Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category

TECHSYS CENTRAL-A Zambian Start-up

Campbell Lumbila March 23rd, 2010

Techsys Central is a Zambian start-up company specializing in ICT & Marketing Consultancy. The obstacles they face are getting contracts with Companies and access to finances.

They deal in Computer repairs, Software and hardware installation, LAN design and maintenance, Data Recovery, Corporate branding, Sales & Promotional events to name but a few. They would like to get connected with Companies that are doing the same business so they know how best to achieve their set goals and aspirations.

Please give them some feedback by using the contact information below:

S. Mwaba Kunda – Enterprise Manager
Techsys Central
Mob: 0977-782525/0966-782525
E-mail:mwabask@gmail.com

THE CHALLENGES OF DOING BUSINESS IN AFRICA

Campbell Lumbila March 19th, 2010


Early this month on our facebook group for Young Zambia Leaders we asked people doing business in Africa to give us some of the challenges that they’ve faced and how they’ve overcome them. Mr. Kangwa Musole Nkonde running an engineering solutions company-The Munelo Group gave us this response:

My wife and I run an engineering solutions company that we started 9 months ago. Prior to commencement of operations we engaged in rigorous electronic, print and in-person marketing, whilst still in formal employment. Pessimistic as this may sound, it really takes a long time to develop customers’ interests in your services. However, what eventually leads to building strong relationships with your clients is positive persistence. This must also be supported by objective and pragmatic parameters that you must have drawn in your business plan.

From the outset, our busisness objective has not been profit centred, but customer base development. And so, with this said, our key business approach has been one that focusses on ensuring we price our services at rates that are no where near comparative market rates. Obviously this practise is not long term, and additionally, this does not adversely affect the business because as a new business, overheads are not as high as established businesses. Pricing your services at similar rates as fully established businesses will throw you out of the market rather sooner than you would expect. Nonetheless, this in no way means that you should price your services unfeasibly. Every project must be self funded, implying, your rates must meet expenses of a “whole project” albeit, at a very minimal profit percentage, which increases progressively to within market rates as your customer base grows.

Your “current” project is a point of reference for future prostective customers, therefore, you must deliver it in full compliance of the client requirements, or better.

As a new enterprenuer, you must not be over-ambitious or expectant, because, sound as your business plan and competition aspirations may be, you are throwing yourself into a sea that is overwhelmed with both ethical and unethical business practitioners. You always have to render services that set you different from other market players.

We have also learned to appreciate that a business plan must always be treated as a live document, because the business environment evolves constantly, therefore frequent revision of your business plan in adaptation of current market trends is essential.

In todays economy(s), it is extremely difficult, if not impossible in some instances for a “start-up” business to obtain loan capital from financial institutions. Qualifying requirements are onerous, the reason it is necessary not to wholly device your business plan around finance institution funded capital, but on private or personal funding.

You may visit our website at www.munelogroup.com for an overview of our business services.

WATCH : HAVE YOUR BEST YEAR EVER!

Campbell Lumbila February 8th, 2010

Start Where you Are!

Campbell Lumbila December 10th, 2009

Many of us want to achieve big things but we easily get discouraged when we think of all the energy, time and resources it will take to reach our goals. There is a Chinese proverb that says that ” a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” That might cliche but its the absolute truth. Everything you want to achieve in life, regardless of how big it might be, begins with a simple step or action.

Forming a company that makes a difference in people’s live begins when you put down your ideas on paper, begin saving money to fund your enterprise and eventually stepping out to put feet to your faith. Many people think they need a lot of money to start a business but that is not always true. Start where you are. If all you can afford to save is a few dollars, find a way of being involved in some sort of trade. Trade begins when you find a need and fill it.

 I remember growing up in Zambia, Africa and being sent by my mother to buy vegitables from a group of old women by the street corner. What theydid may have looked degrading but they started where they were. The street boys in my city who came to the bus I was riding and sold bubble gum started where they were. The most important thing is not how you begin your journey but rather how you end it.

This principle applies to leadership as well. Many of us might feel and know that we are leaders at heart. We enjoy leading people and helping them achieve great things. However, we might find ourselves in positions at work, school, church or social spheres where we are the ones being led. My encouragement to you is; start where you are. We must learn to say to people, “FOLLOW ME, AM RIGHT BEHIND YOU (John C Maxwell).”  In other words we must learn to lead while we follow. One way to do that is to develop a servant leadership philosophy for our lives. We must learn to lead while serving because this is the most effective way to lead anyway. Let us find ways to serve the people around us and not just those above us. Servant leadership builds influence and influence is Leadership. Therefore, start where you are!

