Beautiful Soul - Jesse McCartney #musicfriday #90smusic

It's funny how time flies; from once upon a time, don't talk to boys;
To now, 'so who are you seeing'?

It's funny how times have changed; from once upon a time, guys chase after girls
To now, girls chase after guys 

It's funny how the loves songs we grew up to know, were about guys begging girls not to leave them; promising not to break hearts; guys pledging loyalty
To now, guys bragging about how they can't date an "ugly girl" (I mean!! What is ugly? *kmt*)......YQ

How they are only gonna break hearts....Taio cruz
Yes I have my sources
Singing about how a girl can hit it big if she has a baby by them.....50cents
Or simply asking what girls want from them! Hian!!
C'mon!! We used to call the shots na!!

Remember; "I don't want no shy guy"...."I don't want no scrub" et al?
Jeez!! Now you hear ladies singing songs like
"Please don't leave me"
"Tryna sleep with a broken heart" etc
The last straw for me was listening to the song about ladies meeting guys halfway!!! -black eyed peas
Adonbulivit!!!!
Whatever happened to the good old love songs
"I'm down on bended knees"
"I'm going crazy"
The list goes on

Anyhoo, enough ranting. Our jam for the day is a beautiful beautiful song about +Jesse McCartney beautiful soul Sombori!! Hehe. Where's he by the way. (Jessie that is)

This song does it for me for more reasons than one. As always, the rhythm on point, and then the lyrics are beautiful. Simple, no lustful innuendos, just him professing love In the plainest, purest and 'beautifulest' way ever!!! 

Enjoy!

 Source: http://tattoos.fansshare.com/

Click here if you can't see the video

Tell me again why you still doubt that the best songs ever were produced in the 90's.

"Beautiful Soul"

[Intro:]

I don't want another pretty face

I don't want just anyone to hold

I don't want my love to go to waste

I want you and your beautiful soul

I know that you are something special

To you I'd be always faithful

I want to be what you always needed (This is where I faint!)

Then I hope you'll see the heart in me

[Chorus:]

I don't want another pretty face

I don't want just anyone to hold

I don't want my love to go to waste

I want you and your beautiful soul

You're the one I wanna chase

You're the one I wanna hold

I won't let another minute go to waste

I want you and your beautiful soul

Your beautiful soul, yeah

You might need time to think it over

But I'm just fine moving forward

I'll ease your mind

If you give me the chance

I will never make you cry c`mon let's try

[Chorus:]

I don't want another pretty face

I don't want just anyone to hold

I don't want my love to go to waste

I want you and your beautiful soul

You're the one I wanna chase

You're the one I wanna hold

I won't let another minute go to waste

I want you and your beautiful soul

Am I crazy for wanting you?

Maybe do you think you could want me too?

I don't wanna waste your time

Do you see things the way I do?

I just wanna know that you feel it too

There is nothing left to hide

[Chorus:]

I don't want another pretty face

I don't want just anyone to hold

I don't want my love to go to waste

I want you and your beautiful soul

You're the one I wanna chase

You're the one I wanna hold

I won't let another minute go to waste

I want you and your soul

I don't want another pretty face

I don't want just anyone to hold

I don't want my love to go to waste

I want you and your beautiful soul

Ooooooo

Beautiful soul, yeah

Oooooo, yeah

Your beautiful soul (this phrase! Oh lawd)

Yeah

Meera Stitches - Gbemisola lawal #inthespiritofenterprise

Tell us about yourself

I am Lawal Gbemisola(nee Adisa). A wife, mother, academician , community builder , Agric economist and a fashion designer.

Tell us about your business

MEERA STITCHES is my business name . It is a fashion outlet where we are on the mission to promote our culture and local economy through the use of native and traditional fabrics, by specially designing these fabrics into unique styles that can compete favorably at international level.

We now have specialization and recently opened a kiddies African boutique to ensure we imbibe our culture through dressing from early years, but our line for adults remains solid too.

How did you get into this line of business?

How I got into this line of business is always funny to me, but I believe it's predestined. While I was serving my nation(NYSC) in Benue state. I was posted to Nigeria Immigration Service, but after the close of work and weekends I was always idle and I didn't like this, so by the second month into my youth service I enrolled myself with a fashion designer in my neighborhood with the aim of whiling away time and probably for personal use in near future. I learned sewing of office and English wear from Enex fashion School and realized that I was becoming enthusiastic, so after 6 months with her I proceeded to another fashion designer who specializes in Igbo and general native designs and spent another four months. All in all I spent 10 months to learn the craft.

