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How to keep your inner child and laugh more

Happy New Year Everyone. Wishing you a healthy and amazing 2021!

By now, we’ve all probably written our new year’s resolutions with renewed effort, energy and discipline to ensure we achieve all our goals. Goals such as; (a) losing weight; (b) getting healthy; (c) finding a job or a new job; (d) possibly relocating; (e) meeting the one (*wink wink*), travelling and so on, are usually top of our lists. While all these plans are great and will generally contribute to our mental wellbeing during the year, we should all aim to maintain the child within us. Now, what does this mean? “We should try to laugh more and be happy.”

There is a common myth that children laugh about 300 times a day and adults laugh about 20 times a day. While these numbers may not be accurate, the message is clear. As we grow older, we tend to laugh less and take life too seriously. This is mostly because our responsibilities and goals increase, and we are always looking to achieve more in different aspects of our lives. We can, however, try to laugh more while carrying our burdens and hoping for what is to come.

“So how can we laugh more?” Well, here are some of my tips:

Be grateful – Take a moment each day to remember all the things we are grateful for. This exercise helps us to remember everything in our lives that is going well, and what we should be grateful for. It also gives us renewed hope and strength that at the end of the day, everything will fall into place.

Watch a funny movie – Funny movies make us laugh, even when we are in the worst of moods. When someone shows us a funny scene or says something hilarious, no matter how much you try to hesitate, you find yourself laughing.

Solo dance parties – Now this is one of my favorites. I love listening to happy music, and dancing alone in my room, car, or the park. Anywhere you feel safe, just dance, let it all out and be happy.

Talk to people who make you feel safe and happy – We all have that one family member or friend that always leaves us in a better mood every time after we talk to them. Speak to people like these more.

Exercise – It’s scientifically proven that exercising releases endorphins, which are known as “happy hormones”. These happy hormones interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain and triggers a positive feeling all over your body.

Learn to let things go – Now this is something that I still struggle with but have personally seen the benefits of by taking baby steps. As we go through life, a lot of things will most likely not go our way. When this happens, we should learn to accept it and move on.

Stay hopeful – Believe that what you want, or need will happen. Have faith that God has answered your prayers and act like it. This programs our brains to believe we have already received all our heart’s desires and in turn, makes us happy.

At the end of the day, we all have one life, so let us try to enjoy it and never let go of our inner child.

9 Tips On How To Manage Startup Employee Turnover

by Veronica Alfred

There’s a common saying in the business world: “A business is only as good as its people.” This is why a high employee turnover rate, especially for good employees, can be detrimental to a business.

So what happens when one of your key employees wants to quit? This is not a piece of news any business owner wants to hear but it’s an inevitable part of doing business. I’ve learned that exits are always challenging for teams, their leaders, and for the company as a whole– and costly.

According to a study published by the Society for Human Resource Management, when an employee leaves, it costs an average of 6-9 months of your former employee’s salary to identify and onboard their replacement. Click To Tweet

Employee turnover can quickly run up costs ranging into the hundreds of thousands– or more. Talk about a big financial hit.

According to a study published by the Society for Human Resource Management, when an employee leaves, it costs an average of 6-9 months of your former employee’s salary to identify and onboard their replacement.

Here’s how you can handle exit/team member’s resigning in the start-up environment:

Study the employee turnover pattern

To understand how to stop a wave of departures from happening, you first need to understand why these waves happen in the first place. Are they leaving as a result of wages, minimal growth opportunities or culture?

In startups, most times whatever is bugging one person is usually bugging the others; they just haven’t told anyone yet (or you missed the signs). Over time, issues build on one another enough to lead people to consider leaving.

Create a habit of regular pulse check

Make a continuous habit of checking in with team members. Conduct anonymous surveys using tools that allow for this and regular coffee check-ins to discuss a variety of topics about how you are doing as a leader, things going on in the company, and so on.

You will be shocked at what people have to say. When you address the issues, you find that you are fixing something that everyone will appreciate.

Change your Mindset

Assume everyone is leaving and interviewing. Don’t set the standard that the only way to get attention is if you fear they’re interviewing. Realise as well that even those that stick around may only be doing it out of necessity.

Employees could also be staying due to any of the following reasons:

Visa or immigration restrictions
Big life event approaching–wedding, baby, buying a house, etc
The promotion they are hoping for before leaving so they can get a better title and salary elsewhere.

