Salam zangu za siku ya Wanawake Duniani

Ninawatakia wanawake wenzangu‎ Ulimwenguni kote, Heri ya Siku ya Mwakamke

“Wanawake Tunapashwa Kuona Jinsia yetu kama rasilimali na sio Dhima”. ( Women should view their gender as a resource rather than a liability) – MJ

Ningependa kutumia fursa hii kama Dada, Mke, Mama, mfanyakazi, Mwanaharakati na mjasiliamali kuwapongeza wanawake wote kwa kuadhimisha siku hii muhimu ya kuwaenzi wanawake wote ulimwenguni.
‎
historia ya Maisha yangu, ni kielelezo cha maisha ya wanawake wengi ulimwenguni wanaopitia changamoto mbalimbali.‎ Nililelewa katika mazingira kandamizi ya Jinsia ya kike-kwenye jamii ambayo mtoto wa kiume alipewa nafasi ya kipekee katika masuala mbalimbali dhidi ya mtoto wa kike…Kwa mfano kipaumbele cha kupata elimu walipewa watoto wa kiume wakati watoto wa kike wakitarajiwa kushughulika na kazi za nyumbani, kupika,kuchota maji na kusaidia shughuli za kilimo na hatimaye kuolewa. Bibi yangu (Apumzike kwa Amani) alikuwa mhanga wa mfumo huo kandamizi.

Kwa taabu alizopita Bibi yangu alijiwekea nadhiri kwamba Mjuu wake, hatopitia shida alizopitia yeye…na hivyo siku zote alikuwa akiniasa kwamba “Niyu (jina langu la nyumbani),Unaweza kila kitu kinachofanywa na mtoto wa Kiume”. Aliniimarisha kifikra na kiakili. Na siku zote alikuwa na msemo wake “Niyu Kasome, Ukasome umshinde Babu yako, Usije kuwa unanyanyasika kama sisi”- ushauri wake ndio ulikuwa dira yangu ya maisha ambapo nilisoma kwa bidii na kufanikiwa kuhitimu shahada ya uzamili katika masuala ya fedha kutoka Chuo Kikuu cha Strathclyde cha Uingereza. Hadi hivi leo, sauti ya Bibi haijakoma masikioni mwangu, sijaacha kutafuta elimu na maarifa ya masuala mbalimbali yanayohusu maendeleo katika jamii…ni kwa sababu hiyo nilipata mafunzo ya muda mfupi ya uongozi na majadiliano kutoka Chuo kikuu cha Harvard cha nchini Marekani. Nitaendelea kuitafuta Elimu na pia kusaidia wenzangu, sababu naamini moja ya njia ya Mwanamke kujikomboa katika ukandamizaji wa kijinsia ni kuongeza kiwango cha elimu kwake mwenyewe na kwa wanawake wenzake.

Waswahili wana msemo usemao maisha ni shule…..msemo huu nimeuishi katika maisha yangu ya baada ya masomo. Nimefanya kazi katika mashirika mbalimbali yasiyo ya kiserikali na sekta binafsi. nimefanya kazi na taasisi ya ISHI iliyokuwa inashughulikia masuala ya Ukimwi, baada ya hapo nimefanya pia katika kampuni‎ ya Philips Medical Systems ya Uholanzi na baadaye nimefanya kazi kampuni ya mawasiliano ya Maktech. Kwote nilipopita nimekumbana na changamoto mbalimbali zilizohusiana na jinsia yangu. Utekelezaji wa majukumu yangu ulinilazimu kuwa na mikutano na watu mbalimbali Serikalini na kwenye taasisi za fedha ambapo watu niliokuwa nakutana nao ni wanaume ambao baadhi yao wamekuwa na mawazo ya mfumo dume yaliyojaa dharau na manyanyaso. Wengine kwenye fikra zao wanadhani mwanamke yeyote mwenye mafanikio, iwe kwenye biashara, siasa, ajira, lazima anabebwa na wanaume.‎ Wakiona mwanamke amefanikiwa tu, utasikia..huyu ‘hawala wa fulani’. hii ni dhana potofu na inayolenga kumdhalilisha na kumnyanyasa mwanamke.

Mimi binafsi sikukubali kuyumbishwa na watu wenye mawazo ya aina hiyo. Kila nilipokumbana na changamoto za aina hiyo nilipata hamasa ya kufanya kazi kwa bidii zaidi na kuwadhihirishia kwamba NINAWEZA, ilee sauti ya bibi ndio ilikuwa ikinitia hamasa zaidi na zaidi na hatimaye kuniwezesha kufanya vizuri hadi kufikia kuaminiwa kupewa majukumu makubwa zaidi kama vile Mkurugenzi Mkuu katika kampuni ya Mokasi Medical Systems ambayo ni wakala wa kampuni ya Philips ya Uholanzi. Hasama hiyo iliniwezesha pia kuanzisha kampuni yangu inayotoa Huduma za kifedha – Monfinance Investment Group Ltd. Mbali na shughuli hizo nimeweza pia kuchaguliwa kuwa mjumbe wa Bodi ya wakurugenzi ya FINCA Microfinance Tanzania.

Kwa ujumla siku zote za maisha yangu nimejihusisha na harakati za kupigania haki za wenye shida na mahitaji katika jamii kutokana na msingi niliojengewa na bibi yangu wa kukataa unyonge na kusaidia wanyonge. Hurka hiyo ndio ilipelekea ajira yangu ya kwanza kuwa kwenye taasisi ya uhamasishaji wa masuala ya ukimwi ya ISHI. Niliguswa kujihusisha na kampeni hizo kwasababu binafsi nimepoteza ndugu, jamaa na marafiki kutokana na ugonjwa huo. Mbali na ISHI,nimekuwa nikijihusisha na kampeni ya kuzuia mauaji ya watu wenye ulemavu wa ngozi (Albino) iitwayo IMETOSHA. Ni jambo la udhalilishaji uliopitiliza kuwakata binadamu wenzetu viongo vyao kwa imani za kishirikina. Pia nimeshiriki kwenye uhamasishaji wa magonjwa yasiyojulikana (Rare diseases).‎

Tunaposherehekea siku ya Mwanamke duniani rai yangu kwa wanawake wenzangu, tushirikiane, tusaidiane, tupeane moyo na tuwezeshana ili tufikie lengo letu la usawa  50/50 kufikia mwaka 2030. Kila mwanamke atimize wajibu wake kwa kujitambua na kuhakikisha haki yake hainyongwi.

‎‎Mimi nimejitambua, ninasimamia haki yangu, na wala siipiganii, ni yangu, Jinsia yangu hainitofautishi kiutendaji na jinsia ya kiume. Ninachoangalia ni Mchango wangu katika maendeleo ya Uchumi, jamii na familia na sio Jinsia yangu.

Ninachotambua katika jinsia yangu ni kuwa mimi ni Dada, Mama, rafiki, na Mke. Mengine yote,nipo sawa na wote, wanaume na wanawake.‎

Happy Women’s Day 2016.

Monica Joseph

 

 

UN GLOBAL GOALS IN DETAIL

What are the global goals?

The global goals serve as the world’s to-do list from 2016-2030. These goals form a shared agenda to end poverty, promote peace and opportunity for all, and protect the planet. Specifically, the 17 goals to be adopted in September are:

• Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
• Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
• Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages
• Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
• Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
• Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
• Goal 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
• Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
• Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
• Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
• Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
• Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
• Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts*
• Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
• Goal 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
• Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
• Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

* Acknowledging that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is the primary international, intergovernmental forum for negotiating the global response to climate change.

Here are some great resources to learn more about the global goals for sustainable development:

UN.org/action2015

GlobalGoals.org

GlobalDaily.com

– See more at: http://unfoundationblog.org/

 

UN 15 Years Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: UN FOUNDATION SITE

As the United Nations notes, 2015 is a time for global action. From September 25 to September 27 2015, world leaders will gather at the UN to adopt 17 Sustainable Development Goals to achieve extraordinary things in the next 15 years: end poverty, promote prosperity and well-being for all, and protect the planet. These Sustainable Development Goals set a course to achieve these objectives – for people everywhere.

If the goals are going to work, everyone needs to know about them. You can’t fight for your rights if you don’t know what they are. You can’t convince world leaders to do what needs to be done if you don’t know what you’re convincing them to do. If the goals are famous, they won’t be forgotten.

We can be the first generation to end extreme poverty, the most determined generation in history to end injustice and inequality, and the last generation to be threatened by climate change.

– See more at: http://www.unfoundation.org/features/globalgoals/the-global-goals.html#sthash.n3JvZFHw.dpuf

 

10 Reasons Why People Who Read a Lot Are More Likely to Be Good Leaders

Reading is currently on a global decline. The statistics and polls behind this pattern are frightening because the shortage of readers means there will be a shortage of leaders. There is no disputing it: reading offers you the platform to become a leader. Famous leaders from Steve Jobs to Elon Musk engage in a lot of intellect-building by reading books. This is what reading offers when it comes to leadership.

1. They have better people skills.

According to researchers, reading encourages our brains to try to relate with the characters we are reading about. Even if we go several days without coming back to the book, our brain continues to make neural connections with the experiences and behaviors of these characters. By connecting with several characters of a book, we boost our emotional IQ and become more able to connect with people. These kinds of skills are important for leadership as they help us communicate with our associates.

2. They have a wider vocabulary.

People who read expand their vocabularies from exclusively verbal to emotional as well. By reading more, one is exposed to a wider span of vocabulary. With an improved vocabulary, a person can have better communication skills which are helpful in expressing desires and thoughts. You can make demands and seek answers as you navigate your path to leadership.

3. They have a more rounded perspective.

Instead of viewing the world from a preferential angle, they see it from a holistic one. With reading you are able to travel to new places, engage in many conversations, and be a part of many plots. Having a more rounded perspective doesn’t make you limited to a particular scope or leave you fixated on one piece of reality; rather, you see the world as a terrain of limitless possibilities and challenges.

4. They have better associations.

People like to connect and interact with readers because of their ability to converse with an array of word choices. They are more discerning and prove to be more knowledgeable in conversations. Networking and connecting with other people who are similar to them on such ideals sort of triggers and propels them toward leadership.

5. They are more relaxed.

According to a study, reading can help to reduce stress. Compared to other stress relievers like walking, listening to music or drinking a cup of tea, reading was discovered to be the most effective as it lowers heart rates and can relieve tension in few minutes. With a calmer demeanor, readers are more positive and focused for leadership.

6. They are more intellectually challenged.

Readers are better thinkers according to research. This is because reading builds your intellectual capacity to reason and solve problems. It is also noted that reading something you disagree with could have a big impact on the way you think, both logically and creatively.

7. They are reminded of past actions.

Sometimes, reading serves as a mirror to who you are. Reading certain books could remind you of things that you knew before. Reading filters your thoughts and awareness and keeps important concepts at the top of your mind.

8. They are more energetic and purpose driven.

Reading makes you feel more energetic, positive, and confident. Readers are better vitalized and aware enough to navigate through different channels for success. Reading positions them to be mentally sharp and active.

9. They have an improved focus.

Because of reading constantly, people who read are able to sustain their focus on a long-term project. Avid readers hate distractions and dislike it when they have to put a book down. This is also an important element for any leader.

