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There is nothing like water over dosage

Studies have shown that dieters who have tea included in their weight loss diets have shown better compliance that those who did not. This has been traced to the presence of catechins, most especially epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG has been a major focus of diet and health researches which has been identified to have multiple health benefits, among which being anticancer is one. It also improves metabolic and cardiovascular health. As an antioxidant, EGCG also helps the body in detoxifying, that is, it rids the body of toxins.

Of the different types of tea, green tea has the highest content of EGCG, to be followed by white tea, while the black tea only bears a trace. This knowledge should help you in your choice of tea. But how does EGCG help in weight loss? It suppresses appetite by killing the hunger pangs, and that explains why tea drinking dieters showed better compliance to their diet regime than the non-tea-drinking dieters.

How can you get the best of tea drinking?

Create a tea drinking habit
The easiest way to form a habit of tea drinking is to make it a social activity. Get your family to participate in a late night cup of tea. This could be served while you watch the favorite family show. Or you could make it a ritual in your book or scrabble clubs. You should ensure that you choose a tea that you each find tastiest, this is for compliance reasons; if you find it tasty, you are more likely to stick with the habit. You should also learn to take your tea plain, without sugar or milk; that is how you reap the real benefits of tea drinking.

Substitute tea for your morning coffee
Tea contains caffeine and will give you the same advantage of drinking coffee, and this comes with the other benefits of tea drinking described earlier. Since the caffeine content of tea is not as much as that of coffee, the risk of caffeine consumption is also reduced.

Take ice tea, not soda, with your lunch and dinner
Cold sodas, or soft drinks, as they are sometimes called, can be tempting, but ice tea is a healthier choice. Take it with your lunch and dinner, and you will not miss a bit. You could also first take a cup of tea before your dinner. This not only suppresses your appetite, but also fills up part of the stomach, so that you do not need to over stuff yourself with high calories.

A warm cup of tea to kill boredom induced hunger
Those lonely afternoons and nights, when a second serve of food is a desired solace, take tea instead. This helps fill the moment with sweat memories, while still keeping the calories down.

Take a cup of herbal decaf tea before bed
This relaxes your body and helps you have a good night sleep. And this (a good night sleep) is important to shedding weight. The tea must be decaf, so you do not suffer insomnia, and you should also not keep it close to bedtime, especially if you are pregnant or have incontinence issues, in order to avoid trips to the bathroom that will interrupt your sleep.

In all this, keep an eye on your caffeine level, especially if you are caffeine sensitive. While tea may not contain a high level of caffeine like coffee, every intake adds up. So, it is necessary to verify with your doctor, what limit is healthy for you, or you can simply stick to decaf herbal tea.

http://www.slimfitu.com/fooddiet/five-best-ways-to-lose-weight-with-tea/

Do you often feel overwhelmed by the amount of task you need to accomplish?

You are not alone; every entrepreneur does. Time has always been one of the most valuable assets of an entrepreneur. If you have all the time, there is no end to the miracles you can achieve. But unfortunately, it is just 24 hours in a day, so the rush to want to pack as much as possible into the hours is perpetual. Can you achieve this all by yourself? You will definitely enjoy some measure of success if you are determined, but balancing between effective and efficient use of your time takes more than your ability alone. The service of a virtual assistant becomes inevitable at this stage.

So, why should you hire a virtual assistant? Here are five solid reasons.

Cut operational cost
Virtual assistants are professionals who work from home or from a remote office. They are self-motivated, result-driven, and entrepreneurial in their dispositions. This means that to work with these assistants, you do not have to set up an office for them, you only pay for the hours worked and you get the best value for your money. This is more cost effective than hiring a full time staff, who will be on full salary with some other benefits.

Increase productivity
Most of the office tasks that take our time, such as email management, content creation, client follow up etc., are repetitive. The smart thing to do to repetitive task is to automate them. Now, you should understand that outsourcing (BPO – Business Process Outsourcing) is considered to be an integral part of Business Process Automation (BPA). You should outsource the repetitive tasks to virtual assistants and handle the non-recurrent tasks yourself or delegate it to your regular staff. This way, nothing is overlooked and business productivity is improved.

Concentrate on your core business
Outsourcing the mundane tasks to a virtual assistant frees up productive time for you to concentrate on your core business operations. Also, having ample time to focus on your core job allows you to standout in your industry, as you are constantly working without distractions, and practice, they say, makes perfect. Perfection is very important if you must achieve your business goals and remain ahead of the competition.

http://www.excellaid.com.ng/blogs/post/why-hire-a-virtual-assistant/

Access to exceptional talents
You need to come to terms with the fact that you cannot be the best in everything. Even when you are the best, you still cannot achieve everything alone, given the limited time available. You will definitely have some competitive advantage over other people or businesses. Your areas of competitive advantages should be your core business. But you can still have the best of all worlds through outsourcing. This is the main focus of the economic law of comparative advantage. Nations and corporations have taken advantage of the ingenuity of this law to build greater territories. You should review this law and find its applicability in your business.