After NYSC I rented an apartment and went into real sewing for business and since then have never stopped doing this work I love so much.

What inspired the name Meera stitches?

Meera stitches inspiration..hmmmm....It was initially Mira fashion house but when I went for CAC registration MFH was rejected and I had to stick with my next option. I had initially planned to go into partnership with a friend named Grace and I am Gbemisola. We joined the MI and RA in our names to form Mira, but for a better reasons we forgot about the partnership and agreed I use the name which wasn't approved anyway. I just like the sound of Mira and decided to extend the pronunciation and I came up with Meera Stitches, a name I will forever be proud of.

What main challenges have you faced and how did you overcome them?

My main challenge was starting because I was also running a Masters degree Programme when I started which made it a bit hard. But when you love what you do , the passion will keep you going, besides I learnt how to manage many things at a time when I was the Team Leader of SIFE (ENACTuS), University of Ado-Ekiti.

How would you summarize your journey so far?

I will just say thank you lord for giving me the strength and courage to keep going. And also appreciate all those that love me and who are never tired of motivating me.

Given the chance will you do this again?

Given the chance I will definitely do this again and again

What advice do you have for other businesses starting up?

My advice for upcoming businesses just like my own is that we should always dream big and remain focused.

Contact;

18b, 1st floor Rayop complex extension, airport junction alaakia Ibadan

08029998518, 08071608233

Strategies for getting your foot in the door.... #srikedanvil

I heard something last week that inspired this post. It is going to be a two week discussion on strike the anvil. We'll start this week with getting your foot in and conclude next week with closing the deal. I was having a discussion with a friend and he told me how a business man chased (and I mean chase!) a corporate company for sponsorship for three years! Three years!! Trust me, this is real life, no kidding.

Getty Images

We went into this long discussion about how many proposals the communications desk officials or corporate affairs desk officials receive in a week. Can you guess? From a reliable source, I hear about 100 to 150 thousand? So what guarantees yours getting read as opposed to getting trashed? Seriously? You can't expect a team of say five people to dutifully study each 3 to 4 page proposal do you? Then some of us now have the 50 page ones! Hahahaha....

Another key point we talked about was the importance of networking. At the end of the day, the best door openers are people you already know and this is why entrepreneurs spend time networking. There is nothing wrong with leveraging relationships with people that you have built trust with over time such as old colleagues, school mates, mentors etc.

Tomorrow on strike the anvil, we will be examining strategies based on experience and maybe some literature on how to ensure that your proposal at least gets read. Better put, we will be looking at how to get your foot in the door through whatever method you chose, whether its a proposal, cold call, presentation and so on.

Define your target 

Before you start fishing, be sure you know who your ideal customer is. What's their profile? You want to only approach companies or individuals that are a "fit" for the product or service you are trying to sell. Save yourself the stress. Who are you going after and why are they a "fit"? What are their purchasing patterns/history?

Who are the key influencers and decision makers within the company. It will be worth your while to take your time to research and get this right before building your prospect list or going after them.

What's in it for them? Have a benefit statement

Think this through when putting your proposal together or before stepping up to engage your target. At the end of the day nobody has time, so you better be offering value and be able to communicate this value in your first few minutes.

Say you have just five minutes to get your point across, don't waste the first four on gibberish or small talk. Get to the point. Spend time to practice how to clearly articulate why this prospect should spend their time listening to you or reading you proposal in the first place.

Why you? Answer this question before  you make a move

What is your unique selling proposition? Of all the 100 and something thousand proposals they get in a week, why should they consider yours? How are you meeting their need differently? You better be sure you have identified that need and that it exists. You should be able to communicate this unique selling proposition in two or three brief sentences.

I came across something interesting on the content marketing institute site. They call it the wedgepower. They ask the question, how do you get your foot in the door of a prospective client despite these challenges–especially at locations where you don’t have a personal introduction or relationship, and nobody knows you?
their answer: Use a Wedge.™ - http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/

I totally agree with this wedgepower strategy.We would like to hear your experiences and how you got your foot in too. Tune in tomorrow through the enterprise radio app or via the website www.enterpriseradiong.com at 9 am Nigerian time. Call in on the dedicated numbers 09090000061, 09090000062 or interact with us on twitter @eradiong

Looking forward to interacting with you. Cheers!

Funding and Business Development Opportunities For SMEs in Nigeria

Does your business make impact in the following space?

• Agriculture and Agricultural Processing
• Manufacturing: Production of affordable products/services with high relevance for women, youth and (or) small holder farmers 
• ICT and Media 
• Recycling and Renewable Energy

Nextzon has been commissioned by Oxfam to implement an Oxfam funded business development service platform for SMEs in Nigeria.

