AGILE GROWTH: EMPLOYEES VS. FREELANCERS

If you want to grow your business, you will undoubtedly face the following dilemma: should I hire someone or use a freelancer? For a start-up with scarce resources making the right choice can be the difference between gaining traction and wasting valuable, and finite, time and money.

The case for using freelancers usually sounds something like this: “Need new talent, but don’t have the resources or desire to take on a full-time employee?” … and that’s a great reason by the way.

Other good reasons for using freelancers include value for money, needing specialist skills and surge capacity for an ad hoc project. Some of the arguments against are quality control and the time it takes to get a freelancer up to speed.

There are some great articles about the main pros and cons of using freelancers. But there is no point telling you what you already know or can easily find out with a quick Google search. Instead, we wanted to share some of the lessons we have learnt through our own experience at vervoe.com, as well as the feedback our clients have shared with us. Employees versus freelancers: Which is best for you?

Here are some of the less obvious, but equally important, considerations when trying to decide between making a permanent hire and engaging a freelancer.

Retained Knowledge

Even if a freelancer does a great job, at the end of the assignment she is gone. She won’t call you next week with another idea or come back to fix something that was overlooked, at least not for free. While you will benefit from the outcome, you are unlikely to be privy to all of her thinking and preparation. So, it’s worth considering whether the task you are outsourcing is isolated or will have an ongoing impact on your business.

For example, it might make sense to outsource the task of sharing content on your preferred social media channels and even creating some of that content. But preparing your content marketing strategy requires buy-in from the founders or management because it involves deep product and market knowledge and a strong understanding of your company’s objectives. It is also a document you will likely want to revise over time so you need to understand it intimately.

Occasionally you may find an absolute gun who will only work freelance and it’s clear that she will provide greater value than an equivalent employee. Don’t dismiss working with her on strategic tasks just because she is a freelancer.

But structure the arrangement with two things in mind. First, be heavily involved in the thinking process rather than just waiting for the outcome and ask for all the draft materials. This may cost more but it will be well worth it. Second, try to retain her services on a long-term basis and treat her like she is part of the team. This will hold you in good stead.

Product Knowledge
The biggest cost associated with using any freelancer is the time it takes her to understand your product and market positioning. Therefore, your return is likely to increase over time and the first engagement is usually the riskiest for your company.

Really good freelancers will do their homework and tell you upfront what they require in order to make the assignment successful. They may ask to interview your customers. They may go through every page of your website. They may look at all your competitors. They will most certainly consult with their network. Good freelancers “get it” quickly because they prepare.

Unfortunately, only a very small minority do this. Most freelancers learn about your product and industry on your time and at your cost. Sometimes that is unavoidable. If you are paying someone under $100 you can’t expect them to dedicate hours to gaining a strategic understanding of your business. It’s simply not worth it.

The arrangement needs to be mutually rewarding. If you need a short video, a few lines of quick copy or an icon or two then a site like Fiverr makes sense. But if you need something impactful and you want a freelancer who will understand your business then prepare to pay more or make a permanent hire.

Motivation
When people do work for your company, how invested do you want them to be? A freelancer, even one with amazing dedication, is committed to a specific task rather than your entire business. She is unlikely to be as incentivized as your staff. Having said that, it’s all a matter of degrees. Your staff will not be as incentivized as people who have equity in your company and certainly not as incentivized as the founders. So is the answer to only hire employees and give them all equity?

That’s certainly one model but it’s not necessarily the right one and it assumes that financial gain is the main source of motivation. Your team members, from the founders to the freelancers, are likely to be motivated by a range of factors, including intellectual stimulation, learning new skills, working with like-minded people, building something exciting, doing a great job and of course having fun. And obviously money.

If your number one criterion is having people who are heavily invested in your business then hire them permanently, give them equity and lock them up. But that comes at a huge cost, especially for early-stage start-ups. And it’s not always necessary to get great results. The right freelancer can add enormous value and there are no guarantees your employees will always deliver.

Access to Elite Skills

One of the biggest advantages of using a freelancer is gaining access to someone you can’t hire. It’s not just the individual. It’s the level of seniority, the experience, the contacts and perhaps even the location. It might be the money or maybe your company hasn’t yet got enough runs on the board to attract elite talent. For whatever reason, you are not in a position to hire someone at that level.

But by using a freelancer you can get access to super talent and immediately inject value into your business. There are some amazing operatives in the market and under the right circumstances they can help you grow your business. When you find them don’t let go, freelancer or not.

