Is Entrepreneurship a ‘Successful Outcome’ for Government Programs?

The way that entrepreneurs are viewed by the federal government continues to evolve. Savvy policymakers have been pointing to new and young firms as the true engines of economic growth for several years — but you can really see the progress when it filters down to federal programs.

If it filters down to federal programs.

When the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) was signed into law in 2014, it replaced the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and updated the performance metric system. Until now, entrepreneurial training was not a legitimate option since it was not viewed or tracked as a “successful outcome.”

The Department of Labor is soliciting input from the American public on the new set of performance metrics — intending to streamline reporting requirements and to allow “apples to apples” comparisons across programs to gauge effectiveness.  The deadline for the comment period is June 15.

Fast Growing Business Investment Opportunities in Nigeria

What are the best small scale business ideas in Nigeria? What is the best business to start in a harsh environment like Nigeria or Lagos? What are the best small business opportunities for Nigerians (Investment Opportunities) living in Diaspora or oversea?
Are you an entrepreneur or investor looking for where to invest your money with good returns? Do you want to invest in Nigeria but you don’t know where to invest your money?? Do you want to know where to find fast growing business ideas in Nigeria? Then I advice you read on because this article was written specially for you.
For quite sometime now, my email box has been filled with request from fellow Nigerian entrepreneurs asking for the fastest growing business opportunities in Nigeria which they can invest in. Before I proceed with any detailed explanation, I want to state clearly that there are untapped small scale business opportunities in every industry both in Nigeria and all over the world; you just need to dig deeper to find such niches.

Now for those landing on this blog for the first time, i think it is important i introduce myself briefly. I am Ajaero Tony Martins (+2348022628615); an entrepreneur and investor, with a passion to share my knowledge and also learn from others. I own the biggest business blog in Nigeria and probably the fastest growing entrepreneurship blog in the world.
Now from my personal experience and interaction with Nigerians both home and abroad, I came to observe that many people are interested in investing in Nigeria by setting up their own companies but fear seems to hold them back. I have met individuals who have been living and working abroad for over ten years; they have made a lot of money over there.

This Week in Entrepreneurship Policy: Regulatory Burdens, Capital and .Sucks

Members of the House return from a one week recess and have several hearings lined up to note. The House Committee on Financial Services tackles the regulatory over-reach of Dodd-Frank as well as legislative proposals to enhance capital formation and reduce regulatory burdens. Meanwhile, the Small Business Committee examines peer-to-peer lending and the Judiciary Committee listens to stakeholders on the .Sucks domain and guaranteeing trust and accountability on the internet. Other issues covered in the House include FCC reauthorization and protecting consumer financial data hackers.

On the Senate side, the focus on cybersecurity continues for the Foreign Relations Committee as well as the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

HOUSE

Bridging the Small Business Capital Gap: Peer-to-Peer Lending

House Committee on Small Business

2360 Rayburn HOB

Wednesday, May13

11:00 am

6 common investment strategies of fund managers

The criteria that mutual fund managers use to select their assets vary widely according to the individual manager. So when choosing a fund, you should look closely at the manager's investment style to make sure it fits your risk-reward profile.

"Investment style is incredibly important because of the way that investing works," says Chris Geczy, director of The Wharton School's wealth management program at the University of Pennsylvania.

"Both risk and return are connected to style. According to current practice portfolio theory, you can optimize a blend of styles for diversification, balancing reward and risk."

Entrepreneurs Share Secrets to Achieving Balance between Work and Family in Second Founders School eBook

Because entrepreneurs have to be “all in,” their businesses can consume them unless they devise and follow strategies for balancing the competing demands of work and family.
In “Startup Balance: Finding the Harmony Between Work and Life,” the second eBook in the Kauffman Founders School series, startup owners share their pull-no-punches secrets for creating harmony between the people they love and the dreams they’re trying to accomplish.
The founders were interviewed as part of the Founder Genius video series, in which entrepreneurs share insights on starting and running businesses. The eBook content was drawn from those interviews.
The featured entrepreneurs share their perspectives on the journey toward achieving work/life balance, including minimizing stress in family interactions, setting boundaries around time commitments and the importance of spousal support.
The ongoing Kauffman Founders School eBook series addresses topics that are important to new and prospective startup owners, illustrating both the anxiety and the excitement of taking the entrepreneurial leap.

Title Inflation and the Rise of the Startup Ninja

Ninjas. Gurus. Czars. Creative job titles are on the rise. But what can possibly explain this growth, if growth is indeed happening?
The ranks of ninjas and rockstars in startups are seemingly growing. Anecdotally, inflated and creative job titles are considered so common now that they have even become fodder for comedy sketches like this one.

Similarly, the data we have available points to a similar direction: LinkedIn professional titles, job ads and Twitter bios suggest a trend of increasing use of creative job titles.

Source: LinkedIn’s Blog

It is easy to write off this trend as a tongue-in-cheek quirk. Probably, that is part of it. But I think that there is something else going on. Maybe this is another way to glamorize startup life. Or, maybe, the entrepreneurship world has a case of “medieval jobs envy,” in addition to a potential “zoology envy.” 
This is speculative, of course, but I see this broad trend as a title inflation of sorts. Developers become ninjas. Social media specialists become wizards. Analysts become warriors.
I venture that there are at least three mechanisms going on: 1) Employers use it to signal an informal workplace; 2) Companies use it to signal the value of their employees to outsiders; and 3) Employees accept the trade of titles for cash.

