Since the public debate started, I have not been able to make up my mind which side of the debate to join. Sincerely speaking I couldn’t vote for removal of subsidy non removal. After listening to several public, private and expert speakers on the issue, I was more confused than before. Not that I possess a low IQ, but for the fact that each party were presenting facts and figures that do not agree.

I didn’t realize at first how serious the whole issue is, until about three days after when I started noticing the actual effect of the removal of fuel subsidy around me. The cost of transportation went over the roof. Several people that travelled to their remote villages to celebrate the holiday were stuck in the villages because they could no longer finance their trip back to the cities due to the sudden increase in transport fare.

When the labour union called for a strike action to protest the increase, I knew there was going to be trouble. The fuel stations shut down and there was immediate scarcity of fuel. At first, instead of buying petrol at N65 per litre, I bought at N80 per litre a day before the strike. As at today, eight days into the strike, I had to buy at N160 per litre. Some friends told me they but at N200 per litre.

Weighing the options all over again, I guess the issue is not choosing between removal or retaining fuel subsidy. The real issue is, what is wrong with our leadership? Why can’t we have honest men and women as leaders? Why all the corruption? It is only in Nigeria that thieves are celebrated and given honorary awards. It is time we say no to corruption and corrupt men and women wasting our resources and inflicting hardship on the masses.

I vote for removal of corruption in Nigerian government. In my humble opinion, that is the solution to the controversial Fuel Subsidy.

No related posts.

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2012. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Corruption, Fuel Subsidy, Occupy Nigeria

Nigeria is 51!  We celebrate our fifty-one years of independence from colonial rule today. On 1st October, 1960 Nigeria was granted independence from colonial rule. Ordinarily, it is an occasion that warrants jubilation and celebration. But as I look around, I feel uncomfortable. While our leaders are busy wining and dining, people on the street are asking what is there to celebrate!

Proudly Nigerian

I have always insisted that there is enough reason to celebrate Nigeria’s Independence Day irrespective of the challenges we face as a nation. However, this year, it has been much more difficult convincing friends and relatives that there is reason to celebrate.

The pessimism about the future of my great nation seems to increase as the days go by. Even those who were formerly enthusiastic about the Nigerian Dream are no longer confidence that the change we desire will come in our lifetime.

They ask me the familiar question which is tough to answer. “In the face of unemployment, bad roads, deteriorating education system, corruption, hunger, lying leaders, pen robbery, kidnapping, militancy, religious intolerance, insecurity… what is there to celebrate?”

Well, I may not have a perfect answer. My answer may not satisfy all. But I believe we need to celebrate, and I indeed celebrate with my family. My reasons for insisting that we celebrate as Nigerians are as follows:

• The fact that it could have been worse, but for God’s mercy upon us as a nation.
• The fact that when there is life, there is hope of a better tomorrow!
• The fact that evil cannot triumph over good for ever, Nigeria shall rise again!

Remember, just before the dawn of a new day, is the darkest moment of the night! Nigeria will rise again! Nigeria will be great again!

To all Nigerians at home and abroad, I say a hearty HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! Long Live Nigeria!

Related posts:

1. Celebrating Nigeria Golden Jubilee
2. Hurray!!! Nigeria Is 48
3. If Nigeria Is A Business
4. Forex Trading In Nigeria: Who Is Making The Money?
5. Good People, Great Nation

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2011. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Nigeria, Nigerian

A Successful entrepreneur won’t have the same answer as you are having in your heart right now. Too many small business owners assume that the mission or goal of their business is to make money. If you set your eyes on making money, be rest assured that your business won’t last for long.

Businesses are practically packaged solution to people’s need. Businesses are meant to satisfy the need of individuals or organization. If that is the case, then making money cannot be the mission of a successful entrepreneur. An entrepreneur that aims at making money will only survive until an entrepreneur that aims at satisfying the need of customer comes around to dislodge him.

Customer Satisfaction Should Be Your Mission

Successful entrepreneurs often encourage their staff to aim for two things. First, attract customers. That is the whole essence of internet marketing and all the gimmicks internet marketers parade online. Everyone is trying to get the attention of customers. The competition for customers attention is very keen. Even though you have the capacity to satisfy the need of a market better than your competitor, your inability to attract the customer will make it impossible for you to prove that you are better!

The second goal is to satisfy the customer. Whatever you do, aim at satisfying your customers. A satisfied customer will safe you thousands of dollar in advertisement. His or her recommendation may earn you better return than you can ever get on paid advertisements. Also, a satisfied customer repeated patronage pays huge dividend which cannot be easily quantified. Instead of attempting to subtly grab a few hundreds of dollar from a prospect work at making the prospect a satisfied customer and watch him spend thousands of dollars in repeated sales while recommending your business to his friends.

Quality Customer Support Service Holds The Key!

Irrespective of how good a product or service is, poor customer support service will run the business down. People love to be treated with love, care and respect. Every human being is craving for attention. You will agree with me that everyone, including yours sincerely will love to be treated as Royalty.  When this fails, customer support service should come to the rescue.

To err is human, so it is not out of place for a business to fail in its bid to satisfy customers. However, whenever such failure occurs, customer support service personnel should spring into action to ensure that the mistake is remedied. Customer support service must ensure that the dissatisfied customer does not leave the business because of such failure. Everything should be done to redress and win back the customer’s confidence.