First, think about the skills your founding team already has. Then figure out what you are missing. Keep in mind that “missing” in this context doesn’t mean the things you prefer not to do. It needs to be something that is genuinely critical to your success and you can’t do yourself. Something that you wish one of the founders could do. When this happens, you are in need of an expert.

Finding the right one isn’t easy and trawling through the freelancer sites is not likely to yield results. There are two good ways to find a true expert you can rely on. The first, and most likely safest way, is a referral. Contact a friend or someone from your network who has been in a similar situation and ask for a reference. Reach out to people in your network with the expertise you need and ask them for advice.

This article is by Omer Molad, co-founder and CEO of Vervoe.

7 MONEY MISTAKES THE MIDDLE CLASS NEVER STOP MAKING

by STAN EDOM

Moving from the rat race to the fast track is one of the biggest problems the middle-class population in every part of the world faces. They dream of financial freedom and talk about what they’d do if they “luckily became rich”, but still continue to make the same money mistakes that keep them trapped in their financial situations.

Kids these days are too focused on the fastest way to make money, rather than the smartest way to make money. They make mistakes trying to get rich overnight.

What money mistakes are these? And how can a large part of the population stop making them?

If you feel you’re currently in this position and don’t know how to break out of this group, here are 7 money mistakes the middle-class never stop making:

 Buying Things They Want, Instead Of What They Need:

The most successful organisations in the world market their products around people’s wants, not just their needs. They appeal to the masses’ fantasies and use their brilliant campaigns to make them desire the need to settle their appealing wants before their core needs.

The problem with this is it does nothing but keep a large part of the masses in degrading financial situations, while the owners of the businesses running these campaigns continue to get wealthier.

When you place you wants above your needs, you activate misplaced priorities, which in-turn negatively affects your financial situation.

By spending more money on what you don’t need over what you need, breaking out of the rat race would be very difficult for you to achieve.

Piling Up Excess Debts:

The people who borrow money the most are the middle class, and a large part of them haven’t realised that yet. In underdeveloped countries where credit cards aren’t rampant, people borrow so much from family and friends to settle their immediate wants and needs, and as these debts pile up, they realise they have little to nothing to save after repayments at the end of every month.

It gets even worse in developed countries where credit cards are the norm. Too many people swipe-away with their cards for almost everything they need. Thereby piling up extraordinary debts that can only hardly get settled.

One money mistake to avoid no matter what class you belong to in the society is to stray far away from debts that are not taken towards making you more money. If borrowing will only build up your liabilities, you should avoid it at all costs.

Not Having A Retirement Plan:

A retirement plan is what determines how well you’ll be taken care of in your later years. It ensures you have all you need even if you have no other means of income, and it guarantees that your basic concerns surrounding financial independence in your later years are to a great extent, solved.

Most people have no retirement plans. They look at it as a long-term process, and instead, choose to live for the now, because after all, “You Only Live Once (YOLO)”.

When you have the YOLO mentality, regrets will almost inevitably build up in your later years when reality sets in and there’s no way for you to raise money.

Having a retirement plan is planning for the future. And planning for the future, is one of the first steps to make a move out of the rat race.

Having Little To No Savings:

Most people have little to no savings. They spend everything on their immediate needs and make little to no efforts to put out at least 10% of their monthly income in an emergency fund or a form of savings.

When you have no savings, you’d have no money to take advantage of any sudden opportunities that come your way. Likewise, you’d also have no funds to take care of any unexpected emergencies that also hit you.

A key money mistake the middle class keep making is having little to no savings. And until they can learn to put aside at least 10% of their monthly earnings, breaking free from their financial situations would prove to be very difficult.

A recent report from Frugaa revealed how over 30% of the middle-class families around the world have no savings at all, with 69% having savings of under $1,000, meaning most people have little to no savings. They spend everything on their immediate needs and make little to no efforts to put out at least 10% of their monthly income in an emergency fund or a form of savings.

Depending Purely On Salaries:

A large part of the population lives pay cheque to pay cheque. Their lives revolve around their next salaries, and the only thing they aspire towards is to attain a promotion at work, so they can earn an even higher salary.

They brag about whose organisation pays better, complain about most of their bosses who do nothing but frustrate them, and spend a large part of their time talking about people they know are doing big things.

If you find yourself in these circle, change your association as soon as possible. People are infectious, and their way of life will affect yours. You need to be amongst people who motivate you to act, who push you with their success, and who do nothing but help each other grow.

Putting Their Children In Expensive Schools:

Every parent wants the best for their kids. But when they go as far as putting the family’s finances in harm’s way because they want their kids to attend one of the most expensive schools, they do nothing but threaten the family’s financial future.

