-based business psychiatrist and consultant and author of Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone, says it's simple to deal with the bullies, the blamers, the rage-aholics, the whiners and the complainers. Here's how.
 Don't expect them to not be difficult. Once you've identified a difficult person, adjust your expectations so you're not blindsided by their actions, and create some emotional distance.
Say to yourself, Here we go again. When these types of people aren't getting what they want, they push you into anger or exasperation, making it difficult for you to think clearly. Reframe the situation--remember, this is their issue, not yours. "Most difficult people provoke us because they're often hiding something--a lack of competence, a lack of ability or something they were supposed to do and didn't do," Goulston says, "and by provoking us, either from anger or whining and complaining, what they often try to do is distract us from exposing whatever that thing is that they're hiding."
Let them finish talking. Interrupting may escalate things. If you remain calm and centered, difficult people will catch themselves and start to back off, Goulston says. When it's time to respond, pick whichever of the following methods seems like it will be most effective.

• Say, "Could you repeat that back to me in a calmer tone? I kind of missed what you were saying."
• Pause. Look puzzled, tilt your head and say, "Huh?"
• If they use a lot of hyperbolic language, ask them, "Do you really believe what you just said?"
• If they're venting, employ the "FAU" technique:

To pull out some of their animosity, say, "You seem [frustrated, angry, upset] ... what's that about?"
Remove the truly difficult people--in life and in business. As an entrepreneur, don't be so focused on the bottom line that you let a bully run amok amongst your staff. Says Goulston: "The more you can recognize and remove difficult people from your company, the more positive the culture [will be], and the more people will want to come to work."
Related: 8 Toxic Types of People You Should Keep Out of Your Life

8 Toxic Types of People You Should Keep Out of Your Life

Today after a NUAMBS departmental match, i walked to my computer maintenance office with the C.E.O of BlueBestMedia. as we walked, we discused the influence of people to a business. he emphasized more on toxic people. Toxic individuals are completely exhausting to be around and they can have a negative impact on your forward momentum. Entrepreneurs need to remain laser focused -- the distractions and stress that toxic people bring into your life act as unnecessary obstacles, so it is best to avoid them.
You probably know a few toxic people -- they might work for you, you might be friends with some or you might even live with someone toxic. The sooner you remove them from your life, the better. Here are eight toxic types of people you should steer clear of.

1. Those who are judgmental

Judgmental people will find a way to criticize anything and everything they come in contact with. You could take the time to explain something to them in great detail but it goes in one ear and out the other. They come to their conclusions before they hear any facts -- they don’t listen well and are horrible at communicating. Asking for advice or feedback from a judgmental person is a complete waste of time.

2. Those who are envious 

Being an entrepreneur can be a very bumpy journey filled with highs and lows -- while it’s important to have a strong group of supporters in your corner during the low times it’s also important to have supporters that are there to congratulate you when you hit the high points. Envious people will not be happy for you -- ever. They feel that it should happen to them and nobody else.

3. Those who are control freaks

Control freaks don’t ever want to listen -- they don’t have to, because according to them they know everything and they know the best way to do everything. While this type of person can be a nuisance in your personal life, they are a complete nightmare to deal with in a business environment. A successful business structure requires team members that will listen to and follow instructions. If you have control freaks on your team it can cause a “too many cooks in the kitchen” problem.

4. Those who are arrogant

Don’t confuse confidence with arrogance -- confident people inspire, while arrogant people intimidate and annoy. Someone with an arrogant attitude feels he or she is better than everyone around them. In a personal setting this can be annoying, while in a professional situation this can create an uncomfortable environment.

5. Those who are victims

The constant victim will always make excuses and blame others for their mistakes and wrongdoing. They are some of the most toxic people to be around -- they will never accept responsibility and always point the finger, which causes a domino affect of the blame game in a work setting. Flush them out of your business and eliminate that headache.
Related: 5 Reasons to Slow or Stop the Growth of Your Business

6. Those who are Negative Nancies

Someone who is always negative will drain your positive energy immediately -- they thrive on bringing everyone down around them. You will never receive any words of encouragement from a Negative Nancy. They will discredit every idea you have and instead of being supportive they will go out of their way to point out every possible way you could fail, rather than focus on possibilities and potential. They are a major energy-suck.

7. Those who are liars

To be successful you have to surround yourself with other successful individuals that you can trust and count on to be there for you. You can’t trust liars and it's hard to count on them because you never know if they are lying or telling the truth. That type of uncertainty will wear you out quickly -- eliminate them from your life and you won’t have to wonder if you are being lied to.