This is one area that small business owners in Nigeria need to look into. It has been discovered that too many big enterprises dump inexperience and ill-motivated personnel in their customer support service departments. Such personnel when attending to dissatisfied customers are often rude and abusive. Some even act as if they are doing such customers a favor. Instead of treating the customers as royalty, they actually demands subtly that the aggrieved customer be grateful that they are spending their precious time attending to such trivial complains. This is a golden opportunity for small business owners to tap into.

Give The Customer Royal Treatment and Watch Your Business Grow!

Since the market is already full of lots of aggrieved customers, take advantage of this! Build a first class Customer Support Service Department for your business. Ensure that the department is staffed with the best behaved, smooth talking, diplomatic, courteous staff you have. Explain to the personnel that they are the last hope of the company in retaining any aggrieved customer. So, their attitude should be such that a customer having come in contact with them will find it difficult to leave.

Get Feedback About Your Customer Service Department

If you really want to stay and grow in business. You need to get direct feedback from your customer on what your customer support service personnel are doing. You need to know if they are striving to keep customers for you or doing otherwise. Too many businesses have lost valuable customers because an aggrieved customer was not well attended to. Getting feedback from customer is not so difficult. You only need to be creative and you will be surprised that customers are willing to comment on how your staff treat them.

Reward Good Support Staff and Fire Bad Support Staff

It is your business, so be bold enough to reward good support staff and fire without hesitation any support staff that is killing your business. It is foolish to allow an arrogant and uncultured support staff to continue in your employment. Any staff that does not accept the fact that it takes the income from satisfied customer to keep the business running must be fired. Customers pay for satisfaction and it is the responsibility of any business that takes a customers money to provide such satisfaction or refund the money taken. As such, it is compulsory that every staff understand and agree to treat every customer like royalty.

This post was provoked by a recent experience I had with a business organization. Having failed in keeping their promise, their support service staff are acting as if they are doing me a great favor listening to my complain. If I were to have my way, I will recommend that the entire customer support service department of that business be overhauled, because their response to customers sucks!

Your business mission is to attract customers and satisfy them. Never forget that if you truly want to be a successful entrepreneur.

Do you have a story to tell about customer support service? Do you have a tip to share that will empower a small business owner? Please do so in a comment. Cheers

Related posts:

1. 5 Tips For Business Growth
2. How To Pacify Clients When You Fail To Deliver
3. Why Nigerians Suffer As Unemployed Internet Surfers
4. Managing Your Business Overhead Cost

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2011. | Permalink | 17 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Customer Care, Customer Support, Nigerian Entrepreneurs, small business, small business opportunity

Bulk Sms

I am not a Bulk SMS reseller. But I’m a heavy user of bulk SMS. I subscribed to one of the most reliable bulk SMS reseller and I have been enjoying their service until recently when I noticed that my sent messages were not getting delivered. I thought it was just a hitch in their system, so I went online and chatted with one of their representative.

Well, I was treated to a very good customer service and I thought that the situation will be rectified. Unfortunately, a week after, the same situation is still persisting. Over 60 percent of the messages I sent doesn’t get delivered and that was really embarrassing.

I was actually thinking of switching to another reseller because I was loosing money. Every time a message sent is not delivered, I loose the money spent on sending the message while at the same time I suffer the embarrassment of intended recipient of such message calling that they never got the message. That is not good for an entrepreneur like me. So I made up my mind to switch to another reseller. But the question on my mind was, which of the myriad of bulk sms reseller parading themselves as the best solution provider in the market should I subscribe to?

Should I join the bandwagon and become  a bulk sms reseller myself? After giving it a thought, I decided that I’m not ready for sms reseller business. I already have my hand full for now. I believe in giving my best in whatever I lay my hands on. Since I don’t have the time to commit to the business of reselling sms, then there is no point going into it for now. My good name is my greatest asset. So the option left is to subscribe to another bulk sms reseller.

Well, while searching for the best provider to subscribe to, I discovered that I’m not the only one complaining about undelivered messages. Some of my friends are complaining also. And funny enough, we subscribed to different bulk sms resellers. So that showed me that it wasn’t only my provider that was having hitches with their services, many more in the bulk sms business are experiencing the same.

Now, someone suggested that GSM operators in Nigeria are responsible for the undelivered messages! How true is that? Whenever, I send messages from my phone using the GSM operators (I have 3lines, MTN, Glo and Etisalat) the messages get delivered. However, when I send bulk SMS to the same operators some get delivered, while some don’t get delivered. A friend suggested that the GSM operators are sabotaging the business of bulk sms reseller. That sound ridiculous to me. But could it be true? There are too many questions and little comforting answers.

What has been your experience as a user of  Bulk SMS in the past one month? Do you have answer to the questions raised above? Kindly say in a comment. You might save a business by doing so. Thanks for reading. Cheers.

Related posts:

1. Bulk SMS Resellers in Nigeria
2. Bulk SMS Resellers Price War
3. Online Business
4. GSM Short Code Service or Fraud!
5. What is Nigeria’s Business in Obama 2008?

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2011. | Permalink | 49 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: bulk SMS, Entrepreneur, Nigerian, Online Business

If you talk to an entrepreneur and mention charity you would expect them to hiss like a snake and curl up into a ball, or is that just the entrepreneurs I talk to? Either way people rarely expect business and charity to mix well, one is about making money and the other is about giving it away.

Give A Car To Charity

But sometimes you can find the perfect angle. A way to make money while also making the world a better place. That may sound impractical, but a little bit of creativity makes it feasible.

Giveacar is a company that specializes in letting you donate your car to charity. Most people with an old car they don’t want any more tend to just get rid of it at any old price just to be rid of it. Giveacar takes the responsibility off the customer’s hands by finding the best price for the car and giving the proceeds to the charity of their choice.

