Before You Sign Them Up: Should They Be On Your Team?

Have you ever wondered why more problems are brought to your desk than solutions? As an entrepreneur, you need to teach your staff to come up with the solutions to the problems they have even before they bring it up. They must be thoughtful and innovative; they must understand what it means to bring solutions to issues in a company without your intervention.

Not every problem must be solved by you as the employer. There are loads of things that are bagged out on your agenda and you don’t want your staff to bore you with silly problems that could be easily resolved.

 

We know though, that employees are the first to find faults and problems within the

organization. They do not feel they have any stake in the business, so why should they think up solutions? They forget that they are a part of the company and the smallest decisions affect them too. By the time you put your staff through the exercise of finding the solution before the problem, you would indeed discover those that have the intelligence or kind of thought process you require.

You would be able to separate the chaff from the wheat. Who needs a dullard these days!

 

Except he knows he’s job depends on proffering solutions to his own problems, he wouldn't take it just as serious as he should.

Gone are the days when employees are been spoon-fed with training and workshops, as much as that is required by organizations, many have budget cuts that it is now left to the employee to keep himself on top of his team at all times.

 

It is important for every individual to sharpen his/her thinking, and intelligence.

Lastly, a non-innovative and non-productive staff is a total loss to a company; and also the major cause of snail-growth or no growth within an enterprise.

It takes a lot of patience to build a dedicated team of innovative minds; the pain, and time is worth it.

Credit : The Street Hawker
Photo credit : photo bucket

ONE PURE WATER SACHET AT A TIME

The power of the pen they say is mightier than the sword and I am going to use mine today to fight a battle that we are scared of confronting. I once had a blog (I shut it down) where I talked about the problems we are going through in this country and how we intended solving them. Then an incident occurred (I am not going to share) which led to its …… and since then I have decided not to write anything or tweet anything about our dilemma in this nation.

But something happened yesterday that triggered my subconscious to change direction on this subject. This is not the first time I have experienced this but yesterday was ‘frigging’ different.

I boarded a commercial vehicle from Obalende en route Ikeja and the traffic was ‘bumper-bumper’. We were on the same spot for close to 45mins. My white handkerchief had turned brown and we were all sweating profusely like goats to be slaughtered on Christmas day. I don’t need to mention the odour (combination of different colognes) oozing out of each and every one of us.

And all of a sudden, as if we were programmed, we shouted “Driver follow one-way now!” at the same time. The driver (maybe running on the same version of the software) succumbed to our ‘request’ not mindful of the LASTMA officials standing adjacent to our vehicle. That, my friend didn’t shake me a bit but what baffled me was that other vehicles followed suit. It was as if they were on a version 2.0 of the same program. And that my friend is what I call CORRUPTION.

We all seem to have a single story about corruption; money laundering, oil bunkery, election rigging and the list continues. And we also have this mentality that Nigeria is just a place. We are Nigeria (you and I).

All the characters in the short ‘real-life story’ of mine above were all corrupt. From the passengers to the driver, even the LASTMA officials that didn’t take any action and other vehicles that followed suit were all corrupt (me inclusive, although I have repented).

We have been clamoring for revolution (change) in this country but we are afraid to work towards its attainment. Sometimes because the status-quo suits us in some way, it helps us to be lazy.

 Like I always say in my talks and seminars that the only way to that change we desire in this nation is by self (personal) development.

We have to start with ourselves. After ourselves, we have to focus on others (those around us). By so doing we start creating ripple effects that would change the nation’s image across the globe.

Obey traffic laws, stop defacing walls with posters, pastors should stop using church money for their personal gain, stop urinating anywhere your ‘10-inches’ directs you to, the list continues.

Do not leave everything to the government. The government has been bad right from the days of john the Baptist (I wasn’t around then though).

This change we desire starts with us. Let’s start by exercising restrain when some evil thought is telling us to cheat in the exam hall or short- change a fellow brother.

Start with little things such as refraining from throwing pure water sachets out of vehicle windows.

Let us start with ourselves. One pure water sachet at a time and we can make Nigeria a better place.

PS: I am terribly sorry for not publishing any article for like 3 weeks back. I have been extremely busy. But thank God I am back with full force. Follow me on twitter: @ayamtheone and join the tweet-chat; #morningflakes where we inspire our inner soul to act and pursue our dreams in life every week day (Mon-Fri 6:45am-8:30am) and Weekends (8am-11am).

I would love to hear your take on this piece.

Sadiq Daniel

SPOTLIGHT ON SUSAN PAYTON - *Author* Entrepreneur*Online Marketing Guru*CEO/President Egg Marketing & Communications*

Today on this blog we would be doing something different as we always do once every month where we take a look at the life of a successful entrepreneur. This month on discovering the secrets of the successful, we would be looking at a very important person in the marketing industry.