8. Those who are gossipers

People gossip because they are insecure -- they don’t know how to separate fact from speculation and when truths get twisted, the wrong information is conveyed, feelings get hurt and enemies are born. Having a gossiper within your business can be very destructive -- they are cancers and can quickly create a negative environment.
If any of these ring a bell, then there is a good chance you are being exposed to toxic individuals. You should consider removing them from the equation, allowing you to remain 100 percent focused on reaching your goals without unnecessary distractions.
I vowed to remove all toxic people from my personal life and business in 2015, and by doing so I have created a much better environment for myself and my company.
Related: 3 Strategies for Dealing With Toxic People

Six Criteria You Must Meet Before Investing in Nigeria

Now for those who are eager to start a business or invest in Nigeria, there are a few criteria you must meet; so as to ensure you are well positioned for success

1. You must be prepared to be on ground in Nigeria

Yes, I have had so many people call me to talk to me about the possibilities of starting a business in Nigeria while running it from overseas. Now the honest truth is that you can successfully operate a business in Nigeria without being physically present; but not in the startup phase of the business.

You just don’t start a new business, turn it over to someone and travel out of the country; hoping that the person you handed your business over to will do a good job. This is one of the mistakes most Nigerians in Diaspora make.

If you are really serious about establishing a business in Nigeria, then you must be willing to be on ground to run the business for at least one year. Secondly, forget about doing business with your family members or close friends; it usually doesn’t end well. Rather, I will advice you seek professional help, incorporate your company and make sure your back is covered legally.

2. You must have knowledge of the business

To succeed as an entrepreneur in Nigeria, you must have skill and competence. Competence is a product of knowledge mixed with experience while skill is something you can develop over time through training. Please don’t start a business blindly simply because a family member or friend recommended such a business, the result of such a venture is usually devastating. Invest time first to learn everything you can about a business before you invest your money.

3. You must have a short or long term plan to employ people

To keep cost low, you may choose to start as a self employed entrepreneur operating from home, a shop or an office. There is nothing wrong with starting out this way, after all; I started out as a self employed entrepreneur working from home. But as you grow in business, you will need to bring in competent hands. However, you shouldn’t wait till then before you plan towards it, start now.

4. You must have capital

There is no much explanation to do here. To successfully setup a business in Nigeria, you must have capital. This is needed to get things done. Now when I say capital, I want to emphasize that it doesn’t have to be a million dollars. You can start with the little you have even if it is just enough money to get a laptop and an internet connection.

5. You must make sure your proposed business has an evergreen demand

Another mistake you must avoid is starting a business whose trend is dying. Take for instance a cyber café business, this business is dying because the trend is shifting towards mobile connectivity. Why go to a cyber café to access the internet when you can do it more cheaply at home?

6. You must always remember that success is not an overnight flight

Yea, this one is especially for those who are looking for a business to start that will provide a steady cash flow or a return of 30% – 50% in approximately one year. The truth is that it doesn’t work that way. Success can never be achieved or attained by sudden flight; it is a product of consistent, unyielding effort. So stop looking for the best business to start, instead; look for the best business you are willing to stick to regardless of the surrounding circumstances.

Abia	Ebonyi	Kebbi	Plateau
Adamawa	Edo	Kogi	Rivers
Akwa Ibom	Ekiti	Kwara	Sokoto
Anambra	Enugu	Lagos	Taraba
Bauchi	Gombe	Nasarawa	Yobe
Bayelsa	Imo	Niger	Zamfara
Benue	Jigawa	Ogun
Borno	Kaduna	Ondo	Abuja
Cross River	Kano	Osun
Delta	Katsina	Oyo

6 Reasons Why You Should Start a Business in Nigeria Today

1. Now Nigeria still remains a hub for most entrepreneurs and investors. In fact, Nigeria is now the largest economy in Africa, the number one destination for Foreign Direct Investment in Africa and one of the fastest growing economies in the world. That’s why South African and Chinese companies are scrambling to invest in Nigeria.