Accept change

When multiple team members are leaving, it’s a sign that change is needed. Accept that this change must start with you and embrace that mindset. If your employees are leaving, it’s a huge signal fire that there are problems to be dealt with.

Be open to their feedback and the issues they bring up (especially if they’re about things you do) It may be difficult to hear, and the solutions may be difficult to implement, but realise that the situation is dire.

Follow-through & take action

The best way to build trust with employees that might leave or as a whole is to swing into action on the feedback they give you. You may not be able to fix all the problems, but even small, incremental progress can improve morale and decrease employee turnover.

Make a counteroffer when necessary

If the employee is extremely valuable to your business, you may consider making a counter-offer depending on the situation (it could be that they have opted for a career change that you cannot accommodate).

When making a counteroffer, you must consider your budget, do the right market research and compare this with the cost of hiring fresh talent. The good news is that counter-offers are not only about money as they might be leaving for different reasons. So you can get creative and think of ways to solve that person’s problem in a way that helps them to stay with you.

Fix your processes

An example of a process could be your onboarding methods. Research shows that new employees are 58% more likely to stay longer at their employer if they had an effective onboarding experience. Make them feel welcomed and accepted as a new team member. Give them everything they need to get off to a fast start.

Set clear objectives and expectations

Clear objectives and key results (OKRs) on a company-wide level will enable aligned clarity and prioritization throughout the organization. Share long-term product roadmaps, to enable greater visibility (and excitement) about growth trajectory and development plans. This encourages team members to feel like a part of the business development and success story.

Reform your Human Capital Initiatives

This involves taking a closer look at the people you are working with. Proactively weeding out low performers and people whose skills/goals were misaligned with the company’s needs/goals plays an important role in reducing future turnover rates.

In summary, If you’re working on a huge employee turnover problem, you’re probably under a lot of stress and have a lot on your plate. The best thing you can do to help yourself and reduce your employee turnover rate is to be attentive to issues within, intentional, and diligent in your communication methods.

In reality, all startups are built on change, and change is good. To create something where nothing existed before, growing companies need to experiment, to give new ideas a chance to fuel exponential growth. What this means is that the focus of the business might change often.

As much as hiring new talent at a startup can bring a new level of skill and expertise, if you aren’t making the most of the talent you have at each stage, it can leave a negative impact on your business.

2021 Workplace Superpowers – The Musthaves

by Veronica Alfred

If I was asked what my special skills were a year ago, it would definitely differ from now. 2020 came with a twist and remote work forced every one of us to learn how to Do It Yourself (and I don’t mean cooking).

Here are some of the must-have skills for 2021 that will make you more sellable to recruiters, and an asset in your current workplace.

The requirements for success in the workplace are changing and what matters most is your ability to adapt to change/trends as they come.- Nneka Alfred, Head of HR, She Leads Africa Click To Tweet

Hard Skills for the Workplace

1. Data Analytics: The workplace today requires us to think in data. This requires us to do a bit more research, crunch those numbers, understand raw data and drive business growth based on concrete analysis.

2. Content Creation: Your ability to produce entertaining or educational material that not only caters to the interests and challenges of a target audience but increases engagement and conversions definitely sets you apart from others in your field.

The content you produce can take many forms, including blog posts, videos, graphic design and newsletters.

3. Marketing: Businesses worldwide need analytical people who understand what sort of tools are available in the growing digital toolbox, and know how to dig in through trusted channels.

4. Sales: This can pass for both a hard skill and a soft skill as sales involves persuasion, but with a specific commercial end in mind. Your ability to convert leads to revenue would give you a spot in any workplace.

5. Video production: The average person will watch 25 continuous days of video in 2021. Video content is quickly becoming the dominant form of all communication and companies are fighting to create effective digital video assets.

6. Product Development: This involves managing the process of developing a product or enhancing existing products in order to meet customer expectations effectively. If you haven’t noticed, times are changing and the direction of products being developed is too.

Soft Skills for the Workplace

1. Creativity: Developing new ideas, applying new solutions to address existing problems. Some people are naturally creative on their own, but a lot of us need to bounce ideas off others to get the creative juices flowing.

An ability to learn continuously and willingness to adapt to change is essential to boost your creativity.

2. Communication skills: Interpreting information through speaking, listening and observing is a must-have skill for 2021. Organizing thoughts and data points into a comprehensive, holistic narrative will get you where you need to be in your career.

