The truth about Pricing for Online businesses

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June 27, 2022

Running an online business is so cool. You just run your business with zero expenses. It is income, income, income, and no payments. No rent. No electricity costs. You can sell your goods and enjoy a huge profit margin. True?

False.

Unfortunately, this is the impression many people carry around. Running a business online has no costs other than the product or service cost. This is not true. You may have avoided or reduced certain business costs by running your business online, but there are still costs you have to factor into your pricing.

Many people claim to be running an online business, but they have converted one of the rooms in their house into an office for receiving visitors or a warehouse for their goods. This is space that you have to factor into your running costs. You should consider your rent, make an appropriate estimate of what that space should cost monthly or annually, and then add it to your running costs.

If you use gadgets to run your business online (like smartphones, laptops or desktops, power generating sets, refrigerators or freezers, etc.), you should factor in the depreciation costs. If you have a smartphone that costs $240 to purchase and has a useful shelf life of 2 years, your depreciation cost will be about $10 monthly for the next 24 months. In this way, you need not take a loan when you need to replace your gadgets over time.

How about your utilities? You must be spending something on data, phone calls, follow-up emails, etc. If you are running sponsored ads or promotions online, your running costs should also absorb these costs. These are just a few examples of little expenses here and there that some online business owners ignore when fixing their price and profit margins.

Treat your online business the same way you would do an offline business. Every cost should be noted. Every income should be noted. If your pricing fails to account for these, you may just be shooting yourself in the foot.

The cost of raw materials, delivery, and production is easily factored into pricing, even for online businesses. But other costs like the ones we have listed above are mostly ignored, and the narrative behind it is that running a business online does not incur expenses like rents and utilities. Don’t be misguided. There are software and applications that can help small and medium business owners reach proper product pricing. I will not mention any names here, but simple research can show you some of them. Enter the required data, and it will give you a proper price range for your product.

Also, do not forget to factor in your salary among the costs. You invest time, talent, and efforts into the business, and it would be careless to treat it as a hobby without financial rewards. Of course, you may decide not to receive salaries from the company until a certain period elapses. Factor in your salary as a running cost and then reinvest it into the business. It is part of creating structure.

If you want your business to grow and scale at some point, this structure has to come in during the company’s early days. Stop waving off some little costs as insignificant and think you can cater to them from your expenses. As the business grows, you will not be able to keep up, and then you may struggle to factor them into your product pricing.

The Need For Delegation In The Workplace

By

Ojukwu Emmanuel

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June 27, 2022

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Delegation according to google is the assignment of authority to another person to carry out specific activities. In the workplace, It is often a process where an employer entrusts a specific task to a team member or team members work for it to be carried out.

Some employers think they are made of steel, they always want to carry out every special task in the workplace, because they feel that no other person is competent enough to handle it. One thing employers must understand is that they cannot perform every task in the workplace because it can lead to work burnout as well as low productivity due to fatigue.

Some managers till date, still have a negative approach toward delegation of duties in the workplace, because they always think that they can do better when they are the ones handling the task.

Any manager who always carries out every given task by himself is either egocentric or has not built the capacity of the team members enough to handle certain tasks. As a leader in the workplace, delegation is very important because it empowers the team members, builds trust, and assists with professional development.

When tasks are delegated to team members, asides from the fact that it reduces the workload, it also builds the capacity of the team members because they will develop new skills and gain knowledge that equips them for future responsibility.

Types of Delegation

There are four (4) types of delegation in the workplace. Each of these delegations is based on different factors.

Formal or Informal Delegation; It is based on the process of giving authority
General or Specific Delegation: It is usually used on the job assigned
Top To Bottom: It is usually based on a hierarchy
Lateral Delegation: It requires a group or team members to work in parallel

Before delegation is made in the workplace, there are processes employers must ensure to follow, to ensure that they delegate such tasks effectively

Delegate To The Right Candidate: One major part of being an effective leader in the workplace is understanding the strength and weaknesses of each team member. This is a very important factor to consider because different tasks require that there are specific team members who should carry it out.
Make Available Resources: It is important that when employers delegate tasks to team members, they should provide them with the required resources needed to effectively carry out their tasks. Resources could be funds, courses, information, tools/equipment, etc. Not providing them with the needed resources can set limitations to how far they can accomplish a task.
Be Clear About The Task: It is one thing for a manager to delegate a task, it is another thing for them to be clear about the given task. Team members are more likely to provide results based on how the task was related to them. Also setting clear expectations for a given task, aids them in knowing how to execute the task. It is ideal for managers to set benchmarks for every given task, so that team members can know what they are to deliver.
Take/ Give Feedback: Employers should not just delegate tasks without giving or taking feedback. The most critical aspect of the delegation process is usually the feedback stage. If the team members effectively carried out a given task, it is ideal that managers let them know so that they maintain that standard and also improve. Also, if the task was not effectively carried out, it is ideal that managers give feedback on possible corrections so that they can be implemented in the next task.