Lastly, as we draw to the close of this year, I know many have already vowed to do things differently in 2010. However, I want to encourage you to start where you are. Don’t wait for january 2010 to start thinking about your goals and objectives. Don’t wait to start the excercise of self evaluation. Create some time now for self evaluation and planning so that you can hit the ground running in January 2010.

The art of starting where you are is the art of self Leadership and self awareness. Its the secret of great achievers so Start where you Are!

Are you Winning?

Campbell Lumbila October 15th, 2009

I’ve been reading a lot in the last months and one of the books I was reading asked the simple question: How do you know that you winning in business and life? That is an interesting and thought provoking question.

Well, when you watch a soccer match and your team scores first you get excited because your team is on the wining path. How do you know? The goal of the game is score points and when that happens you know you’re ahead. The score or ‘win’ is clearly defined. You win if you’re ahead in points at the end of the game.

Its the same principle in life. We must have clearly defined goals so that we can celebrate when we win. Each one of us must complete this sentence everyday of our lives: I won or scored today because…..seriously fill in the blanks. Clarifying your goals simply means knowing what you want to achieve and doing it. When you complete that goal that means you’ve won. It’s that simple.

In a business setting the goal can be as simple as treating our customers well in order to create a great customer base or as Ken Blanchard calls them; “Raving Fans”. So whenever you have a regular walk-in customer converted to a die-hard raving fan, then you just won.

Winning in business and life takes time, dedication and perseverance but in a paradoxical way; winning is simple.

CHALLENGE THE STATUS QUO

Campbell Lumbila August 14th, 2009

Catherine Booth, co-founder of The Salvation Army once said, “There is no improving the future without disturbing the present.” That statement rings true in life today but if you are like me, you probably have a rhythm of doing things and it becomes hard to depart from routine. 

While is it easy to become accustomed to the existing state of affairs around you, realize that you cannot do anything extraordinary in your personal or professional life until you learn to challenge the status quo.

The status quo, while mostly comfortable, can be the cause stagnation in business and life. Many companies have missed great opportunities because they’ve held on to the “normal” way of doing things. Perhaps the most devastating effect of maintaining the status quo is ineffectiveness. People and organizations become ineffective because they’ve not recognized the ever changing landscape of the business environment or the culture around them. Therefore, holding on to the norm becomes a death sentence.

Challenging the status quo is about doing something out of the ordinary; something that has never been done before. It’s about reaching for the stars and tapping into the creativity in us and in others in order to find innovative solutions to challenging problems. Challenging the status quo is about pushing the boundaries of human ingenuity so that “we can boldly go where no man has ever gone before.” Challenging the status quo is about embracing real and radical change and the process which makes the change possible.

So how do you begin challenging the status quo in both your personal and professional life? Here are a few tips with the help from Kouzes & Posner and their book “The Leadership Challenge.” I have paraphrased a few things in order to fit my audience.

1. Ask questions

Challenging and changing the status quo in your personal and professional life begins with a few obvious questions I.E. why have we always done this thing this way? How useful is this in helping us become the best we can be? How useful is this for stimulating creativity and innovation? If your answer is “absolutely essential” then keep it. If not, change it.

Encourage those around you and in your company to ask the same questions and make a firm commitment to changing whatever doesn’t work.

2. Gather Ideas

Someone out there might be doing it better and there is no shame in learning their ways as long as they work for you. The biggest mistake we make is that we do not listen to outsiders and Kouzes & Posner also point to this fact. We can be so busy listening to insiders who, in most cases have a bias view, instead of listening to outsiders who can offer us with insight into what is working and what is not. In fact Kouzes & Posner advise that we spend 25% of every weekly staff meeting or personal meeting, listening to outside ideas for improving processes and technologies and developing new products and services.

3. Clarify your Mission

What exactly do you exist to do as an individual or business? We can easily fall into the trap of activity that we forget to remind ourselves just why we are working so hard. It is also important to ask ourselves if we are indeed fulfilling the mission for which we exist. The status quo begins when we fail to fulfill our mission or become complacent and seize to challenge ourselves.

These are just a few things that I think will help you challenge the status quo and of course there are many more.


WELCOME

Campbell Lumbila February 2nd, 2009

Welcome to The Secrets of Leadership Success.
Our vision is to help you achieve your dream by using very simple but profound techniques which can be learnt by anyone. We want to help you understand your unique design by re-discovering who you are, formulate a vision that allows you to express your passions and in the process bring you great success and satisfaction. We also want to help you to develop your leadership potential and learn some basic life management skills. We bring all these aspects to work in a synegistic fashion so that your life is effective, successful, meaningful and has a positive impact in the world.