3. Collaboration: Collaboration suffers when roles and goals are not defined. The next time you take on a group project, strike up a conversation about what success looks like, and who’s doing what. This simple act can get everyone rowing together faster and more effectively.

The next time you take on a group project, strike up a conversation about what success looks like, and who's doing what.- Nneka Alfred, Head of HR, She Leads Africa Click To Tweet

4. Adaptability: Manage your mindset. The ability to adapt to changing circumstances starts with a mindset that’s willing to adapt to changing circumstances. If you tend to balk at change, reflect on the reasons why — and then see if you can reframe your perspective to help you see things differently.

5. Emotional intelligence: Practicing control, knowing when to push, expressing yourself and observation of interpersonal relationships among people in a workplace is very important when working with people.

6. Leadership: Leadership in the 21st century is much more about influence than authority, learning to appreciate and adapt to people with different perspectives, priorities, and personalities is a key skill to develop.

Having a difficult time figuring out your superpowers?

Here are three questions you can answer to guide you:

What unique contribution do you bring to projects, conversations, and meetings you attend?
Why do team members come to you for help?
What would be missing if you were to leave your current place of work?

If you are unable to answer these questions yourself, ask a colleague or friend. If your answers do not reflect the skills listed above, don’t relent or give up. The internet is packed with so much information, take some short courses, seek guidance from a work buddy, mentor or your boss.

A superpower isn’t just a skill but a perspective, a mindset and a way of working that enhances everything you touch. The requirements for success in the workplace are changing and what matters most is your ability to adapt to change/trends as they come.

#HowWeSpent2020: Zimbabwean start-up teaches women how to farm in pandemic

by She Leads Africa

While this year has been challenging for most, we’re spotlighting non-profits and social enterprises that have worked hard to continue making an impact despite the added challenges that 2020 brought. If a story connects with you, please support the organization and founders in this series. Be part of our community of outstanding women by joining She Leads Africa today.

ABOUT CHASHI FOODS (ZIMBABWE)

Most people know that global hunger is a pressing issue — but what you may not know is that food waste is equally concerning.

Food wasted every year in the continent could feed up to 300 million people, according to the United Nations. In just Uganda alone, up to 40% of fruit and vegetables end up being discarded. Post-harvest losses have a negative impact on the environment as food decay releases methane, which is 28 times more harmful than carbon dioxide, and is associated with global climate change.

However, where many would see a problem, Chashi Foods saw an opportunity.

“Much of what’s sold in markets is wasted because farmers cannot store the food. So they have to return home and pick fresh fruit and vegetables to sell the next day. During the dry season very little grows so people go hungry. Moreso due to strict government-mandated measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus we could potentially spark food shortages around the country.” – Forget (Product Development Director)

Chashi Foods is committed to providing sustainable solutions in reducing food loss. By the use of smart technologies and agro-processing, Chashi Foods has been able to increase the shelf life of farm produce. But their mandate goes further, coining them the three P’s, Chashi Foods concentrates on people, planet, and profit.

By helping farmers prolong their product shelf life they have managed to increase their income per capita. More nutritious food will be available to rural and urban dwellers, especially children as they can eat the dried produce. Their main target is to hire mainly women to manage the operations and collection of revenue at Chashi stations. All the while stopping food waste will be beneficial to the planet.

DEALING WITH THE MARKET MAFIAS & COVID-19

Just before the COVID-19 lockdown started in Harare, Forget had been in a plight to eliminate intermediaries or market mafias from the supply. The market mafias have garnered a reputation to buy produce from the farmers at a very low price and then exorbitantly sell them to the consumers.

However, as the lockdown was imposed their focus had to shift. Suddenly, they had no product to buy as the rural farmers found it hard to commute to the city center. But their call to action was even stronger as farmers’ harvested produce went to waste since large markets were closed. Eventually, Chashi too had to close their production and their impact seemingly came to a halt.

Beyond buying from rural farmers, Chashi continued to support farmers by providing mentorship and training in post-harvest management and agribusiness. During the Covid19 pandemic and the nationwide lockdown period, they trained over 100 farmers in post-harvest management and helped reduce over 5 tons of produce from being lost.