There are so many benefits of delegation in the workplace, but I will discuss only three (3) of them.

Benefits Of Delegation In The Workplace

Develops Team Members: When the team members are constantly involved in one given task or the other, it develops their capacity as well as teaches them new skills. When they are assigned with a specific task, it challenges them to improve and also pushes them to become a better version of themselves.
Establishes Trust: When tasks are delegated to team members, it builds a culture of trust among them. By giving them specific tasks, the manager is indirectly telling them that he trusts them enough to carry out the task efficiently. This also improves employees’ self-esteem.
Increases Flexibility Of Team Members: When tasks are delegated to team members, it expands their flexibility which provides room for their abilities to grow, which is beneficial to the organization and also to each team member.

Conclusion

Employers must see the need to delegate tasks in the workplace, because it will no doubt boost productivity, and it will reduce the chances of fatigue and build trust between the manager and team members. Ideally, all hands should be on deck in the workplace because it also gives room for creativity.

Besides Ill-health, The Allegations that Forced CJN Tanko Muhammad to Resign

By

Samuel Nwite

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June 27, 2022

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The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Tanko Ibrahim Muhammad, has resigned a few days after a letter from 14 justices accusing him of gross misconduct was leaked.

Justice Muhammad’s resignation is to take urgent effect according to Supreme Court sources. Though the CJN is said to have resigned on health grounds, it is believed that his resignation has more to do with the allegations contained in the letter than his ill-health.

On June 19, the Nigerian media space became agog with the series of allegations contained in the letter, which casts further stench on the integrity of the Nigerian judiciary.

The letter, among other things, alleges that despite improved budgetary allocation, the Supreme Court has been underfunded, with justices denied their entitlements and the Court left dilapidated. Among the things cited to have been affected by the underfunding are:

I. Justices accommodation,

II. Vehicles,

III. Electricity supply

IV. Supply of diesel,

V. Internet services to justices’ residences and chambers.

“My Lord The Honourable Chief Justice of Nigeria, we the entire Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, carefully reviewed the state of affairs in this Court and unanimously resolved to write formally and draw the attention of Your Lordship to our demands,” the letter began.

It then proceeded, citing other issues that were contained in the demands tabled in a meeting held previously between the CJN and the Supreme Court Justices, which the Chief Justice agreed to address. That includes the restoration of [justices] monthly Internet allowance, some Justices sworn on the 6th day of November 2020, and yet to be accommodated by the Court, the provision of qualified legal assistants and the poor state of health care in the Court. The letter said the Justice Ibrahim received and ignored the demands.

“At the meeting we also discussed training. In the past Justices were nominated to attend two to three foreign workshops and trainings per annum with an accompanying person for reasons of age.

“Since Your Lordship’s assumption of office Justices only attended, two workshops in Dubai and Zanzibar. They were not accorded the privilege of travelling with accompanying persons as was the practice. Your Lordship totally ignored
this demand and yet travelled with your spouse, children and personal staff.

“We DEMAND to know what has become of our training funds, have they been diverted, or is it a plain denial? Your Lordship may also remember that the National Assembly has increased the budgetary allocation of the Judiciary. We find it strange that in spite of the upward review of our budgetary allocation, the Court cannot cater for our legitimate entitlements. This is unacceptable!” the letter said.

At the height of this allegations is the mismanagement of fund, which the Justices said has hampered the functions of the Court and impacted the administration of justice. Concluding their letter, the 14 Justices had threatened to take decisive action if the CJN does not address the issues mentioned urgently.

“Your Lordship, this is a wakeup call. Your Lordship must take full responsibility as our leader. You must not concession your responsibility to people who have no responsibility or stake in preserving and defending the dignity of the Institution. Your Lordship occupies a position of leadership.

“We will not wait for the total collapse of the institution. We must not abandon our responsibility to call Your Lordship to order in the face of these sad developments that threaten our survival as an institution. We have done our utmost best to send a wakeup call to Your Lordship. A stich in time saves nine.

“Finally, Your Lordship the choice is now yours. It is either you quickly and swiftly take responsibility and address these burning issues or we will be compelled to further steps immediately. May this day never come,” the letter concluded.