• Tiger brand recently acquired Aliko Dangote’s stake in Dangote Flour. Note that Dangote bought back some shares from them.
• MTN South Africa recently mopped up shares of MTN Nigeria and Wal-Mart has moved heavily into Nigeria through its subsidiary, Shop Rite.
• GlaxoSmithKline U.K has increased its stake in GlaxoSmithKline Nigeria PLC.
• General Electric is partnering with power generation companies in Nigeria to boost the nation’s power supply.
• Chinese companies are partnering with Nigerian companies to setup manufacturing plants and construction Coys right here in Nigeria. An example of such plant is Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing company in Nnewi.
• Nissan has also established an auto manufacturing plant in Nigeria.

The list goes on and on but the point I want to stress is that this is the right time to invest in Nigeria. Please if you are in doubt of any of the information listed above, Google is your friend. Just do a search.

2. There are over 150 million people resident in Nigeria and the population in Nigeria is been predicted to overtake that of United States by 2050. Now what this means in essence is that the market is big enough to absorb any product, provided enough marketing and awareness is created. Another positive impact of this population statistics is that there is cheap labor. One of the reasons China grew to become an industrial hub is because of her large population, which in turn can be an advantage, with respect to cheap the cost of labor and market availability.

3. Nigeria is fast developing and there is a huge need for innovative products. If you are resident in Nigeria, kindly reflect on the position of Nigeria ten years back and compare it with her present state; you will agree with me that there is a huge change.
Economically, technologically, etc; Nigeria is growing, whether you admit it or not won’t change the fact. Between 2009 and 2016, new companies were launched in Nigeria that disrupted their various industry. Examples of such companies are MTN, GLO, Taxify, Konga. That is why entrepreneurs and institutional investors from countries like South Africa, China, Lebanon, Brazil, India, etc are scrambling to invest in Nigeria because they see the potential that we citizens don’t see.

4. Nigeria is currently riddled with problems and the government is currently battling to tackle these problems. I am talking about challenges such as falling oil prices, security, infrastructural decay, unemployment, power failure, corruption, fall in education standard, accommodation, etc. The average minds believe these problems can never be resolved and if it is to be resolved, it should be done by the government.
However, people with entrepreneurial mindset know that these problems are opportunities; and only those who act will turn these opportunities into profitable businesses. Now let’s look at the education industry. Between 2009 and 2017, new private universities and higher institution of learning are springing up to bridge the gap. In all honesty and humility, I want you to know that I am currently profiting from the security situation in the country by providing a solution to a specific security challenge.

5. The government is working to improve the economic condition of the country, by implementing several policies aimed at encouraging local content production and small scale enterprises. There’s also a tax holiday, incentive and duty-free import policy for those willing to invest in certain sectors of the economy. If you are well positioned to take advantages of such opportunities, you will make something from it.
6. The eye of most entrepreneurs and investors doing business in Nigeria is usually on Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt. However, tremendous opportunities are laying waste in other states cities such as Owerri, Aba, Onitsha, Nnewi, Kano, Ogun, Ibadan, Enugu, etc. Take for instance Nairaland is being run from Ota, Ogun state. Yudala was launched in Owerri, Imo state. Innoson has its headquarters in Nnewi Anambra, same for other numerous companies.
Now to be honest with you, I don’t take heed to what the World bank and IMF statistics say about Nigeria. I am equally not moved by the politically inclined propaganda promoted on the media about Nigeria. I am an entrepreneur on ground, and I have personally assessed the situation on ground and charted out ways to harness it.
I would rather work with my own hard facts and proposed solutions than work with the media statistics. I think I have said enough. So without wasting your time, below are some small scale business ideas and opportunities in Nigeria you can invest in today.

Six Criteria You Must Meet Before Investing in Nigeria

Throwback Time! See seven mobile phones that rocked 2007.

• They were the thing back in the day.

An iPhone render. The next iPhone is expected later this month

With the next iPhone about to drop any day now, we cannot help but take a walk down memory lane and remember the phones that rocked our world 10 years ago.

Here are the 10 phones that made 2007 an amazing year in telecommunication history.

1. The iPhone

The iconic iPhone

That’s right. It’s been 10 years since Steve Jobs introduced the revolutionary mobile device to the world. The interface of the phone and its sleek design made the iPhone a game changer in 2007 and a tech favorite in 2017.

2. Motorola RAZR2 V9m

Razr

You may not know many people who still use Motorola today but it was a different story ten years ago. Motorola was one of the biggest phone brands on the planet and the RAZR2 was one of the coolest phones to own. How times have changed!