Takes away the stress
You can always sleep easy when you know that your business is in capable hands. No tightness in the chest. No perpetual rush to meet up with deadlines. No boredom from repetitive tasks. Above all, your business processes keep getting more efficient and effective.

Do you want to free up some hours in your daily schedule? Contacts us to find out how we can help you achieve more with our virtual assistant services.

http://www.excellaid.com.ng/contact.html

Visit excellaid.com.ng/blogs for the latest startup and business tips

What you want to achieve is a relationship with your customers. A relationship that will impact your bottom line positively. Now, let us figure this out together; there is no relationship without communication, and the best of communication must be kept fluid. Your website copy can only do so much, but you will need much more than that to remain branded in the hearts of your customers. A blog page is the missing link; and it is just what you need to keep your website alive! So, what are the other benefits of a functional blog page to your business?

Another means of communication
Yes, your blog is another means of communication. Your website is one. As mentioned earlier, the best of communication must be fluid; involving some meaningful back and forth, coding and decoding. You cannot achieve this effectively with your website, regardless of its superb copy. Your website contains information about your business that you want your customer to know (and sometimes, for the purpose of brevity, you keep some information out of your website copy, but you would still love to relay this information to the customers), but how does the customer respond to your copy? Fine, they can use the contact us form. But a blog makes this easier; it creates topical issues that customers can respond to using the comment form. It actually incites the customers; draws them out of their cocoon into an informal meeting with you, where you can communicate the information that you have kept out of your copy.

A boost to your SEO
The essence of a website is to be discovered by customers. It is all a game of image and visibility and at the heart of this game lies SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Millions of searches are done online daily and SEO is simply the array of tricks of getting discovered by these searches. Search engines work by indexing every web page available. Your website will probably have about 8-12 pages which will be indexed. But each of your blog post is another page to be indexed in the search engines. The more pages indexed the higher the chances of your web page getting discovered. So, it is like throwing darts in the dark, the more darts thrown, the higher the chances of hitting the bull’s eye.

Value added service
Your blog is another opportunity to give to the customers. If you want them to read your blog at all, it must contain the information they want to learn. So, this is another value to your customer, but it is a win-win, since this service also keeps your brand alive in their mind.

http://www.excellaid.com.ng/blogs/post/five-reasons-your-website-needs-a-blog-page/

Target market bait
That is exactly what your blog pages are; baits to fish out your target market. Since you will be blogging contents related to your business, it only makes sense that only the people interested in your business will search you out.

Establish an authority
With a period of consistent blogging of quality content, your website will become the go to page for everything related to your business. You become an authority to be consulted before critical decisions are taken. That is definitely good for your business.

But how do you keep up with blogging? It is now easier than ever with our content management services. Visit our Content Writing page and discover how we can get your business discovered through a professional and effectively managed blog page.

http://www.excellaid.com.ng/content-management.html

It's good to our keep culture alive. Shave on!

Few students were asked, 'Do you want to be successful?'

They all gave an equal response, 'Yes.'

A twist of the same question was asked, 'Is success your passion or your obsession?'

All of them got confused, then were told, 'Never make success an obsession, rather make it a passion.'

One of them asked, 'Why?'

The reply was, 'If success is your passion, you never become lazy in the pursuit of success. But if it is your obsession, you steal, kill or cheat to be successful.'

Students who read to pass and those who cheat to pass are an example. Students who read to pass, know the purpose of success, no wonder they burn the midnight candle, while others are sleeping or whiling away their time with non educational activities. Those who cheat to pass are obsessed with the knowledge of 'I must not fail', even if it requires cheating or bribing their way to the top of the class.

This logic applies in our daily life the same way. Are we passionate about success or we are obsessed with success?

People who are passionate about success are conscious workers and walkers, more concerned about doing the right thing at the right time, and making others successful. Success-obsessed people are concerned about their self alone, never concerned about the well being or state of others. Success-passionate individuals are often patient, enduring, selfless, dedicated and purposeful. Unlike success-obsessed individuals whose traits are often simplified in the phrase 'me, myself and I', often selfish, contentious, deadly and never satisfied with the little that comes their way.

Africa is filled with more success-obsessed leaders and individuals, and less success-passionate ones. The result of this can be seen in the state of our society in comparison with the West whose leaders are concerned with the well being of their citizens and safety of society, unlike in Africa where the pocket comes first before the needs of the citizens who voted them into power and, more often than not, the citizens never experience true self development and social growth, as misplaced priorities of government are the order of the day.

Most great inventors ever known are individuals driven by passion and purpose and not by wealth or riches. They saw the need to satisfy human needs before their own needs. Their names are forever etched in the sands of time. They are driven first by excellence, then success chases them and not the other way round. Success is a good motivator, but choosing your success drive wisely will make you stand out among other successful individuals.

http://www.naturallyanonymous.com/2016/04/success-passion-or-obsession.html

Share your experience with the world at http://www.naturallyanonymous.com/p/share-moment.html. You may never know who will learn from you.