Based on this hefty allegations and the fact that his health is deteriorating, the resignation of Justice Muhammad, whose emergence as the CJN in 2019, was riddled with controversy, did not come as a surprise. The CJN was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari after Nigeria’s secret service, the DSS, in a move widely discribed as ‘defenestration,’ raided the home of the former Chief Justice, Walter Onnoghen, on allegations of malfeasance. He was later cleared of any wrongdoing by the court.

Justice Muhammad’s appointment as the CJN was criticized, mainly due to the events leading to his emergence and because he was seen as unqualified to oversee the affairs of the Nigerian Supreme Court. Under his watch, the apex court delivered one of the most controversial judgments in Nigeria’s history.

A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Muhammad, had in January 2020, nullified the election of former Imo State governor, Emeka Ihedioha of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and declared Hope Uzodinma of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), who came fourth during the election, the winner.

The digital industry is changing the face of Africa

By

TI Partners

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June 27, 2022

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Internet infrastructures are compensating for the lack of physical infrastructures in Africa and digital ventures are providing the long-awaited technology that’s helping the most towards reducing social and economic disparities in African countries.

Countries like Kenia, Nigeria, Morocco, and Ghana are leading the way in the development of digital hubs that are accelerating growth in Africa. According to the World Bank, the digital transformation in Africa can lead to an annual growth increase of almost 2% and to the reduction of poverty of 1% annually in Sub-Saharan regions.

Africa can import digital strategies that are known to work

Take, for instance, the online gaming industry. In the United States alone, the online casino industry has risen to levels that have made the online version of games like blackjack, poker, and slot machines even more popular than their physical counterparts.

Games like slots can be greatly enhanced online with amazing graphics and animations that catch the human eye and that result in a great way of entertainment. Add this to the infinite possibilities that the digital environment offers to casino gaming platforms such as credit card payment, mobile device compatibility, and promotions such as free spins, that allow users to start playing games without even using their own money.

Many of these practices can be applied to other digital ventures, and African startups and companies shouldn’t be afraid of importing online strategies that have proven to work in more mature markets such as the United States.

It isn’t copying, but rather understanding that the business ecosystem in Africa doesn’t necessarily need to invent anything. If the industry has already gone from A to B, it’s better to start from B and from there find your own way.

The private and public sectors must work together

Entrepreneurial push is not enough if the objective is to have a long-lasting effect on African economies. Governmental action must go toe-to-toe and invest in promoting new businesses and a proper entrepreneurial ecosystem.

In the capital of Morocco, Casablanca, the Casanearshore project is the best example of this. This entrepreneurial hub concentrates on more than 80 companies that work in the offshore sector and is today the biggest business park in Africa.

Casanearshore has managed to integrate the public sector interests as well by using public investments to develop projects like electronic administration, electronic governance, carpooling initiatives, and digital services for company employees.

Startups are the way to go forward

The startup phenomenon has also reached Africa. Nigeria is one of the countries that’s experiencing the fastest growth of new startups on the continent.

The economical capital of Nigeria, Lagos, is home to one of the biggest digital hubs in Africa. Known as Yabacon Valley, foreign companies such as Facebook and Google have opened startup incubators and the physical closeness of so many new companies is promoting the trade of knowledge and digital know-how.

Startups like Jumia have already raised more than 800 thousand million dollars. Jumia is an e-commerce platform that provides consumers with convenient and affordable online goods and services. We could say it’s the African Amazon, as it has also developed an intricate logistics model and even an online payment tool called JumiaPay.

Just like Jumia, there are many other examples of successful companies, and we should cite Flutterwave as well. This is an example of a startup in the fintech companies’ sector, one that’s providing many business solutions for the African people. In the case of Flutterwave, it was founded by former employees of the biggest financial companies such as PayPal, Standard Bank or Google Wallet. Flutterwave has become one of the fastest-growing payment companies in the world and has processed almost 2 billion dollars in payments.

Technology will provide life-changing solutions

2019 marked the year that Google opened its artificial intelligence research center in Accra, Ghana.

The objective of this center is to tackle African issues in the areas of agriculture and health care, two of the most concerning industries in the continent.

Agriculture accounts for up to 80% of an African country’s GDP and the sanitary issues in this continent are known to be the cause of the rapid spread of diseases.

Researchers in the AI center of Accra are developing technologies to detect early signs of crop diseases for example or in the health care sector, looking for early signs of breast cancer.

The potential gains in such countries with little to no access to proper health care services are substantial.

Website Development in 2022: Basic Things to Consider

By

TI Partners

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June 27, 2022

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You don’t have to write code to create a website! You just need to have the desire, a computer with an Internet connection and take the first step.

Why You Need a Website

A company without a website loses potential customers and profits. It won’t be able to find new customers and sell to people from all over the world.