Legacy Pension Managers grows shareholders fund to N1.76bn

Legacy Pension Managers announces a 37 percent growth in its shareholders fund from N1.285 billion to N1.765 billion in the 2013 financial year. The company also recorded net profit before tax of N730.29 million, showing a 40 percent rise from N522.34 million in the preceding year


Profit after tax stood at N454.14 million, growing 31 percent from N346.47 million in 2012.

The chairman of the board, Mahey Rafindadi Rasheed, who read out the company’s performance at the sixth annual general meeting held in Abuja, also disclosed that the company’s assets under management grew 23 percent to N140.024 billion from N114.228 billion figure of 2012.

He explained that the clientele base of the company had also grown to 243,339, representing a 9 percent increase of 20,795 from the previous year’s record of 222,544.

According to him, the number of beneficiaries of the various forms of pay-outs also increased in the course of the year. This, he attributed to carefully crafted management strategy based on prudence, innovation and exceptional service delivery of the company.

Entrepreneurship: A Path to a More Productive and Inspired Workforce

It’s time to dispel the myth that entrepreneurs are purely in it for the money.
While significant financial gain could be a big payoff of pursuing entrepreneurship for a select few high-scale entrepreneurs, a need to fulfill a sense of engagement in one’s work leads some to start up.

A Gallup poll found that only 13 percent of employees worldwide are engaged in their jobs. That leaves 87 percent of workers reporting they are ‘not engaged’ or ‘actively disengaged’ and are emotionally disconnected from their workplaces, making them less likely to be productive, according to the report.

Gallup Job Engagement Definitions

• Engaged employees work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company. They drive innovation and move the organization forward.

• Not Engaged employees are essentially “checked out.” They’re sleepwalking through their workday, putting time — but not energy or passion — into their work.

• Actively Disengaged employees aren’t just unhappy at work; they’re busy acting out their unhappiness. Every day, these workers undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish.

In the United States, 30 percent of workers are engaged in their jobs, 52 percent are not engaged, and 18 percent are actively disengaged. While we seem to be faring better than the rest of the world in terms of job engagement, engaged workers represent one-third the size of our disengaged co-workers. 

Nigeria to host investment forum in Russia — Envoy

The Nigerian Embassy in Moscow, Russia, said it has concluded plans to host an investment forum focused mainly on energy for the business community in Russia.

The investment forum is meant to boost trade relations between the two countries, which is said to be very low.

Nigeria’s Ambassador to Russia, Chief Asang E. Asang, who disclosed this in Russia, at an investment dinner organised by the Nigerian National Committee, NNC, to the just-concluded 21st World Petroleum Congress, WPC, in Moscow, said the forum is scheduled to hold on August 1, 2014.


Asang said, “On August 1, the Nigerian Embassy will host the Russian community to an investment forum. The focus of the forum will be on Energy and hydrocarbon distillation.”

He added that the forum, which will have in attendance about 50 Nigerian investors, will be declared open by Nigeria’s First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, who will also use the forum to push her pet project for caring for the under-privileged.

Anatomy of the 1 Million Cups Entrepreneur

1 Million Cup organizers from across the country gathered last week in Kansas City at the Kauffman Foundation for the 1 Million Cups (1MC) Organizers Summit.
At the Summit, my colleague Arnobio Morelix and I presented our latest research findings about 1MC. Our research draws from data collected through a survey of 1MC founders from across the country. We received responses from 605 entrepreneurs coming from 58 different cities. We asked 20+ questions about themselves (founder) and their startup.
Examples of questions included:

How would you describe the stage of your company?
What sources of financing have you drawn from to finance your / current company?
What would you say is the primary sector of your venture?
We distilled our findings into two useful tools for 1MC organizers and entrepreneurs: The Anatomy of the 1MC Entrepreneur Presentation and an Interactive 1MC City Map.
Primary Findings:

The demographics and skill sets of 1MC Entrepreneurs
The business stage and financial state of 1MC Startups
1 Million Cups is a Launching Pad into the greater entrepreneurial community and to other organizations

Presenting entrepreneurs roughly double their participation in local entrepreneurship events.

SMALL BUSINESS IDEAS IN NIGERIA PT 1

Are you in search for small business ideas in Nigeria here is list of 15 fastest growing small business opportunities in Nigeria. For quite some time now, my email box has been filled with
request from aspiring and emerging entrepreneurs asking for the fastest growing business opportunities in Nigeria which they can invest in.

How Entrepreneurs Can Use Boards to Help Grow Their Businesses

The earlier series, released in January, features startup thought leader and investor Brad Feld.
Dutia’s insights, “A Board Member's Perspective,” supplement Feld’s videos, which teach entrepreneurs how to build and configure boards that help their companies thrive.
In his six-video Kauffman Founders School series, Dutia recommends that startup companies:

• Designate a board chairman other than the company’s CEO.
• Understand the five key roles of startup boards.
• Select board members with diverse backgrounds whose skills complement the management team’s capabilities.
• Recognize the board’s strategic role in helping the founding team add employees that offer new expertise as the business grows.
• Include focused discussion of strategic goals and action items in board meetings.

Teaching entrepreneurs best practices in areas not typically covered in other training programs, the Kauffman Founders School enables entrepreneurs to learn anywhere, anytime, and to immediately apply the lessons to their businesses. Other Founders School topics include:

• Financing Your Venture: Venture Capital, presented by Jeff Bussgang, venture capitalist and general partner of Flybridge Capital Partners.