Happiness is a choice; one that we do not all find easy to make. But depression is a monster with heinous claws that sink deep into the very essence of our being. It is a demon that attacks in those low moments, when we wish for different lives. Devouring the soul, it makes the body weak and the spirit helpless.

Snap out of it! But we all know the only easy thing about that is in the saying. The real victory comes at no cheap cost. The good news is; a recent research by Emily Bernstein, a graduate student at Harvard University Clinical Psychology, and her adviser, Psychologist Dr. Richard McNally, published in the Journal Cognition and Emotion, suggests that you can actually make an investment towards quick recovery from depression by participating in aerobic exercise.

Their research method involved 40 men and 40 women who were given a questionnaire, which gauged their emotional mood, to complete. Afterwards, they were subjected to a 30 minute jog or stretch. Following the period of exercise, these men and women were shown a sad clip from the 1979 movie ‘The Champ.’ Again, another questionnaire was administered to measure their emotional regulation.

In succession, these men and women were shown an amusing scene from the 1989 film ‘When Harry Met Sally,’ following which they completed the questionnaire again.

A comparison of the data from the questionnaires revealed that the exercises, stretching and jogging, did not instantly boost mood nor did it prevent people from reacting strongly to the sad clip. However, the difference was observed in the rate at which the respondents bounced back after the sad clip. Those subjected to the 30 minutes of jogging were able to better regulate their emotions after the sad clip than those who participated in the 30 minutes of stretching. The respondents who jogged and responded strongly to the sad clip, were more able to pull themselves together to enjoy the amusing clip than the men and women who merely stretched for 30 minutes.

This holds great promise in preventing depression. You do not have to give in. You can prevent depression by participating in aerobic exercises. This, along with other benefits of exercise such as better coordination, better brain power, better muscle strength, longevity, better health, and lots more, should get you hitting the gym for regular hours of work out, or the road for a sweaty session of road walk, or the swimming pool for that body chiseling laps.

A quick way of fighting off depression with exercising is to get busy whenever you feel down, it can be a simple exercise or any positive movement that puts you in a good mood. Sadness be gone!

http://www.slimfitu.com/lifestyle/snap-out-of-depression-exercising-all-the-way/

From Oshodi board a bus/drive your car to Yaba, ask of Montgomery when you get to Yaba, when you get to Montgomery, ask of Maya Street.
If you don't want to ask, when you get to Yaba (the second Yaba bus stop, by the statue), the first turning by your left is Montgomery. Maya Street is off Montgomery.

Last Saturday afternoon, I was called by the HOD of an organization I serve in and was asked if I could deliver a CD booked by the "erased name", I answered in the affirmative because the said person was travelling the next day to a far country and he needed it.

My mobile number was forwarded to the Man and he called me, we talked freely and he instructed me to chatter a taxi from GRA where I was supposed to pick up the CD, to golf estate his residence.

The next was an sms which ended badly. Read that sms and tell me if you don't find something wrong with the concluding words which I highlighted in ash.

I was angered at that because I'm sure this man doesn't have a clue that I was coming all the way from Choba to GRA and then to Golf estate. He was unaware that I personally decided to put a smile on his face. He never knew that I wasn't under any obligation whatsoever for my act of kindness. He would have left for that far country without the CD had I not yielded to the request.

Apparently, this man thinks I would probably trek miles and miles for hours to deliver the CD and lie to him that I boarded a taxi, exclusively for me. He thought I'd somehow not do as instructed and collect the sum mentioned. What is 1,500NGN? That's like the price of Robert Kiyosaki's WHY WE WANT YOU TO BE RICH. One out of more than 500 books I have acquired in a few years. He was ignorant of the fact that someone was sparing his time for him.

But "I'm a millionaire" I reminded myself.

So I decided not to change my decision. I refused to sit back and not go again. I decided to teach this my fellow millionaire a lesson by doing the deal for free. Yes, FREE.

I gave him another chance to think ill of me. Whilst we arrived at the gate, the security guards refused allowing the vehicle because it was a taxi. I dismissed the driver and decided to walk into the fine estate. I told him about this but he tried persuading me never to let the taxi driver go. I told him never to worry about that. When I met him just a few steps from the gate, I delivered the CD.

He asked of how much and I told him it was done for free. He was stunned and thought I was as joking. I insisted. Afterwards, he kept saying WE NOW FRIENDS. I laughed at this. I was extravagantly happy that I taught him a lesson. Not every Nigerian youth wants to take advantage of a millionaire even if his relations have perpetuated this act before. I invested three hours plus to and from his residence.

I am really VERY DIFFERENT.

Moment submitted by Thank-God Eboh. Find him on Facebook.

