Archives for December 2010

Interesting Kenyan Sites #16

December 6, 2010 by 3 Comments

We found all of today’s sites on Facebook. Most of them were being advertised on Facebook. I must say that if you are going to spend money advertising your website, please make sure that your website is actually a good representation of you/your business. otherwise, you will just be making Facebook rich and wasting money.

The Good
eManamba – eManamba promises to make travel simple and hassle free. How? Well, through eManamaba, you can book and purchase a bus ticket to many Kenyan, and East African, destinations. You can even choose a seat from those available at the time of your booking. I love it, and I will be sure to try it when I next travel. The site is well done, and it seems to work. Kudos!

BidhaaTele – is a massive marketplace where you can find bidhaa tele to buy – though right now there is not so much probably because they are just starting. The site feels really well done and we must congratulate and thank the site developers for a breath of fresh air: a site that looks good and just works. Kudos, and good luck on the business.

50-50
Kamata School – I like the idea behind this site. Kamata Entertainment are using a blog to market their services (a music school, a DJ academy, and Salsa lessons) online. It is a very good strategy. Kudos. However, I feel that their site is letting them down. I do not particularly like the way the site looks and I think it could be better. However, the main problem is that the site feels a little cluttered and it feels like there is not a strong call to action i.e. they could sell their services more efficiently.

Flops
RimSite – this one is hard to figure out. It looks like a local social network (like facebook) but it also includes a job board where job vacancies are listed. It is a good idea, in principle. But I do not think the owners have executed it very well – the site right now looks like it is a little dead and feels like an adult (X rated) social network? Was that the intention? I do not know. But I do know that the owners did not intend for spam to flourish on their site like it does now. It is hard to build a social network, and I hope RimSite can overcome their current challenges and rise above them.

Ayanah.co.ke – this is a furniture store. Basically it is a website set up by a furniture shop in Nairobi to promote themselves online. Nice, eh? The only problem is that their website could – and should – have been so so much better. The design is really poor – especially the site structure and the use of images instead of text (which means your site fails in SEO). Bad job by the guys who made the site.

epur.biz – this is a kind of online marketplace where sellers can list items on the epur platform and then, one hopes, make money and be happy. The site is badly done, though. I would argue the design itself is what lets epur down the most – it just does not inspire any confidence in me. Couple that with the fact that the site looks “unfinished” and you have a good idea done really badly. The saddest thing is that epur is supposed to be a marketplace but I cannot find any products to buy….

Filed Under: Cool Sites

9 Reasons Why You Should NOT Start a Business

December 4, 2010 by 1 Comment

A journey that begins with a wrong step seldom ends at the right destination.

1. Don’t Start a Business for the sake of MONEY
Top on the list of reasons why people go into business is the strong desire to amass wealth. I have never known of a more ineffective way to think about business than this. As unpopular as it might sound, most business failures stem from this singular fact alone. Why? Because the moment making money becomes your primary focus as an entrepreneur, delivering value which is the foundation of effective business practice becomes secondary. And when this happens, no matter how great your business is, it automatically goes on a downward spin. Nothing kills a business faster than putting money first before adding value to your customers. So when next you’re thinking about starting up a business, I suggest you lose every possible thought about making money and focus entirely on delivering consistently superior value. Trust me, I’m talking from experience (of other people), starting your own business for the purpose of making money is a sure fire way of failing.

2. Don’t Start a Business because you LOST your job
Closely related to the issue of money is going into business because you lost your job. As you’ve probably realized, this is how many people end up as entrepreneurs. At first glance, there might not be anything wrong with this approach of starting up a business, but taking a closer look will reveal a vital truth: people who lose their jobs are often driven by fear and to start a business because you are afraid is absolutely disastrous. The implication is often enormous: top on the list is that you will never exercise the due diligence starting a new business entails. Why? Because the fear of living without a regular income since you no longer have a job will keep haunting you and eventually start making you place unrealistic financial expectations on your new business venture. Second on the list is that you are emotionally unstable the first few months of losing a job, especially when you didn’t see it coming. The disappointment can be disheartening, the more reason why you shouldn’t go into business with such mind frame. Why? Because in the world of business, disappointments are a natural prerequisite for success. Meaning, the more disappointments you get, the closer you are to success.

3. Don’t Start a Business because you HAVE money
I know you’re probably startled about this one. You certainly didn’t see it coming. Well, it’s as wrong as starting a business for the sake of making money. How? Here’s the thing most people with money don’t realize, it doesn’t take money alone to make a business work. Starting and running a business will cost you more than all the money you think you have. There are just too many things a business will demand from you that money can’t even buy, for example: how much does it cost to buy the passion needed to build a SIGNIFICANT (unique and useful) business? Have you ever seen passion being offered for sale? In fact, no university or institute of learning can even teach you passion. Here’s the truth, having money is good, but it’s not sufficient enough to make you want to start a business. Starting a business requires gut, passion, ingenuity, creativity, resilience and so many other personal character traits that all the money in the world can’t buy!