She is the reason why many businesses are still on their feet today and she is no other person than SUSAN PAYTON. Yes! Susan Payton *cheers* they call her the ‘San Diego’s finest’. I have read over 50 articles written by this lady.

She is not only beautiful but also a guru in marketing. She is an author, blogger and entrepreneur with extensive knowledge in social media, and public relations, qualified marketing and communications professional with experience in wide range of industries. She is a clear definition of success.

When one of my readers first told me about Susan Payton, I was like “who the heck is she?” I did not take her seriously until I stumbled on one of her 'breathe-taking’ articles early this year and since then I have been an avid reader of her articles.

Susan Payton speaks marketing fluently and she is the president of Egg Marketing; marketing and communications firm specializing in internet marketing, where she enjoys helping her clients realize the benefits of social media, internet marketing and communications. Her specialties are press releases, copywriting, email marketing, social media, social networking, blogs, web copy and marketing strategy

She has written several books and e-books. She also contributes to small business trends, mashable, lead 411 amongst others where she inspires entrepreneurs and small business owners.

If you need to take your business or start-up to the next level, or you want to reach a wider target market, Susan Payton is the right choice for you.

Fasten your seat belts and take a cup of coffee or ………….. Just sit back, relax and read on as she tells us how she made it this big, challenges she faced and how she overcame them. Enjoy!

! Discovering the secrets of the successful:

Who is Susan Payton?

At heart, I am a writer. I help small businesses find their voice through my company, Egg Marketing & Communications

What is Egg Marketing all about, what inspired it?

Six years ago, after working in marketing for several private firms, I realized there was a need for small businesses to have marketing, even if they couldn’t afford to hire a full time employee to handle it. We’ve evolved over the years, but currently focus on providing content—primarily on blogs—and social media management.

As the brain behind Egg Marketing, how do you balance both Egg Marketing and Susan Payton as a brand? Because I believe Susan Payton is a brand itself, how do you balance both?

I consider us one and the same. I am my business. When I blog as Susan, I’m representing my brand. I tweet as @eggmarketing and occasionally share personal things but I don’t separate the two.

Since Egg Marketing helps organizations build their businesses online, how is that different from what SEOs does?

We use SEO in everything we do: blog posts, web copy, press release, and social media. But you’ve got to be careful in hiring a SEO expert: if they say they can guarantee you position 1 for a given search, don’t believe them. You can’t guarantee placement short of paying for advertising.

What is the greatest challenge you have had to face over years (Egg Marketing & Susan Payton)

Letting go. Because people know me as a writer, they want to hire me. But I can only write so much! Hiring other writers to help out (and finding quality writers) has been difficult, but ultimately rewarding.

How did you recover from this challenge?

I realized I wanted more “me” time, and the only way to get that was to branch out and hire writers.

You are a great writer. When did you start writing, how did you start and what has been your source of inspiration?

I’ve been writing since I could hold a pencil. I initially thought I would end up in magazines, but my English degree wasn’t what magazines were looking for. When I got my MBA, I realized: marketing is writing. I’m inspired by small business owners who may not have the writing skills I have; I’m honored that I can help them.

In your article- ‘lesson from successful entrepreneurs’. You told your readers that they have to learn from those in the game (CEOs, founders and presidents that have successfully run their businesses). So can you tell us your role model(s)?

I’ve had many mentors. I like learning lessons from people in diverse industries to see what they have done and avoid their mistakes. Reading-wise, I admire David Meerman Scott, Tim Ferriss and John Jantsch.

When did you start your first business as an entrepreneur?

My first business was in college. I made gift baskets for people. I think I made a total of two before I decided it was far too much work for little income! I never considered myself an entrepreneur… until I fell into starting my marketing firm.

What do you consider to be the most outstanding achievement of your career?

Starting a business and keeping it running as long as I have. It’s a challenge for any small business owner to stay in business, especially with the volatile US economy. I’m proud of that every single day.

What is the most effective tool you have ever used in the world of entrepreneurship and marketing?

Communication. Whether that’s blogging or social media, it’s been instrumental in helping me find new clients and market my brand

How would you apply this technique in a real life situation?

Communication? I’d say thinking carefully before saying anything and being aware of the power of words.

What is your take on Start-ups that don’t last long? Inadequate planning or what?

It is on a case-by-case basis but planning is a huge part of the equation.

What is the most valuable advice you can offer an aspiring entrepreneur and writer?

Think that you can do it. When we put up barriers to what we can do, we limit ourselves.

Thank you for your time

Glad I could help.

I hope you have gained a lot from this piece. Feel free to share with your friends by hitting the share button below.

Sadiq Daniel