The preferred charity is a matter of your choice. Irrespective of the charity you choose, an additional benefit is that you can have the peace of mind that you are contributing to a cleaner environment by allowing Giveacar to handle the proper recycling of your old car or van. It is on record that every year on average, just over 2 million cars and vans reach the end of their useful lives, and the average new car requires the energy equivalent of 1540 gallons of petrol to manufacture.

This is why Giveacar will either sell your car on to a dealership that will fix it up and get it back on the road for as long as possible, or have it drained of any hazardous fluids and stripped for parts and materials in a safe and environmentally friendly manner.

Whether you choose a charity for the environment, the poor, the blind or the sick, you make the world a greener place by putting your car to use somewhere instead of adding it to the heap at the junk yard.

It’s hard to argue with a company that makes money by supporting hundreds of charities across the UK through taking old cars and recycling them to save the environment. In the film Wall Street, Michael Douglas made that speech about how greed was good.

It’s businesses like Giveacar that show us that greed is not good, it just shows lack of creativity. There is a joy that you derive when you lend a helping hand to the needy. Giveacar can help you do just that. You can get more information by visiting their website at Giveacar. Cheers.

I sure look forward to when a successful entrepreneur will implement this concept in my country. It is actually possible to make money while making the world a better place. You only need a bit of creativity to merge the two goals together.

Note: This post is not a paid review, it was born out of my chat with Daniel of Giveacar who visited this site. This piece is my idea of spreading the knowledge that entrepreneur is not just about making money, what you actually do with what you have determines how successful you really are! Feel free to drop your thought in a comment.

No related posts.

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2011. | Permalink | 13 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: charity, donate, Entrepreneur, GiveACar, make money

1. Using dot NG will enable organizations and individual to use domain names that are otherwise not available. For example, while it might be impossible (or uneconomical, due to high pricing) to purchase short and memorable names that had already been taken up by the early birds, it is now possible to have same using .ng.com or .org.ng as the case may be.  For example, you can’t get www.love.com, but you can easily purchase www.love.com.ng
2. The use of NG will easily identify a domain as belonging to a Nigerian business or entrepreneur.
3. Search engines may rank dot NG domains higher for subjects relating to Nigeria.

While those arguments sounds logical, only the first argument really  holds ground. Even though this website is registered as .com, yet it is well identified as a Nigerian website because the content focuses on Nigerian Entrepreneurs and issues pertaining to Nigerians. Also, search engines will list Wikipedia first before any other website if it has sufficient content to cover an issue even if the issue is 100% Nigerian.

In order words, while it is desirable to have a short and memorable domain name, I don’t buy the idea that registering my website as .ng is of any advantage to ranking in SERP. In order words, calling your website www.nigeria.com.ng does not guarantee you traffic from Nigerian web users.

If you write or provide information that Nigerian web users need, they will come seeking for your site. It doesn’t matter if it was named www.nigeria.co.uk.

Also, many web users are “lazy” and “hasty” they often ignore the prefix that follows the dot. So they end up typing .com at the end of any url they put in their browser.  So registering www.love.com.ng may not be an effective method of sharing from the traffic of www.love.com.

The only reason why I will subscribe to using dot NG is because it is Nigerian and I’m Proudly Nigerian.  I won’t assume that buying a domain name that contains dot NG will increase my traffic. Well, that is my candid opinion. I’m waiting to hear your argument in favor or against the use of dot NG. Cheers.

No related posts.

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2011. | Permalink | 23 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Government workers in Nigeria are getting excited about the newly approved minimum wage of 18,000naira. Does this really call for jubilation? I’m not trying to be pessimistic, but I personally feel that what Nigerian workers need is not a new statutory minimum wage. They will be better off if the government focus her attention on arresting the factors responsible for eroding the purchasing power of the workers income. If the present attitude of our leaders in maintaining the social infrastructures continues, the newly approved statutory minimum wage will have less than the purchasing power of the old 7,500naira minimum wage.

It is not the volume, but the value!

I personally feel that everyone would have been better off, if government has concentrated on improving the supply of electricity and repairing the roads. Those two factors alone cost an average worker thousands of naira per month. so much fund is wasted from each workers income as they struggle to provide energy using petrol generator.  The cost of transportation is also high because commercial vehicle owners pay heavily for maintenance of their vechicle due to bad roads and poor road networks.

Will The State Government Pay?

The state governments are already crying foul over the federal government action. They claim they can’t afford to pay the new minimum wage. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to us, knowing fully well that some are owing their workers more than one month salary (at the old minimum wage rate). How on earth do we think such states will be able to pay their workers the new minimum wage which is more than 100percent increase on the old rate.

Will The Private Sector Pay The New Minimum Wage?

The private sector will now have to contend with disgruntled workers who will be expecting automatic increase in their salary because of the pronouncement of the Federal government. Unfortunately, many workers in private organisation will be dissappointed. Such automatic increase in salary is not realistic. Presently, a lot of private firm are having challenges with running their operations on diesel driven generator, because there is a hike in the price of diesel. Unlike before when a litre of disel sold for 110naira, now it goes for as much as 140naira per liter. That is a sudden increase in overhead expenditure.

Just two months into the new year and there are already many challenges for the Nigerian Entrepreneur to combat with. Unfortunately, our leaders are too pre-occupy with the April election to bother about the state of the economy. They are not helping matters in any way as their reckless spending is putting pressure on the economy. The warning from the Central Bank of Nigeria on the need for the executive to cut down on recurrent spending seems to be falling on deaf ears.