Forget shared a beautiful success story of a female farmer in Guruve, a small village center in the North of Zimbabwe. “After receiving our training manual, this lady was able to dry about 300kgs of tomato harvest which she sold to the local hotel. I haven’t met her personally but she’s come to refer to me as family. That’s what we are aiming to do at Chashi – improving people’s livelihoods.”

As it became apparent that the pandemic would drag on for long, Shareka looked for new avenues of selling their products. As you might guess, the top of the agenda had been gravitating to selling items online and getting them delivered to doorsteps.

While this sounds easy in theory, it brought all sorts of challenges. Professional storefront to be built, photography to be taken, secure payment methods, delivery drivers and transport, and getting the message out there that they’re virtually open for business is not an easy job.

So Chashi came up with an easier plan, they leveraged already existing platforms like Facebook and Whatsapp.

“The pandemic has only enhanced the need for more supply chain resiliency, and for us to make the most of the food that is being produced, disseminated, and purchased not only in Africa but throughout the world.” – Forget Shareka

ADJUSTING TO MAKE IMPACT IN A GLOBAL PANDEMIC

“We created a WhatsApp group in which we were facilitating the selling of farmers’ produce. We identified a common hotspot of activity and traffic in the city, and then created a meeting point for farmers to sell their products and push volumes. We did this free of charge and it was fulfilling seeing the weight we lifted off their shoulders.”

The nearly instantaneous economic recession triggered by the COVID-19 shutdown has wreaked havoc on businesses large and small. For Chashi what has kept them going is reploughing all their sales proceeds into the business towards operational expenses which include salaries and maintenance of their machinery.

Forget testifies that the pandemic has taught her and the organization an important lesson in resilience. The pandemic now presents additional challenges for managing mental health and other economic challenges.

Loss and suffering may change a person, but much will influence its trajectory, including biological, environmental, behavioral, and psychological components. “Any life stressor, to some degree, is out of our control. How long will the pandemic last? When can we go back to school? To work? All valid questions, but they are also unknowns and uncertainties; we don’t want to get stuck ruminating about them,” says Forget.

Lastly, Shareka made a warm invitation. Women constitute nearly 50% of the agricultural workforce and own one-third of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Africa, they are a key pillar of Africa’s food systems. As the challenges related to COVID-19 come into force in various countries, women’s livelihoods and business activities are threatened, ChThasi food is inviting all women in farming, leadership, and business to join them in their journey.

“We have the expertise to change the trajectory of female farmers, we’re inviting investors and business developers to help us increase our reach.” Forget says as her last words

If you would like to support Chashi Foods, visit chashifoods.com

#HowWeSpent2020: From water weeds to artisan products

by She Leads Africa

Minimeth Founder: Achenyo Idachaba-Obaro

In a bid to deal with the abundance of invasive water hyacinth plants clogging up local waterways, Nigerian entrepreneur Achenyo Idachaba-Obaro founded Mitimeth, a startup not only improving environmental sustainability but also producing beautifully-handcrafted artisan products.

Where others saw a pest, Idachaba-Obaro saw an opportunity

Water hyacinth, she explains, is a species of aquatic plant with violet flowers. It looks attractive, but this invasive weed is actually horribly destructive to the communities along the rivers where it grows in thick mats. The plant keeps fishermen from reaching the fish and students and others from traveling on weed-choked waterways. It may look pretty, but it’s actually devastating to a whole way of life. Water hyacinth at first appears to be an utterly worthless invader, something that just needs to be ripped out and thrown away. But Idachaba had other ideas. Working with local communities, MitiMeth takes water hyacinth, an evasive destructive weed, and upcycles it into personal and interior accessories.

“We are making this product in Nigeria, and we are making a product that has global appeal.” — Achenyo Idachaba-Obaro

In the face of this global pandemic, Achenyo had to take immediate action by protecting the level of the impact of her organization. Achenyo shut down operations way before the local authorities imposed the lockdown. The next step was assuring her employees that she would do everything in her power to keep them employed, “we’ll make it through this together” she said. Immediately she could see the positive change it sparked within their attitudes as they knew they had one less thing to worry about, contrary to the tales they heard from their mates and neighbors who had been furloughed.

Not all hope was lost

The government in Nigeria went on to close state borders and introduce other aggressive responses to COVID-19 in the form of travel bans. This heavily interrupted the supply chain of Mitimeth.