Submit your own moment at http://www.naturallyanonymous.com/p/share-moment.html, we will only publish your name on your request.

http://www.naturallyanonymous.com/2016/04/how-i-stunned-my-fellow-millionaire.html

Excellaid Support Services offer virtual assistance services to small business and startup owners. We are looking to hire a Marketing Communications Intern to join our team of dynamic individuals. Click on the link below to learn more and apply.
http://www.excellaid.com.ng/careers.html

Sometimes ago, I loved to be fat- oh, I mean big. I thought it was the best stature one could have in order to scare off bullies and even get the respect of my agemates. I also believed that being big is an evidence of good living, a sign of consistent balanced diet and proof of a stress-free living. I obsessed myself with the advantages of being big than with the disadvantages, I never even thought of any disadvantages – of course, could I have seen any disadvantage in what I was crazy about?

I then began to search, search and search till a drug was suggested by my neighbour who was an auxiliary nurse at a nearby hospital. Since I trusted her knowledge in that field, I tried all my best to get the drug she recommended from the nearest drugstore without the advice of an expert – would I even have listened?

‘Will you please give me a Dexacotin pill?’, I requested.

On my way home I discovered it was going to rain soon, so I decided to hurry. Unfortunately, I couldn't beat the rain, I was so drenched that I didn’t realize that the pill I bought was also socked until I got home.

'Oh shit, well, I will get another pill tomorrow,' I said.

However, the next day was going to be bad - though, I don’t have the gift of fortune telling - it was the day the ‘burning' fire of my obsession and wanton desire to grow big in bodysize was turned off, after the painful and unforgettable incidence of the untimely demise of my friend’s dad, Mr. Nnaji.

Mr. Nnaji, an irreproachable, kind, infallible and gentle young man of 45 years was suddenly taken away from the family and us, the friends, on a cool morning after it rained heavily the last night. And I began to wonder that if death wasn't an unpredictable phenomenon, if death wasn’t unfriendly, the heavy downpour would have heralded the impending disaster which was to break the family’s spine.

I had to postpone my intended trip to the drugstore in order to visit the Nnaji's. On my arrival, I asked the cause of the death, I was told that it was cancer.

It was colorectal cancer caused by 'abnormal growth of cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body. Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel movements, weight loss, and feeling tired all the time.' I found out so on Wikipedia out of curiosity.

As I went further I discovered that the primary cause of cancer is ‘fat’. I went deeper then discovered other common death cases which have been caused by excessive fat. Then I began to have a rethink about my recent desire.

'Why should I deform myself? Why do I think I can only be feared and respected when I'm big? Is this desire not a deadly one? Isn’t this what most guys believe?'

Even some ladies believe that being big give their body shape and make dresses look fit on them. So they go for the pills and you suddenly discover that they have grown bigger over night. Majority of these people end up with different types of cancer namely Ovarian cancer, Endometrial cancer, Colorectal cancer etc.

My message here is however not to speak bad of fat or obese people, but my message here is to advise them to always engage themselves in consistent exercise and take antiobese diet in order to stay out of the avoidable risk of untimely death by cancer. My message always goes to people like me who aren't satisfied with their natural stature for some reasons best known to them, hence they resort to taking pills. I implore you here to desist from such deadly desire. Stop! It is very bad.

http://www.naturallyanonymous.com/2016/03/obesity-repent-from-this-deadly-desire.html

This vacancy is still available

This vacancy is still available

Our firm designs and sews ready made wears including native and formal attires for children and adults. We are in urgent need of a Tailor to work with us around ketu. The ideal candidate is an SSCE holder or a recent fashion school graduate, female, well behaved and good at sewing. She must also be attentive to details and have passion for fashion design/sewing.

Proximity to Ketu is mandatory.

The work condition is flexible and payment is attractive.

Send your CV and an application letter to unlimitaid(at)gmail.com to apply for this position.

Our firm designs and sews ready made wears including native and formal attires for children and adults. We are in urgent need of a Tailor to work with us around ketu. The ideal candidate is an SSCE holder or a recent fashion school graduate, female, well behaved and good at sewing. She must also be attentive to details and have passion for fashion design/sewing.

Proximity to Ketu is mandatory.

The work condition is flexible and payment is attractive.

Send your CV and an application letter to unlimitaid(at)gmail.com to apply for this position.

No diet plan and no amount of workout will get one in good shape when one has a posture problem.

As time goes on, posture problems start to affect the spine, shoulder, hips, and knees. This in turn alters the body frame in ways that often lead to back and joint pain, reduced flexibility and compromised muscles, all of which limits the ability of the body to burn fat and build strength.

In this post we like to share four common posture problems and how to fix them.

OVERLAPPING HEAD
When one has an overlapping head, the head shoots forward away from the center of the body form. Having a good posture is about standing upright.

Fix:
Moving your head, drop your chin down toward the center of your chest, allowing the back of your neck to stretch. Hold it in that position and count to 5. Repeat this routine regularly.