Nigerian entrepreneurs need to re-strategize in order to cope with the unforeseen result of these government policies. Every wise entrepreneur need to watch his/her overhead expenditure this year. It is obvious that there are challenges ahead. What is your opinion about the new minimum wage?

No related posts.

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2011. | Permalink | 16 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Nigerian, small business, Wage

Happy New Year 2011

I’m looking up to Jesus the author and finisher of my faith. He says ALL SHALL BE WELL this year!

No related posts.

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2011. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Happy New Year

Year 2010

The year 2010 has been a wonderful year for me as an entrepreneur. Even though I didn’t quite achieve all that I set out to achieve during the year, I must confess that I have several reasons to be grateful to God for His generosity. I must also appreciate you my fans, friend and readers of this blog for your support, especially those of you that drop comments and contribute to discussions on this blog (No thanks to the human and auto-bot spammers for increasing the time I spend moderating).

This year, I wrote fewer articles because of my preoccupation with offline activities, yet this blog enjoyed more visit than it ever had in the previous years. There was increase in overall exposure and I had quite a good number of offers from individual and corporate organizations asking requesting that I partner with them in one venture or the other. For all those offers, I am grateful.

What Has 2010 been like?

As an Entreprenuer, it is that time of the year that one need to take stock of the performance so far. Several questions runs through my mind. You can guess what some of them are. What progress has been made? What goals have been achieved? What lofty ideas were abandoned because of poor implementation? What did I do wrong? What could I have done better?

As these questions and thoughts fly around my mind, it became obvious that I needed the aid of pen and paper to get my thought sorted out. However, it wasn’t long before I discovered that that wasn’t just enough. The mind is a wonderful machine with ceaseless torrents of ideas, questions and suggestions. I needed something better than paper and pen to do my constructive brainstorming.

Brainstorming with FreeMind (an Open Source Alternative to Mind Manager)

Thank God for open source software. I had downloaded FreeMind, an Open Source alternative to the popular Mind Manager.  I used it to put down each flying thought, idea, questions and suggestion. It was easy arranging my thought and establishing connection between one idea and another to see what the overall picture looks like. It was much more better than using a paper and pen.

Meanwhile, I have also used the FreeMind to build a complex diagram of what my life really look like. It is really stunning to see how complicated it really is. I thought I live a simple life, but the diagram shows that what I consider simple is actually complicated and it requires carefulness to maintain a balance. I am actually using that diagram as a foundation for writing up my goals for the year 2011.

Year 2011

Plan to Live A Balance Life In the Year 2011

One of the lessons I learned this year is that every goal you set for yourself, whether business or personal must aligned with your ultimate goal in life. It is foolish to set goals that contradict what your ultimate goal in life is. Let me explain with an example. An entrepreneur set the goal of having a certain amount of money in his bank account at the close of business on 21st  December, 1996. His plan was to spend some of the  money to give his family a one week treat at one the exclusive holiday resort. Unfortunately, when he got home on the 22nd of December, 1996, there was nobody at home. He discovered a divorce letter on the dinning table, it was dated 16th December, 1996! His spouse and children were gone. They were tired of his continuous absence from home and his continual neglect of  the family.  It was a total disaster, because the man had sacrificed a bigger and more important goal for a smaller one. What a disaster! That entrepreneur failed to set his priority aright. He failed to balance his goals!

Each of us need to set goals for the various nodes that makes up different areas of our lives (spiritual, health, financial, social, etc). Ensure that the goals are not conflicting with your ultimate goal or purpose in life.  Give priority to relationships above material acquisition. I’m not just talking, I’m working on my goals for 2011. Not an easy task I must confess, but I’ve learned that he who fails to set goals and plan for their achivement is merely existing like a rock! So I’m not going to abandon the task. Success don’t just happen. Success occurs when someone set goal, plan and work towards it’s achivement. If nothing has thought me that this is true, this blog has done just that.

So, my suggestion to you is that as you celebrate this festive season, don’t forget to take stock of your performance in the year 2010.  Ensure you show appreciation to all those that have contributed to your success, business and personal, so far. Then sit down and sincerely decide what you want in the year 2011. Decide and plan to be a major league player in the year 2011, don’t settle for the position of a spectator! See you at the top. Cheers

Related posts:

1. What Did Blogging Teach You In 2008?
2. Happy New Year!!! 2009

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2010. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: balance life, Entrepreneur, Family, goals, New Year, Open source, performance, plan, priority, stock taking, Success

McNeri

Why We Suffer As Unemployed Surfers

The Internet is for surfing not for suffering. The internet is for information gathering, knowledge building and application of such knowledge for making money! It is not for suffering! So why do Nigerians suffer online. There are numerous sites where you see us (Nigerians) gathered and all we do is complain of our suffering online. I feel there is no need for that. In fact, when you have pain and you gain access to the web, all your sufferings ought to go away as you receive knowledge and help from the online community. Often, such knowledge and help are given free of charge!

I am based in the United States and I have been involved with post-secondary education up to the highest levels since 1988. I have numerous interests even though I have a full time job which pays my bills. It has however fascinated me since my days at Ibadan, UCH to be precise when we first learned of Cybercafés (Internet Cafes). That was in the days of NITEL internet and calling booths. At that time in 2000/2001, I got a glimpse of what the world wide web had in stock for us. Seas of information and oceans of characters. We browsed in a very different way then.

