Fire Your Boss Today!!!

Ayo Benson here, I have been busy but I am back to give you something special today. So here it is!

Your belief about yourself and life is your boss! Take a good look at yourself, wherever you are in your journey of life or whatever your circumstances is dictated by your belief! So if you are not completely happy about your situation right now you need to listen to this radio program and be inspired to change! Take the initiative, take an action, make a call, go to the event, do something and more importantly MOVE! Albert Einstein said “Nothing happens until something moves”

Here's why we call it 'Black Friday'

Friday is "Black Friday."
For many American consumers, it is the day after Thanksgiving when you can get great deals on goods that may eventually become Christmas presents.

But why is it "black" Friday?

There are a couple of stories. But the most commonly cited one has to do with ink, paper, and accounting.

WE ARE RECRUITING!!! POSITION: WEB PROGRAMMER

Position: Web Programmer

Location –Allen Avenue Ikeja Lagos

We at Mannastores.com help businesses and individuals buy original products from United Kingdom or United States and deliver to anywhere in Nigeria. We have offices in London, Texas and Lagos. Due to rapid expansion and focus on serving our esteemed customers better with unparalleled appetite to deliver greater value at all times, we call on exceptional candidates to come and build an empire within our fine and progressive company. Our environment is inspiring so is our development programs to build those leaders of tomorrow for our community.
We are one of the fastest growing indigenous eCommerce firms in Nigeria and in need of a very qualified and suitable candidates to fill the role of a programmer and Magento developer with knowledge of ASP.NET, PHP and MYSQL.
The developer will direct the organization's IT and Software development needs bringing into existence ideas and concepts for taking the company to greater heights. The developer must have strong server management skills with specialty in e-commerce.

ANDRE LAVOIE: 4 Reasons Why Your Best Employees Leave for New Opportunities

Meet Mary. She’s a motivated, hardworking employee. Mary’s been with her current company for more than three years. She loves her job and her co-workers and feels like she’s paid fairly and receives great benefits. But Mary’s still looking for a new job with a new company.

What’s scary for a lot of employers is that Mary is not alone. An October 2015 Gallup poll of more than 13,000 employees found that the last time respondents changed roles in their career, 93 percent also changed employers. Considering this, many employers are desperately trying to figure out why so many employees are leaving.

JOHN RAMPTON: 7 Guiding Principles for Branding Your Company With Content

When most people think of branding, content isn't usually the first thing that comes to mind. They typically think of logos, color schemes and taglines - those elements that are used to represent a company in their online and offline marketing collateral.

In the age of content marketing, however, content can be a powerful tool for branding your company. This post will look at seven things every CMO should know about branding their company through their content.

BRIAN DE HAAFF: 4 Strategies for Hiring the Right People at Your Startup

Are you ready to start hiring for your startup? That is a positive sign that your venture is taking off. You must be doing something right. You have probably also realized that you cannot do all the work yourself -- you must hire soon, or your business will suffer. And you might break.

You are understandably nervous about hiring employees. You have key roles to fill and need to find self-starters who will make an immediate impact. You cannot afford a costly hiring mistake.

I know why many managers are afraid of a bad hire. I have been there too. Adding the wrong person to your team hurts -- but it stings even more in a startup. But when you approach hiring in a sensible, well-ordered way, you can alleviate the fear of hiring the wrong person.

AARON AGIUS: 8 Ways to Reignite the Creative Spark When You're Feeling Burned Out

There’s nothing that puts a damper on your creativity quite like feeling burned out. As the owner of a digital marketing agency serving enterprise clients around the world, I know how tough it can be to have to be creative at a moment’s notice -- especially when you’re swamped with other work. And while a modern work ethic tells you to just power through it, that usually doesn’t get the creative juices flowing.

Ready to try something different? Here are eight proven ways you can get creative when you’re feeling burned out:

ANNE BECHARD: 10 Tips From a Lady Entrepreneur Extraordinaire

The hardest thing about realizing a dream is getting there. As a female entrepreneur, you know how to dream. But maintaining your drive through the finish line can take monumental tenacity.

Elsie Escobar is no stranger to the entrepreneurial dream. After landing one of three spots at the prestigious National Theater Conservatory at the Denver Center Theater Company, Escobar earned her masters of fine arts convinced of her future in theater. But after supporting herself for 10 years, Escobar decided to blend her interests in yoga and storytelling into an emerging art form -- podcasting.

With over four million downloads to date, Elsie's Yoga Class remains Escobar's springboard to opportunity. Today, she co-hosts The Feed at Libsyn, the world's largest podcast distribution network, and co-hosts She Podcasts with Jessica Kupferman, providing female producers with broadcasting resources. Already reaching 4,000 downloads per month, Escobar's episodes of She Podcasts have built digital media innovations for thousands of entrepreneurs and landed her a coveted spot in the Academy of Podcasters.

