Navigating The Path to Business Growth: Innovate or Die

Innovation is a key component of a business. For a business to grow appropriately, the key decision markers and business managers have to think innovatively and creatively. The benefits of innovation on business are already well-documented, so there isn’t really any need to go over it again. In any case, you can read about them here.

How exactly can you think innovatively? Here are a few tips:

Clear your head: This should be the first thing you do. Make sure you are relaxed and do not feel pressured. The best ideas are formed in a relaxed and calm atmosphere. If you find it hard to stay calm or keep a clear head, you can complete some relaxing activities like taking a walk while listening to calming music, preferably classical. It works for me and should work for you too.
Ask questions: ‘Curiosity kills the cat’ a common phrase. But this does not work when it comes to business. Prime your mind to observe, inquires, question and understand concepts around. Remove any constraints that might inhibit your inquisitive nature. Challenge old ways of doing things and try to imagine new ways that they can be done.

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Increase your exposure: Make sure to put yourself in a position where you will be able to observe a wide variety of things. Never assume that any knowledge is useless. Note that ideas are usually birthed from other ideas. Henry Ford got his idea of the assembly line technique of mass production from observing a meatpacking plant. The more exposure you have, the more likely you’re going to pick up ideas for your ideas.
Be imaginative: You should be creative. Don’t squash that random idea that comes to you prematurely. Allow your imagination run wild. Think of ways things can be done differently. You can follow some tips to boost your creativity.
Exceed boundaries: Don’t feel caged or forced to follow the status quo. Be ready to think outside the box. Learn to deal with and learn from past failures; be ready to take risks to find out what works and what does not.
Welcome feedback: Ask for people’s opinions and ideas and gather these to come up with a better idea for your venture. Also, feedback is important to know if a current idea you implemented would be a hit. Never disregard this.
Run brainstorming sessions: This can be done individually or in a group, although it is usually more effective when done in a group. This would involve coming up with a large number of new product ideas. Make sure to have people from diverse backgrounds if you plan to have a group brainstorming session. You will be better served if you include a provocative outsider, like a consumer or supplier.

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Adapt old solutions for new problems: You could do this by applying an existing product to a new need available. You could look for new uses of your product. For instance, De Beers produced industrial diamonds but found a new use for diamonds when they introduced the concept of engagement rings. It opened up a large new market for them.
Watch your competition: This does not mean to blindly follow whatever innovation they come up with. Instead, observe them intelligently. See if there are any of their ideas you can refine and adapt and even possibly license as your own. You can also acquire smaller profitable businesses if possible!
Look outside: You can outsource your new project development to external companies to work on this. Company like Edumark Consult can help us engage actively within the education community. If that seems like a risk for you, you can ask individuals to come up with novel ideas for innovation. Countless big companies have been known to do this successfully.
Go back in time: Look back at older business models and products. Try to ascertain which of these models can work for the present market. Be sure to refine it, however, to fit into the current market trends.

The tips above are in no way exhaustive of all the tips that can be used to improve innovative thinking. Also, not all of them might apply to your business model. Whatever the case, use the tips as a guide to building your business even further through innovation.

Mar 13

Edumark Unveils Exciting Plans for TOSSE 2020

Edumark, popularly known as the “education company”, has made known its plans for the 12^th edition of TOSSE (Total School Support Seminar/Exhibition). The educational exhibition has been a haven for educational bodies, institutions, educational influencers, teachers as well as students to connect, share ideas, and learn from each other new innovative strategies and techniques that can bolster educational productivity in their schools.

The announcement was made by Mr. Ibrahim Oguntoyinbo who emphasized that TOSSE has been the go-to event for school owners, businesses and influencers in the educational sector to converse, share and sell ideas that would improve the quality of education in Nigeria as well as enlighten and train the teaching workforce about the dynamism of education and why they need to be abreast of new educational changes and how to adapt to it.