On the environmental level, Mitimeth continued to make an impact as their artisans continued to harvest the water hyacinth for weaving. However, the products could not make their way to the main production hub. “If there’s one silver lining from the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s that it’s helped expose vulnerabilities in their supply chain” – Achenyo mentioned.

At present, there is less demand for their products since home decor and accessories are hardly seen as an essential service. “We see this problem trickling down the supply chain. So we find ourselves with a warehouse full of raw materials because we made a commitment to our artisans that we would take all their products”, Achenyo said.

Instead of seeing it as a setback, they took this time to do some much-needed R&D and they’re currently exploring the possibility of using the water hyacinth as a textile. “Since most people are sheltering in place, we have seen the consumers’ affinity towards wanting to make their outdoor spaces more appealing. And so we have been afforded the opportunity to expand our outdoor and garden collection”. New ideas are also brought into the communities MitiMeth works with.

MitiMeth essentially provides distribution platforms for the community and match up the appropriate skills with the products to be created. The company provides training for communities the company works with through collaborations and partnerships within the public-private sector. This involves running workshops, held within the communities to understand how things work.

“Funding definitely has been a challenge this year for the organizations that we partner with. So we are seeing some reductions in the number of training we do. But I think the important thing is keeping the momentum going. And I’m glad that with one partner that we’re working with, in the next two weeks we’re going full steam ahead with the training despite the situation that we’re in right now.” Achenyo adds.

One of the challenges the organization faces is they’re unable to hold the training using online tools since the communities they work with are reside in network-deficient areas. “Perhaps in the future, there could be the provision of smartphones which can enable remote learning along with the training seminars for the artisans.”

Most of the funds Mitimeth gets are plowed back into the business, having more than 150 artisans and a commitment to procure their products, nocent goes to waste. They also have to take care of the operational costs of the business including shipping and wages.

Due to the drastic drop in sales, Achenyo had to ensure that they maintained sustainable financing by making good use of their cash reserves from previous years. “A big lesson this year taught us was it’s important to save for famine during the seasons of abundance.”

Hard work certainly pays off as Mitimeth was able to open a new branch in Lagos on the 21st of June. “It’s been tough, but we certainly don’t regret making that decision. So we still grow even during this time”, she said. Achenyo went on to invite other women on her journey.

“They can support what we’re doing, by purchasing our products, knowing that with each purchase, they’re actually supporting a fellow African woman or a fellow African youth, and it is going back into the economy, it’s going back to help people fulfill their obligations.”

There is a United Nations Environmental Programme Map, which illustrates where water hyacinth is prevalent in different parts of the world. If you look at the map of Africa, 44 countries have this infestation problem. Achenyo makes a call for action that if other women can replicate this business model and solution in several other countries, the impact would be amazing to those communities most affected by it.

If you would like to support Mitimeth, visit www.mitimeth.com

Ingressive For Good is Impacting the Lives of Women in Tech all over Africa

by She Leads Africa

Stella Fii had always wanted to learn more about programming and coding, but she never really had the resources and time to take courses. This year, Stella went to visit her brother in Kaduna after writing her JAMB exams and then he told her about Ingressive For Good (I4G), a nonprofit equipping young Africans in need with tech skills to help them impact and contribute to the development of Africa, socially and economically.

She inquired and found out about the I4G Coursera program; Ingressive for Good had partnered with Coursera, the world’s leading online learning platform to offer scholarships to 5000+ African youths in tech to help them develop high-demand skills in technology, personal development, and career development.

It also provided access to over 4000+ courses and highly sought-after professional certificates like the Google IT Support Professional Certificate from leading universities such as Yale, Michigan, and Stanford, as well as industry leaders such as Google and IBM, designed to train people with no tech background for IT jobs.

She took courses in programming in less than 2 weeks, she was able to code a landing page from scratch. This skill has not only opened a new earning opportunity for her but has inspired her to pursue a formal tech education and career.

Another woman, Folashade Fapohunda, worked in a hospital as an accountant but COVID19 cases started to increase and she was at risk. The hospital closed down and she lost her job. She casually picked up an interest in Graphic design. That was when she came across the I4G.

Folashade enrolled in the Coursera design courses. These courses gave her the confidence she needed to start freelancing and so far, she has had over 3 paying design clients, with payments worth more than her salary as an accountant.

True to their promise, Ingressive for Good is impacting Africa and the economy.