Objective:

The Objective is to identify qualifying SMEs (with specific impact objectives) that can be structured and made bankable for potential funding. This will include Expanding SMEs and Early Growth Enterprises with difficulty accessing finance.

Selected SMEs will have the opportunity to be funded by an Oxfam supported impact fund (in either equity, quasi-equity or debt and as the business case may justify).

Areas of Interest:

SMEs across the listed sectors impacting women, youth and small holder farmers through job creation, improved incomes and the availability of affordable products and services of high relevance (to the target groups).

Your business could be eligible for the Oxfam Impact Investment based on the following criteria:

• Your business is a few years in operation and has started generating revenues
• You are socially committed and are willing to take on social and environmental responsibilities.
• You are committed to meeting environmental, social and corporate governance standards.
• You have a proven track record in your line of business.
• You are supported by a strong management team with a proven track record.
• Your business model is attractive and you have a clear value creation strategy.
• Your business is well positioned to benefit from market growth.
• You are looking for an investment size of between € 100,000 and € 1,000,000.

If you think your business is an ideal candidate to receive an Inclusive Impact Investment, proceed to application stage.

Follow this link - APPLY

Please have your financials and financial projections handy for this process.

Note: if you do not receive an email notification confirm the receipt of your application, contact the below:

Visit: http://www.inclusive-investments.com/

Email to: ventures@nextzon.com , nextzonventures@gmail.com , infonigeria@oxfamnovib.nl

Call/Text: 08166452418, 07017726747 or tweet: @smecapex

I go stay - Nosa Omoregie #musicfriday #olurotimi

It's on days like this when I wake up and I just find that I'm angry and cranky for reasons unknown to me;
I'm just in that very low place and can't place my hands on what sent me there
Those days when I'm just pissed at everything and I just want to scream and not pray
Cos I can't find the right words to say!
No I don't want to cry
No I don't want to ask God why
No, I don't want to be there! But hey! I am!
No I don't want be askd why I'm
In this low place
Cos I don't have the answers
No I'm not depressed
I'm just distressed
The anxiety kind of distress....I guess!

Aaa argh!
It's on these days I remember songs about persistence
Songs that are not only rhythm worthy
But also lyrics worthy
And so for days like this
I turn on my music device and sing out loud along with  +Nosa Omoregie on his
'I go stay' track!!
No I might not feel immediately better (or maybe I might)
But I'll enjoy the moment of singing out loud because it's an awesome song with awesome lyrics that make so much sense and will eventually
Make me less
Distressed; somehow......!!
The power of amazing songs!
That said! Find lyrics below and enjoy this awesome song!

Cheers to the weekend!!!

I GO STAY, I GO WAIT - watch video

Intro

whoooo who wwho…

sababdadada…

who who hu huu…

When I wan pray I no dey pray like who no get faith

Me I no dey rush I no dey pray like who no fit wait

I no dey pray in an anyhow way

but according to the way wey God talk say

make we dey pray (make we dey pray) i i..

And when I dey pray for any matter

And he be like say the matter no dey better

I no dey shake

I no dey worry

As long as God still dey for heaven

(CHORUS)

I go stay

I go wait

Till my prayer don prevail (requires pleenty patience!)

And my faith

no go shake

Cause Jesus never fails

I go pray da

fervent prayer

Of the righteous must avail

God go answer me before i even open mouth say (in Jesus name)

He get one man

Him name na Elijah

This guy pray

And God no deny am

He tell God say I no want rain

And for three years plus

God honour Him name

What of Jacob wey tell God

Say If You no bless me You no dey

commot

What of Hannah

What of Esther

What of Jabez

and the rest

See this guys them wey I mention

Back in the days, them dey hold God to ransom

If this guys fit dey call God attention

What of me wey be New Creation

CHORUS (TWICE)

No case go fit make me cringe

Because I dey rely on my Master’s grace

I no dey do like who no get God

Christ in me no be just to dey talk

I go pray in Spirit

Pray in tongues

Because i be priest, I go pray for all

CHORUS (Four Times)

In Jesus name, call the name

In Jesus name, call the name

In Jesus name, call the name

Biike's Castle - Adeola Laketu #inthespiritofenterprise

Tell us about yourself

My name is Laketu adeola, an entrepreneur, CEO Biike's castle. The last born of the family of four. I live in the ghetto side of the popular agege Lagos. I am a christian, like gisting, making new friends, dislike pretense and I respect creativity

Tell us about your business

Under Biike's castle, we deal with sales of any kind of hair extension, (Peruvian, Brazilian, Eurasian, virgin, synthetic) but that's just by the way. Our main focus at Biike's Castle is making all kinds of shoes , bags, sandals and slippers, for both genders using leather and fabric.

