The most important power a CEO has is the power to motivate the company’s employees. However, few CEOs realize just how critical it that job is. Often, the ability to motivate is chalked up to a natural flair or charisma — but in fact some simple practices can help any leader inspire an entire company.

Setting meaningful goals can help even disconnected employees feel invested in the company’s success. And an enthusiastic workforce equals a high-performing company.

To begin the process, follow these three steps:

Begin with company goals

It’s the job of the CEO to select the company’s top goals. Maybe they include new product development or a way to help the local community. They’re not random, of course; you’ll listen to the market, analyze past results and brainstorm with key advisors. But the real secret here is listening to the customer. The smartest businesses today practice agile strategies, and in this case that means aligning your goals with what your customers are trying to achieve.

Focus on the ‘why’

It’s the CEO’s to draw the connection between the employee’s duties and the customer’s benefit. Employees need to know that what they do during the day impacts big-scale results. By putting the employee’s purpose in the context of helping others, you can help everyone understand their role in achieving the company goals. It’s a critical ingredient in making sure the goals get executed. If you fail to provide a “why,” your busy employees simply won’t make their goals a priority.

Get your employees involved

This is where most leaders derail the whole goal-setting enterprise, as they tend to get overly detailed in their planning and try to set everyone else’s goals. Because the CEO doesn’t know how to actually do everyone’s job, those plans wind up being implausible and disconnected from the staff’s day-to-day reality. Instead, trust your people to write their own goals. Allowing employees to select the “how” of their contributions will boost morale and help them connect their work to results. Provide guidance and motivation, but let them chart their course.

source:entrepreneur

The Standard: A leading retail commercial bank and an insurance agency are locked in a fierce battle over ownership of the business name ‘ Equitel’. This dispute over who should use the name Equitel could end up in court if both Equitel Insurance Agency and Equity Group Holdings Limited, which is piloting a mobile money platform named Equitel, do not agree to settle the matter amicably.

The set-back comes as Equity Holdings Limited, through its subsidiary Finserve Africa Limited, fights off some six cases already filed in court, stopping it from rolling out the Equitel Thin Sim mobile banking platform, a revolutionary product that could alter the entire mobile banking platform.

In a letter dated November 10, 2014, Sisule Munyi Kilonzo and Associates, lawyers acting for Equitel Insurance Agency, terms as unlawful the use of the trade name Equitel by Equity Holdings Limited. Equitel Insurance Agency is demanding that Equity Holdings desist from using the trade mark, including withdrawal of all publicity and advertising materials that contain this word.

Law firm Sisule Munyi Kilonzi and Associates, has threatened to take legal action against Equity Holdings Limited, if their demands for withdrawal of the name Equitel are not met. But in response, Coulson Harney, representing Fineserve Africa Limited, a subsidiary of Equity Holdings Limited and proprietor of the registered trade mark TM 80606 Equitel, denies any wrong doing. This is in a response letter dated December 5, 2014 written to Sisule Munyi and Kilonzi advocates.

“Our client is the proprietor of Equity Insurance Agency registered as such in 2007, to provide insurance services to its customers. Therefore, registration of Equitel Insurance Agency was targeted to misrepresent to the public that it was offering our client’s insurance services,” said in part a response letter sent to Equitel Insurance Agency lawyers and signed by Anthony Njogu- a lawyer at Coulson Harney.

Equity Holdings is further accusing Equitel Insurance Agency of using insider knowledge to set up its operations, given that it was an account holder at the bank and had first-hand experience of the services Equity Insurance was offering and, therefore, sought association in the registration of its own business name.

Section 7 of the Trademarks Act, Chapter 506 of the Laws of Kenya states in part- that the right of a proprietor of a trademark is infringed upon by a person who, not being a proprietor or registered under the trade mark, uses a mark identical with or nearly resembling it as to deceive or cause confusion in the course of trade. “The mere fact that your client may have been the first to register the trade name does not override the common law protection of the name, goodwill and reputation amassed by our client over the years’’, said Njogu in response on behalf of Equity Holdings.

Equity Holdings has also threatened to take this matter to court, one against a pile of six legal suits-allegedly instituted by the competition through proxies, effectively putting launch of its Thin Sim mobile banking technology, on the back burners.
“We have had many roadblocks but in the fullness of time, the truth will be clear,” said Dr James Mwangi-Equity Holdings Chief Executive and MD.