3. Nokia N95

Nokia n95

In 2007, PC Mag called Nokia N95 ‘the most powerful smartphone on the market today’. Why? Back then, the Nokia ‘smartphone’ was popular for its GPS and Wi-Fi functions. It was also one of the few phones that came unlocked back then. This was definitely one of the more memorable Nokia devices to hit the market.

4. BlackBerry 8300 Curve

One of the true legacy BB phones

You probably still have some friends that use BlackBerry phones and yes, you may still have a BBM account but one thing is for sure, you cannot compare the fan base that the BlackBerry has today with the one it had in 2007.

The BlackBerry was THE work phone of 2007 and the ‘Curve’ was the model to have. The small and cute body of the Curve coupled with its tiny keyboard gives us throwback chills all over.

5. Palm Centro

Centro

Like the BlackBerry, the Palm Centro, was popular among those worked in the corporate world. The difference between the Palm and the ‘Berry, however, was their advertisement.

They were one of the first brands to use viral videos in commercials and this won them a place in the hearts of the younger generation.

6. Samsung FlipShot SCH-U900

Its swivel design was an eye-catcher

This phone’s swivel design made it one of the coolest phones of the year. Not only did the phone have a side slider, but it also had a touch screen. The phone also had a speakerphone and a slot for an SD card. All these features in one phone? 2007 wasn’t ready.

7. Helio Ocean

Ocean

Helio created the phone that every teenager wanted. Everything about the design and interface of the phone screamed youth.

The phone got the ultimate endorsement from Kim Kardashian when she was spotted using the device on an episode of ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians.’

Ten Things You Should Know About The IPhone X. by Adeoluwa Atayero

.After all the leaks and rumours, Apple finally launched the highly anticipated IPhone X (pronounced IPhone Ten) yesterday. Now we know that even with an official release, there are still a lot of rumours about what the phone is and isn’t, that’s why we are here to give you ten things you should know about the latest addition to the IPhone family

1. It Was Launched At Apple Park

For those of you none Apple fans who don’t know what Apple Park is, it is Apple’s brand new ‘spaceship’ headquarters located 1 Apple Park Way Cupertino, California, U.S. It was officially opened to Apple employees April this year. The new iPhone was launched inside Steve Jobs Theater in Apple Park.

2. Say Goodbye To The Home Button

The IPhone X was made to look drastically different from its predecessors and one of the features that will make it stand out is the missing home button. Every IPhone before ‘X’ has had a home button, but in an attempt to make the phone ‘all display’, Apple opted for losing the home button.

3. Only Your Face Can Unlock Your Phone

One of the coolest new features of the new IPhone is its Face ID. Apple’s new TrueDepth camera system will replace the Touch ID feature that was found in IPhones before. The Face ID, which will work only when the users’ eyes are open, will also work with the apps that have traditionally been associated with Touch ID.

4. Your Very Own Emojis

The Face ID comes with a bunch of new perks but the most fun one is definitely, Animoji. Animoji scans your face and matches your expression with that of the emoji of your choice. How cool is that?

5. What’s A New iPhone Without A New Camera?

The IPhone X has a dual camera as just like the IPhone 7, it has a 12MP dual lens. However, the camera will be receptive to augmented reality. The selfie camera, which is 7MP, is also going to enable 3D tracking.

6. More Life

According to Apple, the new iPhone is said to have two hours of more battery life than the iPhone 7.

7. Tell Me What You See

That’s right, you will be able to play around with what you see through the lens of the iPhone X. Thanks to Apple’s ARKit software, the new iPhone will be able to display videos, virtual images and games on real world objects.

8. An Edgy New iPhone

Apple will be following the footsteps of Samsung by giving the iPhone X an edge to edge design. The phone was created to look like a single sheet of glass.

9. Issa Waterproof!

Waterproof or not, we are sure not many people would want to test this feature for the $1000 phone.

10. No Wires, No Problem

Apple’s new gadget will make use of the revolutionary, wireless charging pad. The wireless charging pad called, AirPower, will be available for sale next year.

Biafra: South-East elders submit petition to US, UN on Igbos’ plight in Nigeria By John Owen Nwachukwu

A team of Igbo leaders under the aegis of Alaigbo Development Foundation and South-East Elders’ Forum have submitted a petition on the plight of Igbo people in Nigeria to the United States House of Representatives and the United Nations headquarters.
A member of the delegation, Dr Dozie Ikedife explained that the team spent some weeks in the US to ensure that the message was delivered to the recipients for necessary action.

