Archive for February, 2009

Incorporate Your Business

Friday, February 20th, 2009

Why should I incorporate my business?

There comes a time when an entrepreneur begins to consider whether or not he should incorporate his business. I will be looking at What Incorporation is, Benefits of Incorporation and reasons people give for not incorporating their business.

What is Incorporation?

It is a legal process by which a business receives a governmental legal permission to operate as a distinct and unique legal individual (entity) different from its owners. The business is thereafter seen as an individual that can own property, earn income, pay taxes, incur liabilities, sue and be sued.

So What Benefit Can I Derive From Incorporating My Business?

Well, there are several benefits that you as an entrepreneur can derive from incorporating your business. I will share seven benefits with you. There are of course several others.

1. Limited Liability

Limiting the liability of an entrepreneur to what he has invested in the business is the major reason why entrepreneurs are encouraged to incorporate their business. Unlike the sole proprietorship, where the business owner assumes all the liability of the company, when a business becomes incorporated, an individual shareholder’s liability is limited to the amount he or she has invested in the company. I listened to a sermon preached by Pastor Ashimolowo during the IGOC 2008 conference. In the course of the sermon he gave a pathetic testimony of an entrepreneur who almost went bankrupt because of one of his business was sued. The business was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria as a sole-proprietorship business and not incorporated. So when the business was sued, the entrepreneur did not only loose what he invested in that particular business, but his other businesses and also his personal assets. (more…)

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Posted in Entrepreneur, Financial Intelligence | 15 Comments »

7 Tips For Becoming More Productive As An Entrepreneur

Friday, February 13th, 2009

How often have you felt sad as an entrepreneur when you review your accomplishment in a day? How often do you feel guilty and tell yourself that you ought to have done better or accomplish more in your business venture or personal life? Well, instead of feeling guilty or sad, here are some tips that will help you get your acts together and become more productive in your business and personal life.

Plan Your Day, Have A To-Do-List

If you are really determined to become more productive as an entrepreneur, then the very first step is determining what you want to achieve. You must have specific business goals or objectives which when accomplished will give you that satisfaction that you have been productive. Once you determine your business goals, write them down. Then the next step is (more…)

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Posted in Entrepreneur, Tips & Tricks | 12 Comments »

Global Economic Crisis: Reduce Operating Expenses In 2009

Friday, February 6th, 2009

How are you coping with the Global Economic Crunch?

Early this morning, I receive a report on my stocks investment and it shows that my portfolio has lost 75% of the capital invested. I was not surprise about the report, but I was not happy either. Every businessman desires to make profit and increase wealth. Unfortunately, the global economic crisis is making it harder to realize the dream. I often hear some entrepreneurs, both big and small making statements such as “I’m fed up; I think I’m just going to quit”. Well, that is a wrong attitude. I see the present situation as a challenge that needs to be overcome, period. Remember there can be no champion without contest. So, now is actually the best time to show the world the stuff you have inside. This is the best time to become a successful entrepreneur.

Global Financial Crisis

Global Economic Crisis

While pondering about the stock report in my head, I decided to continue reading my emails (I’ve abandoned the box for about two days now). Next in line was a newsletter from E-Myth which talks about Reducing Operating Expenses. I was excited because that is part of my organizational goal for the first quarter 2009. So, I was glad to read the newsletter. Well, I did not learn anything new, but I was reminded of some crucial things that every entrepreneur must not forget when attempting to reduce operating expenses.

While reducing operating expenses is a good goal, (more…)

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Posted in Entrepreneur, Financial Intelligence | 8 Comments »

Nigerian Movies

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

Do you watch Nigerian Movies?

I mean the Naija home videos. It is interesting to note that it is now possible to watch some Nigerian movies online. Some websites have uploaded some of the old Nigerian movies as streaming video on their websites. I made an attempt to watch one of the movies, but my connection was too slow. Well that is not the point I intend to make. I’m worried about the entrepreneurs operating in Nollywood!

My concern for writing this article is that, uploading an entire Nigerian home video on a website may have an adverse effect on the income of the producers and marketers of such Nigerian movie. The Nollywood artists have been fighting pirates and have consistently insisted that anyone that wants to watch Nigerian movies must be ready to pay for a copy of the Tape, VCD or DVD. They didn’t even like the idea of Rental Clubs even though they eventually agree to license some video clubs (I guess they had to settle for a compromise, because they couldn’t win that battle).

The Nollywood entrepreneurs, would have achieve better success if the factions that made up the industries have come together to fight as one united force. Forming clichés of smaller association such as different artists/practitioner and marketer associations for Nigerian Yoruba Movies, Nigerian Igbo Movies, Nigerian Christian Movies etc has not helped in any way.

I guess many of them in their small associations are not yet aware of the danger of loss awaiting them as internet connection becomes cheaper and affordable to more households in Nigeria. I’m just wondering what their reaction will be towards those websites offering Free Nigerian Movies. Do the Nollywood directors and artists have the capacity to fight such webmasters?

The internet community loves free stuff, but piracy kills business. When the effort of an entrepreneur is not rewarded, then there will be no motivation to continue the enterprise. If websites offering free Nigerian movies online continue to multiply and ISP improve their services, such that the internet users in Nigeria start enjoying true Broadband Internet connection, then the entrepreneurs operating in the Nigerian movie industry will lose much of their income.

I am of the opinion that now is the time for them to start the framework of safeguarding their investments and income. They need to appeal to the government to enact laws that will control the distribution of copyright ed movies on the internet. I know some will argue that even Hollywood has not succeeded in the fight against movie piracy, well, they may not have totally succeeded, but they have reduce the rate at which copyrighted movies are distributed on the internet. No well established website will offer a full streaming version of a copyrighted movie from Hollywood.

What is your thought on this? I will love to know in a comment. Thanks for visiting. You can get future update to this post Nigerian Movies by subscribing to Nigerian Entrepreneur RSS feed.

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Posted in Entrepreneur, Nigerian | 9 Comments »