My personal definition of what the ideal business looks like is Microsoft. Microsoft is a largely organic (only went public because they had to) B2B business that produces software (asset light) that powers more than a million businesses worldwide.

I clearly have a bias for businesses in the B2B space. At US$2.17 trillion, Apple is one of the most valuable businesses in the world. And although Apple operates primarily in the B2C market segment, my definition of what a successful business looks like is still Microsoft.

There’s a very good reason for that; My personal bias towards B2B businesses means that I’d prefer to sell a US$10,000 product to 600 businesses (who are usually less price sensitive), and make US$6 million than try and sell a US$60 product to 100,000 people to make the same US$6 million.

In my opinion, the B2B market segment (especially in Africa) is one of the best segments to innovate, create and extract value from.

The closest business to Microsoft in the Nigerian tech space is SystemSpecs.

SystemSpecs

SystemSpecs is a leading provider of payment and human management technology in Nigeria.

However, the purpose of this article isn’t to talk about SystemSpecs as a business in itself, but to analyse its most recent addition to its product lineup – Paylink.

If you want to learn more about Systemspecs, I have a note you can follow up with to get some of the basics down. Here’s the link.

PayLink

Paylink is Systemspecs attempt to leave it’s primarily B2B and B2G market segment to innovate for the B2C market.

Paylink is a product that provides users with a special link they can share to customers and clients and receive payments with, rather than sharing their bank details for security reasons. Paylink also allows vendors innovatively display their products using the embedded customizable link.

Paylink is a free product with a caveat – all transactions are processed by Remita. Which is really just common sense; I cannot run poultry, and still go to buy chicken from an outside source.

The strategy (and idea) behind Paylink begins to look clearer – finding a way to route more payments through Remita.

Paylink’s Value Proposition

Paylink’s value proposition is built and hedged around safety – Paylink is a safer way to receive payments for services by businesses and institutions nationwide, with a large emphasis on SME (Small and Medium sized enterprises).

Paylink’s Trade Off

Ideally, every solution is a tradeoff. More than 1.3 million people die every year from car accidents. The probability of losing 0.00022% of the population annually is less scary (and embarrassing) than walking from Iyana Ipaja to Ikeja, or hopping on a horse (can road safety legally stop you from riding a horse to work?).

Paylink’s solution creates a tradeoff between security and experience.

Paylink sells security, but at the expense of a more arduous customer experience. As a rule of thumb, creating a better product experience is first and foremost seen in the amount of clicks you will need to make from origination to achieving the desired end results.

Platform businesses are very good at exploiting this – it is easier to read a LinkedIn article while you scroll through your feed than to have to visit an external site, or worse still type the link into your browser yourself.

Microsoft Teams had a massive scalable advantage over Slack because it was bundled in suite with Microsoft Office, and more than a million businesses worldwide use Office products.

Trading off experience isn’t necessarily a bad thing – large enterprises will likely choose a horrible customer experience (a complex product) that gives them better security than choose poor security with an overall admirable customer experience. The challenge is that the market Paylink targets are SMEs, and SMEs think in congruence with everyday customers.

Security Perception

The general perception of financial security in Nigeria is primarily; keep your card numbers, pin, and BVN a secret. Most people do not fear their bank account numbers being publicly displayed.

If there is a high chance a person will send you funds, you will (in most cases) usually have no problem with sharing your bank account number with that person.

Obviously, you don’t want to go around dropping your account number in public places (or hanging it on billboards to see who will miraculously send you money), but the perception that keeping that number a secret is high value security is not there, especially among everyday consumers.

Therefore, trading off a good customer experience (few clicks) for an arguable perception of security does not birth a great product. It births customer churn rates and apathy.

I perform most (if not all) of my banking transactions using USSD codes. By typing in a code and following a couple of quick prompts after that, I can send money to anyone in Nigeria without the need to step out of my house, or go to an ATM gallery.

That simple straightforward experience means a lot to me, and I do not intend to lose it for something else.

Paylink’s perception of security and its user’s perception of security may not be the same.

As much as I consider Systemspecs to be a phenomenal business (organically grown, great culture, and a strong B2B focus), I can’t help to believe that a lot of market research wasn’t carried out before building this product.

Marketing

Most people don’t know Systemspecs owns Remita, most people have never heard of Human Manager, and that’s fine really, businesses operating in the B2B space usually have the privilege of being discrete. Nobody really has to know you’re making money, just keep running your business. That’s why I describe Systemspecs as that quiet guy that nobody really knows makes any serious money, until you visit his 6 bedroom house in Parkview Estate Ikoyi and see a black 2020 Mercedes Maybach parked at one end, and a silver 2018 Porsche Cayenne parked at the other end.

When you operate a consumer product, it can’t be low key.

I personally don’t know anyone that knows Paylink, matter of fact I only became aware of its existence because I worked on a case study on Systemspecs some months back.