What Inspired you to go into this line of business?

Hmmm......my inspiration is kind of funny and weird. What really inspired me was when I saw a disabled guy (Speech and hearing impaired) doing exceptionally well in shoe making, but was always getting cheated because of his challenge, so I walked up to him and begged him to allow me work for him as his personal assistant /secretary and he agreed. I started by learning sign language .....since then I have been hooked.

How will you summarize your journey so far?

It has been challenging, at the same time fun. I am enjoying it now.

What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them?

Mmmmm.....when I started, I was discouraged by friends and family but because of the passion, I grew with time, I couldn't let go. 

Soon, I stopped being bothered about what people had to say about being a pro lady shoemaker.

Given the chance will you do this again?

Yes! Its been God all d way.....its been fun!!

You can contact Biike's castle on

adeolalateku@gmail.com
08037564577
@ladycobbler

Start where you are..... It's practice #strikedanvil

Hi everyone, "E kuu valentine" (a yoruba phrase that is used to greet people for almost anything, e kuu subsidy, e kuu j'oko, e kuu dide etc). Hehe. But seriously, how did the day go? Especially for those of you who thought INEC had saved you, only for them to pull the plug on your perfect excuse! hahaha. +Trezorlandia got loads of last minute panic calls a few days to d-day. 

The enterprise radio app has been down for a couple of days and I have been biting my fingernails, waiting and hoping +Abiodun Oyetunji our IT guru gets it sorted before the next show. I checked in on the app this morning and voila! It was working. Glooowray!! (Glory with an attitude) hehe. It can be quite discouraging when you feel like you are just talking into thin air... which brings me to one great meme I saw recently, in fact two;

First one is of Ed Sheeran; 

 You do know +Ed Sheeran and how huge he is now. His song #thinkingoutloud is smoking hot and has been named one of the greatest love songs of all time. If you haven't heard the song, you gotta listen here;

Who would have thought he started out with really humble beginnings.

The second picture below reminds me of something I heard +Asa OfficialMusic say in an interview she gave some time ago. She said, her mentor told her to always perform with all of her heart and might (para-phrased), that even if it was one person in the room, she should perform like she would for a hall filled with people. 

Running my show, knowing the app was down was kind'a close but not as close and I was almost discouraged, so imagine how it would be performing in a large auditorium to a handful of people. The thing though, is to never stop, just keep going, worst case you would have got good practice.

This week on #strikedanvil we will be discussing humble beginnings under the fancy title "start where you are". Many times we don't do anything because we are waiting for the hall to get full, or the money we're saving for that big office to get complete and so on. Guess what, that perfect moment most likely will never come. How about you start now, in your father's backyard.

Joining us in the studio is Kolawole Betiku.

Betiku kolawole a graduate of chemical engineering (best believe when I say engineers are the bestest!! hehe) from the prestigious university of Lagos. He is a certified negotiation specialist, (TNSB, Usa), a partner at Ekinalok Company and also doubles as head of business innovations and strategy development. 

He is a dynamic young man with a positive mindset towards achieving landmarks. A native of Ondo state, a relationship coach and founder of an empowerment scheme called CHANCE. Kolawole has always been an entrepreneur since he graduated from the university. He has successfully developed winning strategies by consulting for international and local brands.

Kola has vast experience working with young students to develop their entrepreneurial skill sets and make a living even while in school. We will be talking about this and his experience with helping students start from where they are.

Now the app is back up, so if you haven't downloaded it, please do - www.enterpriseradiong.com You can also listen in by just going to the website or on tunein - www.tunein.com/enterpriseradiong . Don't stop there, ensure you tune in tomorrow at 9:00am to listen in and interact with us via twitter @eradiong @sonaike or by calling in on any of the dedicated numbers - 09090000061, 09090000062.

Look forward to hearing from you!! 

Cheers guys.

GMX.com - Nonso Temisan Afujo #inthespiritofenterprise

Gone are the days when some professions were looked at as being meant for drop outs and non serious minded people. I remember when one of my mentees wanted to make the switch from the sciences to arts, he said his school counselors made his life miserable, like "what, you are too brilliant for art class, why do you want to waste away, bla bla..." . We have come a long way and now more than ever before, people have the support and encouragement to be the best in whatever they choose to pursue.

This is why now, we have musicians with PHDs and DJs with MBAs like our friend here, Nonso....

