Daniel Damilola Nejo, Author at The Presidential Hustle®

Offensive,Deceptive & illegal Marketing Materials, 8 Legal Guidelines To Follow Not To Make The Same Mistakes.

8.81K views by Daniel Damilola Nejo on July 14, 2016

It’s that time when you want to get the word out about your business and you are pumped! ( and by now, you know when I say “pumped” I mean excited). Are you gonna make use of Newspaper Ads, Bulk SMS’s, Google Adwords, Youtube Ads, Brochures, Leaflets, Buses / Tube ads or just Emails. Whichever one you decide to make use of, the main aim shouldn’t be that the design for the marketing material should be very good but also that it adheres with Advertisement Standards so you don’t just waste resources on adverts that would be flagged down or reported. (more…)

LifeStyle

Daniel Damilola Nejo Introduces ThePresidentialHustle.com

6.84K views by Daniel Damilola Nejo on July 8, 2016

Hey! Am pumped! Today, I decided to go behind the camera to start my video series. Gosh! Am so pumped! This is my first video ( If we don’t count the Snapchat videos I post everyday 🙂 ) I really wanted to use this video to put a face to the name and see what we can do with this new video series.

Take a minute and enjoy the video. We will be shooting more amazing videos across the UK where I will be picking and discussing one topic that can be instrumental in moving your hustle / business from the sheep stage to the Lion stage.

Am pumped!

Quality Strategies

Re-position Your Business To Win By Applying the 6C’s of TQM

9.56K views by Daniel Damilola Nejo on July 4, 2016

TQM stands for Total Quality Management. TQM is based on all members of an organization or business participating in improving processes, products, services and the culture in which they work” (American Society for Quality). British Standards Institution went further to describe it as “A management philosophy and company practices that aim to harness the human and material resources of an organization in the most effective way to achieve the objectives of the organization or business. (more…)

Business Strategies

Be Strategically Positioned OR Operationally Effective?

7.21K views by Daniel Damilola Nejo on June 29, 2016

When it comes to gaining competitive advantage or placing your business as a competitive entity in your industry, there are various strategies to make use of, some obvious and some not. In my opinion, most businesses just want to sell their product and make profit, very few of them are concerned about placing their business in a competitive spot, what I really mean is that although almost every business thinks there is a competition, only few have strategies in place to gain competitive advantage over the competitors. Wait! Am I the only one that thinks the title of this article is “dope” ? 🙂 . Okay, maybe am alone on this one! Back to business. I believe which ever strategy you decide to make use of, they always almost fall under these two umbrellas: Operational Effectiveness OR Strategic Positioning. Operational Effectiveness. This strategy entails you doing the same thing your competitor does but doing them “better”. Few examples of ways to do things better than the competitor are :

Having better technology
Having superior inputs
Having better trained people.
More effective management structure

Even though you may sell the same product or offer the same value your competitor offers and there isn’t a lot of changes you can make to the product to make it standout – the operational effectiveness strategy tells you that you can use better up to date technology in your business that the competitor either doesn’t know or makes use of ( e.g a quick research on your competitor’s online presences may show that their website is not mobile friendly. You can use better technology to outplay them in that aspect by providing a more user friendly and responsive website because the majority of online searches for a product are done on mobile ) As you already may be able to tell, this strategy focuses more on “doing things better” than the competitor, I believe a combination of People, Process , Technology and proper Planning will win the day. There is one thing to note though. The Operational effectiveness strategy can be used when your business and the competitors is somewhat on the same level in terms of monetary power or market share. I had an experience one time where a small business was trying to startup an online marketplace which will compete with Amazon and eBay. My advice to them was “Let’s not fool ourselves here, those are big players, they’ve got large market share and strong monetary power to run paid adverts and kick your butt, what you should consider is – Strategic Positioning” Strategic Positioning. This strategy involves doing things differently from the competitor in a way that delivers a “unique” type of value to the customer. In my opinion, it can also be called “The Niche Strategy” whereby you position your business in a place in the market where the value it delivers is different from the competitors. Although you run almost the same business but the value you provide is unique. Let’s take the example of the small business above who wanted to compete with Amazon and eBay. The reason I advised them to follow this strategy is because they can’t possibly win Amazon or eBay in the online marketplace business but they sure can become a brand and gain competitive advantage over them by creating an online marketplace that provides a unique value to their customers. Amazon and eBay are known for having products from ALL categories why not create an online marketplace that provides a unique value to customer, say an online market place that sells X products to X type of people. If you can’t beat them with Operational effectiveness because they are big players, you position your business in a strategic position in the market where your business provides a unique value to the customer and you can build a brand for yourself in that segment. [ad name=”HTML”]