Systemspecs definitely needs to up their marketing on Paylink.

Final thoughts

It is easier to write than to build. Paylink doesn’t actually have the best all round integration – you only have an option of two banks for transfers, and the only wallet you have access to is Paga.

A person sending this link to a customer/client to make a payment ideally wants to make it as simple as possible for them to make a transaction, and not burden them in any way to avoid them changing their minds.

The major market for Paylink is SMEs, and most SMEs tend to think like consumers.

Way Forward

Redefine Paylink’s value proposition: you can’t tradeoff customer experience for a perception of security your target market doesn’t necessarily agree with.

Reduce customer touch points and experiences: the fewer the clicks an end user has to make to reach their desired goal, the better the consumer experience.

Scale up integrations: the more options end users have to pay for a service using Paylink, the better. Especially if it’s an option the end user in question already uses.

Scale up Marketing: if a tree falls in a forest, and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound? No matter how good a product is, if no one knows it exists, it creates very little tangible value. Find more effective marketing channels, and make the most of them.

Conclusion

Paylink is a phenomenal product, and with a proper redesign, I believe it can fully and properly achieve the goal it was designed for.

Inspired by the Holy Spirit

P.S: I recently signed up for Paylink, so this isn’t some random guy yapping into thin air, this is customer feedback.

P.S2: for consultation services, you can send a mail to the email below.

Every job has its hazards. However, not all job hazards are pronounced or believed to exist. One of the jobs in this category includes sedentary work, where workers have to sit down for more than eight every day.

Unknown to many people, sitting down for a long time affects one’s health. Workers, such as secretaries, front desk officers, software developers, writers, pilots, bus drivers, and so many others, face the risk of developing health complications as a result of their jobs. These workers must have discovered they experience certain challenges after sitting for a long time but they do not know how to complain about them because their jobs are believed to be less strenuous. Further, many managers do not allow desk officers to leave their desks, thereby making them sit all day, except for a few toilet breaks. This makes it imperative for both affected employees and their employers to understand the dangers of sitting for a long time at a stretch.

Dangers of Sitting for a Long Time

1. Anxiety and Depression: Sitting in a place for a long time means the person will not be able to engage in small talks with colleagues or even ask them for directions towards solving a particular problem. When workers sit before their computers all day, they are bound to feel gloomy and lonely at a particular point in time. Anxiety can also set in as a result of work-related pressure, which could have been dissipated by the presence of colleagues and friends. But in situations where workers could not leave their desks, they are bound to experience depression and anxiety.
2. Heart Diseases: Sedentary works prevent vigorous body movement. It causes a lack of exercise. As a result, sedentary workers burn few calories since they use less energy. This puts sedentary workers at the risk of excessive weight gain and obesity, which in turn leads to heart problems, such as hypertension, heart failure, cardiac arrest, and the rest. Diabetes has also been linked to sitting for a long time.
3. Body Pains: It might sound ironic to state that sitting for a long time, without doing any strenuous activity, causes body pains. Sedentary workers can attest to experiencing back pain, neck stiffness and pain, and waist pain. These pains are caused by the body posture while sitting and the pressure placed on the waist. Those that use badly built seats are bound to experience more severe pains than those with more comfortable seats. Nevertheless, sitting for a long time puts the body in pain irrespective of the type of seat one sits on.
4. Weak, Swollen, and Numb Feet and Legs: As a result of the inactivity that accompanies sitting, body fluid is retained at the feet and ankles. Further, the muscles of the legs tend to become weak since they are not exercised. Clots could also form in the legs and become fatal if they break and any of them finds its way to the lungs. You may also need to know that sitting (and standing) in a place for a long time could cause varicose veins. For professional evaluation and treatment of circulation problems such as varicose veins, you can visit Metro Vein Centers, where specialists provide advanced, minimally invasive vein care solutions.
5. Cancer: Research is still on-going to determine why sitting for a long time leads to cancer of the colon, lungs, and uterine. However, associated weight gain is considered as the causative factor so far.

What You Should Do

You must have realized by now that the symptoms you are experiencing are the effects of your job type. By now, you should have acknowledged that sedentary works have their occupational hazards. But you don’t have to leave your jobs because of these hazards because you will meet one kind of risk or another wherever you go. So, you may need to do the things listed below to minimize these dangers posed by your job.