Buffett recently released his 50th letter to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, in which he and his business partner, Charlie Munger, talk about the traits they look for in a CEO of a Berkshire subsidiary company—characteristics they’re sure to keep in mind when the time comes to name a successor.

So, what does it take to be a business leader in Buffett’s eyes? Namely, these four traits.

1. Trustworthiness

No surprise here. You can’t lead a company unless your team, your clients, and the public (if you’re way up there) trust you and your judgment. Building trust, then, is no small matter when it comes to leading a company, or even a team.

To do this, think consistency, communication, and compassion. You have to be the type of person who always honours commitments, discusses matters transparently, and, importantly, exudes kindness. No, you don’t have to like someone to trust him or her, but it definitely helps.

2. Skill

Another way to build trust is to be really, really good at what you do. Being highly skilled demands respect, and for the hard-core left-brained people in the organization, this is the only thing that will get their buy-in.

Buffett, an expert investor tasked with allocating capital in Berkshire Hathaway, will no doubt consider this an essential skill when choosing a successor. Besides technical skill, though, less tangible abilities related to strategic thinking, project management, or relationship building are also sought after and are often the difference between mediocre and inspirational leadership.

3. Energy

It’s not all about what you can do; it’s also about how you do it. When you’re the leader of a company or team, all eyes are on you. It’s important to be self-aware when you’re a leader and understand that you must imbue energy and enthusiasm into your actions. The difference between a boss who, say, was clearly forced to offer more vacation time and a boss who does so to make sure his or her employees are happier and more well-rested isn’t hard to see. Be the latter one.

4. Love for the Business

This is perhaps the most unexpected trait in this list. Buffett expects more than just someone who can do the job and get buy-in from others. He wants someone who actually loves the company. This goes beyond being excited about the company’s product or outlook. It’s not about meeting job requirements or having certain certifications. It’s about passion for the company and the desire to grow and care for it.

source:themuse 

The most productive time of the day is not early morning. According to STEVE TOBAK– contributor to Entrepreneur magazine; work productivity has absolutely nothing to do with your daily rituals or habits. He even further asserts that your success probably has little to do with productivity in the first place.

A great mind is a terrible thing to waste. So quit wasting yours. And quit wasting the precious time you have to build your career and business worrying about stupid nonsense like what time you get up, how you eat breakfast, your sleep habits, and what kind of showers you take.

Here are five questions that enormous brain of yours needs to answer if you want to make something of yourself and have a successful business someday.

What customer problem do you solve?

I don’t care how much you love doing something or how passionate you are about doing it, if you don’t come up with a big problem that customers will pay to have solved, your entrepreneurial career will be very short-lived.

What’s your solution and what’s its value proposition?

If your products and services don’t offer a far superior value proposition with respect to the competition, then you’ve got what’s called a commodity product. That means you’re going to be slugging it out on price. That’s not a good place to be.

How are you going to win and keep customers?

Even the best solution doesn’t always win. You still need a plan to reach potential customers, win the business, keep customers happy, and put up competitive barriers because competition always goes where the business is.

How are you going to gain market share and scale?

You’re always creating a new market, expanding the overall market, or taking market share from others. Whichever it is, you need strategies and capital to do it. Market share isn’t just costly to lose. It’s costly to gain, as well.

How are you going to fund your growth?

This is where most entrepreneurs and small business owners fall short. You have to have a clear plan with reasonable assumptions to fund your business as it grows. Otherwise, you’ll run out of cash – easily the most common reason businesses fail.

source:entrepreneur

Nancy Roxanne: Have you ever met someone who was so overwhelmingly desirable that you immediately wanted to jump his bones? You become so strongly attracted to that person that you convince yourself that you are in love.

What you think is love at first sight could actually be lust at first sight. Strong sexual attraction can obstruct sound practical judgment. While navigating the dating scene, it is possible to misinterpret a fatal physically attraction as love. Lust is driven by desire and is based solely on physical attraction.

However, being in love doesn’t exclude lust. Lust is actually the first stage of falling in love. So, how do you distinguish between the two? The following tips will help you figure out if you are madly in love or madly in lust.
Lust is an immediate feeling, while love grows over time. There is no such thing as love at first acquaintance. I suspect that the person who coined the phrase ‘love at first sight’ was having trouble distinguishing love and lust as well. It is only in the movies where two people glance at each other from across the bar and know that they were meant for one another. Lust is not about long-term compatibility. If you feel head-over-heels crazy in love with a person you have just met, you are most definitely suffering from a severe case of lust. When you are in lust, sex is just about the only thing you have in common

When you are inflamed with lust, you are only interested in having sex. The other person’s feelings, hopes, dreams and aspirations never come to play. You never have deep meaningful conversations outside the bedroom If you find that you never really discuss deep feelings with your lover, you might be in lust. You’ll end up leaving immediately after sex because there is nothing else the two of you can do together. You only become affectionate when initiating sex.