Agree, for answers we all run to the Internet. Order a pizza? Buy a course? Gamble at the PlayAmo casino? Sign up for French school? Two clicks, and we’re at the right site. We unconsciously evaluate the quality of the site and decide: buy the product or close the page.

If the site is convenient, beautiful, and has answers to our questions, we trust the company and click on the “order” button.

Which Website Builder to Choose

You can create a site in two ways: write the code yourself or build the site on a website builder. The main difference is the functions and features.

Programs that will need to create a site using code:

Code Editor. It is in it that the work on the site takes place. Try and choose any of the 6 best code editors: Sublime, Notepadd++, NetBeans, Visual Studio Code, Brackets.
Browsers: Chrome, Safari, Mozilla Firefox. You can use them to check how the site is displayed and loaded on different browsers.
Graphic editor to create the layout of the site: Photoshop or Figma.
Constructors are programs that generate code themselves.

You just insert photos, text and buttons. With their help, it’s easier to create a site by yourself, but you will only have access to basic functions.

The last difference between constructors and programs for writing code is the types of sites you can create. It’s easy to put together a landing page on constructors, but you can’t make multi-page sites.

Top 3 Website Builder Tools

Tilda

Tilda is a website builder that will help you create a website. The main plus is the ease of use. Even if you open the designer for the first time, you will be able to immediately assemble your design for a landing page. It already has both templates and ready-made blocks, and the ability to start the site from scratch.

Wix

Wix is a platform for creating and publishing websites. Bright templates, interactive elements, animations, survey and countdown forms – all this is on Wix. However, it’s not as easy to learn as Tilda. You’ll need a little more patience and time.

LPgenerator

LPgenerator is the most powerful designer for creating landing pages. It has additional features, such as promotion tools, connecting scripts, and integration with other applications. All this will help to make the site even better.

However, for beginners, it’s better to start with a simpler builder – there is a risk of getting lost in the multitude of functions. But if you are already “advanced” in website creation, LPgenerator will be a great option.

It’s easier and faster to create a site on constructors than to write code. This method is perfect for beginners! But if you’ve decided to get serious about websites, don’t be afraid to learn new things. Writing code is a skill you can easily master if you want to.

How to Create a Website by Yourself

1. Draw a Portrait of the Potential Client

A web developer should step into the shoes of a customer and learn to think like one.

Imagine that you are the customer. What are you like? What age are you? How much can you pay? The brighter you present the customer, the better your chances of hitting the bull’s-eye! Ask yourself questions on behalf of the customer to put the most important things on the site:

What is the customer afraid of?
What questions might come up about the product or service?
How do you build trust?
What terms will the potential customer understand?

2. Analyze Your Competitors

Competitor analysis will help you understand the structure of your branding, take into account all the strengths and weaknesses of other sites and create the best site in the subject matter.

Open Google and look at the top 5 sites from each search engine that fit your theme. Then analyze your competitors’ sites based on 5 criteria:

What blocks do competitors use?
In what order are the blocks placed and what does it accomplish?
How does the call to action sound?
Is the site user-friendly? What makes it convenient and what makes it difficult?
What cool tricks do your competitors use?

3. Write Briefly, but Strongly

If you open your site and it’s an endless canvas of text, you’ll close it immediately. The client will not strain to read the text. First, he has little time. Secondly, he can just go to another site in 2 seconds – a competitor.

4. Focus Attention in One Point

The goal of a landing page is to convince the customer to take action. Remember? The key word: action.

To do this, follow 3 main rules:

To keep the customer focused on the site, don’t link to other products.
Remind the customer of the action. Insert call-to-action buttons not only on the first screen, but also between site blocks.
Don’t place buttons with different calls to action so the customer doesn’t get confused.

5. The First Screen Is the Face of the Site

After seeing the first screen, the customer decides whether or not to stay on the site, so you need to work especially hard over the first screen.

“Where am I? What should I do?” – are the customer’s first questions when they open the site. They should be answered by the first screen. The store name, address, specific offer and call to action should all be placed on the first screen.

6. Fill the Site With Tasteful Content

The site should be one piece. Buttons, photos, fonts, colors, shapes – all should blend and complement each other. The elements of the site, like notes, which together become a beautiful melody, only if they are in the right place. People like the eyes, so pick up the quality pictures in the same style.

Watch good sites, analyze the colors and elements, remember the chips. Believe me, taste in websites is a matter of observation. Sign up for Behance or Pinterest and get inspired!

Free stock photos on various subjects can help make your site look stylish – use Depositphotos. This way you won’t violate anyone’s copyright and you’ll get great shots to fill your site.

The truth about Pricing for Online businesses

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