10. They are good time managers.

Reading is always available for any reader. Instead of waiting and being idle, reading is always a valuable avenue to manage their time and get more done. Any minute wasted could be put to good use in reading a book. Such awareness is also prevalent in leaders as they see every minute as vital to meeting their goals.

SOURCE: LIFEHACK.ORG

Featured photo credit: http://www.photopin.com via photopin.com

 

Canada in Recession

On September 1, 2015, Statistics Canada reported that the economy has contracted by 0.5% in Q2 2015, after falling 0.8% in previous quarter. This implies that the Canadian economy is in recession for the first time since the financial crisis, as they reported two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

Plunging oil prices constituted the primary factor weighing down the Canadian economy in the last two quarters, leading to shrinkage in business investments and creating sustainability issues for existing businesses. The mining, quarrying and oil and gas exploration sector took the biggest hit. It was down by 4.5% amid shutdowns and production barriers in Q2 2015.

Other factors that led to contraction of the Canadian economy were subdued business investments, a decline in new home construction (-4.1%), passive exports data and falling inventory levels. The most affected regions were energy exporting areas like Alberta. The results are expected to hurt current Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s chances to win in the upcoming elections on October 19. The opposition party has pointed out that Harper’s policy has failed, arguing this is a lost decade for Canada.

On the other hand, Statistics Canada also reported that the country grew at a faster rate in June 2015, which made many economists believe that the worst may be over. “Despite the technical recession materializing, it does look like the Canadian economy is jumping back. The June numbers are comforting in that regard,” said Derek Burleton of the Toronto-Dominion bank. Some analysts and economists have stated that the Canadian economy is far from recession. The positives alluded by the report includes improvement in household expenditure amid strong demand for durable goods and relatively stable unemployment

As a result of weak economic data in Q2 2015, the S&P/TSX Composite Index, measure of Canadian Stock market, tanked by 377 points (or 2.72%) on September 1, 2015. Most analysts believe that The Bank of Canada will cut interest rates in their next meeting in order to revive the economy, even after two previous cuts this year. Bricklin Dwyer of BNP Paribas said, “The Bank of Canada is likely to read this report as disappointing. While the quarter’s growth was in line with their forecast, Q1 was weaker than they thought. This combined with the composition of growth and the recent move in oil prices, suggests that the risks to the outlook remain clearly skewed to the downside.”

SOURCE: INVESTOPEDIA

 

TANZANIA 2014 NATIONAL BUDGET REVIEW -FISCAL MEASURES

Here is the last part of the 2014 Tanzania National Budget review. Fiscal measures The proposed fiscal changes are as follows:

•• Reduce duty rate on:
— Buses under HS Code 8702.10.99 carrying more than
25 passengers, from 25% to 10% for a period of 1 year.
— Papers under HS Codes 48.05.11.00, 4805.12.00 and
4805.30.00 only, from 25 % to 10 %.
•• Increase duty rate on:
— Chemical based (petroleum) aerosol spray under HS Code
3808.91.39 from 10% to 25%.
•• Grant duty exemption on:
— Machinery spares and inputs for use in development and
generation of wind and solar energy.
— Importation of Electronic Fiscal Devices for a period of one
year (Tanzania only).
— Importation of goods used in the manufacture of gas
cylinders.
•• CET rate:
— Extend the stay of application of the CET rate of 35% on
wheat grain under HS Codes 1001.90.10 and 1001.99.90,
and apply a CET rate of 10 % for the period of one year.
•• Continue to grant duty remission to:
— Soap manufacturers using LABSA raw materials under HS
Code 3402.11.00; HS Code 3402.12.00 and HS Code
3402.19.00, from 10% to 0% for a period of one year.
— The Armed Forces Canteen Organisation for another year.
•• Duty exemption
— Remove duty exemption on splints used in manufacturing
matches.
Miscellaneous
•• Taxes due on the importation of petroleum products must be
remitted on importation, rather than 45 days later.
•• The removal of cement from the list of deemed capital goods
which are tax exempted under the Tanzania Investment Centre.
•• An increase in the minimum capital requirement for foreign
investors through Tanzania Investment Center from US$ 20
million to US$ 50 million.
•• The amendment of the Business Licensing Act, No. 25 of 1972 to
enable the Government to impose new business licensing fees.
•• Reductions of the export levy on raw hides and skins from
90% or TZS 900 per kilogram to 60% or TZS 600 per kilogram,
whichever is the higher.
•• The amendment of the Vocational Education and Training Act,
CAP 82, in order to include additional institutions in the list of
beneficiaries.

Financial Sector
•• Launching of the National Financial Inclusion Framework (NFIF).
•• Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB) is established.
It’s operationalization is in progress.
•• Growth in the number of Banks from 51 in 2013 to 53 in 2014.
and insurance companies from 28 in 2013 to 30 in April 2014.
•• Capital requirement for community and commercial banks
remain unchanged – compliance is expected by 2015.

Infrastructure Development
Transport infrastructure
•• Total budget of TZS 2,109.0 billion has been set aside for
procurement of wagons, rehabilitation of the central railway line
and for the construction and rehabilitation of roads and bridges.
•• Infrastructure development is geared towards reducing
congestion in urban areas, costs of transport and transportation
of goods and services.
Electricity
•• TZS 90 billion set for construction of Kinyerezi I gas fired
electricity generation plant.
•• TZS 290.2 billion is for Rural Electrification Agency (REA) for
distribution of electricity in rural areas.
Oil and Gas
•• TZS151billion set for the completion of gas pipeline from Mtwara
to Dar es Salaam.
•• Introduction of new natural gas laws.
Agriculture
•• Agriculture created 130,974 jobs.
•• Budget set aside a total of TZS 1,084.7 billion for strengthening
irrigation infrastructure, construction of warehouses and markets
and to create available loans for promotion of food and cash
crops production.
Human Resource Development
Education
•• Government plans to support youth skills development in oil and
gas courses in the country and abroad. Currently 124 students
will be financed by the Government and 35 students will be
awarded scholarships by Development Partners.
Health
•• Total of TZS 1,588.2 billion has been set aside for procurement
of medicines, prevention of epidemic diseases, and immunization
for children, construction of hospitals and dispensaries and HIV
and malaria control.
Water and sanitation
•• Total of TZS 665.1 billion has been set aside to improve urban
and rural water infrastructure which includes continuing with
the construction of 10 water wells in every Local Authority.

 

10 Things Your Employees Need From You As A Small Business Owner

Your business can only grow as far as your hand can reach, which means you need employees. But your employees need to have a win/win relationship with you. Your employees are the engine that drives your business, but how well are you taking care of your most valuable asset? Are you focused on making sure that everyone on your team is driving in the right direction? Do you make sure your employees are comfortable talking to you? If you want your employees to work hard and be dedicated to you, you must do the same.

There could be more things to do to build the best relationship with your employee or subordinates, But here are 10 things your employees/subordinates  need from you as a small business owner or manager

1. Leadership – As the business owner, you      set the tone for your small business. Your employees will always look to      you for advice, or for the example of how to handle situations. Do you pay      vendors chronically late? Do you work 14 hours a day and weekends, too? Do      you go off when a customer complains? Do you come in late every day? Do      you openly favor certain employees? Everyone is watching you and they will      treat your business just like you do – or worse.
2. Appreciation – You need to learn your      employees’ love languages. And they all might be different. Is it time      off, bonus money, public praise, or more responsibility they crave? You      need to make sure that you are giving them what they need to feel valued.      Your employees are the most valuable thing in your business, so you’d      better be good to them or your business will suffer.
3. Engagement – Do not hide in your office      struggling to come up with all the answers. Engage your staff in      brainstorming sessions to solve issues in the business. I have had many      interns save the day.
4. Communication – You need to have regular staff      meetings to make sure everyone knows what is going on. In these meetings,      be sure to hold yourself accountable, too. Don’t demand updates from      everyone around the table without offering the status of your own      projects. It will help you keep the lines of communication open with your      team.
5. Mentorship – You should be trying to grow      the skills of your employees. Explain why you do certain things and when      they are ready, expose them to clients. Invite them to go to certain      meetings with you. If you get them fully engaged in your business, they      will work harder for you.
6. Patience – New employees and young      employees need time to grow into their role. Often times as a small      business owner, we want people to hit the ground running. But, do you have      processes documented enough so that you can tell them what to do and how      you like it done? Have a plan in place before you make a hire, so that you      can give them a set of goals and manage your own expectations.
7. Payment – You need to make sure people      are paid timely. Set a payment schedule for every two weeks and not when      they need a check.  Use a payroll service to make it easy on you to      deal with paychecks.
8. Protection – Make sure your employees      have a safe work environment. Are female employees walking alone to their      car at night? Also, do not tolerate clients or other employees who      mistreat your staff. No amount of money is worth having people feel like      it’s alright with you that they are abused. I use a two chance rule. I      will speak with a client who is inappropriate first. You do need to give      them a chance to change the behavior. If it happens a second time, I would      end the relationship.
9. Understanding – There will come a day when      one of your best employees will come to tell you that they are moving on.      Hoping they will not go into business for themselves and try to take your      top customers, (that’s what confidentiality and non-compete agreements are      for in employment contracts), but you also need to be understanding and      supportive. Never blame someone for doing what’s in their own best      interest.
10. Celebrations Find Reasons to Celebrate. You      can throw a party with your team for any reason: big contracts, birthdays,      baby showers, and holidays. As hard as you ask them to work, party just as      hard when there is something to celebrate.

If you do these things, after 20 years in business you will have some your original employees still with you.

MJ

SOURCE: “Business Team Of Four Applauding” courtesy of stockimages / www.freedigitalphotos.net

 

Article:Strategic Leadership for Executives

By Ryan May For Business Dictionary.

How effective are you at managing change? In the modern business landscape, the process of successfully navigating change – whether it’s organizational or related to products and services – is one of the most highly-valued skills for the entrepreneur.

And to manage change successfully, an executive must possess the skills and tools for strategy formulation as well as implementation. The combination of these two elements has come to be known as strategic leadership, providing the vision and direction for the growth and success of an organization.
A Snapshot of the Strategic Leader

In general, strategic leaders can be found at the head of large organizations, influencing thousands to hundreds of thousands of employees and external support personnel. Within this role, they are tasked with establishing organizational structure, allocating funding and other resources and effectively defining and communicating the strategic vision for the company as a whole to employees and investors alike.

Common traits often include:
Ability to operate in an uncertain environment where complex problems and external events may impact the success of the venture

Make decisions by processing information quickly and assessing alternatives (often based on incomplete data), the consequences of which impact a wider range of people and resources than a standard organizational leader

Often will not see the fruit of their labor come to light during their tenure, planning instead for initiatives that will take place years later and possibly even after the leader has left the job

Two Different Approaches

As with just about anything in a large organization, the process of strategic leadership begins with people. Managing change through uncertainty requires strategic leaders who possess and communicate a clear path of direction, fostering ownership and alignment within their workgroups to achieve the desired outcomes.

In addition, these leaders are keenly aware of the delicate balance between the analytical and human components present within their organization, which is why many who’ve successfully employed this system have been shown to rely on strong second-tier leaders, enabling them to exert their influence primarily through subordinates while focusing on the larger issues that impact the organization as a whole.

