Dream, Create, Innovate

"@Leke_Alder: Every dream becomes feasible when broken down into tasks. And tasks become easier when broken into steps. And steps need dates to create motion"

For awhile now, I had gotten tired of my routine work. Things had become un-necessarily stressful, tensed, boring, and distracting. In other words, I had lost the passion for my work. The reason was simple. There was a leadership change and the new crop of leaders had no incline to the overall job functions of my group. They seemed to be more interested in mandating members of the group to gather irrelevant data. In essence, we did more data collation (which had no significant impact to our balance sheet) than our main work. Our jobs were suffering, Management didn't see any meaningful impact and our Group Heads thought it meant more data.

Little wonder, I thought about leaving my present job for something more fulfilling. My wife and I prayed about it and we got our note of affirmation it was time to go.

In one of my prayer times in the gents, God opened my eye to see a writing on the door- "believe in yourself, trust in God". Eureka, that was it. My final word of victory.

That same day, God sent me an idea. The idea burned in my heart so much that even when I shared the concept with the  person I thought was going to actualize this, his slackness put me off. I told him later that "if I don't do this thing that God has put in my heart, God will give it to someone else".

Well, through twitter, I met someone that could help. So I reached out to him, shared the idea and that was it. This person went out of his way to bring my God given idea to reality. So much so that we were offered N15MM for the idea that was at 70% of its completion stage.

In essence, what am I saying? When there is a will there is a way. Now whether I opt for the N15MM is another story for another day.

Till we meet again, keep winning.

Dave Chiaka
Twitter: @MrChiaka

Moving Forward

"Greatness is not achieved by never falling but by rising each time we fall" - Confucius

I was previledged to accompany my wife this saturday to the Lagos Island market. She had been called up to do some supplies the day before. As we made our way to collect money from an ATM machine for the purchase of the listed items, I couldn't help see a convergience of different races all around me.

I was jolted into this realization when I observed a Chinese man on the ATM machine queue,  then I saw the Hausa fellows accross the street trying to buy or sell some foreign currency. This pressed on my curiousity to look out for what more I could find.

Then I saw the Ibo shop owners who seemed to know where everything we needed was. As we smiled and pressed through the market, Yoruba women beckoned o us to come look into thier shops. Who knows how many more people reached out to us (tribes unknown).

In all of this, I was inspired that besides whatever challenges these people may have faced the night or day(s) before, they left it at home and instead reached out to us for patronage.

I advise you that in all that you do today, be optimistic. look on the bright side of life. Hey! It could have been worse, but guess what! It can be better.

So keep your smile up and reach out to make that sale.
Till we meet again, keep winning

Twitter: @MrChiaka

Cash is King

"Do right. Do your best. Treat others as you want to be treated." -Lou Holtz

For some time now, my wife has been trying recruit an office assistant for her business. This hasn't been easy at all. The reasons range from having applicants who can't express themselves to applicants that do not know what they are applying for.

Strange isn't it? Well, I believe the most valuable asset in any firm are not the equipments or furniture that adorn the office, it is the staff (competent staff).

A competent staff is one that is ready to learn, knows what to do, when and how to do his/her work.
The worst thing you can do to me is put me in a work enviroment along with incompetent personnel. It will amaze you at how intermittently I transform from a viscious warewolf back into an eloquent gentleman.

You see, am alergic to bullshit. I am unrepentantly fast, patient to learn, think outside the box and give my work 100%. Most staff that I term as incompetent are:
1. very un-willing to learn (apparently, they know it all but produce no result) and

2. they amazing don't know what, when and how to do anything. The reason being that their minds freeze and their default answer is "I don't know".

It has commonly been said that "a good hand is hard to find", I strongly believe this. The right ingredient to getting the right staff are: good remuneration and welfare packages, great work enviroment and so on.

When these are in place, the right staff will be pulled into your gravitational sphere and if the wrong ones come, they will know they are in the wrong zone (especially when they have a result oriented boss).

In all of this, my advise for Entrepreneurs and Business owners is this: get your office up and running and 2ndly how much are you willing to pay for a good hand.

And if you are an applicant, the first thing you need to do is
1. Be determined. There is no such thing as "I don't know". If you don't know, find out.
2. Be proactive. Nothing is impossible. You can't say "it is not possible", task your mind and find out how it can be done- think outside the box.
3. Be teachable. Learn to listen more and talk less. Try not to be overtly defensive, you cannot justify your ignorance.
4. Escalate. When you have difficulty in completing a task, ask questions. If you have a challenge, escalate (report to your immediate boss). Do not keep quiet.

I do hope these tips have been helpful. As for my wife, well the outcome of her search may have to be communicated to you latter (smiling mischieviously).
Till we meet again, keep winning.

David Chiaka
Twitter: @MrChiaka

A place called Nigeria

"Your attitude is an expression of your values, beliefs and expectations." Brian Tracey


With the spate of incessant bombings, reprisal killings, assasinations, kidnapings, continous fall in education standards, deplorable state of power supply, corruption hearings and counter corruption allegations, it has become expedient for Nigerians to sit down and think of the implication of our present state of affairs and what this implies to the future of our children.