Internet

The Move From MarketPLACE to MarketSPACE

7.35K views by Daniel Damilola Nejo on June 24, 2016

Another day…another buzz word! When giant retailers like Walmart, the largest grocery retailer in the U.S who became very successful and popular for owning and operating a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores and grocery stores decide to also run an online e-commerce website to sell their products, you know that they understand the importance and potential of being in the Marketspace as well as dominating in the Marketplace. I often come in contact with small and medium businesses who sell products ( own a physical store ) and do not also run an e-commerce website to list and sell the same products in their brick and mortar store on the internet. Their excuses for not doing so is always in the lines of “Our customers come to the store to buy the products and we do not really see the importance of having an online store” and sometimes I get the “Ermmmm! Having an e-commerce website is expensive”. Sorry to burst your bubbles, Its not! its actually a cost-effective way to place your product in the front of millions of potential buyers or hundreds and thousands within your locality. In this post, I intend to highlight some of the unique features of E-commerce and why you should have a website to sell your products. Ubiquity The internet is now available to more people now more than ever. People can now browse for products and goods from their homes, workplace, school, church , anywhere…anytime! This has led to enhanced customer convenience and reduced shopping costs for the customers. Although the internet has numerous advantages, one of its “disadvantage” is its influence on people ; people are now more lazy now more than ever, they want to browse and buy things all from their phone now. Use this to your advantage – place your products online! Global Reach Do you know a city or country without borders? I doubt you do. The internet doesn’t have borders or walls, it serves everyone…everywhere, meaning your product can reach across national boundaries around the earth without any limitation ( oh, don’t forget you would need to comply to laws in some Jurisdictions…but am sure you get the gist). The MarketSpace includes billions of potential buyers and customers ready to be served by your business. Place your products online! Richness An obvious excuse for not having an e-commerce store would be “The customers can come in, see the product, feel the product and buy it” . Funny enough, the internet also offers the same features. Although your customers may not be able to “feel” your product, but with the use of video, audio, and text, your customers get the same experience on the internet as they would in your “physical store”. You are able to create a rich customer experience for your potential customers while they are in their pyjamas. Social technology Its no news that customers are now “social” and by social I do not only mean that they now have a facebook, snapchat or twitter account – I mean they are now engaged in “user generated contents” which is the foundation of social media. There is no better time than now to place your products online, customers are eager to write reviews on products they have purchased and also help others choose good products from bad ones by “word of finger” ( a word I coined which means – recommendations on the internet, or Internet Word Of Mouth) Like I stated in the earlier part of this post, getting your e-coomerce website setup can be a cost effective way to place your product infront of potential ready-to-buy customers. I hope the few key benefits listed above helps you understand why and how your sales can double if you also sell online rather than relying on just your offline endeavors. [ad name=”HTML”]

Quality Strategies

Want To Win In Your Business? Be LEAN!

6.98K views by Daniel Damilola Nejo on June 21, 2016

Have you ever been asked the meaning of something very obvious? Like, What is the meaning of WASTE?. If you have, then that makes two of us. In one of my Quality Management classes, my lecturer – Dr Lindsey asked “What do you understand by WASTE”? I remember a class mate of mine (Collins) answered saying “Waste is anything that does not add value to the consumer”… interesting Collins, I like that!!! He was right, businesses that win are those that try as much as possible to provide “Value” to the consumer and strive to eliminate waste in their business processes or product development. If a process does not add value to the customer, its a WASTE, eliminate it! That brings us to the topic at hand – LEAN! Lean is a manufacturing philosophy that focuses on delivering value from your customer’s point of view, eliminating waste and continuously improving your business processes. ( although I said “Manufacturing” , I believe it can be used for all types of businesses, even service based businesses ) I am going to highlight the keywords that makes following the LEAN philosophy great for your business and how to achieve them: (1) Delivering Value from your customer’s point of view. The emphasis here is “from your customer’s point of view“. Not from the business’s perceived point of view of the value they provide for the customer. Since the customer is the major key of a successful business, it is important that whatever the consumer perceives as value from your product / business is what is capitalized on and improved on. To properly understand what value your product provides to the customer, it is advisable to understand the Value Stream of your business / product. Womack and Jones in 2003 defined Value Stream as “The specific activities required to design, order and provide a specific product from concept to launch, order to delivery, and raw materials into the hands of the customer. After understanding the Value Stream of your product, it is important to Map the Value Stream to identify specific key activities in the Value Stream and sort them into activities that:

.actually create value as perceived by the customer
create no value but are required by product development, by order filling or by the production systems (work towards removing)
create no value and can be eliminated immediately (eliminate immediately)

To eliminate waste, you have to identify what brings Value. The above helps! (2) Eliminating Waste. The concept of Waste Elimination in production originated form Toyota’s Chief Engineer Taiichi Ohno which then became the core Production System of Toyota. But like every other thing, to eliminate waste , it is important to identify what waste is. Whilst preparing for my Quality Management exams, I was able to find out an interesting way to remember sources of waste in businesses and it lies in this word “TIMWOOD”. Transporting: This is basically the moving of product and information. When products / information are being transported, it does not make the product more valuable to the consumer, thus it is waste and unnecessary long transportation should be eliminated. Inventory: Storing product and information, this does not add value to the end customer and storage spaces can cost your business money. Motion: This waste is related to ergonomics and is seen in all instances of bending, stretching, walking, lifting, and reaching. These are also health and safety issues, which in today’s litigious society are becoming more of a problem for organizations. (from “EMC consulting group”). Motion waste within businesses should be eliminated, it adds no value to the customer. Waiting: Unnecessary waiting for information or product by the customer or product / service waiting for the next step in the process. Overproduction: Making more than the customer requires or needs and also purchasing more resources than is actually necessary to fulfill an order or customers need. Over-Processing: Using the wrong tool to try achieve a specific task. Investing in smaller, more flexible equipment where possible; creating manufacturing cells; and combining steps will greatly reduce the waste of inappropriate processing. Defect: Defects like rework, re-inspecting and quarantining inventory can add cost to your business and not add value to the end consumer. (3) Continuous Improvement. Continuously striving to produce better products and improve processes within your business. Key requirement is your business has stable processes so that the impact of any change can be understood. It is basically an ongoing effort to improve products, services, or processes. These efforts can seek “incremental” improvement over time or “breakthrough” improvement all at once (Wikipedia) Its time to start focusing on providing value to the customer and eliminating waste in your business process and product development! Be smart…get LEAN! [ad name=”HTML”]

Interviews

Hermine Patch Talks To Me About The Hustle Of Being A London Photographer

8.31K views by Daniel Damilola Nejo on June 16, 2016

I believe one of the key characteristics of an Hustler is the ability to spot a talent and see potential in them and try to make friends with that person and also offer value to them in a mutually beneficial relationship. ( in simple terms – ability to network ). I met Patch at a Karaoke night event at the Middlesex University last year. I was there to fool around with the music and she was there as the official photographer for the night. Asides trying to make sure I get my Drake lines right ( which I did, but my voice was horrible 🙂 ) , I noticed how Patch was super engrossed in taking the pictures of the whole gathering and at the end of the event, I walked up to her and said “Thank You” . Am sure in her mind, she was like “Who is this guy telling me thank you and why is he telling me thank you, am just doing what I love” Well, that’s just me. I love seeing young people do amazing stuff and I also love applauding them and associating myself with them. After seeing some of her amazing works and getting to know her better. I felt the need to have an interview with her so I can get a bird’s eye view of the hustle behind photography and also because I know she’s gonna be famous, I wanted to be part of the people who cheered her on, added value to her and made her feel confident in her hustle and most importantly – she’s gonna look back at this post many years from now and be like “Shit! my voice sounded really funny back then 🙂 ” HEY! Below are some of here amazing works: She has a different perspective of taking her pictures that is so different from the average photographer. She does “Staged Photography” and according to her in the interview this means that when she has an idea, she has to find “Suitable place to do the shoot, Suitable Composition, Suitable Models who will represent the idea the best, Suitable clothes and lastly Suitable light” Gosh! Patch, That’s a lot of “suitable” things to have 🙂 Lets get to the interview!!! But before we do, the main purpose of the interview was to get to know her, understand the hustle behind being a Europe photographer and get some advice from her that may be relevant for anyone who wants to go into the photography world. Anytime I get to have a voice interview, I always feel the need not to transcribe it because I think it will take away the fun! ( it’s not that am lazy to transcribe… okay – I am! 🙂 ) So, kindly play click the PLAY button below to enjoy the interesting interview I had with her in Liverpool street in London. Am sure you would like her accent but you would like mine better 🙂 That being said, as usual – EXPECT SOME AMAZING FLAWS IN THE INTERVIEW! Her Contact Details Name: Hermine Patch Facebook: Facebook.com/HerminePhotographyATCH Instagram: @herminepatch Online Portfolio: Behance.net/herminepatch Email: herminepatch@gmail.com I wold love to hear your comments and thoughts on her work, the interview we had and any other thing your mind can come up with!!!! [ad name=”HTML”]