However, depending on the strengths and individual personality of each executive, many corporate leaders opt to focus on the human component more than the analytical, as seen in the modern employee-centered organization, or vice versa on analytical, as seen in organizations based on a more traditional model that center primarily on a bottom line.
How to Select the Style That’s Right for You

Strategic leadership is an ongoing process. And when trying to decide how to conceptualize your role as a strategic leader, you must first decide how you see yourself participating as the process moves forward. Is it your goal to provide bold, analytical leadership and establish yourself as “hero” among employees and stockholders? Or do you envision yourself serving as a benevolent and humane coach, enabling those under you to realize their own full potential and stand in the limelight?

An analytical leader desires to personally come up with the right answer. Leading from the front, these individuals tackle strategic issues by drawing primarily upon their own experience and insight, attempting to single-handedly outsmart the competition and establish dominance within the marketplace.

In contrast, the leader focused on the human branch of strategic leadership believes their organization’s strategy is only as strong as the breadth and depth of the understanding and commitment it attracts. As such, the development of strategy is carefully coordinated but widely disseminated throughout the organization. In doing so, this type of leader is able to guide and respond to directional elements while fostering commitment and encouraging empowerment among employees at all levels.

MJ

 

Google eyes emerging markets networks: report

Google to Fund, Develop Wireless Networks in Emerging Markets

Google has become deeply involved in a series of projects to build and operate wireless networks in emerging markets including sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, a report said on Friday.
The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported the effort is part of a plan that could connect a billion or more new people to the Internet.

Google did not immediately respond to an AFP request to comment on the report.

According to the report, Google is “deep in the throes” of the effort to build wireless networks for people outside major cities where wired Internet connections are scarce.

It said Google plans to team up with local companies in some of the countries to develop the networks, and formulate business models to support them.

In some cases, Google plans to provide its own recently developed wireless technologies to help such networks.

Google has launched an ultrafast fibre network in the Kansas City area and is working in other areas of the United States on creating powerful Wi-Fi networks.

The Journal said that in the emerging markets, Google is seeking to create an ecosystem using new microprocessors and low-cost smartphones powered by its Android mobile operating system.

The system could also use balloons or blimps to transmit signals for the networks.

The daily said Google has begun discussions with regulators in countries including South Africa and Kenya on changing rules to allow the use of airwaves reserved for TV broadcasts.

 

12 ways to eliminate stress at work

Source: , Forbes

The average business professional has 30 to 100 projects on their plate. Modern workers are interrupted seven times an hour and distracted up to 2.1 hours a day. And four out of 10 people working at large companies are experiencing a major corporate restructuring, and therefore facing uncertainty about their futures. This may be why more than 40 percent of adults say they lie awake at night plagued by the stressful events of the day.
“People are asking me for answers,” says Sharon Melnick, Ph.D, a business psychologist and author of just released Success Under Stress. “Everyone feels overwhelmed and overly.

Is there a way to maintain steady focus throughout the day? Is it possible to do everything that needs to get done and still have energy left over after work? How do you keep cool under so many demands? Informed by 10 years of Harvard research and field-tested by more than 6,000 clients and trainees, Melnick offers the following strategies to take your work stress down a peg, before it takes over your life.

Act rather than react

“We experience stress when we feel that situations are out of our control,” says Melnick. It activates the stress hormone and, if chronic, wears down confidence, concentration and well-being. She advises that you identify the aspects of the situation you can control and aspects you can’t. Typically, you’re in control of your actions and responses, but not in control of macro forces or someone else’s tone, for example. “Be impeccable for your 50 percent,” she advises. And try to let go of the rest.

Take a deep breath

If you’re feeling overwhelmed or are coming out of a tense meeting and need to clear your head, a few minutes of deep breathing will restore balance, says Melnick. Simply inhale for five seconds, hold and exhale in equal counts through the nose. “It’s like getting the calm and focus of a 90-minute yoga class in three minutes or less at your desk,” she says.

Eliminate interruptions

“Most of us are bombarded during the day,” says Melnick. Emails, phone calls, pop-ins, instant messages and sudden, urgent deadlines conspire to make today’s workers more distracted than ever. While you may not have control over the interrupters, you can control your response. Melnick advises responding in one of three ways: Accept the interruption, cut it off or diagnose its importance and make a plan. Many interruptions are recurring and can be anticipated.
“You want to have preset criteria for which response you want to make,” she says. You can also train those around you by answering email during certain windows, set up office hours to talk in person or close the door when you need to focus.
Schedule your day for energy and focus
Most of us go through the day using a “push, push, push” approach, thinking if we work the full eight to 10 hours, we’ll get more done. Instead, productivity goes down, stress levels go up and you have very little energy left over for your family, Melnick says. She advises scheduling breaks throughout the day to walk, stretch at your desk or do a breathing exercise. “Tony Schwartz of the Energy Project has shown that if we have intense concentration for about 90 minutes, followed by a brief period of recovery, we can clear the buildup of stress and rejuvenate ourselves,” she says.

Eat right and sleep well

“Eating badly will stress your system,” says Melnick, who advises eating a low-sugar, high-protein diet. “And when you’re not sleeping well, you’re not getting the rejuvenating effects.”

According to the CDC, an estimated 60 million Americans do not get sufficient sleep, which is a critical recovery period for the body. If racing thoughts keep you from falling asleep or you wake up in the night and can’t get back to sleep, Melnick suggests a simple breathing trick that will knock you out fast: Cover your right nostril and breathe through your left for three to five minutes.

Change your story

Your perspective of stressful office events is typically a subjective interpretation of the facts, often seen through the filter of your own self-doubt, says Melnick.
However, if you can step back and take a more objective view, you’ll be more effective and less likely to take things personally. She recalls one client who sent a request to human resources for more people on an important project. When she was denied, she immediately got angry and defensive, thinking they didn’t trust her to know what she needed. Yet she never stopped to even consider there might be budgetary issues on their end. Once she was able to remove herself from the situation, she called the HR director and said: Tell me where you’re coming from, I’ll tell you where I’m coming from and then let’s see if we can find a solution. Ultimately, it worked.

Cool down quickly

“When you feel frustrated or angry, it’s a heated feeling in your body that can cause you to react,” says Melnick. Instead of immediately reacting—and likely overreacting—she suggests trying a “cooling breath” technique: Breathe in through your mouth as if you are sipping through a straw, and then breathe out normally through your nose. Done right, you’ll feel a cooling, drying sensation over the top of your tongue. It’s like hitting the “pause” button, giving you time to think about your response. She says, “It’s so powerful it will even calm theotherperson down.”

Identify self-imposed stress

“Learn to stop self-imposing stress by building your own self-confidence rather than seeking other’s approval,” says Melnick. If you’re too caught up in others’ perceptions of you, which you can’t control, you become stressed out by the minutia or participate in avoidance behaviors like procrastination. Ironically, once you shift your focus from others’ perception of your work to the work itself, you’re more likely to impress them.

Prioritize your priorities

With competing deadlines and fast-changing priorities, it’s critical to define what’s truly important and why. That requires clarity, says Melnick. It’s important to understand your role in the organization, the company’s strategic priorities, and your personal goals and strengths. Cull your to-do list by focusing on those projects that will have the most impact and are best aligned with your goals.

Reset the panic button

For those who become panicked and short of breath before a presentation, Melnick says you can quickly reduce your anxiety with the right acupressure point. Positioning your thumb on the side of your middle finger and applying pressure instantly helps regulate your blood pressure.

Influence others

Even if you’re responsible for your behavior and outlook, you’re still left dealing with other people’s stressful behavior, Melnick notes. She advises confronting a problem coworker or employee by stating the bad behavior in a respectful tone, describing the impact on the team and the individual, and requesting a change. For example, constant negativity might be addressed in this way: “When you speak in a critical tone, it makes others uncomfortable and less likely to see you as a leader. I understand your frustration but request that you bring concerns directly to me, so we can talk them through.” By transferring the ownership of the problem, you’re more likely to resolve it.

Be your own best critic

Some 60,000 thoughts stream through your mind each day, Melnick says, and internal negativity is just as likely to stress you out as an external event. The fix? Instead of being harsh and critical of yourself, try pumping yourself up. Encouraging thoughts will help motivate you to achieve and ultimately train you to inspire others.

 

How to turn guilt into productivity at work

By Martha C. White
NBCnews.com

We all have them: those work tasks hanging over our head that we keep putting off even though doing so makes us feel even worse.

Tap into that guilt over unaccomplished tasks and use it to make you a more productive worker, said Nick Jehlen, partner at design consulting firm Action Mill.

Jehlen started an experiment he dubbed “guilt hour.” At a weekly meeting, workers publicly identified the undone task they felt the most guilty about putting off. Everyone spent the rest of the hour tackling the task they named. “It was instantly helpful,” Jehlen said.

Jehlen said that the “social aspect,” in which co-workers will offer to help out or share a burden, is one benefit, since tasks can be transferred but a person’s sense of guilt hanging over it doesn’t go along with it. “People feel guilty about something they’re not doing … but somebody else can take it off their plate and not feel guilty about it,” he said.

It’s possible to use guilt in a positive way to complete tasks even without group feedback, though. There are a couple of principles that anyone can apply to their own backlog of dreaded duties, Jehlen said.

One reason “guilt hour” works is because people spend an entire hour working on just their individual single tasks. “It’s a huge, huge part of it,” Jehlen said.

“Attention has become the most critical barrier today to high performance and productivity,” Louis S. Csoka, president and founder of APEX Performance, said via email.

“Multi-tasking and other things can diminish our productivity,” said Taya R. Cohen, assistant professor of organizational behavior and theory at the Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University. “With procrastination, often it’s just starting or carving out that time.”

Making the time is one catalyst to getting the job done. Another is saying you’ll do the task you’re putting off in front of other people.

“Accountability can be a really powerful tool,” said Mark Ellwood, president of Pace Productivity. He created a website called BuddyHive.com to help workers stuck in a rut on a personal or professional project. They can use the site to find like-minded people who will check in with them, offer advice and hold them accountable.

It’s also worth taking a look at what kinds of tasks you tend to put off, and which ones you feel the worst about shirking. “Anytime you’re asking somebody for a favor or advice, that’s the kind of thing that often comes up” in guilt hour, Jehlen said.

Ellwood said administrative tasks are often blamed for sapping productivity. “The sorts of things people are procrastinating are the things they don’t see as adding value to their jobs,” he said. But although we might not see them as valuable, paperwork and the like can prompt stronger feelings of guilt because these tasks often hold up someone else’s workflow if they’re left undone.

Cohen added that it’s also important to keep the guilt focused on a specific task. “Guilt can be good if if’s focused on specific behaviors you can then do something about.” Feeling bad about yourself as a person and your work overall, though, can be detrimental.
If done wrong, tapping workplace guilt can be bad for morale. “This is a negative approach to something that should be looked at it in a more positive and encouraging mode,” Csoka said. People would be better off just developing and executing a clear goal plan, he said.

But if an unfinished task is really putting a drag on productivity, acknowledging the feelings you have about it might not hurt. “The longer you don’t do it, the more guilty you feel about it and the harder it is to get done,” Jehlen said. So, block out an hour on your calendar and alleviate your guilt.