4. Don’t Start a Business because you want TIME Freedom
The thought of not having to wake up early and rush off to work can be very enticing to would be entrepreneurs. But take it from me, I’ve been in the game now for 8 years; the fact that you didn’t wake up early and rushed off to work doesn’t mean you are not at work. Being an entrepreneur means working all of the time even in your sleep. That your fantasy of time freedom will naturally go sore once you choose to become your own boss. How do I mean? You see, it’s not that you wouldn’t have more time to yourself when you’re an entrepreneur, certainly you would. But the irony of it all is this; that time freedom is for you to do some creative work and not for you to be idle and indulge yourself in some unproductive activity. You left your job to have enough time to do what you really care about in life, that’s all the definition of time freedom you’ll ever get – having enough time to make a SIGNIFICANT contribution with your life to the world. True entrepreneurs hardly stay idle indulging in pleasurable activities just because they have time freedom. They are always in the creative process, picking up clues here and there of how they can make the world a better place by utilizing their time, money and life for something worthwhile.

5. Don’t Start a Business because OTHERS are doing it
Anything that is popular has a way of being highly contagious. People just literally jump at it without any logical explanation. Believe it or not, this is how so many people ended up in the world of business. Since everyone they know is quitting their 8-to-5 jobs to go start their own thing, why shouldn’t they do the same? The down side of going with the bandwagon is this; you’ll lack the staying power critical to survival in the world of business. At first, the thought of being your own boss can be very enticing, but sooner or later you’ll realize it’s not a bed of roses. And when this reality sets in, you’re the only one who would be left alone to figure out a way of making it through the stormy days. So start a business because it’s what your soul desires and not what the society or your peers desires for you. Starting your own business is not about boosting your personal ego or winning a popularity contest, it’s a personal decision born out of an internal conviction!

6. Don’t Start a Business because you HATE working for others
Now here comes the tricky one; starting a business because you hate working for others. After wanting to make money, this is another popular reason people give for going into business. Listen, as popular as it may seem, here’s the truth; 99% of popular things are either totally wrong or mere misconceptions. That you hate working for others is no guarantee that you will succeed or enjoy working for yourself. In fact, there’s more work to do working for yourself than you ever thought you did working for others. So if you hate working for others, you might just as well hate working for yourself. What it turns out to be sincerely is this: you simply don’t like work in general and this is why starting your own business is the last thing you should ever think of doing. Why? Because business is the domain of unlimited work; there are no working hours like your regular 8-to-5 job. Welcome to the 24/7/365 days a year working schedule!

7. Don’t Start a Business just LIKE everybody else (Differentiate or Die)
In my field of business development, I have seen so many people go into business just because they saw somebody else succeeding in it. This is a higher form of going into business because others are doing (point #5 above). You observe a business and simply go make a clone of such business. So what do we get? The same kind of business but with different brand names. I don’t get it: “Why would any right thinking person choose to be a duplicate of another when it’s absolutely possible to excel being an original?” As a matter of fact, you have higher chances of succeeding going into business as an innovator than being a duplicator.

The business terrain is already overcrowded with a countless number of companies doing almost the same thing you have in mind to do. Unlike in the past before the advent of the internet where you had only local or national competitors, now your competitors are all over the world and just one click away from your local or national target market. So why would you want to build a business just like your neighbour? Here’s the deal: if your business doesn’t stand for something SIGNIFICANT (unique and useful) there’s no need repeating what others have already done and giving it another name. Meaning, if there’s nothing positively unusual about your business, don’t bother going into business to offer the same old milk but now in a new brand skin or container. Doing this is the fastest route to extinction. In other words, differentiate or die!

8. Don’t Start a Business without SUFFICIENT planning
Business is a highly complex activity and therefore requires adequate planning. It’s been statistically proven that inadequate planning is top among the reasons why most businesses fail. I’m sure you already know that by now (that’s why it’s the second to the last point). Why then did I include it in the list? Because most times, the problem is not about what we don’t know but more of what we do know but never put to use or practice. There’s a phrase that best captures the essence of planning and it goes like this; “He who fails to plan, plans to fail“. And a key element of planning is having a long term perspective of things or as it is popularly called: seeing the big picture. Which intentionally, happens to be the subject matter of the next point to which we now turn.

9. Don’t Start a Business that cannot OUTLIVE you
One of the underlying principles of the Accounting profession is called: “going concern” which means that a business must be in perpetuity. That is, a business is meant to exist as far as there’s still a need to be met. It’s just basic human nature: I mean who wants to raise a child only to watch the child die before their eyes? In the same regard, you should never start a business that has a short lifespan. Starting a business from a short term or temporary viewpoint, as far as I’m concerned is the definition of selfishness. Why build something temporary when you have the potential to create something eternal? The joy of any creator is to see his/her creation rise above their widest dream and outlive the very existence of the creator. So here’s the ultimate question for you “does your business have the capacity to outlive you?” OR “Would your business still be in existence long after you’ve gone?” Never start or go into a new business without asking and answering these questions.

What then is the RIGHT way to start a business?

Start a business because you have something SIGNIFICANT (unique & useful) to contribute to the benefit of the human race!

