iknownaija App: Odili Charles talks App development

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having just returned from speaking on HTML5 at the 2013 GDG Uyo DevFest, and failing to qualify for the semi-finals of the 2013 Google Cloud Developer Challenge with MemoTickswhich was coded less than 48 hours before the deadline, I set out to begin development on an idea conceived and communicated to me by my brother Odili Chukwudi Emmanuel a few months earlier.

It was to be a mobile app with a sortable (chronological and reverse-chronological) timeline of Nigeria’s history, showcasing notable historical happenings in Nigeria since 1900. We affirmed it was a great idea, one that would make a desirable mobile app for Nigerians and even foreigners interested in Nigeria especially regarding tourism and as celebrating Nigeria’s Centenary buzzed.

Although the Centenary celebration has been heavily criticized in somw quarters, including Governor Fashola of Lagos State who opined that the Centenary Celebration was not only un-neccesary, but could also serve to distort Nigeria’s History as to whether Nigeria was 100 or 54. We decided it was best not to meddle in such waters and allow the Politicians and Law-makers do their due diligence, rather we would go ahead and provide a unique and un-biased digital experience on mobile for Nigeria’s History, Facts, Festivals, and Places of Interest. This was how iKnowNaija was birth.

With iknownaija.com registered, I put up a distro of Drupal 7, setup some Entities to allow my brother ( B.A History and International Relations Obafemi Awolowo University) enter and manage data. Next I created some Drupal Views that exposed the collected data in formats we could get into the mobile app.

It is common knowledge that with mobile development, most dev-shops have to choose between native and hybrid style, and since this was a startup with just two brothers, limited time, limited tools, and no budget (yes, no funding whatsoever, watch out for part 2 of this post), We settled for a HTML5 approach for the app. This was so that we could easily, develop and test, and leverage the promise of write-once-run-everywhere for mobile platforms fielding devices with a reasonable webkit browser implementation.

Developing the app was really challenging but fun. Our first attempt was with Sencha Touch, using its Google Web Toolkit (GWT) implementation called Touch4J. However, I later ditched it for a custom and lightweight home-brewed solution with Bootstrap 3, this time with a Errai – a GWT based framework I have come to love. Read more from source

Smart Power Strip: A technology needed in Africa

The Smart Power Strip, is an electrical multi-plug outlet with built-in Wi-Fi that allows users control their plugged-in home appliances from anywhere via a smartphone app. It connects wirelessly to the Smart Power Android or iOS app, and allow users to remotely switch an appliance on or off at the swipe of the screen.

The Smart Power App will send notifications to alert users if they left appliances on. It also allows programming a timer to turn the appliance automatically on and off at a certain time, setting up a push notification reminder when appliances have been on for too long, and monitoring the specific energy consumption of different electronics.

However, the manufacturer should consider designing a version of Smart Power Strip and App for developing countries, like Nigeria. The seventh most populous country in the World and the second largest economy in Africa. Nigeria has been a big market for smart phone manufactures, like Blackberry, iphone, Samsung, and in recent times,Tecno.    Read complete story 

A History of Nigeria app: iknownaija, available on MTN Nextapp store.

Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populous country in the world, with a population of about 170 million people, is one big country with blizzard of opportunities for foreign and local investors, and for skilled individuals.

In recent times, the IT sector has been receiving a lot of attention from International and local companies as well as from the Federal government of Nigeria.

Since the last decade, there’s been an unprecedented surge in the purchase of mobile phones , tablets and pads of different sizes and brands in Nigeria. It’s almost like manufactures are producing to meet the  appetite of mobile-device loving Nigeria. On the average, Nigerians would preferably purchase the most expensive mobile device than they would the cheapest History book.

iknownaija app is a mobile application that displays a brief History of Nigeria from 1900. iKnowNaija beautifully packages History, Tourism, Places of Interests with Maps, News, Politics, Economic Indicators, Human Development Indicators, Facts, Investment Opportunities, and Natural Resources about Nigeria.  If you ever need in-depth help on national details and facts about Nigeria or a tool to show you nearby historical sites, then look no further.

Read complete story from source

Five Very Important Tips For Aspiring Entreprenuers

Unemployment, amongst other challenges has emerged with dire consequences for the world. In Africa and in Nigeria, unemployment has been attributed to be the cause of youth restiveness and other related vices.  In the face of this development, younger generation has been advised to embrace entrepreneurship in a bid to finding permanent solutions to the problems of unemployment. However, before one ventures into the entrepreneurial space, some very important considerations have to be looked at as outlined below.

BELIEVE

From time immemorial, the outcome of man’s activities on earth has been conditioned by their ability to believe or the lack of it. For those who believe, they have a better reason to live, and those who do not, will merely occupy the human space with their bodies. Just like a rickshaw, believing pulls an individual from the state of aspiring to a place of possibilities. Like a telescope, it makes that which is distant nearer to the extent that the distant is drawn into reality. Consequently, when you believe, you live in the future. “Believe!” Believe in yourself! Believe in your startup idea!