Source: CNBC news

 

FINANCING ALTERNATIVES FOR BUSINESSES

Provided by CBAC Invoice Financing Exchange

REAS ALSO : FINANCING TIPS FOR SMALL BUSINESS

 

Vc4Africa on HOW TO BUILD INNOVATIVE COMPANIES, IN AFRICA AND WORLD

 

“Almost all leaders agreed that they underutilized the creativity of their employees”

 

In this article Prof. dr. Jeff Gaspersz explores how to build innovative companies.

 

Prof. dr. Jeff Gaspersz is Professor of Innovation at Nyenrode Business University, and a speaker and author in the field of innovation management and business creativity. See his website: http://www.jeffgaspersz.com

In all the years I have been discussing innovation and creativity with managers and entrepreneurs in master classes, seminars and roundtable sessions, one observation keeps returning: almost all leaders agreed that they underutilized the creativity of their employees.

They admitted that they could capture so many more fertile ideas in their company. The major reasons they gave for failing to do so were a lack of time and the absence of an effective process to manage all those ideas. Furthermore, they feared demotivating their employees when ideas were rejected and, in addition to that, a core question arose: Is encouraging ideas really a core management task? Current existing business challenges demand enough attention as it is. So there is creative gold in companies, but these leaders don’t dig enough for it, despite the often deeply-felt need to innovate or to find creative solutions for urgent problems.

Stimulating creativity as a core task in leadership

It is my contention that stimulating and nurturing organizational creativity will increasingly become a key task in leadership. With fast changing market challenges, demanding customers and smarter competitors, we need more than ever, all of our imagination to find new ways to innovate and rise to new challenges. Being more creative is our only way to become resilient in times of change and crisis and will secure our sustainable success, therefore stimulating and harvesting creativity will become a strategic priority.

This is confirmed by the IBM 2010 Global CEO Study among 1500 CEOs in 60 countries in which creativity was selected by the CEOs as the most crucial factor for the success of their companies. As a leadership quality, creativity scored even higher than integrity and global thinking. But not only the leaders had to be creative: the interviewed CEOs felt that they faced the challenge of spreading a creative spirit throughout their entire organizations.

Here, we are touching on the essence of leadership needed for building a creative organization. Its aim is to persuade each employee to engage in the quest for new solutions and improvements. It is about communicating in such a way that energizes people, giving them ownership over any given problem and inviting them to search for new ideas and bring them forward.

Employees as co-creators in innovation

The ultimate goal of innovation leadership is not to create followers waiting for instructions, but to awaken self-leadership in people and allow them freedom to work on their ideas, share their thoughts and take initiative to meet their targets; thus bringing improvement and innovation within the reach of each individual employee.

It is therefore especially important to avoid excluding a single employee from the process of creative thinking about solutions. Everyone should be invited to be a co-creator in innovating because one can never predict which employee will coin a brilliant idea. The more people we exclude from the search for new opportunities, the weaker our corporate innovative power will be. There is a growing awareness of this in leadership philosophy, now that innovation has become a necessity. In a survey among innovation leaders in 54 South-African companies it was found that one of the greatest enablers of innovation was considered to be the empowerment of staff to support innovation by recognizing opportunities.

For this purpose, small initiatives can have a positive knock-on effect in shaping the culture where new opportunities are discovered on a permanent basis. In a government organization I worked with, employees were very enthusiastic about a simple program for knowledge sharing, launched by top management: the week of the exchange. For one week in the year employees arrange an internship in the team of another department. The results were a better understanding of each other’s work, a cross-fertilization of insights and a stream of new ideas.

Another small initiative with a profound effect on the opportunity mindset is setting up a periodical in-company event where employees are invited to listen to a variety of speakers, such as innovators, entrepreneurs, authors and artists. In participating in such events, I have seen the same effect occur as when we watch the famous TED Talks where speakers, covering a wide range of topics, are given 18 minutes to present their ideas. When we listen to the diversity of their ideas, opinions and research findings our minds open up, we become inspired and we find connections between what is shared and our own challenges. More than 500 million people have already viewed the TED Talks, so it fulfills a deep need. How easy it is to organize TED-like events in your own company by inviting inspiring people from within your own network? It will not only bring new views, but will also show your employees, and invited customers, how important it is for your company to shape a culture of inspiration and innovation.

 

 

Source VC4AFRICA SITE

 

Five Ways the Rich Stay Frugal

Source : Financial Post

A fat salary isn’t the only way someone can strike it rich. Regardless of one’s income level, people who live below their means, invest wisely, and live modestly are on the path to real wealth.

Here are five frugal habits that many of the upper class have adopted to build long-lasting wealth and financial independence:

Drive a modest car.

Your car should only serve the purpose of getting you safely and comfortably from point A to point B — nothing more. When you pull up to a stoplight in an expensive car, you might impress a stranger. However, don’t let the price tag of your car define your character or image, because at the end of the day most people could care less what type of car you drive. Let Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who drives a modest $30,000 Acura TSX entry-level sedan, be your role model on this one.

Buy a modest house.

Warren Buffett famously still lives in the Omaha, Neb., home he bought back in 1958 for US$31,500. Take Buffett’s cue and don’t overwhelm yourself with a large monthly mortgage payment. Buy a modest and comfortable home and use the money you save to build your savings and retirement fund.

Don’t carry wads if possible

Try to avoid traveling with a wallet packed with cash. According to Bankrate.com, 86% of people who spend cash on luxuries like expensive cars, jewelry, and electronics are non-millionaires trying to act the part by purchasing luxury brands. Instead, follow the example of oil mogul T. Boone Pickens, who famously shops with a grocery list and only carries the amount of cash he needs to make purchases.

Don’t pay full price.

A great way to keep more of your money is by not paying full price on anything. Hilary Swank, who has an estimated net worth of US$40-million, is commonly seen using coupons at the grocery store. Michelle Obama often opts to shop at Target or H&M rather than high-end department stores. A great way to build wealth is to have a frugal mindset and use the money you save on consumer goods to build your investments and savings accounts.

Have an action mentality.

Almost all self-made millionaires have one thing in common: They are people of action. They don’t sit around feeling sorry for themselves waiting for something good to happen to them, as opposed to the people who I would say have the “lottery mentality.” People of action take appropriate risks, are constantly looking to improve themselves, and are addicted to knowledge, as it is the best way to gain a competitive advantage in life’s financial endeavors.

Truly rich people are those who take their income and turn it into wealth by investing wisely, saving, and living frugally. People who take their income and try to use it to support an unsustainable lifestyle are those who end up in debt and are unable to retire on their terms. When it comes to money and finances, it all boils down to choices and personal responsibility. Which road are you going to take?

 

Women Leaders: Arianna Huffington on Sandberg’s Book: To Lean In; First Lean Back

Source:Huffington Posts

Arianna Huffington

An enormous amount of ink and pixels have already been devoted to Sheryl Sandberg‘s important new book, “Lean In,” some of it claiming that Sandberg exhorts women to relentlessly drive themselves to the top.

But that’s not at all what Sandberg is saying. What she’s saying is that as well as institutional barriers to success, women face a lot of inner barriers—voices that, as she puts it, urge you to “leave before you leave.”

“Lean In” has unleashed multiple conversations. For me, the most interesting is the one about the nature of the world women are leaning into. This is a great moment for all of us—women and men—to acknowledge that the current male-dominated model of success isn’t working for women, and it’s not working for men, either.

For everybody, stress has gone up—in the last 30 years, self-reported stress has gone up 25% for men and 18% for women. And we’re surrounded by stressed-out leaders—in politics, in business, in media—making terrible decisions. What they lack is not smarts but wisdom. And it’s much harder to tap into your wisdom, recognizing the icebergs before they hit the Titanic—a big part of leadership—when you’re running on empty.

As women scale new heights in the workplace, they pay a heavy price: women in stressful jobs have a nearly 40% increased risk of heart disease and a 60% increased risk of diabetes than their less-stressed colleagues. According to the latest study from the American Psychological Association, women are more likely than their male colleagues to feel stressed during a typical workday, due to many factors, including feeling underappreciated in the workplace.

Associated Press
Sheryl Sandberg
There’s a French expression, “reculer pour mieux sauter,” which, loosely translated, means leaning back in order to jump higher. That’s what cats do. And by leaning back, we become much better at leaning in.

That means acknowledging the value of caring for our human capital — getting enough sleep and rejecting the culture of “time macho,” which Anne-Marie Slaughter describes as “a relentless competition to work harder, stay later, pull more all-nighters, travel around the world and bill the extra hours that the International Date Line affords you.” And it means acknowledging that family can actually be a great thing for our career, by putting everything at work in perspective.

The world needs women to redefine success beyond money and power. We need a third metric, based on our well-being, our health, our ability to unplug and recharge and renew ourselves, and to find joy in both our job and the rest of our life. Ultimately, success is not about money or position, but about living the life you want, not just the life you settle for.

Some companies get it. Already, twenty-five percent of large American corporations have some kind of stress reduction program — yoga, meditation, or some way for workers to lean back — during the workday. Not just Google and Silicon Valley startups, but General Mills , Target Aetna , etc. The realization is spreading that this is not just good for the employees’ health but for the company’s bottom line. Mounting evidence, both scientific and anecdotal, confirms that the practices that make us less stressed also make us more productive. (We at HuffPost launched a free app, GPS for the Soul, to track your stress level through your heart-rate variability; it also includes a personalized guide of pictures, music and poetry that helps you course-correct.)

For far too long, men have equated success with working around the clock, driving yourself into the ground, sleep deprivation and burnout. Women need to lead the way to change that — both for their sake and for the sake of successful men who desperately need to learn how to lean back.

I cant wait to get my own copy of “Lean In” on kindle.

By

Associated Press
Arianna Huffington
By Arianna Huffington

 

Women Leaders: Hillary Clinton to charge $200,000 per speaking appearance

As we approach the month of March, a month where we celebrate women and mothers. I will be posting news on Women achievements. Be it a woman entrepreneur, A Leader, an artist. Every woman who is on top of her game we shall celebrate her in MonFinance.

So to start, we all know and love the work of Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Hillary has signed up for speaking circuit and will charge a whooping USD 200,000 per speaking appearance, making her one of the highest paid public figures on such appearances.

Notably her salary as the Secretary of State, which she relinquished less than a month ago was USD 186,000.

“Now that she’s out as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton isn’t going to be hurting for money, thanks to speaking fees of more $200,000 per speaking appearance, according to a source familiar with the situation,” Buzzfeed reported.

Clinton will be represented by the New York-based Harry Walker agency, which also represents her husband Bill Clinton, the former US President.

According to CNN, Clinton gave 471 paid speeches during his 11 years as a private citizen and raked in an average of USD 1,89,000 per event – joining the speaking industry’s rarefied six-figure circle occupied by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin.

Clinton, however, according to Politico, will do some speeches pro bono, particularly those for the charities and causes she champions. She will also be involved in non-profit works.

Impressed? Share a story with us about any woman you admire.

This article is courtesy of 8020Fashions under WomenCelebrations2013 event.

Join us and other women on Sunday 03March2013 at Diamond Jubilee VIP Hall for a fee of 30,000 per Woman.