ROUNDED SHOULDERS
Rounded shoulders happen when the muscles between shoulder and the back are weak.

Fix:
Lie face down to the floor with each arm stretched out at angle 90° in an high-five position. Keeping the arms in the same angle, raise both arms by pulling your shoulders back and squeezing your shoulder blades together. Hold it in that position and count to five. Repeat this routine from time to time.


PELVIC TILT
A pelvic tilt is when your upper or lower hip bone, also known as the pelvic, tilts forward.

Fix:
Kneel on your left knee with your right foot in front of you, knee bent. Lean forward until your feel your left hip stretch. Tighten the muscles in your left butt until you feel the front of your left hip stretching freely. Raise your left arm upward and stretch to the right side. Hold it in position and count to 30. Repeat this routine frequently for each side of your hip.


ELEVATED SHOULDER
Elevated shoulder occurs when the muscles running from your ribs to your shoulder blades are weak.

Fix:
Sit upright in a chair with your hands next to your hips, palms face down on the seat and arms straight. Keep the same position and push down on the chair till your hips lift off the seat and your upper and lower chest rises. Keep that position and count to five. Repeat this routine several times from time to time.

A good posture is your ultimate step to having the good shape you wish to get. Pay more attention to your posture as much as your weight loss and fitness plan.

http://www.slimfitu.com/fitness/four-common-posture-problems-and-fixes/

You have endured the insults for TWO YEARS. You are either very thick-skinned or you must have lost all your self-esteem by now. It is better to work late, take on difficult assignments, than to be insulted by a boss.

I would advise you resign, but not now, because I doubt you would still have any self confidence to get a new job or start your own business at the moment - not after two years of insult. ( and you don't even have a plan b, which would not have been necessary; but it seems important to you).

For now, try discover yourself, ask yourself questions, find answers, develop yourself in the areas your boss complains of most, make sure you are confident, then you can move on.

But you try sha o. TWO YEARS OF INSULT!!

The lean days are when you have just started your business and the income is not huge yet. You could also apply the term to days when the company is experiencing a drop in income, probably due to the economic situation, or other factors peculiar to your industry. To keep in business, it is important to manage your fund properly. Below are some tips you should imbibe.

Pay yourself
Establish a principle that prevents you from dipping your hands into the purse of your business at will, but rather pay yourself for the services rendered to the business. You might want to limit your pay to just what you need to go by on a modest lifestyle. Do not make the mistake of judging your pay by your last paid employment. Your new company might not have the strength of your previous employer yet.

Just in time principle
You will need to apply this principle to most of your activities at work. Do not hire staff until it has become crucial to do so. You should learn to stretch your existing staff to their limit. Make them multitask. Make them wear various hats as might be required by the business. But also learn to make them happy working for you. Also, you should learn to delay draw-down on loans to exactly when the loan is needed. This will help prevent accruing unnecessary interest. You could achieve this by splitting your loan schedule for the year into tranches; taking each tranche as the need arises.

Balance between loans, payable, discounts and receivables
Do not be afraid to take loans; it might just be what your business needs to succeed. You should use your loans to take advantage of the economies of scale (advantages of bulk purchase) as well as the accompanying trade and cash discounts. You should also consider accruing payable. Payable are debts you owe to suppliers and other service providers, and should be considered as informal loans without interest. However, you should consider if the cash discount tips the scale against payable. Your receivables are the credits you have given to customers. You should limit them to the barest minimum. A way of doing this is to encourage payment of cash by giving cash discount.

Secure deposits
Always encourage your customer to commit through deposits. Not only will this provide you with more cash to work with, it will also reduce the rate of cancelled orders. You should ensure that your customers are aware of your policies on cancelled orders and refunds too. In addition to securing deposits, let the customer also commit to a progress payment that is in line with the progress of the projects or services.

Provide for debts
The reality is; no matter what you do, some debts will just go bad. You should learn to provide for bad debts. This could be in form of a pool of fund set aside from your profit. However, you should try, by all means, to ensure that your debts are not going bad. So, a solid recovery plan is important.

http://excellaid.com.ng/five-ways-to-manage-your-funds-during-the-lean-days/

Do you believe in your business idea? Does your passion boil so hard that it is contagious? Do you have the needed capital? Never mind! You do not have to give up for lack of funding. Crowdfunding might just be your way out.
Crowdfunding makes available the opportunity to finance your projects through a pool of funds provided by other individuals who believe in your dream as much as they believe in you. It is a modern approach to fundraising. So, let us backtrack a bit.

Every great achievement starts with a dream. Sometimes dreams get too big to the point of fright. But, with right funding, even the frightening dreams come true. The practice in the past was to stage a fundraising campaign and in most cases, professional fundraisers were employed. So, crowdfunding is a long standing method of raising fund for projects, which has now been creatively revamped to suit the 21st century reality of the internet. Epoch events have been staged. Cathedrals have been built. Schools have been renovated. Businesses have become empires; all through fundraising.

