Starting a business: What entrepreneurs should not bother about

Many entrepreneurs stress themselves over a lot of things in the process of establishing a business. There are some basic things that all entrepreneurs should take into consideration as they take their business idea and turn it into a business operation. Business consultants say that there are some things that can be ignored when you want to start a business. It is, therefore, important to state some of the things which are not mandatory before establishing a business. Below are a few, according to experts: Academic qualifications This does not rule out the significance of adequate formal training and/or education. Experts say the Internet, entrepreneurial groups and organisations, mentors and good networking make it possible to learn a lot on your own. As prospective entrepreneur, you should not allow lack of academic credentials discourage you. It is important to have degrees, but the absence of such does not mean you will not do well in business provided you adopt the basic principles. Experts say as long as you are curious, driven and have a valuable skill set or the ability to offer something useful to others, you can become an entrepreneur. Management expert, Mr. Dayo Alegbe notes that once you start up your business, you can always update your knowledge in order to boost your productivity. He says the lack of credentials is no barrier to starting up a business and running it successful, but is an advantage which any shrewd entrepreneur can get with time.

FG to provide special incentives for sugar refiners

Nigeria.

The Federal Government has said it will provide special incentives for investors in the sugar industry, especially those that have keyed into its Backward Integration Policy in the sector.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, said this during an assessment tour of facilities of major sugar refineries in Lagos on Saturday.

Those visited by the minister were Dangote Sugar Refinery, BUA Sugar Refinery and Golden Sugar Refinery.

48.3 million Nigerians browse Internet on mobile phones

Nigeria. A total of 48.3 million telephone subscribers actively browse the Internet on their mobile phones, investigations have shown. Statistics obtained from the Nigerian Communications Commission on Friday showed that Internet subscriptions through the telecommunications operators increased by 26.44 per cent between May 31 and June 30, 2013. Active Internet subscription as of the end of June, but it was, however, 16.29 per cent less than the total Internet mobile subscriptions. At the end of June, a total of 57.7 million telephone subscribers had Internet subscription, although only 48.3 million were active subscribers.

Managing your staff performance

 (Culled From Businessday)

Introduction

A plan is only as good as the paper it is written on, until it is implemented. Getting the right staff is the very first step but making sure that the right staff are doing the right things and doing them effectively and efficiently is another important task. Peter Drucker said that ‘Plans are only good intentions until they deteriorate into hard work’

Problem Statement

Managing staff is one of the areas where entrepreneurs and smaller businesses seem to have challenges. Many supervisors know how to supervise tasks and jobs but they do not know how to manage performance. Walk into some organizations during appraisal time and you can cut the atmosphere with a knife, it is that tense. In some cases the appraisees are on tenterhooks and in as many cases, both appraisers and appraisees are afraid to face each other. This usually stems from the fact that the organisation has a goal setting process and an appraisal process but the two are not connected via a performance management process.

How To Beat the Competitors with Your Company Profile!

Under a competitive bidding situation, perception becomes everything, especially in a corporate world.
In a situation where you will not be physically present, you will be accessed by the content and the look of your company/business profile.

Many business opportunities have been lost because of unprofessionally written profile. As I mentioned in my past article, your profile is your company curriculum vitae (CV), to get a very professional Profile, you need to check on the very best personal CV of a competent professional!


So what do you look up in a professional CV? The first thing you look for is the qualification of the individuals, what has that got to do with your Profile? Well, plenty actually! Has your company been awarded a plaque recently? Do you have a special qualification as a professional? Any industry related qualification? e.g ICAN, ACCA, MNCE, CCIE, CPA, CFA, NIM, etc, you got the point right? Any industry related qualification will add to your credibility, so put it in your profile!