I did have a good laugh when a colleague of mine hurriedly packaged his Schengen visa application with a warning that "I had better get my visa ready, cos the nation is about to explode". He was amazed at my calm disposition and left me with a warning that "well, when it happens, I will remember that I told you so".

I did have another round of laughter about this, but I had a rethink later. Now, consider this, is it not amazing that many parents are sending thier children out of the country for a better education? Which parent does not want the best for his or her child(ren)? This is not brain drain, it is 'parental preservation instinct' at work. The enviroment is not safe any more.

I did have a chat with a very intelligent Director of a finiancial institution and he warned me to start saving in dollars and pounds for my childrens education. He was upset because we were trying to get a new Nigerian passport and the level of racketeering was appauling. He quoted a bible scripture to me "righteousness exhaults a nation" and He was of the opinion that a nation fails when mediocres and the un-intelligent people are at the helm of affairs.

This Director gave an example of the likes of Bill Clinton, Obama and David Cameron who finished from top class universities like Yale, Havard and Oxford while many of our past Presidents had little or no education until very recently.

I have great respect for this Director so I asked him, if he was to become the President of Nigeria today, what would he do to make things right? And he gave me the below 3 points:

1. Infrastructure: He would invest heavily in infrastructure- roads, water et al.
2. Power: The government has no business in the power generation business. What they need to do is open it up like they did with Telecoms. Get private investors to bid for power generation and supply in all the states.
3. Education: Revive the education sector by getting the teachers re-educated and re-certified, then increase thier salaries, welfare and also invest in the education sector ie schools etc.

This was interestingly too simple so I asked him if he had not forgoten the insecurity challenges. Guess what he said; "look, some problems are symptoms of greater problems. If you solve the power problem, jobs will be created and people will get busy."
I was impressed.

Things may not look good, but atleast we can hope for a better tommorrow. Beyond prayers, we must now act. If you love this country, then rise up and demand for accountability, stand against 'block headed mediocratic leaders' that adorn the high echelon's of power. Enough of 'politics of sentiments'. If he or she is not good enough, then they have no business leading us. 2015 is near by and the election songs are being hummed. My fellow country men. Arise oh compatroits! Nigeria's call obey... lets salvage what is left, atleast for our children's sake.

I do hope somebody reads this and implements these ideals. I refuse for this country to explode. I love my country and I hunger for an oppurtunity to do something to change it.
Whoever is reading this, please get an education and make up your mind to affect the Nigerian nation possitively cos there really is no place like home.

Till we meet again, keep winning.

David Chiaka
Twitter: @MrChiaka

Thinking outside the box

The Rich are oppurtunists, always on the lookout for peoples's problems because they want to be the solution. They see oppurtunities where others see problems. Towards the eve to the Easter Hollidays, my boss ask me to look around for a location to spend his Easter in Nigeria. Now this was a tough one. Given the hieghtened insecurity and the renewed threat of bomb attacks, I knew my search for a location was limited. I got a break when a friend of mine in the tour business sent me a proposal for a boat tour on Thursday 5 April, 2012 and the take off time for the boat cruise was on 7 April, 2012. I spread the word fast and even though the cruise had to be cancelled (on Saturday 7 April) due short notice, but I was happy someone saw a need and reached out to meet that need. As for my boss, he took a trip to Western Nigeria to see a water fall and enjoy his holliday. It has been said that if all of the worlds wealth was distributed equally amongst the citizens of the world, within the end of this same year, the wealth will redistribute itself to its initial owners. I do not know how true this theory might be, but my gut feeling tells me that to a large extent, the wealth would redistribute itself to some of the previous owners and to new intelligent and risk taking Entrepreneurs. During the occupy Nigeria uprising in January 2012, in the following days of the assembling of protesters and sympathisers to the anti-government fuel pump price increase, there was great need for food and water in these gatherings. It was rather amazing that while some complained of the Governments insensitivity to the plight of the Nigerian people, others took advantage of this same gathering to meet the needs of the protesters albeit at hiked prices. Satched water were sold for as much as N20 instead of N5, and snack like Gala were sold for N70 instead of the usual N50. Now the question is, what do you see? If you truly want to be the next big thing in life, then you must be prepared to see needs instead of problems. You must take each problem as a challenge to produce something positive. When you see drought, think of water supply. When you see famine, think of food supply. Ask yourself, how can I solve this problem. Refuse to join the masses. Stand aloof and see the boundless oppurtunities that abound in the masses. Take time out to think, think solution and quit complaining. Wealth is available to you. Cease the oppurtunity. Till we meet again, keep winning.

David Chiaka Follow me on Twitter: @MrChiaka

After this, what next?

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, wither thou goes. Eccl 9:10 KJV

As I made way to my vehicle by 5am on Monday 20Feb, 2012. The awkward sound of my car engine left me in no doubt that ''I definately wouldn't be driving to the office in my Rover''. Well, my mind went immediately to work - how do I get to work? I couldn't go with Paulo (he leaves by 5am). Time now was 5:45am. Hmmm!!!