He stated that the TOSSE 2020 theme which is “Think, Innovate, Impact” is targeted at revamping the educational sector to promote explosive creativity and innovation at all educational levels, seeing that innovation is the spark that lends credence to productive learning. Having achieved so much in previous years through quality Teachers Training Seminars and effective branding and marketing for productivity in school business, TOSSE is set to hit for higher milestones through its insightful seminars and discussions, some of which Mr. Ibrahim Oguntoyinbo highlighted being:

Leading for Progress, Profit and Purpose
10 Principles for Principals
Becoming a Winning Leader in a Difficult School
Beyond Academics: Teaching for Social Progress.

Edumark’s TOSSE has, in previous years, raked in over 7000 guests and is set to witness an explosive attendance of 10,000 guests and above from every part of the world. The event also promises an array of insightful activities and experiences where educators and guests can meet, chat and do business with over 120 companies from diverse countries. Educators and students can also brush up their skills and learn through several Masterclass sessions, free seminars, and IT classes.

TOSSE 2020 promises the very best of educational exhibitions, as several well-respected companies would be present at the event. Some of these are:

DLA Toys

DLA Toys offers parents, schools and the general public the opportunity to create the dream playground for their kids, in a secured and safe environment as well as various types of playground equipment, toys, modern, classroom, and decorations and facilities.
Evans Publishers

Evans Brothers Nigeria Publishers Limited has continued to thrive in the development of high quality educational and curriculum-based books, as well as leisure books, all of which would be readily available for school owners to browse through to update their school’s catalogue of books.

Zeco Schoolwears

Zeco Schoolwears is one of the leading clothing companies focused on providing top quality school uniforms, school accessories for top schools all over the world. Zeco School wears have also featured consistently in previous TOSSE events, providing school owners with top quality school accessories.

Several other companies such as Nocett Academic Services, Safe School and Nexcel Group would be in attendance at the event with an aim to providing quality educational services and offers to educational institutions present at the event.

The event which is set to run for a week, starting from June 1^st to 5^th, would be held at Ten Degrees Events Centre, Billingsway, Oregun, Lagos, and would be the first of its kind as it would be a week-long experience to learn, meet international educators like Prof. Kirsti Lonka (Author of Phenomenal Learning from Finland) who would be lecturing on leadership for teachers. The TOSSE Event 2020 is where teachers, educators as well as education-focused businesses should be to learn, do business and improve the educational sector of Nigeria.

For Inquiries and Registration, contact the TOSSE team via the following channels:

Website: www.tosse.com.ng or www.edumarkng.com

Email: info.tosse2017@gmail.com, info@tosse.com.ng

Phone Numbers: 0708 480 8659 and 0701 120 2454.

Seminar ticket can be obtained at Eventbrite

Apr 09

Creating Virtual Opportunities in Business During Lockdown

Quite a number of places had some degree of lockdown imposed on them in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic. This has sorely affected most businesses, big or small. In a previous article, we visited the possibilities of making social media a veritable tool for your business marketing and visibility. This article will discuss important steps to digitise your business.

Working from home has gained popularity over time, however, it has been a slow process. Running a virtual business has numerous benefits, not least of which is that it costs arguably less to run. Despite reservations about the idea from many, it has become a necessity for businesses to explore this mode of running a business as the restrictions to movement lingers. The following are some steps that can be followed in creating a virtual workspace.

Create Online Awareness

This is a very obvious step, so it goes right on top. For the same reason you would expect your physical business to be known around its physical location (unless you run a shady business of course 😉), your virtual business can do with online publicity. Social media remains a primary tool for this. This space gives you visibility and engagements, as has been discussed earlier.

Social media does not do it all, though. Your business needs its own private space, space where all your offerings and information can be seen. You need an up-to-date website that is easy to navigate. Websites do not personalise your business, however. For this reason, it is encouraged to run a blog also. Blogs provide a personal feeling about your business. People are more likely to patronise you if they feel there is a person behind it and not just a “mindless bot”.

Create a Business Plan

You need to identify what your business offers in terms of goods and services – what your business CAN offer. You need also to have a clear vision and set boundaries, create an effective working process, and have realistic targets. This helps you and members of your team to be able to be effective and have the best possible ROI in the shortest possible time.

Let all employees understand how working remotely differs from working in an office environment. Be selective when picking members of your team; not all are well suited for remote assignments and not all tasks can be handled by all members of your team.