How I discovered the World Wide Web

In those days, I had to apply for a NITEL land line so that I could use NITEL internet. To get the line cost 13,000 naira ($87) to NITEL and another 25,000naira ($167) ‘egunje’ (bribe) to the thugs (staff) of the cursed company. It was like bleeding, but we did it. This afforded me the opportunity to become a web user as I browsed the internet by dialup. I opened “FREE” email accounts and searched with this new search engine called GOOGLE! All was going fine and I was feeling cool but a few months into this new adventure, the line suddenly stopped working!

Then I received a bill of 102,000 naira ($680)! I thought I was dreaming! I contested the bill because the phone was not working and I had not made any international or local call to warrant such a monstrous bill. Well, I was simply told that that is my bill and I have to pay it if I ever want to use the line again! To me that was fraudulent and I was not willing to pay for what I did not use. Well, that was the end of browsing from home, but I had learned that there was a huge world out there and I was going to be part of it.

Journey to Cybercafés

A few cybercafés sprang up in Ibadan at that time, but many of them had lousy speeds. I was already spoiled with my home dialup (NITEL internet) which was so fast at 24kbps! Eventually I found one in Bodija, Ibadan. It cost 500 naira ($3.5) for 5 hours of moderate speed browsing. I was happy. Then I would go and buy a pack of floppy discs (do they still exist?). Each one was 1024kb. Armed with the 10 in a pack I would go to the cybercafe and pay for 5 hours. As I surfed, I downloaded materials, usually articles of interest in the medical field, or web pages. I would just be saving them to the diskettes (for the younger readers, that is what they were called). Then when I got home, in the comfort of my home, I would re-browse them, that is if Nigerian Electric Power Authority, NEPA (another sick company) permitted (the company had the monopoly of supplying electricity, but does a terrible job of servicing the masses, I learned they have been re-branded as Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN. In my humble opinion, Never Expect Power Always is better than Power Holding Company of Nigeria. Well, back to our main gist. It was at the cybercafés that I stumbled on my present career.

It was during my adventure in the cybercafés that I found out about the World Bank Scholarship and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. That was how I ended up having papers in Croatia at the 7th World Congress of Pediatric Surgery. That is how I ended up here in United States, owning a website development company and helping other less advantaged organizations get their feet online.

Why all this personal story?

My story may be a bit long winded, but I want you to take from this a little lesson. It is still challenging to get online in Nigeria 10 years later, I wouldn’t have guessed. I have had some couple of youth send me letters asking me to help their helpless situations in Nigeria relating to unemployment and struggles. One of them named Tunde, does landscaping, but has no official qualification. He has worked in a cybercafe before. I encouraged him to simply put pen to paper in 5-10 short essays of what he does which is landscaping. Then I offered to help him get a website on, optimize it for search engines and even purchase some adverts for him. Then all he has to do is register his business name in Nigeria and we can hunt for business online since he was disadvantaged on the ground in Nigeria. It has been almost one year now and I have not heard from him.

I guess Tunde lacked the motivation to follow through with my proposal because he probably think it is too big a dream. It was a mistake on my part too, because I was dreaming big “for Tunde”. So I have ceased to dream for people. The message here is DREAM BIG AND YOU CAN GET THERE. It does not matter how ridiculous your dream is. What matters is whether you believe you can achieve it or not. There are many roads out here and that is why it is called the WEB. Read, Learn, Dream, Achieve.

After Tunde, I had another cold caller who contacted me through facebook. He had a similar story. Patrick is a teacher, but wants more. He complained that his meager income as a teacher wasn’t sufficient to support his poor family and there are several other financial challenges that he was struggling with. I asked Patrick what he knows and can really write about. He said poverty. I said okay, write five short essays and I will set you up as an online writer. Maybe we can get you something to supplement your poor teacher’s salary.

Two months later, I asked Patrick how far? I am still waiting. Please tell me if it takes Patrick 2 months to write 5 short essays on this first offer, how will anyone be willing to contract him? He will not deliver and in this fast-paced world, nobody has that kind of time. So the second big lesson is “STRIKE YOUR IRON WHILE IT IS HOT“. We are too lukewarm in Nigeria. We feel overwhelmed by the huge problems facing us and the lean resources available to us. However, if you want to make it to Heaven, you have to live like you are in Heaven here on Earth. Righteous, Holy and Worshipping the only true God, like the angels do in Heaven.

My Suggestion to You

I believe you should gear up and face the invisible if you want to rise out of that quagmire limiting you. Hold onto your faith, but also focus on your dreams. Yes, dear to DREAM BIG DREAMS! If you have no dreams, then you are going nowhere. Can a Man make heaven if he has not dreamed of Heaven?  Also, start NOW! People in the developed world have blogged their ways out of poverty. You too can make money online from Nigeria if you take action now. Get a blog, send a guest post to well established bloggers and become the person of your dreams. You’ve got to STRIKE YOUR IRON WHILE IT IS HOT! Stop procrastinating, start acting out your DREAM!

Micheal Mcneri is an Internet Marketer and a blogger. You can visit his website at Finance Is Personal. He also has a new one at I Be Naija.

Related posts:

1. Online Afflitiate Marketing Programs For Nigerians
2. Your Business Mission
3. Outrageous Bank Charges!

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2010. | Permalink | 44 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Blogging, Make Money Online, Nigerian, Nigerian Entrepreneurs, Nigerian Youth, small business, small business opportunities

Proudly Naija 4 Life

Nigerian Entrepreneurs is proudly Naija for life and so are many Naija youths online! I was quite surprised that the honorable minister of information of Nigeria has left her serious assignment and is now focusing on use of language! “Stop using Naija to refer to Nigeria!” says Prof. Dorothy Akinyuli. “You can’t dictate to us, what words to use to refer to ourselves” say Nigerian Youth! You can read the angry reaction of Nigerian Youths at various Nigerian online community boards.