Two key indicators of a country’s GDP are the economic power of citizens and the percentage of gainfully employed youth. However, 30% of African youth are unemployed. Ingressive For Good (I4G) is looking to change that with their mission to increase the earning power of African youths through tech training, job placement, and community.

In the last 3 months, I4G has aided the training of over 20,000 African youth, built a community of over 17,000 youths, provided tech tools and resources for over 10,000, and placed over 100 in jobs.

“The I4G community collectively has the strategy, the network, and most importantly, the passion to actually change Africa.” Sean Burrowes, the COO and Cofounder of Ingressive for Good said. “The more our community grows, the less I4G feels like a charitable foundation. It feels more like a Pan-African talent development revolution, powered by Africa’s tech-enabled youth.”

With collaboration at the heart of Ingressive For Good, is impacting the lives of Africans, one youth at a time. During this pilot phase, I4G partnered with Coursera, Facebook, Datacamp, HNG, SemiColon, Tekedia, CareerBuddy, FindWorka, Live Your Dreams, Covenant University, StudentBuild, Bankole Williams, and so many amazing organizations to reach the Africans in need and provide training, scholarships, job placements.

“Ingressive For Good has not only distributed the most licenses of all of DataCamp’s Giveaway Partners so far, but their learners’ adoption and engagement levels on the platform are some of the highest as well. This exemplifies the enormous impact a nonprofit run by caring and talented people can have on communities big and small, local, and abroad.” Nathaniel Taylor-Leach, Community Partnerships Manager at Datacamp, the leading interactive learning platform for data science and analytics.

“Folashade’s success story is one of many young Africans who have been impacted through one or more of the Ingressive For Good programs. Many have gotten access to courses that were cumulatively worth thousands of dollars for free” – Blessing Abeng, Director of Communications at Ingressive for Good.

Watch the success story of Christabel Omuboye, another woman in the I4G network and one of the I4G x HNG Internship finalists who received new MacBooks from Ingressive for Good to help her improve their tech skills. She has transformed from selling soap to support herself into a programming whiz ready for a tech career:

In the last 3 months, I4G has surpassed its pilot goals in tremendous ways. This is the impact so far:

View the full report here.

To benefit from other Ingressive For Good Opportunities, join the I4G Network of over 17,000 tech enthusiasts across 55 cities across Africa.

To join I4G on this mission to increase the earning power of African youths and eradicate poverty from Africa, send an email to hello@ingressive.org and Follow @ingressive4good on social media to stay updated.

About Ingressive For Good

Ingressive For Good (I4G) is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating and increasing the earning power of African youth through tech training and resources.

For more info, partnership, or donation, contact: Blessing Abeng, Director of Communications, Ingressive for Good on communications@ingressive.co

Find out more about Ingressive For Good here.

4 Bad Money Habits That Will Keep You Broke Forever

by Judith Abani

Bad money habits are kind of hard to break. We do them over and over without even realizing it.

We all want to be rich. I mean, who doesn’t? But it’s one thing to fantasize about the many things you can do with a big paycheck and it’s another thing to muster the discipline you need to make it a reality. If you have bad money habits, you’ll get into a lot of financial trouble.

For so long, I had no clear plan for my financial journey. All I knew was there was money and it had to be spent.

Are you having issues saving? Do you feel like it’s a load of work putting some money down for the future? Well, I’ve got a couple of tips that can help you.

Here are 4 bad money habits you need to quit this minute if you want to become more financially independent:

Procrastination

This is personal for me. I put off starting an investment plan for a later time. And I just kept pushing it farther. Not that I was super busy or anything, just plain laziness and a lack of self-discipline on my part.
It wasn’t until I told myself the hard truth: that I can either continue pushing it later or just do it now and get organized. I realized that time was running out and that I had no clear financial goals.

The Fix

No one is coming to do it for you so you better get on with it. If you keep procrastinating, you’ll end up broke with lots of debts.

Impulse Purchasing/Buying

We’ve all been here. That urge to buy something. We give ourselves all the reasons why we need to have it. Impulse buying is all in the name. You see a bag and immediately want to buy it. You don’t even stop to consider the cost or whether you actually need it. You buy it before you stop to think whether you need it or can afford it.

The Fix

You need to first recognize this is a problem and keep track. Before you find yourself reaching for that candy or new pair of shoes, ask yourself if you have the resources and if you really need it. Don’t be in a rush; be certain you need it before you do.