 

11 money habits that will change your life‏

So often we talk about setting financial goals, having a household budget, updating your will and a myriad of other financial tasks. While all of these tasks are essential financial housekeeping, behavioural change is the most potent influencer.

Here are 11 behaviours which will change your life.
1. Be a year-round discount shopper/negotiator

Ask for a discount on every purchase. Australians have become enormous “sale” shoppers since the start of the Global Financial Crisis and that’s a great behaviour to have.

But when an item isn’t on sale, ask for one anyway. It should be part of your behaviour to ask for a better deal on everything. Don’t be embarrassed, the supplier can only say “no”, while a “yes” makes it all worthwhile.

2. Save 10 per cent of your income

Make it automatic all year round. An automatic transfer of at least 10 per cent of your salary every payday across to an “untouchable” investment account.

You’ll change your behaviour to live within the 90 per cent which is left, while letting compounding work its magic on the nest egg.

3. Have a plan for credit card rewards

Credit card reward schemes are usually not worth what they’re cracked up to be because the program is not generous, we don’t maximise the program, or both. First make sure you have the best credit card with the best rewards program for your spending pattern. Then think how each purchase can maximise points.

4. Be more demanding on your bank

Question your bank on everything. The interest rate on your home loan, discounts if insurance is part of the bundle, slashing/abolishing account keeping fees.

But don’t do it once, keep the pressure up all year round. If a penalty fee comes in, ask to have it removed. Be relentless.

5. Question any insurance premium renewals

Never, ever, automatically pay an insurance premium renewal. Always go to one of the insurance comparison quote sites to compare alternatives.

Ring at least one other insurance company for a quote.

6. Opportunities to earn money on the side

Whether it is a second job, a garage sale, starting a market stall or turning a hobby into a money spinner, there are a myriad of ways to earn extra cash. Keep all of this constantly in mind to identify any opportunities.

7. Manage your time … don’t waste.

Analyse your day, your week, your year. We all need downtime but there is a difference between leisure time and waste time.

8. Identify the waste time and turn it into earning or learning time with specific projects

From light bulbs to appliances and renovations, think energy efficiency when choosing a replacement. Electricity bills are set to skyrocket over coming years and this is where big savings can be made.

From solar hot water to simple door snakes to stop drafts, energy efficiency should be the first criteria behind selecting anything to do with the home.

9. Constantly ask the question: “Do I need?”

Rather than looking at something and thinking “I’d like” or “I want”, train your first thought to be “do I need?”
We’re not saying don’t spoil yourself on occasions, life’s too short, but asking “do I need?” before any purchase will cause you to pause, think and avoid those impulse buys which waste so much money.

10. Check that you are getting all your government entitlements

The facts are, an incredible number of people simply don’t apply for the government benefits they’re entitled too. Make sure you’re not one of them. Make a habit of checking all policies and contracts available in your health insurance policies;Pension funds for eligibility and the benefits that are available.

11. Organise all of your financial paperwork – For Companies and Individuals

The Tax Office wins most disputes because of the poor record keeping of taxpayers. – Well i know this is a nightmare to most of us, You know you are supposed to submit your annual personal returns to TRA, right? for self employees and business holders that is.

Spend time keeping the paperwork under control.
Happy Wealthy Year..2013 ALL

 

10 Money Saving Tips for Children

GUEST ARTICLE

It’s not a surprise that parents want their children to know the value of money, especially in an economy that does not seem to be turning around very quickly. How can you teach your children to save?

Take Their Allowance
Sure, it might seem silly to immediately take back money you give to them; however, consider the value. If you give your children $5 per week, immediately ask for $1 back and put it into a savings account for them.

Set a Goal
The next time your child asks you for a new toy or bike, tell him or her that saving up for it is a personal responsibility. Help create a plan to save that money up.

Make a Visual
Children will love noting all of their accomplishments. Create a thermometer on a big piece of paper, and they can mark off their individual goals as they move up the scale.

A Savings Account
For older children, let them have some control over their bank saving account. Warn them that they must keep a certain amount of money in there at all times, and if they don’t, they will lose some of their television or video game playing time.

Getting Jobs
Once children are into their high school years, they can start to work. When they have their own money to spend, they are more likely to realize the value of it. Individuals who constantly receive money from their parents tend to assume that the flow will never stop.

Math Classes
Of course, children are required to take math. However, suggest they take one that focuses on some fundamentals of accounting or economics or one that is more related to a home economics approach. Taking these classes can help them learn how to budget and to, once again, understand the value of money.

Collecting Coins
Have a coin jar near the front of their house, in their bedroom or wherever they tend to empty out their bags and pockets. Do not allow anyone to use the coins until the jar is completely full. As a result, children will see how every little bit helps.

Recycling Items
You can also teach them how money can be saved in the form of goods. Save up all of those plastic bottles and other containers, and go down to recycle them together. They will see that some money can be garnished from this simple act that is also healthy for the environment.

Match Their Funds
When they are little and receiving small amounts of money, offer to match whatever they receive for Christmas, their birthday, etc. If they receive $50 for their bank account, put in $50 of your own to help that account grow.

A Team Effort
Make a family goal, such as a trip to Disneyworld, for which everyone needs to save. At the end, show them exactly how their contribution helped out. Chances are, you’ll all feel a sense of accomplishment.

Hopefully, instilling these values into your children at an early age will make them smarter savers later on too.

Author Pam Johnson is all about saving money whether it be with her children or saving money on school. She enjoys blogging and is a contributing author for affordable online mba

 

The Single Worst Thing a Salesperson Can Do

Source: Telegraph.

To my readers in sales and Marketing and business owners this is interesting…

You’ll be wrong, you’ll lose respect, and you’ll send your customers running to your competitors. This is the worst possible thing you can do as a salesperson.

According to sales expert Dave Brock, there are three reasons why bashing your competition is an incredibly bad idea. In fact, it might even be the worst thing a salesperson can do.

1) You’ll likely be wrong. You may have done your research, but in all likelihood you don’t know every single detail pertaining to your company’s product offering and positioning.

And if you get something wrong how does that make you look?

2) You’ll shift the customer’s focus from you to your competitor. When you talk about your competitor’s offering, you’re making them the base of comparison, Brock explains.

Instead, keep the focus on you and the value you create. Doing so will establish you as the standard in your customer’s mind — and the level the competition has to rise to in order to compete.

3) You’ll lose your customers’ respect. “I have never seen a case where the customer respects it,” Brock says.

 

How To Effectively Follow Your Goal on Budgeting

                                                GUEST ARTICLE
To effectively reach goals in life, you must first map out a clear plan of action. A personal or family budget goal is no exception. To attain a desired goal, such as purchasing a new car, home or living debt-free, you’ll need a plan to follow so you can reach your goal on budgeting. Follow these tips to get started towards effectively setting and following a plan that will lead to your goal on budgeting.

Family Meeting
Start your goal-setting with a family meeting. Gather the family together and discuss how much money comes into the household and how much goes out on a weekly or monthly basis (if you live alone or if this is a personal budget, gather your check stubs and bill receipts). Then brain-storm for ideas on ways to increase income and decrease spending. Even the youngest members of the family should be involved in this start-up process so they can begin to learn the value of a dollar.

Make a Plan
After discussing expenditures, like food and energy costs, make a plan of action on how to cuts those costs. Setting a generic goal like ‘cut down monthly grocery bill’ will not help you effectively follow a budget. The plan must be concise and doable (if the money-saving steps are too difficult, no one will follow them). For example, set a goal of eating out one less time each week by cooking an inexpensive family meal to take its place, or opt to have a ‘meatless Monday’ to save a few dollars on the monthly grocery bill. Each dollar that is saved by making a plan and working the plan should go into a special savings account and spent only towards the agreed upon budget goal.

Have a Goal
Why do you want live by a budget? A clear, desirable and attainable goal will help you stick to a budget when you get the urge to splurge. That goal can be anything you and your family agree upon, such as braces for little Johnny, a family vacation to Walt Disney World or to be debt-free in five years. Keeping your eyes on that goal will help you stick with it when the going gets tough.

Make Saving Fun
A little family competition will make saving money fun and increase the savings. Play games to see who can save the most money each week or who had the best idea to increase household income. Compare notes once a week and give kids non-monetary rewards for turning out lights, turning off water and packing their school lunches, all of which will save money.

Limit Spending
Limit impulse purchases by setting a limit on the amount of money which can be spent without consulting your partner. If you have to stop and take time to discuss buying a pair of $150 pair of shoes with someone before you buy them, odds are you won’t make the purchase unless they are absolutely needed. The spending limit can be as low as $20, make the limit comfortable and doable so it will help you effectively follow your goal on budgeting.

 

Author Pam Johnson is very money conscious. She is currently going back to school for her MBA online and doing in affordably. She is a contributing author for affordable mba programs

 

INVESTING Vs. SPENDING TIME

Every one of us has two major choices on how to use of time.

1. Investing time.

2. Spending time.

We invest time when:
we use it today to create a flow of money that will keep expanding as we get into the future. Smart people start by identifying where to invest time and then use every minute of their time to take small steps that lead to creation of their own future income flow.

We spend time when:
-We do nothing and just let it go by.
-We use it to build small unstable businesses.
-We use it to work for someone for a fixed pay.
-We do not give enough time to an idea to fully develop it.

Spending time may involve working to obtain satisfaction or meet our needs in the immediate present. When we stop working, money also stops coming. Once we belong to a group of those who spend time, the time we use now will never pay us back in the future. We may be opened to lots of great ideas but trouble sticking with one long enough to develop it fully so it gives us a continuous flow of income.

The choices we make today on how to use our time determines whether we will have a serious income flow in the future.

Income generating sources like employment are excellent alternatives to start with in life but employment may be one of the riskiest income creating choices people make. Employment makes you a time spender not a time investor.

Smart people keep investing time. Most other people choose to spend time because they do not know the difference between investing and spending time.

Contributed by Paschal of Creative Minds Associations. (CMA)

 

FIRMS STRUGGLE TO CONNECT WITH WOMEN AS THEY GROW IN WEALTH

By Savita Iyer-Ahrestani on Financial Planning

I just read this article on FP site and found it very true and informative.

To all Financial institutions and advisors , women and Finances should be your target for 2013. The study was done on US market but can equally relate to our markets.

Financial advisors who think of women as a minority market segment probably need to think again.

Studies indicate that women are becoming a majority rather than a minority and represent one of the fastest growing client segments in the U.S.—a segment that both large financial firms and independent financial advisors cannot afford to ignore going forward.

Consider that 53% of women who participated in a recent Prudential Financial survey entitled “Financial Experience & Behaviors Among Women” are now the primary breadwinners for their families.

“Whether it’s because of their partners losing their jobs, because of divorce or because they’re deciding to marry later, women are increasingly becoming the major breadwinners in their households,” says Caroline Feeney, president of agency distribution at Prudential Financial. “We expect that this trend will continue as women are also graduating from school at a higher rate than men, successfully getting into the workforce and then succeeding at their jobs and rising in the ranks.”

All these social shifts have resulted in a sharp increase in women’s earning power and wealth creation power, says Teresa Dentino, founder and CEO of The Financial 411, a financial educationfirm in Woodside, Calif. Women today make up just under half of the nation’s millionaires, she says, and some have forecasted that they will hold two-thirds of the nation’s wealth by 2030.