What is the Meaning of Naija, 9ja?

9ja, Naija etc are slangs that the Nigerian youth proudly use to refer to our motherland Nigeria and her citizens. The word as I learnt originated from Nigerians in diaspora who started using it to refer to themselves as citizens of Nigeria living in foreign land. The words to the user symbolizes patriotism, solidarity, pride in belonging to the country with the largest population of blacks!

The words were never coined by strangers, so it can’t be said that the terms are derogatry. There is no single evidence to show that the words Naija or 9ja is meant to make caricature of Nigeria or her citizens. It is quite unfortunate that our leaders are so far from the people that they don’t even understand our language anymore. If the word Naija is derogatory, why will several Nigeian webmasters (including yours sincerely) use it in their domain name! Nobody identify himself with derogatory words, people only use words they consider will add value to their personality.

Professor, your wish is only your wish, not ours! If the british sometimes refer to themself as britons, brits the Americans refers to themself as Yankee, the Australians refer to themself as Aussie or Oz and we call South Africa S.A then there is nothing wrong with Nigerian youths calling themselves Naija, 9ja. So we say yes to Naija! We remain Proudly Naija 4 Life!

Professor Akinyuli has been a woman I admire, but of recent, she seems to be loosing focus on what her real assignment is. Personally, I think she is handling a wrong portfolio. Her prior assignment was much more fitting and she was able to shine like a star. Since her portfolio was changed, she has not been able to do much to impress the populace. Whoever, advised our former president to change her portfolio did not mean well for Nigerians.

Open Letter to Professor Akinyuli

Prof., I’m not a politician, neither do I like writing about politics, but this time around, I proudly join the Nigerian youth online to say no to you. We love the words Naija and 9ja that we use to refer to ourselves. It was not coined by a foreigner, so it is never derogatory. If you don’t understand why we use it in place of the word Nigeria, you should ask us and not assume. Mind you, Naija has never replaced the word Nigeria, it only compliments it.

“Madam Dora, no make me vex, abeg! If I vex you no go lik’am. Instead wey u for identify wit d youth, you they fight us! I no understand you self. Shey people dey call you Dora and you no sue dem to court! You even dey lik’am as the thing they make you feel better pass your fullname! Who tell you say the thing wey Lord Luggard call us better pass wetin we dey call ourselves! I beg leave us alone. If you ready to learn, go ask Governor Fashola why in dey talk say, Eko o ni baje o!“

If you are a Naija online, please cast your vote for the continuous use of the word Naija by dropping a comment here. Cheers.

No related posts.

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2010. | Permalink | 18 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Aussie, Australians, Britons, Citizens, Derogatory Words, Honorable Minister, Motherland Nigeria, Nigerian Youths, Nigerians In Diaspora, Patriotism, Solidarity

Bulk Sms

Buy Bulk SMS for as low as N1.xx…. I guess that is the latest catchy phrase in Nigeria. It is quite interesting that many Bulk SMS resellers are trying to woo Nigerian consumers via rock bottom pricing. There is a serious price war going on now as they try to outdo each other by offering rock bottom price for their bulk sms services. I guess if it were possible, some will even offer free SMS just to snatch customers from their competitors. Well, that strategy is not working for now. At least, it has not made me change from my present service provider. Honestly speaking, if someone somewhere think this is the way to do bulk sms reselling business, they better have a rethink. Nigerian consumers are not fools!

Price is Not Everything

Of what benefit is a service that is cheap but inefficient? It is economically unwise to spend money on a service simply because it appears cheap! If the service can’t produce the expected result, then it is money wasted irrespective of how cheap it is. Why should I buy SMS at the rate of N1.00 only to discover that messages sent are never delivered to the intended recipients or it gets delivered when it is no longer relevant. Someone sent an SMS that is meant to wish a loyal client happy birthday but delivery of the message was delayed until 2days after the birthday! I’ll say that is a crappy service, irrespective of how cheap the service was. I’ll rather pay double to get the message delivered at the right time.

So many Bulk SMS resellers are not getting their acts well. You must not be the cheapest in the market to be the most patronized. There are other qualities that can make you stand out in the crowd. My bulk sms service provider is not the cheapest, but they know how to deliver quality services.

Rolls Royce Is Not Cheap

Just think about Rolls Royce. Rolls Royce manufacturing team are not trying to increase or maintain their market share by reducing their price to compete with the likes of Nissan. Instead, they strive to improve on the performance of their model and the luxury it affords the buyers. Irrespective of how low another car manufacturer may place their price, lovers of Rolls Royce won’t be wooed!

Rolls Royce High Quality

Nigerian Consumers are wise

As an entrepreneur, you need to do proper homework before using low price as a bait to increase your market share. If your service is poor and your customer support service  is non-existent or inefficient, then lowering your price will do no good. You should focus your attention first on improving your service before inviting more clients to try your service.

Bulk SMS resellers compete in an international market

Price war gimmick is a common strategy of the Nigerian  gsm telecom operators. Nigerian consumers no that the price war is just a gimmick because it is always accompanied by crappy services. The fact that the gsm operators seem to be getting away with this doesn’t mean the consumers are fools. So never conclude that the same trick will work for bulk sms resellers. Unlike gsm telecom operators who have the advantage of operating in a closed local market, bulk sms resellers are actually operating in a highly competitive international market.