The people who make this mistake the most are those who earn a considerably fat salary. They equate a huge monthly pay cheque to success, and so, ensure they step up most of their expenditures, including the class of schools their children attend.

Instead of putting your kids in the most expensive schools, you can put them in really good schools that charge a modest fee. A $4,000 a term school will never guarantee your child would be better off in life than a child attending a $400 a term school. Afterall, some of the wealthiest people around the world today didn’t even have any form of education.

Making Financial Decisions Solely Based On How They Feel:

One of the biggest mistakes people make in life is to make decisions based on how they feel, and not based on what is practical. There’s always a time to follow your guts, but when that time feels like every time, you’d always find yourself ending up with mistakes.

Hope is not a strategy, and making financial decisions based on emotional connections will do you no good. Brands build emotional connections with their customers so they can keep selling more products. The emotional appeals of their campaigns confuse the prospects and drive them into making decisions they think they’re completely in control of.

Experienced marketers also know this, and so, design their sales pitches around getting a sizeable number of people to act immediately.

When you make financial decisions based on how you feel, you lose money. And when you lose money, you push yourself deeper into the rat race. By realising your emotions could be your biggest enemy in making financial decisions, you can better understand how to control it, tame it, and shape it into what could become your best bet in avoiding many money mistakes that the middle class never stop making.

Source: startuptipsdaily.com

BASKETMOUTH ANNOUNCES ‘ONE MAN’ COMEDY SHOW IN LONDON

By Murtala Abubakar

Bright Okpocha, professionally known as Basketmouth, will headline a one-man comedy show at the Indigo at The O2, London.

The show, scheduled for February 2019, will be the first of its kind by a Nigerian comedy at the venue.

“I’m saying it as it is, things I’ve never said before, the truth….nothing but the truth. Believe me…..you’ve not seen anything like this one before,” the comedian wrote about the show tagged ‘The Son of Peter’.

Basketmouth, who celebrated his eighth wedding anniversary on Tuesday, will perform at the upcoming Global Comedy Fest in Dubai.

Eddie Kadi, Bovi, Salvador, and Acapella are among the lineup of comedians for the festival.

Basketmouth is also expected to host Wande Coal’s London concert on November 11, at the Indigo at The O2.

On the same day, another Nigerian singer, Simi, will host her maiden UK concert at O2 Academy Islington.

Basketmouth was recently named Pan African comedian of the year at the 2018 Savanna Comics’ Choice Awards.

He has won the award for two consecutive years.

Source: thecable.ng

US-TRAINED PR EXPERT, ARSENAL FAN… MEET ISSA-ONILU, THE NEW APC IMAGE MAKER

By Chinedu Asadu

On Friday, the All Progressives Congress (APC) announced Lanre Issa-Onilu as its new national publicity secretary, taking over from Yekini Nabena who had been in acting capacity since Bolaji Abdullahi left the party.

The new APC image maker is a specialist in strategic public communications planning, with years of experience in corporate and political communications as well as policy analysis and development issues.

What else do we know about the man that would handle the party’s image as it strategises for the 2019 polls?

US-TRAINED SCHOLAR

Issa-Onilu studied mass communication at the University of Lagos, after which he proceeded to obtain an MS Certificate in integrated marketing communications from West Virginia University in the US.

He also studied at New York University where he took courses in advanced public relations and media audience research.

He has also attended several seminars and conferences in the US and UK, including at the prestigious World Advertising Research Council (WARC) in London, UK.

PUBLIC RELATIONS EXPERT

The new APC spokesman also has years of public relations practice to his name — surely would come in handy while taking charge of communications at the ruling.

He is an associate member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and member of the Public Relations Society of New York.

He is also a corporate member of the International Communications Conference (ICC) at the Baruch College, State University of New York, and is also an associate member of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON).

SEASONED JOURNALIST

Issa-Onilu has worked variously as a media relations executive and journalist for up to 15 years and, according to his professional bio data, he also has experience spanning over 13 years working as a policy and development issues strategist, public perception analyst and communication planner.

He joined the Comet Newspapers in Lagos as a news editor and — just like the current spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) — worked at THISDAY newspapers, as an assistant editor (Sunday) and later group politics editor.

He also worked for the World Investment News (Winne), France, for the production of a special report on Nigeria’s democratisation process, published in the June 1999 edition of Forbes International Business magazine.

PUBLIC LECTURER

Issa-Onilu has written many papers and delivered lectures on public communication, crisis communication and reputation management as well as integrated marketing communications.

He also delivered a paper on ‘How to prepare a marketing plan’ at similar workshop in 2008.