Although many firms have recognized the great business potential that women represent and have begun to make serious efforts to better understand women and cater to them in a more productive and profitable way, Dentino believes that most still have a long way to go before they get a proper handle on how to really connect with women.

“While many firms are definitely taking note of the importance of women today, they still don’t quite know how to approach women in a meaningful way and to really understand women’s requirements,” she says.

Dentino believes that women need education more than anything else. As much as they may hold the wealth, most women have not had the direct experience needed to understand finance and financial planning, she says, so the onus is on financial professionals to give them the knowledge and understanding they need so that “women can connect the dots.”

“By educating women, you include them and this helps mitigate the lack of trust and fear they hold,” she says. “Education equals engagement plus empowerment.”

However, there’s a way to educate. More than anything, women don’t want to be talked down to, Dentino says, and the majority of financial advisors still feel like they have to “dumb things down” in order for women to understand them. Finding the right balance between bombarding women with technical jargon, graphs and numbers, on one hand, and “talking with them about their grandchildren or their kid’s school bake sale,” on the other, is the biggest challenge for advisors who want to reach out to women, Dentino says.

According to the Prudential survey, one in three women do not have a financial advisor but they are eager to work with an advisor to gain the tools and knowledge that they need.

“Advisors therefore need move from a transactional-based model to more of a relationship-based model, with a greater focus on education,” Feeney says. “The only way that women can become more confident about themselves and their financial planning abilities is when they get the knowledge they need and when they feel they can trust their advisor.”

According to Feeney, trust is at the core of what a woman wants from a financial advisor and is paramount in the female-advisor relationship.

“Our study showed that women are more apt to stick with an advisor once they have that trust in place, and they are more likely to place multiple products and service with one advisor,” Feeney says. “So while it may be additional work upfront in terms of education – both educating advisors on the importance of recognizing women as a potential market opportunity and then teaching them how to approach women correctly – I do believe that at the end of the day, it will be more than worth it for advisors to help female clients.”

That’s what Dentino believes, too, and she’s working with numerous financial firms to help them develop programs and train their sales staff on the many levels of adjustments they can make to better engage and serve their female clients.

 

Should You Trust Credit Card Comparison Websites?

Submitted by Guest Blogger: Andrew Black

Credit card comparison Websites are gaining popularity among consumers these days. The sites are designed to help people find the best deals when it comes to choosing any of available credit cards. Logically, using such resources is for consumers who do not have enough time and patience to do the tedious and long process of finding and comparing credit cards.

What most users like about credit card comparison sites is that they can determine some of the best deals in the market in no time. It may take only a few minutes or even seconds to take results. The competition among those Websites has also intensified as more and more new sites arise. Thus, you will find most of those having several other add-on features that will surely be useful.

Are those credit card comparison Websites to be trusted? There are questions and doubts about the reliability of such services. Meticulous individuals, of course, will not easily trust and rely such sites. But many can attest having found the best and most reasonable credit card products in the market through the guidance of such comparison sites.

The pros of credit card comparison sites

Credit card comparison Websites are best for taking a starting point for gaining an overview of the current credit card market. It is a fact that there are numerous credit card products available from various providers today. It can be quite confusing to determine which among those offers and provides good deals. It does not help that the cards are actively and creatively marketed. Comparison sites disregard the marketing ploys and tactics and focus on the basic information like interest rates, terms, fees, and penalties.

To provide better perspectives to consumers, most credit card comparison shops also post actual reviews of various cards from actual users and independent parties. Consumers are supposed to obtain more information and insights about owning and using specific credit cards. Moreover, some comparison sites try to broaden their coverage by comparing other financial products like mortgages, bank deposits, and insurance policies.

Most credit card comparison sites can be accessed and used for free. That is why you can possibly use two or more of those sites at a time. It is advisable to also compare results generated by such comparison Websites. This way, you can easily and clearly determine which products really stand out in the market.

The cons of comparison sites

Credit card comparison sites may have several disadvantages. First, some sites feature calculators and other services that require filling out fields with consumers’ basic personal information. Some sites use this as a strategy to get email addresses and phone numbers, which they eventually use to pursue and contact potential customers.

Second, there is no assurance that comparison sites cover all the existing credit cards in the market. This is why many consumers still do not trust and rely on those sites. In some cases, the best deals are found on manual comparisons, which on the other hand require more effort and time.

Andrew has been blogging about finance and debt management for over 4 years. Andrew specializes in low documentation loans and personal loans. Feel free to follow Andrew’s latest post on Facebook

 

Selecting a non profit debt consolidation company – Essential steps you should follow

Guest Article By: Rick Murphy

Do you swipe your credit cards very often? Are you floating into the sea of credit card debts? If yes, then you must be looking for nonprofit debt consolidation companies since they are more reliable and trustworthy in comparison to the profitable ones. Although you need to pay a certain amount of fees for their services, you can have the confidence that their main objective is not to make extra bucks from you but rather help you out to pay off the credit card debts.

Essential steps to select a non profit debt consolidation company

Here are discussed the essential steps that you need to follow while selecting a non profit debt consolidation company.

• Call up the Better Business Bureau – While looking for a non profit debt consolidation company, you need to check out if they’re registered with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Also, find out whether or not they have an established track record and less number of complaints. In case you find that the company you’ve chosen is not registered with the BBB, you should at once leave the company and search for a different one. There are several non profit debt consolidation companies and so, it is of no use wasting your valuable time on a risky company.

• Compare the fees and the charges – Once you narrow your list, you should compare the fees and the charges of the non profit debt consolidation companies you’ve chosen. Make a list of the companies that have been accredited by the BBB and are considered non profit. Call up the companies you’ve selected and find out their payment structure. This will help you choose the company that suits you the best.

• Credit score will not get hurt – Before you may decide to meet with a debt consultant from a non profit debt consolidation company, you need to know that they will consolidate all your outstanding debts and help you out with a better comprehensive payment. They’ll also make sure that your credit score will get improved with time rather than being hurt.

• Request for the 501(c) (3) certificate – If the debt consolidation company you’ve chosen is non profitable, then they’ll have the non profit certificate to show their tax status. However, if they only act as a non profit company, then you need to know that they do so just to increase their number of customers.

• Do the necessary calculations – Before you talk to a credit counselor, you should make it a point to do the necessary calculations. If the company tells you that they’ll charge 10% and then it comes to 12% on your calculator, you should at once bring it to their notice before you make the payment. It can be said that this process helps you calculate your personal finances and deal with them in a better way so as to keep your future secured.

By following the above steps, you will be able to select a non profit debt consolidation company and eliminate the debts that you owe in a much convenient manner.

 

Money-Savers That Turn Into Money-Wasters

Frugal living has become the mantra for people  since the rise of costs of living and Great recession started,  although some of people have been wisely frugal for their whole lives. However,  all money-saving tips are not equal. Sure, taking your lunch to work is a quick ways to save about Tshs. 5,000 to Tshs. 10,000  every weekday, but some other  methods for saving your pennies could end up costing you more than you  realize.

Skimping or Cheating on  Insurance

Before you cancel your insurance policy, you need to think  hard about the consequences. A damaged third part insured vehicle or a damaged home could cost a  lot more than the money you save on your insurance premiums. Raising your  deductible through a bank could be a better way to save, but make sure you can really pay that  deductible without incurring costly debt and bank charges. 

Buying  Things Just Because They’re on Sale

Frugal shoppers live for sales  and discount coupons, but don’t get so caught up in the sale that you end up  buying things you don’t need. Stock up on items you really use when they’re on  sale, but never buy something you wouldn’t purchase if it wasn’t on sale. You’ll  end up with a houseful of unwanted items and then may not have the money  available for something you really need. Ladies you know what I mean, we ran to buy discounted shoes and clothes that we do not even need.

Driving Extra for a  Discount

Sometimes you can’t see the forest because of the trees. If  you are focused so much on saving a few shillings per litre of gas, using a  coupon at a distant store or finding a better price at a store 20 miles away  defeats the purpose. Don’t forget to calculate how much you are spending on the  extra gas needed to get there. You’re also adding miles to your possibly  overworked car. A friend of mine drive all the way to town from Mikocheni to buy Us dollars for her DSTV bill because she claims DSTV exchange rates are bad, by a 5 shilling per dollar, you are driving to town to save TShs.400/- for a Usd 80 monthly DSTV bill. Not so clever!

Skipping  Car Maintenance

Car maintenance is one expense many people like to  skip, but the lack of routine maintenance can end up costing thousands of shillings in car repairs. You may even have to replace your damaged  car.

Not Funding Your  Retirement Account

If you’re scrimping and living from paycheck to  paycheck, the idea of skimming money off that check for a far-off retirement can  be daunting. We all know the Social Security fund  saga going on in our country.

Think about this: if you put away a few shillings everymonth for  years, those shillings will eventually turn into thousands. Plus, you may be  reducing your tax burden by using pre-tax shillings for the social security contribution (Employee’s share of contribution). If you  have an employer who’s matching your contributions you are throwing money away  by not at least saving the maximum match amount.Employer might convice you to get more by avoiding NSSF he is saving while you are losing his part of contribution.

 

Buying Cheap  Items

Cheap clothes, cheap shoes, cheap hardware items and cheap  electronics are all readily available, but if you find yourself replacing them  often you may end up spending more money than if you had bought a good quality  item in the first place. Your better choice is to look for good quality items on  sale. Chinese items are playing a big part into this category! selling good looking bad quality items at a lower price!

 

Living Cash Poor

If you try to  save money by keeping only a small amount of cash in your wallet, you may end up  wasting money on ATMs. If you go to your bank and avoid ATM fees, that’s fine,  but many people end up spending around Tshs. 5000 every few days to pull out Tshs. 50,000 out of  their accounts.

Buying the  Wrong Groceries

While bulk grocery shopping can seem like a great  bargain, if you end up throwing away tomatoes that’s gone bad, you’ve  simply wasted money and food. Some people skip buying expensive fruits and  vegetables, but they could pay for that later on because they’ll need extra  vitamins and possibly have health issues.

The Bottom  Line While saving money on small things can add up to big benefits,  make sure the initial savings won’t result in unforeseen consequences in the  long run.

MF

 

5 Ways Your Business Can Use Old Customers to Generate New Sales

By Melinda Emerson

Are you using your old customers to generate new sales?  If not, then odds are you’re losing out on a tremendous amount of revenue.  There are simple techniques to engage your customers to become an unpaid sales force. Here are 5 key ways to engage your old customers and generate additional sales in no time!

1. Offer New Discounts

It might seem simple to offer up new discounts to your old customers to reengage them, but the bottom line is that this technique works well.  While you might not get every old customer buying more or buying again, you will likely old customers’ attention.  This can be especially effective if the discount is truly a good deal and reminds them that you are still thinking about them.

2. Invite Them to Bring in Friends

Offering a discount is always a good way to reengage your old customers. However, giving them an even larger discount when they refer new customers to you can work like a charm. Not only does it get your old customer thinking about you again, but this process also brings new customers into your door and expands your business!