The process of crowdfunding now takes place online, usually on specialized platforms such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Crowdfunder, among others. These platforms have their specific terms and conditions under which they operate, but it usually involves you, the project initiator, placing a campaign within a finite fundraising window.

So, for your next business ideas, you could place a fundraising campaign on a crowdfunding platform and watch your campaign generate financial supporters for your business. Your campaign should specify the nature of your project or business, the amount of money to be raised and the deadline. You will also need to mention, in details, the benefits to supporters and other modalities for the donations.
Most of the crowdfunding platforms are devoted to specific cause; some to charitable or educational projects, some, like Kickstater, to creative projects such as film making or book publishing, while others, like Crowdfunder, help raise equity for businesses. You will need to research on which crowdfunding platform meets your need.

Depending on the platform, you might also need to specify if the campaign is All Or None (AON), in which case, if the target fund is not met within the fundraising window, the supporters money is returned and the campaign is closed. The alternative, Keep It All (KIA), bears some flexibility, in that the project initiator could have whatever amount was raised, regardless of whether the target is met or not. However, from statistics, AON campaigns have proven to be more successful than KIA, and have also funded bigger projects more than KIA.

Conclusively, you do not have to give up on your dreams. If you believe in it, if you are passionate about it, get to a crowdfunding platform now and create a campaign. Defying the odd of distance, you can now win supporters, all over the world, for your dream. You will be surprised at the support you will get. Fundraising has never been easier than now. Live your dream!

http://www.excellaid.com.ng/2016/03/financing-your-next-big-idea-through-crowdfunding.html

Click on Nairaland/General on the landing page (www.nairaland.com) then scroll down. You will see create new topic.

Contact us at http://excellaid.com.ng/contact-us, we work with busy professionals like you.

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Socrates, considered as one of the founders of Western philosophy, was once named the wisest man on earth by the Oracle of Delphi. When Socrates heard that the oracle had made such a comment, he believed that the statement was wrong.

Socrates said: “I know one thing: that I know nothing.”

How can the smartest man on earth know nothing? I heard this paradoxical wisdom for the first time from my school teacher when I was 14 or 15. It made such an impact on me that I used Socrates’s quote as my learning strategy.

“I know nothing” to me, means that you might be an educated person, but still, you know nothing. You can learn from everything and everyone.

One thing that I like better than learning from my mistakes is to learn from other people’s mistakes. Over the years, I’ve been blessed to have great mentors, teachers, family, friends, that taught me about life.

What you will find below is a list of the most important things I learned from other people and books. Some of the lessons took me a long time to learn—but if I had to learn these things all by myself, it would take me a lot longer.

We might learn things quickly, but we often forget things at the same rate—and sometimes we need to remind ourselves of the things we’ve learned.

Here are 25 of those reminders that others taught me.

Struggle Is Good
Never say “I can’t take it anymore.” Say “Bring it on!”

Don’t Complain
Complaining is the biggest waste of time there is. Either do something about it, and if you can’t, shut up about it.

Spend Time With People You Love
That’s your family and best friends. If you don’t have a family, create one. Most people in life are only visitors. Family is for life.

Don’t Start A Relationship If You’re Not In Love
I’ve done this more than once. You kind of like someone and think: “We might as well give it a shot.” Not a good idea. You’re either in love, or you are not. Don’t fool yourself. It’s not fair to you and the other person.

Exercise Daily
I didn’t get this until recently. A healthy body is where you have to start everything in life. If you can’t build a healthy and strong body, what CAN you build in life?

Keep A Journal
No, keeping a journal is not for children. It helps you to become a better thinker and writer. “I don’t want to be a writer” you might think. Well, how many emails and texts do you send a day?
Everybody is a writer.

Be Grateful
Say ‘thank you’ to everyone and everything. “Thank you for this beautiful day.” “Thank you for your email.” “Thank you for being there for me.”

Don’t Care About What People Think
We all die in the end, do you really think it matters what people think of you?
Take More Risks
Don’t be such a wimp.

Pick An Industry, Not A Job
If you want to become good at something, you need to spend years and years doing that. You can’t do that if you hop from industry to industry. Pick an industry you love and start at the bottom. You will find the perfect role for you eventually.

Lead The Way
When you find yourself in a situation where everyone looks at each other, it’s time for you to lead. You‘re a leader when you decide to become one. There’s no initiation or a title. Just a decision.

Money Isn’t Important
It really isn’t. But you have to train yourself not to care about money. Don’t become too dependent on the stuff you own — otherwise, the stuff will own you.

Be Nice
I don’t mean you should be a pushover. You can be someone that doesn’t take shit and be nice about it. Just don’t insult people, think you’re better than them, or act like an idiot.

Learn Every Day
You’ve got to train your brain to stay alert. You don’t have to read a book a day to learn every day. Learn from your mistakes. Learn from the people around you — be open to what they can teach you.