Outside the shores of Nigeria, he has also spoken at various lectures and conferences regarding communications and public relations, including at the Baruch College, State University of New York, US, where he spoke on crisis communication and reputation management, before an international audience.

ARSENAL FAN

The new APC image maker is a supporter of Arsenal Football Club in the English Premier League. He is also an amateur golfer. His hobbies include reading and travelling.

Source: TheCable

FOR THE FUN OF GARRI

 

By Owoyemi Agbejule

It's really a life saver.

You don't need a first class degree to know how to 'soak' Garri, all you need is a cup or bowl. If you are scared of your stomach, don't forget spoon or if you are like me, a typical Ijebu boy, then your hand is enough to do the trick. You can add sugar if you like but, I love that tingling feeling without sugar that elicits an exciting frown when the Garri comes in contact with the taste buds.

If you grew up like me you take it with either eran dindin (fried meat) or eja dindin (fried fish). You could also take it with Kuli-kuli which usually gives the satisfaction of hearing your teeth crunch it with ease. Coconut can also do the trick. If you don’t know how to do the Garri well, all you need do is just add cold water and have a lot of ice playing Merry-go-Round in the cup or bowl. Mind you, I advise that you go with Ijebu Garri, but if you don't have access to that my brothers and sisters make do with what you have. 

For ages it has been a very useful companion as it plays different roles to different individual across the social strata. Garri does not discriminate. The rich, the not-so-rich and the poor turn to it as in-between meals, main meal or to replace some kind of exotic snacks.

If you don't have enough in that pocket of yours don't panic just buy twenty naira (N20) garri. Pour it into your bowl, add water to a very reasonable level, cover it and go visit a friend or go see a movie. By the time you get back you would think you added yeast.

My brother and sister I can go on and on but let me stop here. Continue to enjoy your garri and be creative about it.

NAOMI OSAKA: SUCCESS TURNING THINGS AROUND

By Emma Ugolee

Unlike Nigeria where mixed race people (half Caucasian, Asian or Caribbean) are often easily admired and preferential treatment almost guaranteed, the exact opposite is the case in a lot of countries. Apartheid South Africa called then Coloureds. The Government in Zambia and Zimbabwe didn't go easy on the Goffal, which was the outcast term for mixed people

The Japanese are probably the worst of all at maltreating the biracial. They called them Hafu.

In 1998 a hafu girl was born to a black father. Mr Francoise. For loving a black man, her mother was ostracized from her family for a decade. The experience the child brought was one to be remembered for life so they named her Osaka by the city of her birth. Naomi Osaka.

That was the same name inscribed on the trophy for the winner of the U.S Open. With a cash prize that raised her worth to $7.3m outside an Addidas and Nissan deal. But that's just half of the story.

The main gist is that the whole of Japan is now "claiming relationship" with this 20-year-old who had to migrate to the US with her family at age 3. 

Nissi foods Japan has endorsed with millions of dollars. Others are negotiating. The news got her Japanese grandpa crying with pride on tv that his grand child is the 1st Japanese in history to win this. This was the same man that orchestrated the 10year long family ban on her and her family.

Success and her many relatives vs Failure the orphan. 

Lesson for me and you. Those who disassociate themselves from you when you are down should never be a cause for despair. Thier disloyalty has no business with your ability to find your feet again. In their trade mark shamelessness, they remember ties once you rise.

I was at the video shoot some 13years or so ago when my bro @uzodinmaokpechi shot this Nkem Owohs rendition of Stanley Okories song. As we all laughed at the comic side of his act, I remember Nkem Owoh saying. "Success na still the best answer anyday".

His words are still as potent today. Ignore how many are in your corner. Eyes on the prize and win. It changes everything.

OBITUARY: RAS KIMONO, THE REGGAE APOSTLE AND LIFELONG CRUSADER WHO KEPT DREADLOCKS FOR 36 YEARS

By Chidi Chima

Wielding his blunt message as a weapon, Ras Kimono, while he held sway, dominated the Nigerian music scene and cultivated many-a-acolyte with his conscious songs.

The dreadlocked legend lived and breathed reggae in all of its entirety. He used the genre to speak, without ceasing, of the ills of the land and to fight the cause of the oppressed.

Even towards the last years of his life when reggae waned and dancehall blossomed in the Nigerian music industry, Kimono firmly bore the touch like a blind loyalist, continuing to charge the young ones to use the genre to speak truth to power.

He once famously said: “As long as Ras Kimono lives, then reggae is still alive in Nigeria” but now that he’s dead, what becomes of the genre made popular around these parts by the departed icon?