When you have a business idea, you have to be your biggest cheerleader. Let your heart rock with elation that your idea will meet a particular need. Do not entertain disbelief because it is the quickest route to failure.  Back then in the University, a friend of mine told me how his classmate would come to him so both of them could do course revision some hours before an exam. In the course of their meeting, he would have her react to some questions, and she did quite well. Surprisingly, she would go for the exam and come out of the hall morose because she was unable to respond to most of the questions. It puzzled him so much because she reacted well to similar questions a few hours before. Believe in yourself; believe in your business idea.

Jeff Bezos, founder and C.E.O of Amazon.com quit his Vice President job at the Financial Service Firm, D.E Shaw, to start an Internet store where he sold books. Today, he is one of Forbes’ most innovative companies, and most importantly, his success has reshaped the retail space. To be a successful entrepreneur, you have to believe and then put up a strong resistance in the face of challenges. Most successful entrepreneurs have made novel impact in the business world because they didn’t give up on themselves and they endured till they became successful.

 

COMMITMENT

Commitment is the willingness to give your time and energy to something that you believe in. You have to be prepared to put your heart and soul to what you are doing, then, be prepared to work long hours. In this century, commitment does not only translate to physical presence and hard work, but also to adopting the right strategy to the extent of utilizing the most contemporary and efficient approach. A painstaking approach produces unprecedented results. No matter how novel your idea is, you have to painstakingly drive until you arrive at success. Stop dithering and stay committed to your startup.

 

KNOWLEDGE

Aspiring entrepreneurs should have answers to some basic questions at startup. What is the scope of your business idea? Who is your target audience? Who are your competitors? What edge do they have over you? You have to be knowledgeable about different aspects of your business. Research is key. When you are knowledgeable in your area of business, you become more confident and assured of success.

 

STARTUP IDEA MUST MEET A CERTAIN NEED

At startup, you should ask yourself who needs this? What would people like to have or do that available options do not meet, or that current technology has no provision for? What difficulties do people face at work or at home? What will they pay for right now? Most mistakes people make is to try solving a problem that is seemingly not real. Some years back, a cousin of mine came up with an idea to reinvent an old African craft (Tinkering) that focused on repairing broken plastics, steel pots and buckets. But the question is, “who needs that in today’s increasingly urban setting?” People would rather buy a new bucket than mend a broken one because it is relatively cheaper and convenient.  Please, do not build things nobody wants.

At startup, there has to be interested prospects that really need your services or products. If your business idea is not novel, it should be able to improve on what the other guy is doing, or able to solve the need better and differently.  Addressing people’s needs in a new and exciting way is the only route that leads surely to entrepreneurial success.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Social media is a means of interaction amongst people, in which they create, share and exchange information and ideas in a community. With the compression of the world in time and space, it is now a global village. This has been facilitated by the evolution and emergence of social media which is now an integral part of modern society. There are general social networking sites with user base larger than some countries and probably some continents. As of March 31st, Facebook says it has 1.11 billion active users, a figure larger than the population of Africa, which has about 1.033 billion people – the world’s second most populous continent. Some of the most popular social networks sites are Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn, Flickr and Pinterest.

However, there are some things aspiring entrepreneurs should know about social media. These are:

• It allows for the democratization of information and knowledge across borders.
• It allows for distribution through interaction.
• Because there are a lot of people sharing contents for free, people tend to react positively towards the best content.
• You have to understand your audience
• Interact first before selling. Always build relationships before trying to sell something.

In the light of the above, aspiring entrepreneurs should learn to put these platforms to proper use, especially as most social media platforms are structured to meet the marketing needs of their users. Aspiring entrepreneurs should prepare to always make a creative and focused message in a bid to capturing the attention of their target audience, and converting them. Adopting the paid adverts strategy could yield very positive results as well.

Aspiring entrepreneurs should make posts that are fascinating. If users love what they have read, they can share across their networks too, helping a wider audience to know about your products and/or services. Every post you make should have the potentiality of consolidating your market. However, the bottom line is, your post should no more revolve around celeb gossips and trivialities.

In a nutshell, you cannot be an entrepreneur if you have not started. You have to be in the game to envisage winning. Move beyond aspiring and set sail, for your name / brand to go down the chronicles of successful entrepreneurs.

Cheers

 

Business: Have Crumbs For Breakfast Before Going For The Giant’s Lunch

The path to success is replete with the daunting fear of uncertainty; only the optimist travels this path to the end, the pessimist accepts the realities of uncertainty and discounts his chances to succeed. For you to succeed, you have to dream big, design lofty and great  ideas. “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”- Eleanor Roosevelt. As is the empirical truth, “success is born out of great dreams.” John F Kennedy dreamt to have an American on the moon, Nelson Mandela dreamt of freeing south Africa from the dehumanizing apartheid regime, Barack Obama dreamt of becoming the first black president of the United States of America, these dreams came to pass.