3. Offer a Referral Fee

Why not offer your old customers a straightforward referral fee?  The pitch would be something like, “I will give you X dollars for every customer you bring me that buys from us.”  If they already like your product and are a regular customer this tactic could be very effective. This will re-engage your customer and after all, who doesn’t like making money?

4. Launch New Products & Services

Telling your old customers about new products will get their attention.  You might be thinking, “I don’t have any new products.”  It doesn’t need to be a huge product launch, maybe you’ve created a new app for your company, started using a new system that has eliminate waiting at your restaurant, or launched a new website.  Any updates about your products or changes in the business could be interesting to your customers.

5. Follow-up Quickly After a Sale

Sometimes the best way to get your customers to help you attract new business is to get them to give you a recommendation in writing. Your best opportunity to do this is right after you sold them something. Within 7-10 days after a sale, you should contact your customers with a handwritten note or email to thank them and ask them for a recommendation your request should include a link to your LinkedIn account, Yelp profile, Facebook fan page or Google+ local listing.  You want to make it easy for your customers to tell their contacts how much they enjoyed doing business with you. They are far less likely to give you their time or recommendation if they have to hunt for a link to do so.

SOURCE :  SUCCEED AS YOUR OWN BOSS By  Melinda Emerson

 

Financing Tips for Small Business

One of the greatest challenges facing small business owners in Tanzania is the availability of funds for starting and operating the business.

When banks decline financing for the new business, as they mostly do, entrepreneurs may feel the need to resort to creative financing options. With some persistence and an open-minded approach, almost any business can receive additional funding through creative means. These options including taking a loan from a retirement account, taking on a partner, and using home equity as capital financing, Cash Floats

1. Take on a partner.   Ask a former co-worker, boss or friend about accepting a business venture. Speak to him about providing startup capital and offer what you can afford, plus sweat equity — which is work put into the business and repaid through the company’s earnings. Draw up a partnership agreement that details each partner’s role and financial commitment along with a buy-out option.

2. Cash Floats. In this technique an entrepreneurs  rely heavily on OPM (Other People’s Money) when they don’t have any of their own to launch a business with. It makes sense to use OPM even
when you do have your own money to mitigate risk–your risk.  One of the greatest American industrial companies was launched using cash float financing technique. I’m referring to the Ford Motor
Company.

Ford knew he could never afford to pay for all the materials needed to build a car up-front. So instead, he negotiated deals with dealers obligating them to pay cash for his cars. Then, he convinced suppliers to let him pay for the materials 30 days after receiving them. In this way, Ford could get his parts right away, build his cars and sell them to dealers at a profit before any of his expenses came due.

3. Silent Partners or Angel Investors : Another creative financing technique at your disposal is to seek out a silent partner. A silent partner is any investor who puts money into your business in exchange for future profits but does not have a voice in decision-making. This could be a wealthy relative, a co-worker or anyone else you can persuade to invest. Be careful, though, not to accept silent partner investment from just anyone. The ideal scenario is taking a little from someone who has a lot, as such people are unlikely to freak out about the inevitable ups and downs of a new business venture.

4.  Consulting Work: consulting work can help provide early seed money for new businesses,In his essay  How To Fund a Startup, Paul Graham wrote,

“Another way to fund a startup is to get a job. The best sort of job is a consulting project in which you can build whatever software you wanted to sell as a startup. Then you can gradually transform yourself from a consulting company into a product company, and have your clients pay your development expenses.”

Graham’s advice was admittedly tailored to technology startups, But one can envision the same model being applicable to other service businesses. Someone looking to start a small to medium-sized accounting firm, for instance, can take on freelance jobs in the early going and resolve to put most or all of that money toward growing his company. Different types of services businesses could conceivably do the same.

5. Hard Money Lenders: If your business is in a pinch and absolutely needs money by yesterday to capitalize on an opportunity, there are always hard money lenders. Payday lenders, for instance, make short-term loans at high interest rates. You get these loans  from SACCOS, small Microfinances at a rate of 10 to 30 percent per month!

But beware: there are very few circumstances when going to this type of lending establishment makes sense. The correct time to utilize a payday lender for business purposes is when you face a money-making opportunity that is certain, but fleeting, and which requires cash at once. If you can get the money quickly and use it for a deal that returns Tshs. 50,000,000  what does it matter that you paid Tshs. 5,000,000  in interest to get it? Then again, consider this your last resort for financing, to be approached only if you’ve exhausted all other options listed above.

Bottom Line

Its your call, If you’re failing at raising outside money but determined to take your project
from concept to operating company, you have a choice. One, you can continue
wasting more time chasing after disinterested investors and banks. Two, you can start to
make some headway today towards traction by learning from the elite
entrepreneurs who understand how to exploit entrepreneurial finance techniques
such as cash floats and others explained above.

Share with us If you know of any other Financing technique for a small business that worked for you or someone you know.

MJ

 

 

Illegal Interview Questions To Watch Out For

Source: Investopedia Carriers/Laws

Here, we take a look at some questionable questions that will hopefully not be  asked during your next interview.

1. Questions That Divulge Your Race, Color, Religion or National  Origin
When it comes to job interviews, according to “CBS Money  Watch,” hiring decisions may not be made based on race, color, religion or  national origin and as such, potential employers are prohibited from asking  questions that would require the potential employee to divulge any of this  information. Employers are allowed to ask questions such as, “Are you legally  authorized to work in Tanzania.?” They cannot ask you about your citizenship  status, nor can they ask where you were born. Questions regarding religion are  also off limits. Employers cannot ask you about which religious holidays you  observe, nor can they ask you about which church you attend. When it comes to  languages spoken, an employer may ask you if you are able to read, write or  speak a certain language so long as that language is relevant to the position in  question, but an interviewer cannot simply ask what your native language is. ( Well I was asked such Questions in Almost all interviews i attended, especially the age part)

2. How Old Are You?
Though many interviewers are able to deduce  an applicant’s age based on dates that may be voluntarily disclosed on an  applicant’s resume, it is illegal to ask an applicant what his or her age is  during the interview process. In certain instances, an  employer may ask an applicant if he/she is over a certain age (e.g. 16, 18,  or 21 are common ages seen on employment applications). Nevertheless, explicitly  asking for one’s age during a job interview is illegal.

3. Are You  Disabled or Married?
While some disabilities may complicate a  person’s ability to perform essential functions of a job, it is illegal to ask  whether or not a job applicant is disabled or any questions related to medical  history. More appropriately, an employer can ask if a candidate is capable of performing essential  functions of the position with reasonable accommodations, but explicit  questions regarding disability status are off limits. Similarly, questions about  your marital status are questionable. Rather than ask “Are you married?” or “Do  you have children?” many interviewers broach this issue by asking “Would you be  willing to relocate as needed?” or “Are you able to travel as needed for the  job?”

4. What Is Your Weight and Height?
Unless the  position for which you are applying requires applicants to maintain a certain  weight or be a certain height, it is not legal for an interviewer to ask you  about your physical attributes.

The Bottom Line
When  it comes to questions  asked at job interviews, a quick litmus test is to ask yourself whether or  not the question posed elicits an answer that is relevant to the job for which  you are applying

Read More Here

 

Four Easy Certifications to Add to your Resume

It’s a competitive job market out there. If you want to make sure that hiring  managers see your resume, you have to do something to set yourself apart.  Investing in a few simple, inexpensive training courses or certifications might  be just enough to give you a leg up on the competition.

This can also help to build up your resume and set  you apart from other candidates who may not have the certifications, or who may  need a bit of additional training once hired.

1. First Aid

Every organization benefits from having first aiders on staff, and  some jobs require that all workers are certified in first aid before commencing  work. This simple certification has wide application in the workplace and in  your personal life, and only requires a small investment of cash and time.  You can inquire through TANZANIA RED CROSS SOCIETY (TRCS) and Tanzania police Fire and Rescue Department on how to acquire such training and certificates. Online  courses are also available,The online courses  typically make use of videos, reading materials and other tutorials, while those  courses taught in the classroom tend to have more of a hands-on approach which  is great for helping to understand the real-world situations you may encounter  as a first aider.
2. Microsoft Office Speciality (MOS)

For many administrative and office-related positions, being proficient in the  use of Microsoft Office products is essential. But how do you prove that you’re  proficient? Well, Microsoft offers a certification as a Microsoft Office  Specialist (MOS), which essentially tests and assesses your skill level at each  component of the MS Office suite. You can simply enroll for Classes at a variety of Computer colledges in Tanzania. I recommend Institute of Finance Management (IFM ) IT&Computing Department  and UDSM Computing Centre (UCT). Choose the part of Microsoft  Office you wish to specialize in, or you can do one at a time if you want to get  more than one specialization. If you are a Computer literate You have the option to complete the exams without taking prior courses, but  there are also online courses you can take to assist with mastering the material  and preparing for the exam.

3. Cisco Certified Network Consultant (CCNA)

There are a wealth  of certifications available in the information technology (IT) field. Among  these is the Cisco Certified Network Consultant (CCNA) designation which is  offered by Cisco Systems. The CCNA certifies that holders are competent in the  installation of various network devices and cables. Though the CCNA designation  technically only requires successful completion of an exam,  many choose to  complete a training course before writing the exam. These training courses may  be a bit expensive in most cases, though actually a much  smaller investment than paying college or university tuition, and they can be  completed in a fraction of the time. Keep in mind that there are also online  courses which cost much less than the classroom-type training courses that you  can take. The computer-based CCNA examination costs $125 to write, and must be  organized through Cisco.

4.  Language  Certifications

Language certifications come in essentially two  forms: certifications for those that want to teach a language or for non-native  speakers who want to prove that they have acquired a sufficient level of  communication mastery to succeed in the workplace. Among the certifications  available for those who want to teach English as a second language, TESOL, TEFL  or TESL are some of the more common programs. These programs are great for those  who wish to go overseas to teach English, or even for those who wish to work  with newcomers to help them master the English language before heading out into  the workplace.

For those wishing to complete an English  as a second language (ESL) program, these are greatly beneficial to those who  have moved to an English-speaking nation and need to show potential employers  that their communication skills meet the standards in reading, writing, speaking  and comprehension. The cost of an ESL course can vary greatly depending upon the  duration of the course and where you choose to study. A variety of  post-secondary institutions and community colleges offer these programs. Keep in  mind that many of these courses tend to cost quite a bit – perhaps even a few  thousand dollars if you go through a recognized college or university – but the  strength it’ll add to your employability could be priceless

If you already have English language certification, try learn other new Language like French. Biliteracy offers potential occupational benefits. In a globalized world, bilinguals can get excellent career opportunities in retail sector, transport, tourism, administration, secretarial work, public relations, marketing and sales, banking and accountancy, translation, law and teaching.

 

What is GDP and Why is it so Important?

Recently the term GDP has been heard and or seen everywhere in our media in Tanzania, This follows the presentation of 2012/2013  Government Budget, Do you understand what it means? When Mh. Mgimwa said “The real GDP grew by 6.4% in 2011 compared to 7.0% in 2010” What did he mean exactly?