MARTHA MENDOZA: How Google Builds Its Best Teams

Google coddles its employees with free food, massages and other lavish perks, yet some of its best engineers still grouse about their jobs and bosses as they struggle to get assignments done.

The Internet company tackled the puzzling problem with a study that concluded how teams work together is more important than who is on a team.

That's not exactly rocket science, but it's an example of how companies are spending more time trying to understand how to build the most productive and cohesive teams. It's a high priority because the best products and ideas increasingly are springing from people working together.

MICHAEL ALTER: Managing Your Team in the Era of the Trophy Generation

Much has been written or discussed about millennials and how managing them is different. Some have dubbed their group as the "trophy" generation - a reference to being raised in an era where all sport or activity participants receive a trophy regardless of winning. This approach was designed to help build self-esteem and confidence when exploring new things. I will leave the debate aspect around the pros and cons of this approach to the childhood development experts. The answer will certainly vary depending on whom you ask.

NELLIE ALKAP:'Accidental Entrepreneurs' -- When a Personal Mission Morphs into a Big Business

Some of the most successful and inspirational entrepreneurs never set out with the goal of running a large company or employing scores of people. Many are simply men and women motivated to develop solutions to a problem they’re facing.

Then they discover that they’re not the only ones with that need -- and, lo, a successful business is born.

Sometimes dubbed “accidental entrepreneurs,” these business owners have other names, as well. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, for instance, calls them “user entrepreneurs” in its research, which has found that this group has launched more than 46 percent of startups lasting five or more years -- even though they’re responsible for just 10.7 percent of U.S. startups overall.

WILL YAKOWICZ: Why Employee Recognition Is Even More Important Than You Think

How often do you recognize your employees for a job well done? While running a startup, you don't have much time for such niceties, but failing to do so can hurt your company.

David Sturt, executive vice president at HR consulting firm O.C. Tanner Co., writes in Harvard Business Review about how recognizing employees helps drive engagement and boosts morale. He says new leaders especially can benefit from giving recognition because of how well it helps create bonds with employees.

AKSHAYA VENKAT: 5 Cool Things You Can Do With Customer Feedback

Time was when getting feedback from a customer was a process so complex, it was akin to getting blood out of a stone. Thankfully, we don’t live in those times.

Today, not only is feedback nothing more than an email away, but customers actively come to you with suggestions and ideas. In fact, they love sharing their insights with you because they understand that the more feedback they give, the better your product becomes.

However, most of this feedback just ends up cooling its heels in hard drives, which is, well, tragic, considering all the good it can do. A motivational tool, a wall of love. . . the ideas are limited only by your imagination. Here are our top five cool things that you can spin off with customer feedback, to wow your customers and your own employees.

LOLLY DASKAL: 6 Powerful Ways To Thank Your Team For Being Awesome

It sounds like common sense to say thank you to those who work for you and work with you, but it in reality this common sense wisdom is not practiced as much as it should be.

Some people say they don't have time or can't afford to show appreciation; others may have good intentions but just never think of it in the moment.

But if you think of it in terms of payoff--giving you and your organization more stability and less turnover (and, as a result, greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness)--it's about investing in an important relationship.

PETER GASCA: The Ultimate Rebranding Checklist for Entrepreneurs

Rebranding -- where a business chooses a new name, symbol or design in order to develop a new identity -- is one of the most difficult and uncertain business decisions entrepreneurs face. In addition to overcoming the loyalty and nostalgia of your founders, the name and brand modification you make could potentially destroy years of accumulated brand equity.

There is also no magic formula that tells an entrepreneur when and how to rebrand. As evidenced by a number of recent rebranding strategies that failed miserably, even large companies with the staff and resources to implement such an effort sometimes fail to get it right.

CHRISTIAN MARTIN: 6 Reasons Why You've Failed as an Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurship is hard, and as statistics show, not everyone makes it. Most of us fall somewhere along the spectrum -- at times we succeed, and at other times, we fail. Yet, we’ve all heard of entrepreneurs who experience success time and time again, in different industries, with different teams and different market conditions. So what is it that these people have that most of us don’t -- aside from the seven- and eight-figure bank accounts? 
That’s what I've tried to figure out. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but based on my experience, the problem is you. When you ask yourself -- “why have I been failing as an entrepreneur?" -- what answers come up?

For some of us, the following subjects may feel oddly familiar, and it may shed some insight into why you haven’t yet reached your full potential. If you’re willing to work on yourself, it may even unlock the key to finally accomplishing what you’ve always dreamed of.  

PAUL LARUE: How To Get It Done With The People You’ve Got

You’ve inherited a new position, and with it a new team.

The problem is, they aren’t new – you are.