So my advice to all those wannabe Bulk SMS resellers out there is that they go improve on their services . You will only be relevant in the market by offering quality service. Nigerians online won’t mind patronizing a bulk sms reseller who operates from the moon as long as the service is reliable. Even though I am proudly Nigerian, I don’t subscribe to crappy services. The bulk sms price war strategy is not working, think of something else. Cheers.

Related posts:

1. Is Bulk SMS Business In Nigeria Crashing?
2. Bulk SMS Resellers in Nigeria
3. GSM Short Code Service or Fraud!

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2010. | Permalink | 30 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: bulk SMS, Bulk SMS reseller, Free Sms, Market share, Price War, Quality Services, Reseller Price, Resellers Price, Rock Bottom Price, Rolls Royce, Service Provider, Sms Services

Online Forex Trading has come to stay in Nigeria. A significant percentage of my first time visitors discover Nigerian Entrepreneur via their search for Trading Forex Online in Nigeria. That is kind of funny since FX is not my focus for this blog.

I have observed that over the years, more and more Nigerians are becoming active forex traders. Even though in time past some Nigerians made false claims about their forex trading expertise, the trend is gradually changing. We are beginning to have real professional forex traders who are earning reasonable income from online forex trading.

What Do I need To become a professional Nigerian Forex Trader?

On several occasion, I have received emails requesting that I explain to the sender how one can become a Professional Forex Trader without falling victim to those seminar gurus. Some have pleaded that I recommend a Forex Broker or a Professional Forex Trader who can coach a newbie into becoming a professional FX trader. Well, I had resisted the urge to do so because I am not all that knowledgeable in Trading Forex.

Last week, while discussing with a friend, he explained to me that two factors are needed by a newbie desirous of starting online forex trading business. There is need for a coach, that is an active trader (not a seminar teacher making empty claims). Also, there is need for a reputable Forex Broker. He warned me not to give out his name as a Forex Coach. I wonder why he doesn’t want to coach people. So folks looking for reputable coach, I’m still searching for one that I can recommend.

Well, for the second requirement, he recommended United World Capital, a foreign based Forex Broker that is currently wooing Nigerians. He stated that the company has special interest in Nigerian clients. That sounded unbelievable because even though I knew that Trading Forex is a Multi-billion Dollar Market with great potentials, I never knew that the activities of Naija brother and sister in the industry is beginning to attract international attention.

Well, I visited the official website of UWC, and I must say the website is quite user friendly. I have visited the official portal of several Forex Brokers, but United World Capital (UWC) seems to be different from them all. UWC webmasters seem to have taking into consideration some of the constraints that Nigerian FX Traders faces. They also have quite some mouth watering deals for both would-be traders and affiliates. I will mention some of the things I saw but I suggest you visit their website after reading my ramblings.

United World Capital Deals For Nigerian Forex Traders

I visited UWC website, and I decided to use their onine chat service. The rep that attended to me stated that UWC is focusing on becoming the best Forex Broker for Nigerian FX Traders. I was  told they have some cool special offers for Nigerian clients. That will definitely bring a boost to Nigeria Forex trading opportunities.

Opportunity for Newbie Forex Traders – According to the rep, any Nigerian Trader that registers with them will have the opportunity of trading in different foreign currencies, gold, stocks and CFD. The required minimum deposit for a starter is $10 and they are willing to provide leverage up to 1:500. If you decide to start big and you deposit $50 you will be given a bonus $25. Well, for those with fat purse, a deposit of $300 will attract $100 bonus while 25% bonus goes to those making first deposit above $500. Quite tempting I must say.

Easy Account Funding Options – I guess they are aware that PayPal has not been so friendly to Nigerians. So they already put in place different options for getting fund deposited into your trading account. You can use AlertPay, Okay Pay, Western Union, Bank Wire Transfer, Money Bookers, Debit Cards, Credit Cards, Neteller, WebMoney etc.

Easy Withdrawal of Fund – Withdrawal from trading account is equally facilitated via several options. So no more using PayPal palaver as excuse for not starting an online business. Beside the opportunity for would-be Forex Traders and Professional FX Traders, there is also another opportunity being provided for Nigerians by UWC. You can become their affiliate and earn money.

United World Capital Deal for Nigerian Affiliates

If you don’t know what an affiliate is, read my post  UWC gives room for anyone to become their affiliate. They are promising $10 commission for every referral you send to them who traded lot (lot is the contract volume in forex) + $20 extra for every client that deposit more than $50. They are promising free website design and hosting for Nigerian affiliates who want a website. There is need to get more details on this though.

It doesn’t end there, they claim that any Nigerian affiliate who can provide 1000 traded lots per month or more will be considered for managing his or her own UWC office in Nigeria (please don’t be surprised if you suddenly start noticing UWC banner and text link on this blog). This offer is quite tempting. I’ve almost completed my registration as an affiliate.

What is in it For Nigerian Entrepreneur?

I know you’re beginning to suspect my motive for writing this article. Well, I will leave you to keep guessing. There is nothing wrong with me desiring to make money as a blogger or even becoming an affiliate of UWC. The important issue is that I have shared the same opportunity with you. So, go check out United World Capital deal for yourself. If you decide to take up the opportunity, when next you blog about your Nigeria Forex deals, do send me a love-link.