Ikedife said “the two bodies made up of traditional rulers, religious leaders, academicians, technocrats and leaders of thought in many fields of human endeavour in Igbo land were concerned about the ethnic group, Nigeria, Africa and the rest of the world.”
The petition submitted by the Igbo leaders read, “We have suffered genocidal crimes committed against us by Nigerians, especially those of the Northern Nigeria, dating back to 1945.
“This climaxed in the pogrom of 1966/67. By the general agreement of the people of Eastern Nigeria, we decided to distance ourselves from the rest of Nigeria, based on many waves of unjustified killings.
“We, therefore, elected to be known as people of independent state of Biafra in 1967.

‘’Immediately after this, Nigeria with her allies, declared war on this young state of Biafra.
“Unprepared, unexpected, we were forced to defend ourselves for 30 months before we were overwhelmed by complete blockade, starvation, heavy indiscriminate bombing of churches, markets and other public places.
“We were forced to surrender to Nigeria’s allied forces on January 12, 1970, to save the rest of the Igbo population from complete eradication.
“Despite the window dressing declaration of ‘no victor, no vanquished and the policy of rehabilitation, reconstruction and reintegration, economic strangulation and systematic exclusion of the Igbo people of Eastern Nigeria (Biafra) had followed since then.

“Unprovoked, unjustifiable sporadic killings of the Igbo had continued with instances of the Igbo massacre in Jos and the Kano genocide which culminated in the 1966 pogrom,” the petition said.

Biafra: Turkish government reacts to alleged ‘invasion’ of Nnamdi Kanu’s house by Nigerian Army. By Seun Opejobi

A Turkish Diplomat, Abdulkadir Erkahraman, has faulted the alleged invasion of the residence of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, by men of the Nigerian Army.
Recall that some IPOB members had on Sunday alleged that soldiers opened fire on the resident of Kanu, injuring several persons in the process.

However, the Assistant Director of Public Relations of the 14 Brigade Nigerian Army, Major Oyegoke Gbadamosi, Ohafia, denied the alleged invasion of Kanu’s residence or killing anybody.
Reacting to the incident, Erkahraman, who once visited Kanu at his Umuahia residence, few months back, stressed that the Nigerian Army is “crossing the redline,”
In a statement on his Facebook wall, Erkahraman, who is the President of the International Nations Commercial Association in Turkey said the Nigerian government can’t stop the actualization of Biafra with what he described as “dirty games.”
Noting that Nigerian government is pushing, “Biafrans” into arm struggle, the Turkish Diplomat said video of the incident has been sent to the United Nations, UN, and the International media.

Erkahraman wrote: “WORLD ALERT!
“Nigerian army officers just attacked people in the home of the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra and shot some people.
“The world is hereby put on notice that Nigeria Army has declared war against the people of Biafra by this unlawful attempt around the leader of IPOB.
“Should anything happen to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, let the world know that Nigeria government has assassinated him as they have being planning. Nigerian army is crossing the red line.

“Self-defense is allowed in international law.
“We already sent life video to Turkish Government TV TRT, CNN and local Tv Channels and international media with UN.
“They can’t stop Biafra Nation with this kind of dirty games. Time to be together Biafra Nation.

IPOB: Jonathan asks Buhari to reach out to ex-Presidents, govs

Former President Goodluck Jonathan

Eniola Akinkuotu, Abuja

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to summon a Council of State meeting to advise him on the crisis in the South-East.

The Council of State is an advisory body which comprises former Presidents, serving governors, the Chief Justice of Nigeria and a few other prominent Nigerians.

The former President said in a Facebook post that the tension across the country was unfortunate even as he condemned the burning of a police station by the Indigenous People of Biafra members.

He also condemned the threat to human life by several elements across Nigeria.

Jonathan said, “The reports I have received about recent developments in the country lead me to appeal to all men of good will to use whatever influence they have to push for peaceful coexistence and restraint on all sides.

“Perhaps it is time for the Council of State to intervene and offer its wise counsel. Irrespective of whatever provocation, Nigerians must never turn on each other.

“Even in the face of difficult circumstances, we must have faith that God in His infinite wisdom will guide us to finding a way out that is fair and just to all concerned.”

Jonathan, while calling for calm, said Nigerians must continue to show love to one another as this was the only way to ensure the continued existence of the country.

He called for dialogue among aggrieved parties instead of violence.

