The Winner In You: Run, Stop, Think,Then Run Again

The Winner In You: Run, Stop, Think,Then Run Again: "Use your number six"- Nigerian maxim The Nigerian business terrain is a truly tough one. It is very importa...

Run, Stop, Think,Then Run Again

"Use your number six"- Nigerian maxim

The Nigerian business terrain is a truly tough one.
It is very important that you stick to the basic rules of business like having a clear agreement (proof read by your lawyer), discussing the risks in your business before embarking on them, monthly review meetings etc.

The rules of business are as many as the different scenarios that we face while doing it. I have always been a strong advocate for aspiring entrepreneurs to have work experiences before embarking on their quest for world domination.

There is such a thing as work ethics and there is such a thing as having the need to prove (or stand out from the crowd) in quest for the next promotion (in the office work place). These traits are very important. 

Nigeria is a tough place and you have to continually “think out of the box” or your business aspirations will be relegated to the background. You must ask yourself:  “what next? What more can I do?”

You cannot afford to be sleeping in bed by 8am when opportunity is knocking at your office or prospective clients are waiting for you to resume duties. I work 24/7. I and my team are just a phone call away, anytime, any day.

You cannot afford to be lackadaisical in your thinking when innovate ways of doing your type of business is available. Guess what, someone else will take the very market you think is yours.

In course of doing business lately, I had to forfeit a major Corporate client in the oil sector. I handled their business travel and it was a very good account but they were not willing to commit to a signed agreement. 
As I processed their endless request, I had to re-assess my business and examine the risk involved. 

These people were making me incur millions in un-paid ticket sales so I had to freeze further requests till the previous bill was settled and until we had a duely signed agreement. You see, a friend had referred me to this company but that didn't mean I had to be stupid.

Like my former MD would say “you cant have more money than you have brains”. Simply put, “use your number 6 (brains)”


Guess what! My bill was paid short of some thousands of naira and when I asked for the balance, the liaison said “I am even lucky the MD paid me”.
POW! That got my Spider sense tingling.

In summary, they refused to commit to an agreement and after several unsuccessful attempts to get me to purchase air tickets for them, they threw in the towel and abandoned ship. The risk variables were enormous. What if I don't get paid? How can I seek legal redress without a binding agreement? ETC. Better safe than sorry.

So take my advise, assess risks as you do your business as an entrepreneur. Your business is as big as you can envision it to be.

So till we meet again, keep winning.

Mr David Chiaka
Twitter: @MrChiaka

The Winner In You: Chance Favors The Prepared Mind

The Winner In You: Chance Favors The Prepared Mind: Chance favors the prepared mind... (Unknown) When I left my luscious bank job in June 2014, I did not go on a holiday. I hit the gro...

Chance Favors The Prepared Mind

Chance favors the prepared mind... (Unknown)

When I left my luscious bank job in June 2014, I did not go on a holiday. I hit the ground running. I went after the social media channels to advertise myself, and my products. I started a recruitment campaign, and I told everyone that cared to listen what I was going to be doing.

Believe it or not, this paid off. I got a call from an old client who had just been promoted to GM status in a hotel and she wanted me to come inspect her hotel, review and recommend areas of improvement.

I did the review, prepared a detailed report, submitted and I got a call to implement my recommendations. Trust me, it was quite rewarding. As happy as this was to me, it wasn't enough, I went through my contacts for links to manage corporate accounts.

You see, its not about the now, but the future. I look forward to having a constant flow of traffic and the only way round it was not just through the seasonal retail market, but a constant patronage from the corporate market.

This paid of also as I got 2 out of my targeted 3 corporate accounts for the month.
Now, you may think I am ecstatic about this, but to be honest, I'm not. I want more.


I want to be the biggest Travel & Tour Company in not just Nigeria but West Africa and beyond.
Now if you think, this is impossible, then watch me.

I have the vision, and this is backed by a strategy and lots of prayers.
I am taking it one step at a time but every week and every month has just got to be better than the next.

I celebrate each achievement, but am not there yet. I am nowhere near where God wants me to be.

Well, till we meet again, keep winning.

Thanks and God bless.

Mr David Chiaka
Twitter: @MrChiaka

Working Smart

Tick says the clock, tick tick. What you have to do, do quick.

My first month as an entrepreneur has been quite interesting.
From dealing with diverse kinds of customers to attending top level meetings business, conducting recruitment exercises and so much more.

A lot of the skills I had acquired over the years not only saved me from blunders but helped in making my work, more productive.
My greatest challenge was staffing.
In fact, I had no personnel to work with or to delegate tasks to.