You have heard going in that the team is an underperforming bunch, and that you’ll need to clean house and bring in new people.

Is that the right course of action?

Maybe you’re challenged with some urgent goals – achieve revenue, turn around operations, cut costs – which will take all of your time.

JONATHAN LONG: Become a Productivity Monster by Eliminating These 5 Time-Wasting Habits

The amount of time we have available every day is limited. Not every entrepreneur can put in 18-hour days -- personal obligations and family life take up time, making it important that we maximize the time we do have allocated for business.  

Here are five time-wasting habits that many entrepreneurs are guilty of. Eliminate these and watch your productivity increase. 

BRIAN SUTTER: 5 Ways to Maximize Word-of-Mouth Marketing

For as long as any of us can remember, we’ve been relying on recommendations from family and friends for everything from cars to the best brand of toothpaste. At one time, this type of word-of-mouth review was simple and straight-forward. Then, technology entered the picture, the way we interact with one another changed drastically and it became easy to discount the human aspect of marketing and business.

In our tech-driven world, people are more widely connected than ever. It’s not just about creating messages -- it’s about delivering real human experiences to the masses. Smart marketers and business owners who can figure this out are the ones using the most influential form of information consumers rely on when making purchase decisions: word-of-mouth marketing.

HOLLY MASON: Aligning Your Wardrobe Style With Your Personal (and Professional) Brand

You have a personal brand, whether you've defined it or not. While we know there is more to a person than how he or she looks, in reality, potential clients, colleagues and other individuals you encounter will make judgments based on your appearance.

Behavioral and communication experts affirm that your physical impression is vital to negotiations and business dealings. It affects whether people like you, trust you and want to work with you. Your appearance tells your story.

So, as an entrepreneur, your task is to make your "personal brand" an extension of your company’s brand, and vice versa, because you are the outward face of your company. This requires you to take the same care with your personal brand as you do your company brand. And personal style, which includes your wardrobe and grooming habits, is a good place to start. 

AARON AGIUS: 10 Ways to Get Into Your Customers' Heads Beyond Creating Buyer Personas

Exceptional insights create exceptional businesses. How exceptional? Let’s look at a real case study about what happens when you can read your customer’s minds: Let’s talk about Steve Jobs.

Jobs knew his customers well. He could anticipate their needs, exceed their expectations and secure their loyalty. But he didn’t always have this uncanny knack for reading his customer’s minds. For 30 years, he missed the mark. Apple II, Macintosh and PowerMac all suffered low market share throughout the 1990s.

Then he came upon the idea of creating a familiar product with a simple design, leading to deeper insights into what people really wanted. And this turned the tide for Apple. The company’s fortunes changed after a slew of inventions: the iMac, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPod Touch and the iPad.

By 2012, Apple became the largest publicly traded corporation in the world. Its $626 billion market cap exceeded that of Google and Microsoft combined. Jobs figured out what people wanted and gave it to them.

TESS TOWNSEND: Oprah: The Most Important Thing I've Learned About Branding

Oprah Winfrey used to insist she was not a brand -- until she realized what a brand really was, the talk show host and media mogul told an audience of thousands at the QuickBooks Connect 2015 conference Tuesday.

The change came after an interaction with a woman at a grocery store who told Winfrey that watching her show had convinced her to stop hitting her child. The first time she listened to one of Winfrey's lectures on the evils of physical punishment, she said, her reaction was, well, Winfrey didn't have kids. What did she know about how to discipline them? But by the third time the woman heard Winfrey, she decided to try not to hit her child for a week. Then she tried it for another week.

SAM BAHREINI: 4 REASONS YOU SHOULD GATHER EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK TO BOOST YOUR MARKETING

It’s a sad reality that most employees don’t feel connected to their companies. One Gallup survey found that engaged workers comprise less than one-third of the workforce.

And a 2015 survey of nearly 900 employees found that 61 percent of them had considered looking for new jobs in the previous year. Of those, nearly 60 percent felt underappreciated for their efforts at the office.

These are pretty bleak numbers, and they have far-reaching consequences. Your customer-facing employees, after all, are some of your best word-of-mouth marketing machines. If they don’t feel invested in your company, they’ll likely send the wrong message -- tanking your brand reputation in the process.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS RELATING TO THE SERIES ON HOW START A SMALL BUSINESS WITH 100K

Hello Friends,

If you've been following this page judiciously, I'm certain by now you're aware of the business series on how to start a small business with just 100k and also subsequent series(how to raise money for your business and how to generate ideas for new businesses) that have been posted. These are few of the hundreds of feedbacks I've gotten thus far and my reply to them. I hope these would also address some of the questions on your mind and if they don't, kindly drop a comment and let me know the other niggling questions on your mind. I'd take my time to address them all. Here are the few questions and my reply to them below:

HOW TO GENERATE IDEAS FOR NEW BUSINESSES

Hello friends,

My name is Ayo Benson. I trained as a Chartered Accountant and a Fellow of ACCA with MBA from Oxford in United Kingdom.  I am the CEO of Mannastores and I have been sending you resources to help you succeed in business and in life as part of our contribution to our community. I sent you my radio program about how to raise money for your business last week. I have got a lot of questions and they are so many and sometimes similar, it is not possible for me to respond to thousands of requests within available time! The best way for me to deal with these questions is to answer them on our Facebook page so that everyone may benefit. 