1. Stand up every thirty minutes. When you do so, move around a little or simply stretch your muscles to allow blood flow to your legs and other parts of your body. Standing up will also ease the stress your sitting position placed on your waist and spine. Moving about will help to exercise your muscles and prevent stiffness, weak muscles, and pains.
2. Work while standing. If your desk is high, or you have a high table or counter close-by, consider standing up for some minutes as you work. Remember that the essence of standing is to aid blood circulation and to ease pressure on some joints, so don’t stand in one position for long. Move your feet about now and then to relieve the pressure your weight placed on them and to trigger blood circulation.
3. Exercise vigorously. Even though it has been discovered that sitting for a long time makes exercises ineffective, research has shown that intense physical activities that are done for at least one hour daily help to prevent heart diseases that might arise from inactivity for the rest of the day. These intense physical activities supply abundant oxygen to the body, which allows metabolism to take place and burn off calories while it does it so. Further, these physical activities make the heart pump faster, hence strengthening its muscles. So, find that one hour from your twenty-fours to keep your body and soul together.

Now that you have learnt the hazards of sedentary works, what do you plan to do with the information? This question is directed to bosses and supervisors, who insist their employees and subordinates must never leave their desks irrespective of any circumstances. If you are the one directly affected by this, let your bosses receive the information as you do your best to relieve the symptoms you are experiencing.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted Tuesday evening, formally calling on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump from office.

Pence had earlier ruled out the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment, but the House, which had earlier introduced an article of impeachment as an alternative way to oust Trump, wants him to save his excuses.

“On Wednesday, January 6, 2021, we saw domestic enemies incite violence and invade the people’s house with intent to harm provoked by President Trump. … The President has completely lost whatever moral authority he had and is unfit as Commander in Chief. His actions to incite violence against his own government and the entire Congress warrants removal from office.

“And if Administration officials refuse to invoke the 25th Amendment, I am moving forward with Articles of Impeachment to remove him from office,” Congresswoman Jackson Lee, a senior member of the House Committee on Judiciary wrote in her Article of Impeachment.

The five reasons mentioned in the Article are:

1. Trump’s refusal to acknowledge to the American people that he would accept and be bound by the verdict rendered in the 2020 Presidential election.
2. Taking active measures to impede and undermine the ability of American citizens to convey their disapproval of his continuance in office by exercising their rights as voters, including misusing the United States Postal Service to prevent the 16 timely delivery of mail-in ballots.
3. Instituting frivolous lawsuits to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, falsely alleging wide-spread voting fraud but producing no evidence in support of his spurious allegations.
4. Exhorting and inciting his supporters to believe falsely that victory in the 2020 presidential election had been stolen from him and that constitutionally required Joint Meeting of Congress for the purpose of counting the votes of elector and announcement of the result by the president of the Senate was illegitimate and intended to complete the theft of his victory.
5. Failing to take action to protect and defend Federal officers and personnel, property, buildings, and institutions on January 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol that was besieged by supporters of Donald John Trump, resulting in extensive damage to the property of the United States and the deaths of at least four persons.

This was followed by a single Article of Impeachment introduced formally by members of the House for “incitement of insurrection.” Citing Crimes and Misdemeanors, the article seeks to invoke the 14th Amendment which prohibits any person who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the United States from holding any office.

The House Judiciary Committee supported the invocation of the 14th Amendment citing ongoing threats by Trump supporters to cause further harm.

“The threat that manifested in the Capitol on January 6, 2021 is ongoing. The emergency is still with us. Reports suggest that the president’s supporters are threatening additional violence in Washington D.C. and in the state capitals across the nation.

“The fourteenth Amendment prohibits an officer of the United States who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” from “hold[ing] any office under the United States.” Yet, despite widespread and bipartisan calls for his immediate resignation, the president has refused to leave office. The Vice President has thus far failed to invoke the Twenty-fifth Amendment to remove the president from office. The House has taken every step short of impeachment to contain the danger. Now it is time to consider this last, grave, necessary step,” the Committee said in statement.

While the 2th Amendment is unlikely going to be invoked by Pence, many Republicans who have broken camp with Trump are now supporting impeachment. So far, at least five Republicans have said they are going to vote for impeachment.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has named nine Democrats as managers of impeachment trial of President Trump, as voting is expected to commence Wednesday.

Defiant Trump has failed to take responsibility for the insurrection, defending what he told his supporters as “appropriate” adding that the “ridiculous” impeachment push is “causing tremendous anger” across the United States. He said “it’s the continuation of the Greatest Witch Hunt in the history of politics.”

However, the House Judicial Committee said the impeachment is not a punishment of prior wrongs, but a protection against future evils. The Committee explained that it is true that the President’s remaining term is limited – but the President is capable of greater danger still. But he must be removed from office as swiftly as the Constitution allows. And he must be disqualified to prevent the recurrence of the extraordinary threat he presents. He must also be disqualified to prevent the recurrence of the extra threat he presents. For these reason, the House must impeach Donald Trump, the Committee said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated his support for impeachment as he believes impeaching Trump will make it easier to get rid of him in the Republican Party. The GOP leadership said they are not going to urge members not vote against impeachment.

It thus signals that Trump, who was impeached by the  House but reinstated by the Senate last year, may be convicted this time. However, with little time left for him in office, barring him from holding public office  will be a task to consider when he’s left office.