Next on my mind was the best travel logistics to my Lekki work station. I hit the road hard, to a bike to the bus stop, boarded the famous BRT to CMS and joined the Ajah bus. I had not settled into my "passenger-compressed-seat" when my stunning trousers was riped open by an un-observed metalic protrussion in the bus. "Now this was not the way to start a Monday" (I thought to myself). This was why I detested boarding buses.

My Teusday was a little different. I just made up my mind to stop living the low life. So I flagged down a taxi and arrived the office in style (come to think of it, I think I need a cheurffor).

You see, I have 7yrs of work experience and in the last 2yrs I have managed to save some sizeable monies for my dream project (thanks to my brilliant spouse).
However, with the restructuring of the company I work in,and with my new job functions, the stress level I had to deal with was on record high. The thought of changing jobs had come to me, but at an after-thought I asked myself if I would be willing to get another "YES Sir" job. I remunerated over this during one of my weekends and the only phrase that repeatedly screemed out of the recess of my heart was -NO MORE. The next question that lingered in my subconcious was- "after this, what next"?

You see! There must be a time when you say "enough of this". Refuse to be enslaved. Years ago, a good friend of mind said "first get the money, then fulfill your dreams". I have made up my mind to start training in the thing I love to do. Gbola was right, if I put the same passion which I put in my job into my own business, I will be a big shot. And she is right (where are my manners, Gbola is the latest addition to my team).

My advise is this, as you go about your paid employment, ask yourself this same question - after this what next? Will you retire into redundance or will you finish strong? Then prepare yourself for the next big thing (fulfilling your own dreams).

Till we meet again, keep winning.

David Chiaka
Twitter: MrChiaka

Thoughts on #occupynigeria protests

Whether subsidy is removed or not, the cost of living will keep rising; that is a constant. This the best time to plan for the future. While some are out shouting and generally loafing, others are observing the needs of the people, meeting it and getting richer. There will always be two sides to a story. Turning a situation round for your good or being a victim.

Light can be brought out of darkness, the choice is yours. Make the best of today because tomorrow is dependent on it. They say the best time to plant a tree is ten years ago, the next best time is today.

Who are the real victims? PHCN has refused to give electricity, fuel stations are not selling fuel but touts come out at night to sell 10 litres for N2,000. Those that asked us to stay at home are making thier money even now. They have uninterrupted supply of electricity. The government is not affected by the strike but there are people that survive on thier daily income. Who are the real victims?

May God grant you and yours wisdom to rise above these times. Not the wisdom of the world because it is designed to fail but the wisdom of God which is the word of God


Pastor Moji

System Thinking

''Preserve capital and be ready to move fast. Whatever you do in 2012, I hope it's profitable'' Richard Quest


The year 2012 has begun and the question now is what do you intend to achieve this year? Beyond the new year resolutions which you may have decided to implement, there is need to take a moment to reflect on what your business goals are, and what your vision for the next five years will be.

Many times we have one big idea and we make a sudden change from the current course of our lives and take a wild plunge into the un-known. It is good to take a chance but it is better to make and followed through on an informed decision. In February 2009, Nigeria experienced a historic stock market melt down. It was so huge that it shook the very economic foundation of the nation, everyone was affected in one way or the other. I never invested in the stock market because I had a gut feeling not to. Besides, there was something wrong with the whole process and I just couldn't place my hands on it.

I tried very hard to understand the dynamics of the buy and sell process but my ''spider senses kept tingling''. My dad on the other hand invested a larger portion of his retirement benefits (against my repeated warnings) and almost suffered a stroke when the markets crashed.

You see, there is need to understand what it is you are about to engage in, because that business venture or project must be able to meet a need. Your profits are guaranteed when you find a need and reach out to meet that need. In essence, you must understand the dynamics of the market you are about to venture into.

Secondly, you must have long term goals for your business dreams. Its not enough to have an idea. Your dreams are as big as you can visualize it. I once worked for an Entrepreneur (an Architect). His entire business structure centered around him. He is a very shrewd and intelligent business man but his flaw is that his dream is small. He refused to expand, the recruitement process was based on sentiments, salary remitances were dolled out as cash and so on.

In my mind, things could be done better. He needed and accountant and an Admin Manager. I believed he needed to expand his vision. Its 7 years now and its still the same process that he runs. Major corporations have been born since then and grown to be billion dollar corporations while, this shrewd intelligent business man still maintains his little sole proprietorship.

There is need to see your business grow beyond your lifetime. Dream big. Open your eyes and see, then strategise on growth. Set financial return on investments. Reduce waste and save save save. Save your inflows or incomes.

As this year begins, remember to be prepared. opportunities will come and you need to be well informed to recognize these opportunities. And when they come, be bold (especially when you understand what it is you are doing) and take that chance. Double your income whenever you can. Money in the bank may be safe but it sure cant double itself.

Now, if you are working and you have a dream burning on your inside, then the first step you should take is to register your business, then get information about what you intend to do and lastly save a portion of your current income. Have a financial target and move only when you have achieved your target, put structures in place and you are convinced your product has a ready market.

In summary, dream, strategise for growth, set financial targets and study the market. Till we meet again, keep winning.

David Chiaka
Follow me on twitter @MrChiaka