You want to start that web startup. You have looked left and right, within Nigeria, and came to the conclusion that no single company was in that territory. So, you extrapolated, I have no competition. Unfortunately, that you wished so does not mean that is the state of things. There is a diminishing abundance that comes with Internet: you are global and local at the same time. So, are your competitors! Because internet is unbounded and unconstrained, most times, a local company faces competition from any part of the world. You need to have that in mind and not judge an idea based on solely if there is a local firm already in that space. And when you start, do not fall under the illusion that growing number of users will fix all problems. Simply, measure what really matters as you grow.

NB: A pure web business is a business where all activities are operationally served within the web. A hosting company is a pure web business since the service is 100% on the web. But an ecommerce (for non virtual goods) is not a pure web business since it has a major offline component which is physical delivery of the purchased goods items.

In this videocast, I discuss what I am calling the Law of Diminishing Abundance of Internet. It is a construct that some companies become poorer even when they are growing in numbers of customers reached.That applies to industrial sectors like publishing and telecoms. The lesson here is that risk in any business model must be examined from the lens of this mirage abundance which Internet has provided in some sectors.

The biggest victory in life is victory over your time. If you master your time, you will win your future. Greatness has been achieved not because of special talent but rather via total dedication, perseverance and commitment through mastering of time. A man who cannot manage his seconds will wander through the boundless of time.

Tenacity is critical because without it, any mission could be lost. In business, I have come to understand that one of the most important skills is the capacity to do the best possible job at the shortest time possible on something with the highest impact. Yes, everything must be bounded by time because without that time consciousness you will not make progress. The world will not wait for you – you have to fit into the world as defined by 24 hours in a day.

Have a process and see how that process aligns with your goals in life. Students, look carefully, the bests in your classes are not necessarily the smartest but those smart enough to manage their clocks. Because the world is bounded by time, defined within 24 hours a day, companies and schools look for those “bests” as they have overcome by managing time. The best companies, the best universities, and the best leaders want them because if they continue on those paths, they will add values.

But managing time does not mean spending lesser time on something; it’s simply knowing what to spend time on, to advance that mission. Do not be like the lifeless feather which when tossed into the stream wanders wherever the stream current moves it. Be like the dragonfly which even though enjoying the mild current defines its path.

All paths of careers are defined by the ability to manage time. A man who is overwhelmed by the limitation of the unbounded time quits. Yes, “I have decided to settle for C because I cannot cover all that would help me compete for A”. Do not show any pity: he wasted his time and the rationalization for poor grade cannot change the state of his records, for life! Do that many times, the person will turn a failure in everything.

Sometimes, poor grades could be due to misalignments: you applied for course A, you ended up with Course B because you just wanted to matriculate for college education. But we also have extremely lazy students who made bad choices: sleeping when others were studying. Not fixing those attitudes would result to future life failures.

Boss your time or it will box you!

The Biggest Failure is NOT Fixing Things that Lead to Failures

Shakespeare wrote it all when he dropped those ageless words, in the Twelfth Night: “If music be the food of love, play on”. Duke Orsino could not have said it better if you have watched Childish Gambino’s “This is America”. Nigeria’s Falz created a local version – This is Nigeria (videos below).

Folarin ‘Falz’ Falana takes Nigeria apart in a new rap video, ‘”This is Nigeria”. It is a parody of Childish Gambino’s “This is America”. He rapped on many issues including special anti-robbery squad (SARS), Yahoo boys, IGP transmission speech, and herdsmen.

In the piece, he rapped: “This is Nigeria, look how I’m living now, look how I’m living now. Everybody be criminal/ Person wey no get work dey check if my watch is original.”

Childish Gambino’s “This is America”, on Sunday, grabbed the coveted Record of the Year prize for best overall song. The artist packed four Grammys.

The trap gospel song packed with social commentary from Childish Gambino — the alter ego of actor and recording artist Donald Glover — beat fellow category heavyweights Drake, Cardi B and Lady Gaga to nab the award.

By Nnamdi Odumody

Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company, the Nigerian automobile car manufacturer, has plans to become the number one automobile manufacturer in the African continent. This is an audacious ambition considering the fact that the world’s leading automotive manufacturers like Toyota, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Honda, Ford, and General Motors have some forms of manufacturing either directly by setting up assembly or production plants, in some countries on the continent, or indirectly, via franchise with local auto dealers in selected countries.

Innoson currently produces SUVs (Sport Utility Vehicles), Sedans, Buses, Trucks, Armored Vehicles for the Military and Paramilitary as parts of its product lines. Except in the eastern part of the country, and some federal agencies like the security agencies, the brand isn’t attracting the required patronage from local consumers. The reasons include high cost of vehicles, and lack of advanced technology features which are part of what the foreign brands sell to clients.

All over the world automotive giants have redesigned to become technology companies in order to keep pace with the consumers of the future who are tech savvy and prefer augmented auto experiences.

In Japan, a technologically advanced nation, Toyota, the national pride and world’s no 1 automobile manufacturer filed more patents than the consumer technology giants SONY, and Panasonic. In 2016, Toyota had 3792 inventions while Korean automotive giant Hyundai, U.S automaker Ford which pioneered the assembly line, and German auto giant Mercedes Benz had 2714, 2048 and 1922 inventions respectively.

In the field of artificial intelligence which enables autonomous driving, Toyota is pioneering with its cutting edge innovations from its Research and Development Labs across the globe. Its Intelligent Mobility service E-Pallette is a game changer, creating a new ecosystem which will enable delivery agents offer an augmented experience to their customers. Volkswagen group has decided to spend $44 billion euros in the next few years on production of electric vehicles and other technologies to keep up with the shift to climate friendly automotives instead of combustion engine fossil-fuelled ones.

Strategies for Innoson To Adopt in Ensuring Its Transformation

1. Embrace Design Thinking To Offer The Best Customer Experience: Innoson needs to embrace design thinking through all the production stages from product design to final production, and up to marketing of its vehicles to offer the best customer experience.
2. Utilize Additive Manufacturing in Design and Production of Parts: 3D Printing or additive manufacturing has the potential to reduce production cost of vehicles. Innoson should utilize this technology to produce parts of its vehicles to make them environmentally friendly and affordable to consumers.
3. Produce Hybrid Vehicles First and then Shift To Electric: Considering the fact that electricity generation is a major problem on the African continent, Innoson should produce hybrid cars, running on gasoline and electric batteries. This is because we are rich in fossil fuels, while poor in electricity infrastructure for energy generation; so, to satisfy the two set of consumers, that strategy is important. More so, as the awareness of electric vehicles goes high and infrastructure to power electric vehicles advances across Africa, the shift to electric vehicles will yield value over time.
4. Become a Platform: Innoson should become a platform business to aggregate vehicle owners who will want to use its products for car hailing services across the continent. Innoson will give them the vehicles to run as business while the data gathered through the platform in real time, powered with blockchain technology, will be utilized to improve their operations and revenue will be shared among parties.
5. Integrate Advanced Technologies into the Vehicles: As data is the new oil, the Innoson platform should create an end to end channel for data which will be gathered in real time, from consumer behavior, utilizing machine learning, deep learning, and natural language for conversations. These elements should be processed in African indigenous languages as well as in English and French, anchored on blockchain technologies to understand the African auto driver, environmental and climatic conditions under which we drive vehicles, and acting based on those insights, offer an augmented experience for the modern day driver.

The Innoson Motors Vision, Building Africa’s Largest Indigenous Car Company