He added, “Inasmuch as there may be the need to enforce order, there is a greater need to reinforce our humanity and treat Nigerian citizens humanely whether they are from the North or South.

“Nothing justifies the desecration and destruction of religious places of worship or a police station. But even more so, nothing justifies the endangering of human life. Let us exchange ideas instead of exchanging insults and threats.”

As 2019 election fever tears APC apart

Buhari, Atiku

Even though the 2019 presidential election is about 18 months away, JESUSEGUN ALAGBE takes a look at how it is already causing cracks within the ruling All Progressives Congress party

Subtly, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has started making known his intention to run for the presidency in 2019 and in doing so, he has somewhat turned himself into an opposition figure for his own party, the All Progressives Congress.

Recently, in an interview he had with the Voice of America in Hausa, the former Vice-President criticised the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

In the interview, Atiku complained that he had been dumped by the Buhari-led government, despite spending his resources on ensuring that the President got to power in May 2015.

The former Vice-President had said, “Honestly speaking, I’m still a member of the APC; I was part of all the processes, including campaigns until success was achieved.

“But sadly, soon after the formation of the government, I was sidelined; I have no relationship with the government; I’ve not been contacted even once to comment on anything and in turn, I have maintained my distance.

“They used our money and influence to get to where they are, but three years down the lane, this is where we are.”

Interestingly, Atiku’s comments came out only a few hours after the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Senator Aisha Alhassan, declared her readiness to support his bid for the presidency against President Buhari should he (Atiku) decide to contest in 2019.

The Taraba State-born minister had, in a leaked video on social media, endorsed the former Vice-President for the 2019 presidential election.

The minister, who spoke in Hausa in the video, had referred to Atiku as, “Your Excellency, our father and our president by the grace of God, come 2019.”

She had added, “Before you are your people, your supporters for life, the people of Taraba State.”

Those who watched the leaked video might perhaps not have believed that a serving minister in the cabinet of President Buhari would declare her support for another chieftain of the party.

But Alhassan, in an interview with the BBC Hausa Service, confirmed that she would support Atiku in 2019 because “President Buhari has not told anybody that he would contest the 2019 presidential election.”

But even if Buhari would contest, Alhassan said she would support Atiku because since her civil service years, Atiku had been her mentor and godfather.

“He (Atiku) has remained so even now that I have joined politics. There is a reason for every political relationship,” she had said.

Expectedly, the duo’s actions have caused some uneasiness among top members of the party, with the lawmaker representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Senator Shehu Sani, telling Alhassan to resign from the Buhari administration in order to start campaigning for her benefactor (Atiku).

One of those also furious over Alhassan’s comments was Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, said to be one of the closest friends of the President.

The governor wasn’t even shy to say he and some other party chieftains never wanted Buhari to appoint the minister into his cabinet in 2015.

Political pundits believe Alhassan couldn’t have openly declared her support for Atiku for the 2019 presidency if she didn’t have the backing of other people in the party.

“It is just a matter of time before we start seeing clashes among Buhari’s and Atiku’s supporters because of 2019,” a lawyer and social commentator, Mr. Daniel Onyebuchi, said.

He suggested the minister’s comments showed that there were some “strong” hands making some moves behind the scenes which caused Alhassan to have made her pro-Atiku comments.

Onyebuchi said, “No matter how naive a politician Alhassan was, she wouldn’t have come out to declare her support for someone who is not even in the cabinet. She’s an insider declaring her support for an outsider.

“Many people think she doesn’t know what she’s doing, but she does. She is not a dumb person. The person we are talking about here was a former governorship aspirant, Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of her state. She was the first woman to be appointed as the Secretary, Federal Capital Territory Judicial Council and so on.

“So when she came out to make the comments, it showed she had seen the writing on the wall. The development only proved what we had been seeing right from the outset: the APC is a divided party, full of people with different missions and purposes. There is no unity there.”

Consequently, the National Working Committee of the party was said to have planned discussing Atiku’s and Alhassan’s outbursts at a meeting during the week.

However, the meeting didn’t hold as planned as it was learnt that some of the party chieftains were divided as to whether or not Alhassan’s comments were worth deliberating upon.

Aside the latest outbursts, Atiku had as far back as 2016 started making some statements which seemed to create an impression of failure of his party and the President Buhari-led Federal Government.

Since last year, the former Vice-President has been one of the most vocal voices calling for a restructuring of the country, which Buhari had said was not on his administration’s priority list.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had on June 9, 2017 said restructuring was not on the Federal Government’s priority list.