‘SUPERSTAR OF SUPERSTARS’

Ras Kimono inspired many musicians, some of which include Austin Peter, Daddy Showkey, and Kenny Saint Brown who once described him as the “the superstar of the superstars when we were growing up”.

During Kimono’s 60th birthday, which would be his last, Showkey spoke of how the Rastafarian hugely impacted and inspired his music and lifestyle.

He was effusive in praise of the man he called “father”.
“He gave me the platform that made me the Showkey that I am today. He is my father, I carry dreadlocks because I want to be like him,” Showkey had said.
Born in May 1958, Ras Kimono, real name Okeleke Elumelu, had his first musical exposure with The Jastix, a group which comprised Amos McRoy, Black Rice Osagie and Majek Fashek.

The musician would later, on his own, release a debut album Under Pressure, led by the single ‘Rhumba Stylee’, a massive hit in 1989.

Under Pressure was released on the Premier Music label, earning Kimono continental stardom and acclaim.

During the course of his career, Kimono toured Africa, Europe and the United States with his Massive Dread Reggae Band.
‘ADVOCATE OF THE PEOPLE’ 
Kimono was a mouthpiece of the people in principle and in practice. To have a firsthand feel of the tribulations of the downtrodden, he never strayed far from them, no matter what fame brought his way.
In multiple interviews, he listed his musical inspirations as Jehovah and the suffering of the common man.
“I live where the people live so I can see the tribulation they are going through; suffering and the humiliation, so we can put it into our music and expose it.”

Kimono was no self-serving, all mouth no action conscious reggae musician. He truly believed in what he preached and lived by it.

He once said If he does not expose hardship and injustice, “who will do it for the people?”

‘LEGEND PISSING ME OFF’

Legendary status is attained through years of consistent success and longstanding influence, and while Ras Kimono can be rightly considered a legend, the late singer will protest at being given the title if he were alive.

An interviewee once called him a legend and he replied, saying: “If you’re calling me legend, then what will you call Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey who are alive? The ones that are dead, Sunny Okosun, Oliver De Coque, Osadebe, what will you call them? Icon?

“Nowadays everybody is saying he is a legend, legend, legend and that word is pissing me off. So, at the end of the day, people don’t even know the worth of a legend. When people call me legend I’m indifferent about it.”

Kimono may have been indifferent about the word, but when the cap fits… the cap fits.

REGGAE vs DANCEHALL

Like a mother hen protects her chicks fiercely, jealously and lovingly, so did Kimono care for and tend to the genre called reggae.

His was a life of sacrifice; sticking to pure reggae and churning out pro-masses songs, defeating the temptation of crossing over to the dancehall of luxury.

Hence, he made sure to succinctly and effortfully point out the difference between reggae artistes and dancehall artistes — at any given chance.

“A lot of reggae musicians like us, were not rich because we don’t sing what they want us to sing.

“Reggae artistes are Ras Kimono, Majek Fashek; apart from that, other youth dem are dancehall artistes. They just want to have fun and make money.

“But reggae, you have to deal with truth and wrong and face the government squarely.”

KEPT DREADLOCKS AND DIDN’T TASTE ALCOHOL FOR DECADES

Ras Kimono has a discipline worth emulating. All his life in music, he never tasted alcohol or smoked despite being surrounded by both.

He often told anyone who cared to listen that “I have never smoked and I don’t drink alcohol”.

Kimono said he never partook in the sexual orgies and booze benders associated with the celebrity life.

The peer pressure and overwhelming urge to indulge never broke Kimono. Such was his discipline.

The same discipline could be seen in his devotion to his locks, which he maintained for over 36 years.

The dreadlock was in existence for as long as his career as an entertainer lasted, and throughout that period, Kimono was an ardent vegetarian.

FELA-INSPIRED HIT SONG

Kimono, a few years ago, revealed that one of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s many incarcerations inspired ‘Natty Get Jail’, a major hit song of his.

On how the song came to be, Kimono said he wrote it when Fela was locked up, but the Afrobeat maverick secured bail before he could put out the song.

It was originally titled ‘Fela Get Jail’ but had to be renamed after Kimono insisted on its release.

In 2017, after 36 years in the music industry, Kimono remained unyielding, sticking to conscious music which he said had “brought me fame and fortune”.

Even then, Kimono maintained that “present day reggae artistes are scared of singing about crimes, corruption, killing, rape and other bad stuff, so many of them are shying away from the truth”.

Kimono, who now takes his place among Jah’s soldiers in Zion, was a fiery champion of the masses who used reggae music to fight a lifelong battle for equal rights and against injustice.

Source: thecable.ng