Why?

Because a business is a tool that entrepreneurs create in order to make a SIGNIFICANT (unique & useful) contribution to the world by addressing a particular problem plaguing the human race.

Filed Under: Small Business

Print a Newspaper?

December 2, 2010 by Leave a Comment

We all know the story: newspapers are dieing everywhere, and most likely will start dieing in Kenya soon. So why should anyone print a newspaper anymore? And more importantly, where would you get one printed? Isn’t the newsprint becoming obsolete like the old cassette tapes did? In one respect that is true, but in another, more valuable aspect for businesses, newsprint is even more important today.

With the advent of the internet, most people are getting their news from websites accessed through a keyboard and a screen or on the mobile phone. Since, for the most part, it is free, who wants to pay for a newspaper anymore? Hardly anyone. The daily newspapers are going out of business, but the uses for a publication that people can hold in their hands has not really diminished that much. And if a business can take advantage of this, the rewards can be great indeed!

Let me explain. People still like to read. They still like to get information. And having something to read that is on paper instead of the computer screen has not lost its appeal. If you hand someone a free newspaper, he will probably read through it. He just may not want to pay for it.

Take a business that wants to disseminate information about itself to clients, customers, and employees. Spam is so prevalent that most information sent by email is often lost, ignored, or disregarded. But put a newspaper in a person’s hands with articles about the company, new products, new services, and current products and services and people are a lot more apt to read it.

It is the niche market that can now benefit from printing a newspaper. A church can deliver a message to the community through a newspaper, and a business can keep potential customers updated on exciting products and helpful information. Imagine having an 8 page newspaper filled with articles relating directly to your area of expertise. Imagine these newspapers sent to clients, customers, or even lying around in waiting rooms across your city. Imagine the name recognition. Imagine the marketing potential!

Every business can benefit from publishing a newspaper. It can replace expensive newsletters. It can generate cash flow. It can cover its own costs by selling advertisements in it. It can disseminate much more pertinent information. It can capture potential customers attention in ways that a typical ad or short newsletter could never do! It is perfect!

Publish a newspaper and be one step ahead of the competition! Get your message out!

Filed Under: Lazyweb

Gaming can make a better world

December 2, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Miscellaneous

5 Signs That Mean You Need a New Job

December 1, 2010 by 2 Comments

In any job, there are certain signs which predict future dissatisfaction with one’s career. Here are five of these good indicators that it could be time to move on to a new employment opportunity:

1. You do not earn what you deserve
If you are performing the work of multiple employees, across multiple skill sets, you may be better off being self-employed. The hours can be longer, yet the compensation can be significantly higher when you are the boss. If you are not earning what you deserve, then you may wish to consider a second job, or a different job entirely.

2. Your current job no longer challenges you
A dead-end job can be tiring, exhausting, and stressful once it does not demand your peak performance. This can spill over into other aspects of your life, affecting them to your detriment if you are not careful. If advancement, additional duties, or other changes to keep you fresh are not available, then other employment can be highly beneficial for multiple aspects of your life.

3. You no longer get meaning from the work you perform
When your work environment no longer satisfies the deepest parts of your personality, it could be an indicator that you need to be working elsewhere. People change and grow over time, and if you have outgrown your job, or need more satisfaction from the results you contribute, then a change could be just the thing to keep you stimulated, engaged, and ready to tackle new challenges. Work is a big part of one’s life, and without meaning, it can be a hollow victory, even if everything else goes well.

4. You do not get added career enhancements from working there
A great job should provide you with more than just a paycheck. Additional skills, new experiences, and even new contacts can all be valuable assets in your career progression. If your current job offers none of these, then it may be time to re-evaluate your current working situation.

5. You have problems with the people at work
People problems can range from challenges with customers, all the way to issues with coworkers, bosses, and others. Sometimes, a clash of incompatible cultures is no one’s fault. However, if you have tried your best to resolve the issues, and yet they seem to be getting worse instead of getting better, then a change may be in everyone’s best interests, before things really get out of hand.

Therefore, if your current job does not pay you what it should; if it no longer challenges you or provides meaning; if you get no career benefits from working there; or if the people you work with are no longer a good fit; then it could be worth examining the other opportunities available to you. Then, whether you decide to take on a second job, or switch to a different job completely, it is more likely that you will be happier in the future.

Why starting a business is better than getting a job
It’s much better in the long run to build your own business, build your own list of contacts, employ others to work for you, control the fruits of your labor, but this path doesn’t usually mean an instant paycheck. The revenue comes later.

So if it’s otherwise a clear choice to start one’s own business instead of working for someone else, why would someone choose the latter? The main reason is urgency. If you need an extra 10,000 per month right now, you’re going to go out to get a part-time job because once you’re hired, the paychecks usually come in. If you don’t need an extra 10,000 per month right this moment to cover your current expenses, but instead want to improve your income and diversify your revenue streams, then it will likely be more profitable to build a business yourself than to support and build someone else’s business. This is the track you can take if you don’t need the extra income urgently.

Filed Under: Make Money, Small Business