Rest Before You Are Tired
Even if you love your job, and every day seems like a holiday, you need to take time to rest. You’re a human and not an android, never forget that.

Don’t Judge
Just because people make different choices than you, they are not stupid. Also, you don’t know everything about people, so don’t judge them — help them.

Think About Others
Just be mindful, that’s all. We all have families, bills to pay, and our own issues. Don’t always make everything about yourself.

Give Without Expecting Something In Return
Don’t keep score. You will become a bitter person if you do that. Give solely for the joy of giving. If you get something in return, great, if you don’t, great.

There’s No End Game
We, as a species, just are. Don’t try to figure it all out. Enjoy your journey.

Enjoy Small Things
I like clichés because they are true. Especially this one. You know why? Everyone says they know it, but no one lives up to it. They just chase big things.

Don’t Take Yourself So Serious
Yeah, yeah, you’re an individual, and people have to take you seriously, I get it. But at the end of the day, we’re all a bunch of ants trying to chase the same things. Lighten up.

Don’t Blame People
What’s point? Do you want to punish them? You don’t do that to people. Also don’t blame yourself — you’re only human.

Create Something
Not to leave a legacy, you won’t be here to see it anyway, but to be of use. Make music, write a book, build a table, anything. You’ll feel good about yourself, plus you give something back to people to use or enjoy.

Never Look Back Too Long
Reflecting on the past is only good for one thing: Learning.

Take Action
Don’t just sit there, do something. Without action, there is no outcome.

You might know a lot. But like Socrates, you and I know nothing at all. So we have to keep learning.

https://medium.com/life-learning/25-things-about-life-i-wish-i-had-known-10-years-ago-61d96e93a028#.eckw7yrup

“Great companies don’t hire skilled people and motivate them, they hire already motivated people and inspire them.” - Simon Sinek

One of the lessons from management is that 'there is no such thing as bad team; you can only have incompetent team leaders.’ In practice, there may be poor teams, but here is the bitter truth: if you are laid back in managing your staff or team, you will lose good employees and end up with loads of low performing individuals. So, what should you do to keep your staff inspired and help the low performing employee out of the web of complacency? Consider the three key points below.

Communicate
The usual practice is to keep the low performing staff out of the loop and disparage them to the other employees. But it is wiser to also keep the low performer involved. As a manager or business owner, you should discuss with your employees individually and in groups. You should even meet more with the low performing employees. The essence of these meetings should be to communicate your expectations in clear terms. Make it as specific as possible without getting judgmental.

When expectations are discussed, individual lapses could be framed into job descriptions. For instance, in addressing Sarah, who has become infamous for resuming late for work, you could say: ‘Sarah, it is important that you resume early enough, latest by 7:30 a.m, to take the customers’ orders. If for some reason, you could not make the time, let me know early enough to make provisions.’ This beats saying: ‘Sarah, you are a perpetual late comer, let it stop!’ The time for such tough leadership might come, but definitely not in the initial discussion. Encourage employees to ask questions and ensure that they understand your points of discussions

http://www.excellaid.com.ng/2016/03/knocking-low-performing-employee-out-of-their-comfort-zone.html

Follow up
Do not only communicate your expectations to your employee, also follow up. Keep track of their deliverable and results, and give constructive feedback. The feedback should be frequent and documented. Whatever you do, do not turn any employee into a laughing stock during meetings. Such humiliation will only dampen their morale. This is not an excuse to avoid the tough discussions anyway, it only means that you should keep some feedback on a one-on-one basis.

Reward or Redeploy
You should reward improvements and this could be as simple as some deserving words of recognition during general meetings. Reward good performance and at the same time, do not let poor performance slip away; sanction it. You should vary employees’ tasks and note their performance on the different tasks. The redeployment option comes handy when you discover that a low performing employee has a skill-set that does not match their current job functions. Make them more productive by matching them correctly with job functions. You should also place premium on healthy attitude. Your employees should not only give you results, but should do so in the right attitude. Another bitter truth is; no matter what you do, some low performing individuals simply have unacceptable attitude and cannot be helped. But you should help them out of your company!

What are your thoughts on keeping employees active and productive? Follow us on Twitter @excellaid to share your thoughts.

Two heads are better than one is what we say. So partnership possesses some advantages over sole proprietorship. There is a characteristic internal control (checks and balances) in its structure and this, though creates a lull, makes for more quality decisions and better business. Moreover, it also have more flexibility than larger corporations. Partnership makes available capacity to achieve what may not be achieved otherwise. Therefore, below are three reasons to start a partnership and remain in one.

Easy to establish
With partners possessing complementary strengths, setting up a partnership becomes easier. The business enjoys the resources of the partners; the capital, the network, their influence and their knowledge. In comparison with corporations, partnerships have lower startup cost, while also possessing the flexibility for conversion into corporations or sole-proprietorships.