Keep the Communication Line Open

This works for both customers and employees. There should be an open channel of communication across the designated hierarchy of your organisation. All members of your team should be comfortable coming up with ideas and putting them to those higher up the ladder. This gives them a feeling of belonging and drastically improves their input as they feel like a part of the system and not a misfit.

Regular meetings should also be set up. This will help to keep tabs on the progress of the team, communicate new plans to all, and maintain a personal relationship. Virtual meetings can be held using various platforms. Popular ones include Zoom, Skype for Business, Slack, Zoho Meeting, and WhatsApp.

Measure Productivity

Your business must first and foremost be productive. So you must have set down metrics to analyse the productivity of your business. Try not to only focus on the final outcome of a particular process. Evaluate various stages of the process. Use quantifiable data to measure how well you are doing. Analyse key performance indicators (KPIs) diligently and be willing to make changes to certain areas that seem to be lagging.

For every observation, you need to be willing to train members of your team to make them improve in that area. Do not stop at measuring the team as a whole, observe individual members of the team and help any such who might be behind to keep up. Make sure to have a rewards system as well as extra motivation.

Be Realistic

It will not be easy getting used to the remote working system for sure. There might be some losses along the way, maybe more. But with proper planning and determination, a virtual workspace will yield dividends. Overall, it’ll pay off!

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May 23

BMHS wins Wowbii 2.2M Naira Worth Interactive Board at TOSSE-Edumark Webinar

With great joy, the Baptist Model High School (BMHS), Isolo received a 2.2 million naira 65-inch Wowbii Interactive touchscreen board from Wowbii Interactive for being punctual at a webinar recently organized by the Total School Support Seminar & Exhibition (TOSSE).

The webinar tagged “Technology in Schools: Our Fears! Our Pains! Our Desire” organized by TOSSE in partnership with Wowbii Interactive was held on Friday 12th of May, 2023.

The webinar started at 6pm, however, a staff of BMHS, Mrs. Rebecca Simeon-Charles had joined the program a few minutes before 6pm. At the end of the program, the CEO of Wowbii, Mrs. Olabisi Akinpelu asked who was the first person to join the webinar. Without prior knowledge of what was about to happen, the staff from BMHS, who was the first to join the Zoom program responded. And then, the prize for punctuality was announced. This came as a surprise to everyone present at the meeting.

Mrs Rebecca Simeon-Charles (the first person to join in on the webinar).

Mrs. Olabisi Akinpelu (CEO, Wowbii) congratulating Mrs Rebecca Simeon-Charles.

Mrs. Yinka Ogunde congratulating Mrs Rebecca Simeon-Charles.

The presentation of the Wowbii Interactive Board took place on the 16th of May, 2023 and present was the Convener of the Total School Support Seminar & Exhibition (TOSSE) Mrs. Yinka Ogunde & her team, The CEO of Wowbii Interactive, Mrs. Olabisi Akinpelu & her team and the Administrator and staff of Baptist Model High School, Reverend Omotosho (The Head of School), Mrs. Olamide Aasa (The Principal), Mrs. Rebecca Simeon-Charles, other staff members, and a few students.

Mrs. Olabisi Akinpelu, while presenting the Wowbii Interactive Board says it comes with a 2-year standard warranty and the Teachers will be provided with support & training on its usage for the period of 2 years.
She commended Mrs. Yinka Ogunde for providing the platform to impact the education industry. She also extended her appreciation to her Boss, the Founder of Wowbii Interactive, Mr. Gbolahan Olayomi for his drive and will to contribute to the Education Sector and applauded the school representative, Mrs. Simeon-Charles for joining the meeting early and staying till the end.

Reverend Omotosho (The Head of the School) and Mrs. Aasa (The Principal) also praised Mrs. Simeon-Charles for representing the school well and winning the prize for the school. Stating that they are not surprised she made it early enough to the webinar, as she is dutiful and diligent in her assignments.

When asked to speak, Mrs. Simeon-Charles with so much excitement, expressed her gratitude to the school authorities and said she was faced with challenges that could have hindered her from connecting to the program. However, she saw it as an opportunity to make sacrifices for the school. She advised her fellow teachers to always make themselves available for any program they are sent to, and not to be carried away when they face challenges.