I had to relay on my internet connection, laptop, smart phone and my note pad.
Try using the below tips, it just might help improve your work efficiency.

(1) Take notes:
Every single meeting, idea, pending tasks etc was written down,
This helped me to be more organized. I was really overwhelmed with work at some point and putting down tasks helped me sort out things in an hierarchical order of importance.
As I resolved each task, I ticked it off and moved to the next till my daily task was completed.

(2) Be Mobile:
40% of my work was done on the move.
I had to attend meetings, got stuck in traffic and so much more.
The implication of this was that I had to rely on my mobile phone to send emails, follow-up on pendings, transfer funds and so much more.
This typified the term, "working smart".

(3) Time Management:
Trust me, the concept of multi-tasking is not an efficient way of getting things done.
The best way of accomplishing work is through "crunching".
This time management skill is such that you allocate a period of time to accomplishing certain tasks in you busy schedule or notepad..
For instance, devoting 1hr to finish on yesterdays pending, reading up an agreement or organizing a list of meetings in a particular location so you can attend to most (if  not all).

These applied skills not only rewarded me financially, but they made me more efficient.
I currently recruited some passionate staff and I look forward to an even rewarding future.

Till we meet again, keep winning.

Twitter: @MrChiaka

The Winner In You: Who Am I?

The Winner In You: Who Am I?: "Man, know thyself!' - Greek Proverb I have recently launched into the entrepreneurial market and this has caused me to r...

Who Am I?

"Man, know thyself!'- Greek Proverb

I have recently launched into the entrepreneurial market and this has caused me to reflect greatly on my life and times.

It just struck me that I have been helping Multinationals in starting-up certain segments of their corporate structures.

Permit me to give you a run down of what I have been doing since I got my Ba in the University since 2001:

My NYSC was in 2003 in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom state of south eastern Nigeria.

In 2005, I worked with British Airways town office in Lagos, Nigeria. I worked as a Check-in Agent and I was charged with the goal of migrating customers towards the use of online check-in.
Today, BA customers can now purchase tickets online, select seats, check-in online and fly.

In 2006, I was selected amongst a team of 6 to start up the Kenya-Airways office in Lagos, Nigeria. I was also in a select team of 3 that test run the migration of our old reservation system to a customized Altea-Amadeus application. I can remember clearly, the night we all kept watch as we watched over the smooth migration by our "techies" and kept tabs with Corporate Head Office personnel in Cameroon to see if all was going well. Those were interesting days indeed. It was also this year that I first traveled out of the country on a course.

Between October 2008-2010, I was sent out to pioneer a satellite church in Surulere and in 1 year we grew from 2-98 members. The church still stands even as I assist my Pastor today in a Group church in Eric Moore, Surulere, Lagos.

Also in September 2008, I joined a renowned Nigerian Bank. We were a 2 man team. My first task in this bank was drawing up an international & local travel budget for the 2009 financial year. This task can only be likened to what is called "the baptism of fire".

I had to liaise with the Technology team to spool expense reports, then I had to project what the expenditure for the new year would look like. The budget was not complete till I kept vigil (yes, I slept) in the office. It is my nature to get things done at all cost. I paid this price the next year also, till I got a hang of it. 

I had an amazing time in this bank as I had to come up with ways of keeping costs at its barest minimum (each year). In 2011, I designed a request system where staff could request for local air tickets and choose from over 82 hotels in Nigeria. This was epic. We were able to reduce travel cost by 22% bank wide and it earned me a promotion in 2012.

I got married to my heart throb (Rejoice) in 2010 and she has brought me un-imaginable grace from God plus 2 beautiful kids.

In 2013, I had to join the Bank's 24/7 call center and this was quite interesting. With my call center experience in the Aviation industry, it was easy to blend in. I came to terms with another side of this unique bank. With the millions of retail customers the bank was enlisting, came the challenge of managing account related issues. You see, the banking halls could no longer manage the crowd, so we had to push customers towards the use of e-channels. We were charged with the function of managing the vast array of Customers bearing in mind that each customer was unique and very important.

I resigned in June 2014 to jump start my own business.

I had to write this all down this down because, it dawned on me that if I could do all of this, then I can make a profitable difference in the travel and tour industry.

Funny thing is, I had been test running certain aspects of my business to see its profitability and the response was quite encouraging. Visit www.chronussolutions.org  for more on what I will be offering.
It may not be easy, but am sure its going to be worth it.

So lets go make that money!!!

Be inspired.

Till we meet again, keep winning.

Twitter: @MrChiaka