Tell us about yourself

My name is Nonso Temisan Ajufo. I am a twin. I have a twin sister, an older sister and an older brother.

Tell us about your business

I am the CEO of Big N Inc. And Centurion Dj ltd. I am a dj by profession. I do strictly corporate events, weddings and shows.

How did you get into DJ-ing?

When I was in london. I reunited with a friend of mine called Kennedy. He was djing at a house party in coventry. I took interest in it because I saw the craft drew the ladies to you. I harnessed my skills and made it my daily bread.

Was your family in support of this, considering you background and degrees?

I come from a very liberal Family. Our motto is "be the best you can be". My dad has always said "if you want to be a shoe shiner.....be the best around" it's that simple.

How has your academic background impacted on your business?

There's simply no substitute for education. My MBA and Bsc have played a very pivotal role on my career. It has seamlessly allowed me to incorporate strategy and risk management into my business as a whole. I have been able to use different models from my education to gain competitive advantage in the industry. It has also helped me in terms of brand positioning. Something I might not have thought of otherwise.

How did you get the deal with Mavin records?

It's not a deal per say. I think Talent speaks for itself. I started out as Dr Sid's official Dj, after sometime, there was need for me to dj for the whole team. They have since become family.

How will you summarize the journey so far?
Like I always say..."the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts" don Jazzy being the head of the SMD (supreme Mavin dynasty), it's been easy to move forward and propel towards success, because he has a gift of foresight. Sid is a highly intellectual person which makes it more than easy to communicate with him. Tiwa is a darling and doll. Reekado, d'ija and Korede are also a bunch of sweetness. What more can u ask from a team. The right atmosphere and environment has been created which facilitates motivation and positivity.

What are the main challenges you have faced and how have you managed them?

To be honest with you, I can't really say I have faced challenges yet. But I would be silly to say none may come. Every structure or institution is faced with challenges and problems at a particular time. But i think that's where crisis management comes in. Life isn't complicated. What's blue is blue, what's black is black.

What is your long term vision for your business?

I see my self in the nearest future as fulfilled, I'd also like to create an avenue where djs and entertainers get their due. Djs are still being disrespected in the society, as they believe it's the street boys and ragamuffins that do it. I want to create a platform where there will be specific structures put on place and a minimum value you can pay a dj in this country. They will also have technical and entertainment riders where clients will have to adhere. Until then, I don't see djs being treated seriously.

Given the chance will you do this again?

Most definitely

What advice will you give to others trying to harness their talents for success? 

The same advice I give everyone. If you dream it, it's achievable. You cannot know the price of a hummer if u don't go and look for it. Secondly, maximize opportunities. I always say, opportunities are like lagos highways and roads. No zebra crossings...if you don't cross, no one will wait for you. Period.

Ifeoma - Felix Liberty #olurotimi #musicfriday

In this 'evolutionary' age  where things aren't as they used to be and men out there no longer deem it necessary to 'woo' a lady. (Olurotimi, I can't believe you just said woo! hahahaha)

Men have now made themselves champs feeling like limited editions!! (If I hear!)
These times where almost everything you hear in indigenous lyrics is about sensuality!
I have come to appreciate our ancient (maybe not so ancient) indigenous musicians who expressed how much they needed women to make their lives complete! You could hear the desperation in their lyrics! Hehe!
This brings me to our Friday jam!! *drumrolls*

Ifeoma by Felix liberty.......

This song just makes me happy! One because I remember the dance moves in the video, two, because the rhythm I love and three, the lyrics! I find the lyrics hilarious! All 11 lines! LOL! Felix Liberty ain't playing games yo!!!

Please Enjoy!!

Manage this - Ifeoma video I remember watching the video back in the day, but I have scanned the internet and can't seem to find that video

Instrumentals

1

Ifeoma 7x

I want to marry you, give me your love

Give me your love, just gimme your love 2x

Repeat 1

2

Ifeoma oh oh

Let me know your mind

Ifeoma oh oh

Let me know your mind

Let me know 5x

Your mind

Let me know 5x

Your mind

Back to 1

3

I want to marry you

Baybay I'm serious

I want to marry you

Darling I'm serious

I don't wanna play no games

I don't wanna mess around

I don't wanna jive no more

I wanna settle down

Just gimme your love 4x

Repeat 3

Back to 1

You know what I'm saying Baybay

I want us to get together

I love you so much

I don't wanna jive no more

P.S. I couldn't get the lyrics online so I did it the old school way. Play-stop-write-play-stop-write so for any errors you notice, kindly bear with me.