I will explain below in brief the meaning of GDP (Gross Domestic Revenue)

Map of Countries by GDP – Source Wikipedia

 

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is one the  primary indicators used to gauge the health  of a country’s economy. It represents the  total money value of all goods and services produced over a specific time  period – you can think of it as the size of the economy. Usually, GDP is  expressed as a comparison to the previous quarter or year. For example, if the  year-to-year GDP is up 3%, this is thought to mean that the economy has grown by  3% over the last year.
Measuring GDP is complicated (which is why we  leave it to the economists), but at its most basic, the calculation can be done  in one of two ways: either by adding up what everyone earned in a year (income  approach), or by adding up what everyone spent (expenditure method). Logically,  both measures should arrive at roughly the same total.
The income  approach, which is sometimes referred to as GDP(I), is calculated by adding up  total compensation to employees, gross profits for incorporated and non  incorporated firms, and taxes less any subsidies.

The expenditure method is the  more common approach and is calculated by adding total consumption, investment,  government spending and net exports.

Why do we Care about GDP?

GDP is the main measure of the health of the economy and is used by the central banks as one of the key indicators in setting interest rates each month. Also it is used by major international organisation like IMF to measure the Economic healthy of countries. See List of Countries by nominal GDP below (Tanzania No. 97) according to IMF data of 2011:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)#List

 

Taxation of Benefit In kind – Tanzania Income Tax Law

Kuna Mtu aliniuliza swali, amepewa nyumba ya kuishi pamoja na gari vya kampuni. Kila mwezi wanamkata kodi inajumuishwa kwenye PAYE haelewi kwa nini;

Benefit In kind inatokea pale muajiri anapofanya malipo kwa mahitaji binafsi ya muajiriwa kwa kumpatia bidhaa au huduma. (sio kwa kumpa pesa). Mfano ni Muajiri kumpatia muajiriwa Nyumba, kulipia ada za watoto wa muajiriwa,gari au kumpatia bidhaa au huduma bure au kwa bei ya chini.

Kuthaminisha kodi ya benefit in kind.

kwa ujumla kiwango cha benefit in kind kinapatikana kwa kulinganisha ile huduma uliyopatiwa na thamani yake kwenye soko. Kwa maana nyingine kama muajiri asingempa nyumba angeilipia kiasi gani?

Sheria ya Kodi tanzania inatoa maelekezo ya jumla ya kiasi cha pesa inayotakiwa kukatwa kodi kwa kupewa gari, Nyumba na Mikopo nafuu inayotokewa na kampuni kwa wafanyakazi wake.

Mfano wa Kuthaminisha Gari:  hii inategemea na saizi ya injini na umri wa gari. kiasi cha malipo kwa mwaka unagawa kwa miezi 12 na kukiongeza kwenye Taxable income of employment ya mwezi. ANGALIA CHATI CHINI.

Natumaini rafiki  umepata mwanga kwa ile kodi unayokatwa ya gari! kwa mifano zaidi ya jinsi ya kupata thamani ya riba kwa mikopo na nyumba tembelea tovuti ya TRA.

SAIZI YA INJINI YA GARI	KIASI   CHA MALIPO KWA MWAKA
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	GARI CHINI YA MIAKA MITANO	GARI ZAIDI YA MIAKA MITANO
ISIYOZIDI 1000CC	SHS. 250,000	SHS. 125,000
ZAIDI YA 1000CC LAKINI ISIYOZIDI 2000CC	SHS. 500,000	SHS. 250,000
ZAIDI YA 2000CC LAKINI ISIYOZIDI 3000CC	SHS. 1,000,000	SHS. 500,000
JUU YA 3000CC	SHS. 1,500,000	SHS. 750,000

 

Should you Pay in Cash instead of credit Card?

In this article i will focus on just one technique to improve your finances by  taking a close look at how making purchases with cash can contribute to your ability to budget, save and invest.

A Plastic Affair

 With the proliferation of plastic  alternatives to hard currency, some people consider carrying cash a  throwback.
To be fair, plastic is much sexier than a piece of colored  paper with a dead president staring vaguely into the distance. Some banks even  allow you to customize the graphics that appear on the credit  card/debit card or choose from a range  of designs and colors the company is marketing.
There  is also the security advantage with debit and credit cards. Debit cards are  protected by your personal identification number (PIN) and credit cards by your  signature (and for some cards, a PIN number too). Cash is only protected by your  ability to defend it should someone else want to take it from you.
Moreover, nowadays cards are as widely accepted as cash shops. And yet, from a personal  finance view, cash is almost always the better choice for making a purchase.  Here’s why:
1. Overpaying

One of the drawbacks of credit and debit cards  is that they encourage you to spend more than you intend to by giving you easy  access to more capital. With cash, spending more than you intended requires  going to a bank or ATM to get more and then going back to the store to complete  the purchase. For most people, this provides time to reconsider whether their  budgets can handle any extra strain.
Generally speaking, only carrying  the cash you are prepared to pay for a given product will prevent you from  buying the next level up and paying for features you don’t need. This works for  small-scale purchases, but buying a computer or a car can involve large amounts  of cash that probably shouldn’t be carried around. If a check  can’t be used, a debit card is better  than a credit card because you are spending money you have rather than money you  don’t.

2. Over-Shopping

Just as  cards encourage overpaying for one item, they also allow you to buy more items  than you mean to. Stores are set up to make products appealing in order to  persuade shoppers to buy more. Sometimes a shopping list isn’t enough to protect  you from impulse buys.

According to the  Dunn & Bradstreet study found that people spend 12-18% more when using credit  cards than when using cash. And McDonald’s found that the average transaction  rose from $4.50 to $7 when customers used plastic instead of cash.
So  what can you do to avoid this? Only carrying enough cash to buy the things on  your list can limit the damage. This is  the best way to keep shopping within your budget. If you are motivated, you  will find discounts or cheaper alternatives to your regular brands to make that  cash go further and maybe earn yourself a luxury item.

3. Cash Vs. Credit Cards

 Cash in this article, is strictly limited to money you have already earned and is sitting  there for you to use. Using your Visa to take a cash  advance and then carrying the cash with you will not solve the essential  problem of using high-interest debt to cover your expenses.
Cash has one  very clear advantage over using a credit card: If you buy something on your  credit card and end up carrying a balance, or only make the minimum payment each  month, you will incur interest at a rate of 20% or more of your purchase (which  can have you paying Tsh.20,000/- or more for every Tshs.100,000/-  you spend). If you save up enough  cash for the same purchase, you are giving yourself the equivalent of a 20%  discount by not using your card. Before  you even sign up for a card, make sure you know what you’re getting into.

4. Cash Vs. Debit Cards

If this article were only  dealing with cash as a better alternative to credit cards, no one would dispute  it. In contrast, debit cards seem to enjoy a protected status despite the  overkill on ATM fees and foreign ATM fees. Forgetting the fees, a debit card’s  main failure is that is trivializes purchases. Being a square of plastic, it is  hard to tell how much of your money is flowing through your debit card.
For most people it becomes a matter of 10,000 shillings here, 100,000 Shillings there, another 40,000  over here and so on until  they give up keeping track of how much has been spent in a day – let alone a  month. Then it’s a shock to their systems when the monthly statement comes  and it’s far too late to do any good. With cash, you can see the damage as it is  done and hopefully curtail your spending before it gets out of  control.

The Bottom Line Using a credit or debit card  offers more security than cash in most cases. For large purchases, carrying cash  is often not an option and writing a check or getting a bank  draft  may be more trouble than it is worth for some. Furthermore, if a debit  card is used responsibly, it is an ideal replacement for cash. A credit card can  also be a convenient tool, but it’s only a fair substitute for cash when the  balance is paid in full at the end of each month. Otherwise, your ultimate  reward for paying with your credit card will be paying off an even bigger  debt.

If you struggle to avoid overspending, shopping with cash is one  way to stick to your budget and limit impulsive spending.

For more Saving and Budgeting Tips check Out My article here: http://monfinance.com/2012/03/23/finance-tip-budget/

 

 

Financial Planning tip; Create or Update your Will

 

AUTHOR

Creating a Will is not our Culture; Majority of Tanzanians  don’t have a will and do not see the importance of having one. Many people think creating  a will is bad omen!

If you have dependents, no matter how little or how much you own, you need a will. If your situation isn’t too complicated you can even do your own with and find a lawyer to legalise it. Protect your loved ones. Write a will.

Who needs a Will?

1. Do you care who gets your property if you die?

2. Do you care who gets your money if you die?

3. Do you care who is appointed guardian of your minor children if you die?

Wills are not just for the rich. Regardless of how much or how little money you have, a will ensures that whatever personal belongings and assets you do have will go to family or beneficiaries you designate. Without a will, the court makes these decisions.

If you have children, a will is a must, to ensure that you get to choose your children’s guardian. Few people plan to die in the near future, but if you die suddenly without a will, you’ll be subjecting your family and loved ones to confusion and anxiety at what is already a difficult time.

Note that the best of wills won’t be any good if nobody knows how to find it. Make sure your family members and your executor know where your will is kept.

I will find a lawyer to guide us on how to go about creating a Will and share.  

 

Finance Tip before You Walk Down the Aisle

Though it  might be an exciting time when you’re considering taking the plunge and getting  married, don’t  forget that you really need to have a serious talk with your new partner about  money before you get married. Though this may be an awkward discussion to  have, especially in our African Culture, this may sound really bad,especially for men.  What kind of man who cannot provide for his Woman!

” Mwanamke Matunzo”

before you commit yourself into “Till death do us part” contract you need to know what that person earns, what debts they owe and what  their financial plans are for the future. When  you make those vows, you’re also agreeing to a financial partnership with your  beloved. You will need to know that their goals and spending habits are  compatible with yours and that you’re not marrying someone who will drain you  financially, destroying all the hard work you’ve done to create a financially  secure life for yourself.

 I say Long gone are the days of considering  single women to be spinsters. Women  are becoming more and more comfortable in taking control of their own  finances, shaping their financial futures and turning their goals into  realities.

        Monica.

 

Finance Tip: Know Your Market Value

Hello MonFinance readers, i hope you had a wonderful weekend. Today i am going to give you a tip on getting paid what your job  worth; and how to ask for a raise if you feel underpaid .

It sounds simple, but many people struggle with this  basic rule; getting paid what you’re worth and of course spend less than you earn .

Whether you are employed or self-employed,  Make sure you know what your job is worth in the marketplace, by conducting an evaluation of your skills, productivity, job tasks, contribution to the company, and the going rate, both inside and outside the company, for what you do. Being underpaid even one hundred thousand shillings a month can have a significant cumulative effect over the course of your working life.

After reading this and you feel underpaid; then you have to ask for a raise in a professional way.

How do you ask for a Raise?

Many employees make the mistake of asking for a raise because they need more money, can’t pay their bills, etc.  Your personal budgeting and financial problems are not your company’s problem.  Need has nothing to do with it, so it’s best not to talk about need when asking for a raise.

Base your request on your evaluation of your skills, productivity, job tasks, your contribution to the company, and the going rate, both inside and outside the company, for what you do.  Look at the entire situation from your company’s perspective, and base your approach on THEIR needs, and on what YOU can do for THEM.

However, no matter how much or how little you’re paid, you’ll never get ahead if you spend more than you earn. this is when the Budget Tip apply.  Often it’s easier to spend less than it is to earn more, and a little cost-cutting effort in a number of areas can result in big savings. It doesn’t always have to involve making big sacrifices.

Happy reading.

Monica.