It was probably after the calls for restructuring became intense that the party eventually set up a panel some weeks ago, headed by el-Rufai, to look at the definition of the subject.

A United States-based political scientist and founder of the Youths Must Shine, Mr. Femi Matthews, said Atiku’s call for restructuring showed that he was “practically” not on the President’s side.

He said, “If you have been observing the comments of the former Vice-President since, you would see an element of disgruntlement. He is not happy; his wings are clipped and the only way he felt he could fly was to start opposing his own party and the President.”

On August 2, 2017, the former Vice-President, had criticised the APC (and the Peoples Democratic Party) of lacking internal democracy, accusing the party of over the years refusing to hold vital meetings.

“In the absence of those meetings and elections, their existing leadership, often under the direction of the executive at the state or federal level, fills the void. That’s not party building but party bullying. And it’s certainly not a way to democratise parties and aggregate their members’ opinions, interests and aspirations,” he had said.

The former Vice-President, had also on September 11, taken a swipe at Buhari, asking him to fulfil his promise of providing security to Nigerians.

A day later, Atiku again said he could fight corruption better than Buhari.

The former Vice-President had added, “It is sickening to continue to regurgitate allegations of corruption against me by people who have failed to come forward with a single shred of evidence of my misconduct while in office.

“People who lack initiative, personal resourcefulness and ideas about wealth creation always assume that a man cannot build himself without stealing.”

Meanwhile, as Atiku has somehow started his presidency campaign, President Buhari’s supporters have also not gone to sleep, with el-Rufai; Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, among others, saying recently that they had endorsed the President for the second term should he decide to contest.

El-Rufai had said after Alhassan’s pro-Atiku comments, “I am governor today by the grace of God, (and) because President Buhari called me and said ‘go and run for Governor of Kaduna State.’ As far as 2019 is concerned, my position is that the President is looking very well, he is recuperating very fast. My hope and prayer is (that) he will contest in 2019.”

While campaigns for 2019 are subtly going on for Buhari and Atiku, political observers believe it wouldn’t be long before those in the camp of a national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, also start coming out.

A political scientist and social commentator, Mr. Hassan Abiodun, said it would be wrong for anyone to think “Tinubu is sleeping.”

He added, “We are not yet in 2018 and we are already seeing all these. I tell you, by next year, lots of intrigues will take place in the APC. Some people might be thinking because the North seems to be in control of the party, Tinubu can’t do anything.

“But by now, even the dumbest politician should know that Tinubu in a way wields a strong influence in Lagos and even in the entire Southwest. Tinubu might seem to be sleeping now, but I think he’s making his own calculations too.”

Abiodun’s submission might perhaps be the reason why Sani recently asked Buhari to reach out to Tinubu because “he (Tinubu) could “drown” the President.

Sani had made a veiled reference to Buhari and Tinubu in a Facebook post last Saturday, warning that the latter had a damaging political capacity.

The post had read, “The Lion Monarch should reach out to the aggrieved but silent Lagoon Lion so that he doesn’t explode like the hippo. The Lagoon Lion controls waters that can drown.”

The senator had confirmed that “The Lagoon” represented Lagos, while “The Lagoon King” was in reference to Tinubu, a former governor of the state.

Meanwhile, Abiodun said it was unfortunate that the APC was focusing its attention on the 2019 election when it had yet to deliver on its 2015 campaign promises to Nigerians.

He said, “Everything that has happened in the past one week — from Atiku’s outbursts, to Alhassan’s comments, to el-Rufai and other governors canvassing for Buhari while we are still in 2017 — shows that the party is not serious about governance.

“It is even more unfortunate because the party has not been able to unite itself all these years. There are various factions with different missions. This could be why the party is not delivering on its promises.

“When you have persons working for the interest of individuals rather than for the interest of Nigerians, it means something is wrong with our system. Even if the party wants to think of 2019, it shouldn’t be distracted from serving the electorate who brought it to power in the first place.”

Also according to Matthews, it was wrong for the APC to allow 2019 presidential election take centre stage when the party had yet to meet all its electoral promises.

He said, “It is shameful that many Nigerian politicians still think the citizens are fools in this age. I plead with Nigerians, especially the youth, to be conscious of those who are good at governance and those who don’t know what they are doing.

“The latter do little or nothing at governance, dwelling much on politicking, while the former are those whose actions show that they have the interest of the people at heart.”