Greater borrowing capacity
There is always a need to borrow in business. This could come with the need to raise initial capital or more capital for expansion. Capacity answers the question on the ability of an entity or individual to repay loan granted, and this is one of the Five Cs of Credit. This capacity is enhanced when people come together in partnership. The business can borrow on the strength of the joint capacity of the partners.

Tax Saving
In most countries, partnerships bear a lesser burden of tax than big corporations. They are free from double taxation. Only the income shared to partners and paid to staff are taxed, not the profit of the business. In contrasts, the income and dividends paid to staff and shareholders of large corporations are taxed, while a large proportion of the profit of the corporation is also being paid as tax.

What are your thoughts about starting a partnership Share them with us on Twitter @excellaid

Performance management was initially used to determine an employee’s remuneration, and also to control the attitude of the employee towards his job in order to achieve some specific results. However, due to the difference in preferences; some employees were able to modify their behavior because they were motivated by financial gain, while others who were more motivated by acquiring skills and experience were not moved by the concept of performance management. It was as a result of these preferences that made performance management fail back then, and employers sought more rigorous way to individually manage their employees’ performance in line with the organizational aims and objectives.

The need to manage employees’ performance is important for two reasons, the first being to identify and reward outstanding performance. Yes, it is important to reward employees that are doing great. If you want them to do more, you must incentivize.

The second reason borders on improving your employee stock. With well managed employee performance, you can identify low performers, and call them to order, or replace them. However, it is advisable to figure out the strength of every employee and position them accordingly for optimum productivity.

So, how do you manage your staff performance?

Performance goals versus Job description
In a corporation, it is easier to align performance goals with job description. This is almost impossible for startups where employees have to wear many hats. But you still need to set these goals, after all, what does not get measured, does not get done. What will need to be done differently from corporation is to make the reality of ad hoc responsibilities clear to employees. You should also ensure that your goals are result based and hinged on the objectives of your business. To achieve this, remember SMART. The goals must be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time bound, e.g. between January 1, and June 30, all entry level sales staff must achieve sales worth $2000.

Feedback versus Appraisal
W hile appraisal is done just before the reward, feedback should be given, if possible on a daily basis. This will keep employees on their toes. The feedback should not be limited to the negatives alone, because positive feedback reinforces positive attitudes.

http://www.excellaid.com.ng/2016/02/managing-employees-performance-right-way.html

Document
This is also very important. You need to document the goals, the feedback and the rewards. This can easily be achieved by investing in a robust performance management application. You will need some research to ensure your choice meets your need.

At appraisal, pay attention to how each employee has responded to feedback, check for trends in performance that will highlight their strength and work out how you can help them succeed. Bear in mind that you are not the scary auditor, you are not the task master, but you are the coach that brings out the best in your employees.

How do you manage your employees’ performance? Follow us on Twitter @excellaid to share your views

Get more business and career tips at http://www.excellaid.com.ng

Obo ngb'obo g'ope

Employee theft, just like any other theft, refers to the use of any material that does not belong to you without getting permission from the owner, who in this case, is the employer. It is well known that some employees are not trustworthy. Even the honest ones are tempted. So, how do you safeguard your assets from dishonest employees? How do you reduce the temptation and help the honest folks maintain their fidelity?

You need a fool-proof internal control system. This is a system of check and balance to safeguard your investment. It can take a while to develop depending on the nature of your business. However, COSO (The Committee of Sponsoring Organisation of the Treadway Commission) has a comprehensive framework for your consideration. In the interim, here are five tips to help you prevent employee theft in your organisation.

Segregation of duties
Learn from the grocery store wisdom: a salesperson to sell and a cashier to process payments. No single employee should carry out a business process from start to finish. To achieve this, you might need to give instructions on a need-to-know basis and also ensure that employees maintain confidentiality of the instructions given.

Access control
This can be as simple as instruction on doors, or as complex as an electronic security clearance system, that can be used to grant authorisation only to qualified personnel. It helps to enforce duty segregation and also makes fraud traceable.

Documentation
Document, keep duplicates, keep triplicates, but never get lost in the junks. Ensure that every employee keeps a proper record of inputs passed on to them as well as their outputs to other employees. Do not overlook this because the figures have been right for a while; you could just be brewing another unpleasant recipe.

Reshuffling and redeployment of employees
This helps to combat collusion. It also does not afford the dubious employee sufficient time to beat the system. A good approach is to work this into your staff promotion scheme, so as to prepare the staff for the process.

Know your employee
Where do they live? What do they do after work? What are their domestic responsibilities? You need to know your employees, but be subtle in your approach. You should also keep your eyes open for red flags; employees who live beyond their means, employees who always go broke, employees who seldom go on leave and many more.

Remember, trust is not always a good reason to neglect your due diligence. Before the dishonest worker is caught your investment might be gone.

How do you prevent employee theft in your organisation? Follow us on Twitter @excellaid to share your tips.

http://www.excellaid.com.ng/2016/02/five-ways-to-prevent-employee-theft.html