Well, that is the end of my ramblings. It is time you go to United World Capital official portal to get more details for yourself.  Please drop your thought in the comment section. It will encourage me to keep writing. If you happen to know a Professional Forex Trader willing to become a coach to newbies, drop his/her contact in the comment section. That is just the missing factor we need to compliment the opportunity being offered by United World Capital for the newbie Nigerian Forex Traders. Cheers.

Related posts:

1. Forex Trading In Nigeria: Who Is Making The Money?
2. Online Forex Trading

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2010. | Permalink | 17 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Dollar Market, Entrepreneur, Forex Broker, Forex Trader, Forex Traders, Fx Trader, Fx Traders, Nigeria, Nigeria Forex, Nigerians, Online Forex, Online Trading, Trading Forex

Hurray! Nigeria as a nation is 50years old today I wasn’t around when Nigeria got her independent from Great Britain. However, I learn from my parents that it was such a joyful moment. All the various tribes that makes up Nigeria rolled out their drums and celebrated the occasion in colorful styles.

Nigeria At 50

Well, fifty years after, some around me feel there is no reason to celebrate, but I beg to differ. I believe in what a song writer said that we should count our blessings and name them one by one, it will indeed surprise us what the Lord has done. We must not only take account of the problems and crisis that have almost destroyed us as a nation, we should at least appreciate the mercies of God that we have enjoyed time and time again.

I know that Nigeria as a nation has a lorry load of challenges and some of it are quite great. However, the singular fact that the Nation is still existing despite all the damage done to her socially, politically and economically by the black sheep among us is enough for me to thank God.

It is only here that I can claim to be a citizen without paper. This is my home and the home of my children. In every other places we go, we are still strangers irrespective of how well we behave. So I am still proudly Nigerian. I am grateful to God Almighty who has sustained the fragile peace existing in this nation and has not allow us to experience another civil war. Nigerian Entrepreneurs need to thank God because it is only when there is peace that enterprises thrives.  A warring nation is no place to do business.

Proudly Nigerian

Nigeria Shall Be Great Again!

While other are expecting the doom of Nigeria, I choose to join those praying for the success of this nation. I believe that Nigeria will become great again. I believe that the broken walls of relationship between the various tribes will be rebuilt. We will co-exist in unity under God fearing leaders who are ready to serve.

I believe that the Lord God Almighty will smile on us and give us trustworthy leader who are ready to rebuild the ruins of our social infrastructures. Nigeria shall be great again. If you believe Nigeria shall be great again, join me and my family as we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Nigeria’s independence. Cheers!

Related posts:

1. Nigeria At 51
2. Hurray!!! Nigeria Is 48
3. If Nigeria Is A Business

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2010. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Broken Walls, Challenges, Citizen, Civil War, Fifty Years, Fragile Peace, Golden Jubilee, Great Britain, Independence Anniversary, Infrastructures, Lord God Almighty, Nigeria, Tribes

These and many more questions are bothering me as I watch our politicians playing the old game all over again. Unfortunately the society is not doing much to help. Is this not the right time to take up our pen and make our voices heard? Is this not the best time to scrutinize the motives of those aspiring to become the next president of our great nation. I think every Nigerian blogger should make a post about the current events unfolding in the political arena. Never mind if you are not interested in politics. I don’t like talking about politics or politicians. However, I have a dream that Nigeria will be great!

In other countries, would be presidential candidates reel out the goals they intend to achieve if they are giving the opportunity. They go to a great extent to convince the populace that they can provide succour to the suffering masses. They present policies that they believe will go a long way to move the economy forward. The electorate are practically wooed like a bride-to-be in other to get their votes.

Unfortunately, that is not what I’m seeing. Nigeria is almost 50, yet we seem to have learned nothing from our past mistakes! How come those that were instrumental to the destruction of our social and economic life are the one aspiring to govern. Why can’t we have a change of the old guard? Are there no successful men and women who have made significant impact in their various industry who can take up the mantle of leadership and lead Nigeria out of the woods? How come those that ought to be thinking of retiring are the ones dictating who should be our next ruler!

My humble expectation is that by now, someone will come out to convince the electorate how he or she (I won’t really mind a female president) will solve the problem of the infrastructural decay that is sending us bankrupt as a nation. I thought someone will give us a promise on solving our energy crisis once and for all. Won’t it be wonderful if the educational sector will be restored to its former glory when citizens of other nations come to Nigerian Universities to study.

Unfortunately, all I hear about is Zoning Formula. North and South gentleman agreement! Ethnic and religious affiliation. Are those suppose to be the criteria for choosing who to vote for in the Nigeria Presidential Election 2011! Oh my motherland. When will we wake up from dream and face reality. What we need as a nation is a man of purpose. A man that is committed to building our fatherland. What we need is a man that is ready to serve, not one that wants to be served. What we need is a man that has a dream for Nigeria, not one that has a dream for his pocket!

Then Nigerian Entrepreneurs will be able to shout for joy! We will be able to create wealth that will place Nigeria in a vantage position among the nations of the earth. I have a dream, that Nigeria will be great. The Giant of Africa rise up and occupy the position of dignity in the continent of Africa. If Nigeria is a business how will we go about selecting the next Managing Director? I want your opinions on this one. Cheers.

No related posts.

© NaijaEcash for Nigerian Entrepreneur, 2010. | Permalink | 9 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Best Time, Blogger, Business Venture, Current Events, Economic Life, Electorate, Ethnic Affiliation, Managing Director, Mantle, Motives, Nigeria, Old Game, Political Arena, Politicians, Populace, Presidential Candidates, Right Time, Shareholders, Significant Impact, Stakeholders