People who are genuinely in love will show each other affection at all times. However, when in lust, if the affection is not leading to sex, then it is just not worth the trouble. You will only kiss and hug your lover or hold his hand when you have got more on your mind. Real couples crave all that mushy stuff even when sex is out of the question. Affection should not be seen as an opportunity for sex in healthy relationships. Constant groping of the boobs and booty is not affection!

When you describe your lover, you only talk about his physical attributes Pure lust is based solely on physical attraction. You are totally focused on the person’s looks and body. If you find yourself always talking about his great abs, his sweet lips and toned muscles, you could be in lust. People who are in love describe their partners’ real qualities first before getting into the physical attributes.

Business Daily: Billionaire businessman Vimal Shah has equal shareholding as his father Bhimji Shah and brother Tarun Shah in cooking oils multinational Bidco, documents filed with the World Bank’s private lending arm IFC have shown.

Vimal, who is the managing director and public face of Bidco which sells edible oils and washing detergents across Africa, controls 33.3 per cent shares of the company according to disclosures made by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private lending arm. His father and his brother also have 33.3 per cent shareholding in the Thika-based manufacturer.

The shareholding structure of the Kenyan-grown multinational has remained a closely guarded family secret for the 45 years that company has been in existence. “Bidco is a family business owned by father and founder Bhimji Shah 33.3 per cent, and sons Tarun Shah 33.3 per cent and Vimal Shah 33.3 per cent through an intermediate investment holding company called Hemby Holdings Limited,” IFC says in the filings.

Bidco is one of Kenya’s largest privately-owned manufacturing concerns with a turnover estimated at Sh46 billion as at 2013.

The shareholding structure is part of disclosures made to the World Bank’s private lending which the manufacturer has approached for a Sh2.1 billion loan and a further syndicated debt of Sh1.23 billion, bringing the total IFC-linked advance to Sh3.33 billion.

“The company (Bidco) has recorded extremely high growth rates over the past few years and is well positioned for this expansion,” the IFC notes in its documents.

The money, which is yet to be disbursed, will be used to expand Bidco’s Thika-based plant as well as construct a new factory on the same land in Kiambu County.

Bidco has already announced plans to venture into the lucrative soft drinks market with a Sh1.7 billion beverage plant that will set it up against multinationals such as Coca Cola and Del Monte.

“The move is in line with our expansion plan to play in even more categories of fast-moving consumer goods other than those we are already in,” Mr Shah told the Business Daily in a past interview.

Bidco has evolved from a garment factory founded in 1970 by the family patriarch Mr Bhimji to one of the region’s largest fast-moving consumer goods companies in the region. The company has grown its portfolio to over 23 brands including edible oils, cooking fats, soaps, baking powder, animal feeds and detergents.

Bidco currently commands a market share of over 60 per cent in the cooking fat category and 54 per cent of cooking oil market in Kenya, according to Consumer Insight.

Nairobi Securities Exchange listed firm Flame Tree Group has announced acquisition of four food and snack brands from Chirag Kenya –Natures Own (spices), Chigs (potato crisps), Honeycomb (biscuits) and Gonuts (nuts).

This brand portfolio had annual turnover of Sh90 million for 2014 and is distributed through leading convenience, and retail channels. As well as the four brands, Flame Tree Group will be acquiring the company’s 60 employees and the Nairobi-based factory and distribution assets.

The acquisition is expected to be completed, subject to customary conditions, including competition authority approval and ratification by the board, during the coming months. Flame Tree Group CEO Heril Bangera said from a financial perspective, the firm believes this is a worthwhile acquisition.

“From a strategic perspective we are delighted to add new brands to our food and snack portfolio, which already includes Happy’s. I am particularly excited about our entry into the spices category with Nature’s Own spices. This is a well-loved brand in Kenya and has been a common feature in my spice cupboard for the past 25 years,” he added in a statement.

“The acquisition provides Flame Tree Group with an established platform for growth in the food space. It is also in line with our strategy of creating a diversified FMCG business – manufacturing across Africa and building a portfolio of much-loved African brands.”