Not Budgeting

A lot of people live on more than they make. If you don’t have a monthly budget, your money will disappear and you won’t know where it went.
A budget allows you to see how much money you’re bringing in and where it’s all going. It enables you to make changes that help you save more money and avoid going into the red each month.

Pro-tip

It doesn’t have to be a big chore. It can start with only carrying a small amount of cash with you each day. You can also sign up with a money-saving app that automatically tracks your spending for you. Here’s an easy budget template for you.

Love of Convenience

Once a while, it’s okay to make a convenience purchase. These are purchases that are routine and take little thought when being bought. However, if you find yourself regularly making convenience purchases, it’ll cost you.

Pro-tip

You can start by cooking instead of buying fast food every day. Make a regular weekend event of preparing a dish that can be separated into freezer containers for future use.

You can also stop getting that expensive breakfast on your way to work every morning and rather get up 5 minutes earlier to prepare something. I know waking up early might be hard for me so, I cook when I come home. At least I know lunch for the next day is sorted out.

So, there you have it, 4 bad money habits that are keeping you from attaining financial independence. Which of them are you guilty of?

Visibility In The Workplace – The Why and How

by Veronica Alfred

Do you believe that out of sight is out of mind? Is remote work affecting your visibility in the workplace? When remote work was introduced, it was perceived as a step in the direction of work-life balance.

For many people, it allowed them to combine carrying responsibilities and work more easily while others struggled with remaining visible. In this article, I will be sharing the importance of increasing visibility in the workplace and some of the potential ways to achieve this.

The importance of standing out from the crowd at the Workplace

Exclusive access to opportunities

If you are constantly hitting those numbers, delivering results and solutions, everyone would want you on their team. Let’s face facts, everyone wants to work with the 5-star performer. It gives you that reassurance of success. If you have exhibited great skills and abilities and other people in the organization are aware of them, there’s a high likelihood that you will be picked for the next opportunity in your company and beyond. I speak from experience when I say, great work reputation travels fast in the job market. So work hard on building that visibility so when next there is a big-money event, you are top of the list.

Continuous learning and improvement

Good work requires that you work with people often. Most times, you might be working across teams with different people and this, in turn, exposes you to more learning opportunities. As you work on something new or take on new projects, you can acquire valuable learnings that add to your experience.

Stellar Appraisal Ratings

When an employee gets very good appreciation and job appraisal after working for the year, the chance of their stability involuntarily increases alongside promotions. People would always advocate for you during those meetings and this helps your manager justify your performance. The quality of work comes first i.e. your performance on tasks will get more weight but an endorsement from other managers in the organization can go a long way in your cause of getting a good rating or promotion.

In summary, the benefits include exclusive access to opportunities, stellar ratings, promotions, and an opportunity to learn.

Tips on how to go from invisible to visible

Speak up in Meetings

A closed mouth during meetings does not provide recognition or visibility. Do your research well in advance before team meetings, ask good questions, make solid recommendations, push back on ideas that you do not find feasible during meetings. Contribute, speak up, and let your voice be heard.

Participate in Learning Opportunities

Make time to be part of team learning sessions, individual training sessions, and utilize resources that have been made available to the team. Acquiring more knowledge would not only improve your ability to function effectively but improve your expertise in a particular product, service, or process. Once you’re an expert on something, people will always come to you to ask for help in that matter. This is effortless visibility.

Demonstrate Your Expertise

Most organizations admire employees who can bring something unique to the company. If you have some creative idea/skill which could improve organizational processes, reduce cost, bring more revenue, increase employee satisfaction, or reduce cycle time, etc. do not hesitate to bring your skills to bear. If the idea is implemented, you become a star in the organization. There are chances the idea may not be implemented, don’t feel discouraged because management will appraise the fact that you’re making an effort to do something different and unique.

Strengthen your relationship with your boss

A good relationship with your boss is one of the most important parts of your success story. It may be helpful to align on goals and see things from their perspective. Understand their priorities and preferred mode of communication. Focus on the positive, everyone has something worth respecting. Try to get to know your manager on a personal level by engaging them in conversation on topics beyond work.

Participate in team activities

You might work or an organization where different teams are working on different projects/tasks. Try to find an opportunity to collaborate (on a specific project/task) with other teams than your existing one. You can seize this opportunity to highlight your skills and abilities in different teams. Besides, this will show your drive for initiatives and developing a positive image for yourself.