Dream big, but first, “Have crumbs for breakfast before going for the giant’s lunch.” Start small, because a lofty idea requires lofty execution style, at least to achieve desirable results. You don’t want to rent an office space and hire employees, all it does is service your ego. We have seen how big corporation started out in parking garage. Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, started the company in the year 1994 from his garage. Today it’s the world’s largest online retailer. In 1976, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, started Apple and their small team hand-built 50 computers in 30 days from a garage in Cupertino, CA. The list goes on.  Jeff Bezos did not start by trying to create Amazon, as well as the Jobs with Apple, rather, Jeff Bezos started by creating an online bookshop and the Job’s a computer. Remember, every large company was once a start-up. Start small, if not for any reason, the experience garnered would come handy when you finally execute the great idea, besides, if you are not fully prepared before going for the giant’s lunch, the giant may likely have you for lunch. Disconnect from dream land today and start small, take advantage of the availability of the internet. Start up your business today and publicize on social media, before the actual kick-off. Stop all the unproductive chats and turn your social media accounts to your start-off point. Most successes we celebrate today started small.

Barack Obama worked as a community organizer in Chicago from 1985-1988, by way of responding to an ad published to seek for a black community organizer. On February 6, 1990, he became the first black president of the Harvard law review. Mark Zurcherbeg CEO and founder of Facebook developed “Synapes” – a music recommended system; “Wirehog” a peer- to- peer client, while at Harvard, he created “Facemash” a website that compared students dom photos, before he created “Facebook” A reason why crumbs for breakfast is necessary is that it doesn’t require half the hassle needed in trying to get the giant’s lunch. It provides you the comfort to achieve success at your level. What is important is, the success recorded, success at this level is the requisite for the bigger success.

Another context to having crumbs for breakfast, is the rule of contracting. Contracting is restructuring your idea from that encompassing one, to that, with a seemingly none exiting market. Contract to the extent of creating a new category and take the lead. While crumbs to you is so small, it might be your path to starting a new brand category. You don’t want to build a social media platform like “Facebook” or “Twitter” You have to contract that idea, make it narrower in scope, once the category is built, you become the leader in that category, invariable, you will have the “Giant lunch.” Most start ups want to do everything at the same time, in Nigeria, they ignorantly register their company, with the title “General Contractor”. The mind set is that the broader their scope the better the possibility for them to always be in business. No wonder there is hardly any solid brand in our clime. In other climes, there is for example “Victoria secretes” who designs lingerie. It is better to start small,be unique than start big and be a jack of all trades and master of none. Contracting is key to having the long lasting success you desire. “If cannot do great things, do small things in a great way” Napoleon Hill. Remember, every successful company, was once a startup.

Odili Chukwudi

Build Your Small Business Brand by Avoiding These 5 Common Pitfalls

Every business starts out with the hope of a bright future, but some companies just can’t build a solid reputation or overcome obstacles as they climb the ladder.

Building your company’s image, or branding, is as essential as the products or services you actually provide, and you’ll want to steer clear of these common mistakes.

Common Pitfalls of Branding

 

Offending Consumers

Crass humor, stereotyping and patronizing customers is rarely an effective branding method, but accidental offense is also avoidable. A diverse company and marketing team is one way to make sure you won’t step on any toes. In fact, if you can locate the consumers that the competition offends, you might find yourself a profitable niche. Read more

10 Succesful People Who Proved That Age is Nothing But A Number- Addicted2Success

Our society often thinks that the best age to be successful is between 24 and 40 and that, once you reach 50, your life is pretty much over. However, there are always shining examples that prove that success is possible at any age. All you need is the right attitude.

Here are some examples that will prove to you that, no matter what age you are, you can do it, too! Read more

12 Affirmations For The Struggling Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs are an optimistic lot. Naysayers might say “naïve.” But they have to be. Odds are against their success, but those who do succeed will provide for their families, solve customers’ problems, and possibly change the world in a big way. The best entrepreneur, therefore, has a healthy confidence that “I’ll be the one person in a thousand who makes it big.”

Still, even the most optimistic of entrepreneurs can have a bad day. Maybe the customers aren’t coming fast enough, or investors remain uninterested. Or maybe you’ve just been working for 24 hours straight and need to sleep. Whatever the reason, it’s important for entrepreneurs to get back on the positive side quickly, especially if they have employees looking to them to set the tone. Read more- http://addicted2success.com/success-advice/12-affirmations-for-the-struggling-entrepreneur/

Success Follows The Incurable Optimist

The most powerful personality traits to develop in one’s quest for success are incurable optimism and integrity.Optimism is defined as “the belief that good things will happen to you and that negative events are temporary setbacks to be overcome.” (-Mayo Clinic ).   Integrity, as I would define it, is “doing the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason – despite any consequence.” When you combine those two qualities what you have is a person who seeks out the best outcome in every situation, while still being honest and forthright about the facts of situations as they exist. A person who exemplifies these two qualities will garner significant trust and respect from his or her clients, coworkers, managers, and subordinates – all of whom contribute toward helping that person achieve great success.  read »

Top 10 Qualities That Make A Great Leader

 

Having a great idea, and assembling a team to bring that concept to life is the first step in creating a successful business venture. While finding a new and unique idea is rare enough; the ability to successfully execute this idea is what separates the dreamers from the entrepreneurs. Read more  http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2012/12/19/top-10-qualities-that-make-a-great-leader/