LifeStyle

Applying the CCD Strategy by ALI To Entrepreneurship

6.2K views by Daniel Damilola Nejo on June 14, 2016

The greatest of all time Muhammad Ali had alot of great lessons to teach us while he was alive. His lessons has helped millions of people around the world and that is why he is known as the Greatest Of All Time. Me personally, I love watching and listening to his interviews because I always feel so pumped after each session. He talks with confidence and was very good at selling you his idea of being the greatest version of yourself. While reading about his life after his death, I saw something very interesting that I think hustlers and entrepreneurs can also emulate to make us better at our hustle. I decided to call it the CCD strategy by Ali. Basically, It is the underlining principle of his life and its so great that it can also be applied to entrepreneurship. Confidence: I can argue that ALI is one of the most confident man to ever walk the surface of the earth! Being confident in your hustle and business endeavor is major. Ali was so freaking confident, if we can apply the same level of confidence Ali had in himself and his craft to our hustle and business, we can be the greatest of all time in our chosen fields. One of the challenges of being an entrepreneur for me and most people is the fear to charge what you are really worth ( if you provide a service ) or place a price on your product. You have to able to look straight into your client’s eyes and tell him to pay you what you deserve. Better still, in Muhammad Ali’s kind of lingo, tell the client that “I am the greatest in my field, I can’t possibly be cheated”.

“It’s hard to be humble when you’re as great as I am”

Conviction: Young, Black and Outspoken. Ali had a firmly held belief in what he was talking about. It goes far beyond his repetitive positive affirmations of “I am the greatest”. He believed it with all his heart and till eternity, he will be considered the greatest of all time. Being a hustler / entrepreneur takes guts and its a lonely scary road that lacks certainty but having the same height of conviction that your hustle is gonna pay off is one of the greatest assets you can have.

Muhammad ali conviction — George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen

Dedication: Being the greatest of all time meant Ali had to outwork his competitors, had to put in more effort and be more dedicated to being the best version of himself. He was devoted, committed , loyal and faithful to his craft. Embodying these traits in one’s business and hustle is crucial inorder to gain competitive advantage.

I hated every minute of training but I said, don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.

I try as much as possible to find inspiration and advice to become a better hustler and entrepreneur from all sources and I think Muhammad Ali’s life journey is a great source. Hope you enjoyed the post. Rest in peace to the greatest of all time – Muhammad Ali. [ad name=”HTML”]

Business Strategies

Mass Customization – A Strategy TO Create A Customer-Centeric Business

9.25K views by Daniel Damilola Nejo on June 9, 2016

This is another buzz word which will most likely only be talked about in the gathering of the “big boys” ( by now, as a Presidential Hustle reader, you should know by “big boys” I mean “Big Brands” – Apple, Tesco, Dell, Sony and the likes. I believe Mass Customization is quite an interesting concept and strategy for businesses that I feel the need to talk about it on this blog so the average small business owner and entrepreneur can be aware of it. In the simplest form, Mass Customization is the customization and personalization of products and services for customers at a mass production price or a price not too far from it. (more…)

Business Strategies

Strategies To Gain Competitive Advantage For Your Business

9.03K views by Daniel Damilola Nejo on May 18, 2016

I have to give credit to my lecturer Dr Nawaz who always hammered the word “Competitive Advantage” in almost every lecture we had in my Information Systems Strategies course. Whatever he says or tries to teach us about how this “big boys” do business (by big boys I mean Apple, Tesco and the likes) , he always almost ended the statement with “They do this, or use this IT infrastructure inorder to gain – Competitive Advantage . (more…)