In the world today, being good at your job isn’t the only requisite for getting ahead in your career. If key people aren’t aware of you, you’ll likely miss out on opportunities to improve your skills and take on interesting assignments, despite your hard work and good performance. This is especially important if you work remotely because people might forget about you if they don’t often see you in person.

FCMB Commemorates World Women’s Entrepreneurship Day with Loan Facilities in Ogun State

by She Leads Africa

This article is sponsored by the FCMB SheVentures proposition. FCMB SheVentures is empowering female entrepreneurs, helping them build their businesses, and improving the overall success rate of businesses owned or run by women. Please click here to learn more about how FCMB SheVentures can support you and your business.

In commemoration of this year’s World Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, FCMB SheVentures in collaboration with the Office of the First Lady of Ogun State, has granted zero interest loan facilities to women business owners in Ogun State.

Additionally, the beneficiaries received the opportunity to participate in capacity building initiatives, to ensure they scale up and become positive contributors to the growth and development of the Nigerian economy.

At the presentation event which held on Thursday, November 19, 2020 in Abeokuta, the First Lady of Ogun State, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun commended FCMB for its commitment to ensuring that female business owners are not left out in the success story of the Nigerian economy.

Similarly, the Executive Director, Business Development, FCMB, Mrs. Bukola Smith assured the female entrepreneurs that they can count on FCMB’s continued support as they pursue the growth and profitable expansion of their businesses.

Also present at the event were the Former Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Alhaja Salmot Badru; Former Speaker of the State House of Assembly and Commissioner for Trade and Investment, Mrs. Kikelomo Longe; the Iyalode of Yorubaland, Chief (Mrs.) Alaba Lawson; The Regional Director, FCMB South-West, Mr. Emanuel Comla; and Head, FCMB SheVentures, Mrs. Yetunde Moito.

“I Made This Costly Mistake In My Business So You Don’t Have To”- Meet Onome Ikhimoya, Founder of Mistics Couture

by She Leads Africa

This feature article on Onome Ikhimoya is sponsored by the First City Monument Bank (FCMB) SheVentures proposition. FCMB SheVentures is empowering female entrepreneurs, helping them build their businesses, and improving the overall success rate of businesses owned or run by women. Please click here to learn more about how FCMB SheVentures can support you and your business.

Onome’s love for fashion is only rivalled by her drive to be the best and her businesses are proof of this. Onome Ikhimioya is the founder and CEO of Mistics Couture and Mistics Sparkles.

Mistics Couture is a fashion outfit that specializes in making bespoke outfits. Their outfits include English wears, traditional wears, casual wears, beach wears, and so on. Mistics Sparkles is an arm of Mistics Couture that brands and designs t-shirts, fabrics, throw pillows and much more. She has styled celebrities like Yemi Alade, Kim Burrell, Oge Okoye, Funke Akinokun, Ngozi Ezeonu, and so on.

This piece discusses Onome’s journey in the fashion industry. It also talks about some struggles she has encountered and insightful advice she has learned from past mistakes.

Running Mistics Couture requires you to be very creative and that can take a toll if you are not inspired. So my question for you is, where do you draw your inspiration from?

God inspires me. Every inspiration I have comes from God because he is the creator of the world. He sees me through my day to day life and guides my path.

Secondly, my inspiration comes from a knowledge of myself. Knowing that I have a lot of talents in me, seeing that I have a whole lot to actualize in my time here on earth. After my first degree and my Masters, I did not want to work for anyone. I think I worked for a while- maybe like a month before I started my own thing. I felt like I had a lot in me waiting to burst out and I was not going to be able to let it out while working for someone else. One talent I have is that I can look at you and sketch what will suit you. I can do a lot of stuff with fabric generally. So I decided to go into fashion design.

My inspirational fabric- if I can call it that- is Ankara fabric. Looking at Ankara fabric gives me this joy that I don’t understand. I look at the fabric and I want to do a whole lot of things with it.

My mum is another person that inspires me. Growing up every Sunday, people would come out and peep at my mum on our way to church and they would call her, “to match, to match.” Even till now in her 60s, she dresses so beautifully. Her age has not really made her step down in her dress sense and she has a lot of strength, faith and hope which she passed on to me.

So in all, I get my inspiration from God. From my belief in myself, the fabrics that I love to work with and my mum.

Learn more about the rest of Onome’s journey on the FCMB Business Zone.