RAJIV NATHAN: The 3-Step Process to Build Your Own Dynasty Like Jay-Z

How do you build your very own dynasty? How do you become a legend?

Jay-Z, aka Sean Carter (and a million other nicknames), knows a thing or two about building a dynasty. He’s launched a record label, clothing lines, colognes, other artists’ careers, a music streaming service, AND is the CEO of Def Jam (all while being Beyonce’s husband).

But how in the H to the Izzo did this average looking dude from Brooklyn’s impoverished Marcy Projects go from rags to riches and build a dynasty?

WILL YAKOWICZ: Why Well-Treated Employees Are More Innovative

If your company has stopped innovating, you might need to take a look at how you're treating your employees.

You might think billion-dollar companies like Google and Facebook only offer lavish employee perks and benefits because they have cash to burn, but in fact they are on to something larger. Walter Frick, senior associate editor at Harvard Business Review, writes in HBR about a new research paper that finds companies that treat workers better are more innovative.

JORDAN GRAY: Stock Market Status Won't Buy an Entrepreneur Love

A lot of entrepreneurs want to know what it takes to attract a high quality romantic partner. In fact, I'm sure that anyone who is single reading this and actively looking for a relationship wants to know.

And why wouldn't you?

Standards are higher than they've ever been. A lot of this is due to the fact that we all believe that we are special. We all have this idea that we are destined for greatness, far more so than anyone else. It’s a cognitive distortion called the optimism bias -- and entrepreneurs have it in spades. We expect to be rich and powerful in our 20's, although for most people, this doesn't occur until their late 30's-40's. And above all else, we expect a partner who checks off all of our boxes.

MATT STRAZ: 5 Ways to Strengthen Your Bond With Your Team

Having a happy, healthy, engaged workforce goes far beyond providing free food, gym memberships and a ping-pong table. While those perks are sure to be appreciated by employees, they don’t do much in the way of motivating or retaining them. What it really comes down to is the employee-employer relationship.

New data released earlier this year by Virgin Pulse revealed exactly what employees need to love their job -- and a large part of that is a good relationship with their employer. In fact, nearly 60 percent of the more than 1,000 full-time employees surveyed said their relationship with their employer positively impacts their focus or productivity at work, and 44 percent said it positively impacts their stress levels.

SHERRY GRAY:Use Competitive Analysis to Make Your Blog Irresistible

In a highly competitive market, the need for competitive intelligence is obvious. Market research is the core of any strategic business plan. Knowing what works for your competitors is the surest way to confirm your own ideas for marketing, and to weed out time-consuming plans destined to fall flat.

Content marketing is no exception. You can use the same tactics to develop your content that you use when you launch a new product or service. Competitive analysis gives you the opportunity to see what resonates with customers in your space and improve on those successes to make your business stand out.

STEPHEN KEY: Should You Quit Your Day Job and Jump Into Entrepreneurship?

I received a thoughtful, heartfelt email from a 24-year-old gentleman a few weeks ago. In his email, he listed the books about entrepreneurship he's read, the instructional videos he’s watched and the inspirational events he’s attended. He had decided to quit his corporate job at a large accounting firm in New York City, he told me. He was ready to take a leap of faith. He wanted to become an entrepreneur and invent products.

KIMANZI CONSTABLE: 6 Business Books That Will Revolutionize Your Business and Change Your Life

Books have the power to change lives. We live in a time when books are more affordable and accessible. Yet, fewer entrepreneurs read books, using the excuse of a lack of time. If you can’t find time to read, you as an entrepreneur will not grow, which will have an effect on your business.

If you study any successful entrepreneur, you’ll see one of the keys to their success is that they educate themselves through books. You can get books these days for as little as .99 cents. Many are even free through Amazon’s KDP Select program. There’s no reason not to have a Kindle full of books that can educate you and teach you strategies to grow your business. 

HOW TO RAISE MONEY FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Hello friends,

My name is Ayo Benson. I trained as a Chartered Accountant and a Fellow of ACCA with MBA from Oxford in United Kingdom. I am the CEO of Mannastores and I have been sending you resources on how to start a business with little money so that you can build momentum from there. Some of you may want to start big and I thought this may help you.