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Set to host an online #AfricaVsVirus Challenge from 16 to 19 April 2020

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, April 10, 2020/ -- The African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) and partners are set to host an online #AfricaVsVirus Challenge from 16 to 19 April 2020. The 72-hour competition is a global hackathon – or “ideathon” – to develop effective solutions to the coronavirus pandemic.



The Challenge is open to entrepreneurs, companies, civil society organizations and governments with bankable solutions or ventures to address the pandemic. The top pitches will be eligible to win thousands of dollars’ worth of financial, technical and skills-learning support to advance their implementation. Details on competition qualifications and methods of participation can be found here: www.AfricaVsVirus.com.

“COVID-19’s impact on the global economy is pushing millions of people, especially women and young people, into unemployment, underemployment and working poverty. Part of our response is the #AfricaVsVirus Challenge,” said Tapera Muzira, Coordinator of the African Development Bank’s Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy . “This online Challenge will channel youth creativity and innovation to real life solutions that mitigate the impact of the coronavirus on health, the economy, SMEs and jobs,” he added.

The #AfricaVsVirus Challenge opens on Thursday, 16 April at 6:30 pm CET and runs non-stop through to Sunday, 19 April at 6:30 pm CET. Entrants can choose to submit ideas under one of the following sectors: public health and epidemiology; vulnerable populations; businesses and economy; community; education; entertainment; government support; environment and energy; and food security. Alternatively, they may choose their own theme.

An expert panel will select the twenty best solutions submitted, and these finalists will be invited to take part in a one-month educational program by Seedstars . The top three winning ideas will receive up to $50,000 worth of in-kind prizes.

#AfricaVsVirus Challenge is part of the Bank’s strategy to support young African entrepreneurs – especially young women entrepreneurs – and their SMEs and startups by providing an enabling environment to innovate appropriate solutions to the COVID-19 crisis. The Bank’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab , working closely with the Youth Entrepreneurship & Innovation Multi-Donor Trust Fund is hosting the ideathon, with partners Seedstars digital agency WAAT and development consultants Luvent Consulting .

Rollout of the Challenge follows the African Development Bank’s launch on 8 April of a $10 billion COVID-19 response facility, and the sale of a record $3 billion debt issue last month to raise financing to help African countries confront the pandemic, which is already wreaking havoc on their economies.

Interested parties can follow the global conversation about the competition by following #AfricaVsVirus on social media, or by logging on to www.AfricaVsVirus.com.


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Entrepreneurship is the new trend. Yes many will say not everyone can be an entrepreneur. Thats true . But everyone need to think like an entrepreneur. You need this mindset to excell. This is the reason why you  are working in the same company but your colleague appear to be making money that you.  There are several gurus out there who are entrepreneurs out there but we decided to look back home (Cameroon)  . there are some ''Unpopular''  Cameroonians that you can learn a lot from them because of their mindset and uniqueness.  This is our opinion. 

1.Rebecca Enonchong


Rebecca Enonchong is multi Award tech entrepreneur  from Cameroon . She is the CEO of Apps Tech . She has served in many tech companies and tech projects in African .

 she  is the cofounder  of I/O Spaces, Board Chair of Afrilabs Foundation. Board Chair at Active Spaces,Cofounder and Treasurer of African Business Angel Network (ABAN), Vice president of ABAN,Advisory Board Member at VC4Africa, she is the board member of Eneza Education in Kenya, she is the board member IAMTHECODE in UK, Founding and Board memebr of Digital Africa,she  had equally served as the board member of SalesForce,she  had equally served as the board member of Ovamba, she  had equally served as  a consultant at Orace ,she  had equally served as  a consultant at Inter-American Development Bank among others. 
Rebecca Enonchong is founder and Chief Executive Officer of AppsTech, a leading global provider of enterprise application solutions. She is also cofounder of I/O Spaces, an inclusive coworking space in the Washington DC metro area.
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She is cofounder of Cameroon Angels Network and cofounder and Vice-President of African Business Angels Network. Ms. Enonchong currently serves as a mentor/advisor to several technology startups.

 She has featured on sites like worldbank.org ,ideasdevelopment.org ,ransbiz.com among others.
A recipient of numerous awards, Ms. Enonchong was named a Global Leader for Tomorrow (GLT) by the World Economic Forum of Davos, Switzerland. 
Forbes magazine listed Ms. Enonchong as a top female tech founder in Africa. 
NewAfrican magazine named her one of the most influential Africans in 2014, 2016 and 2017. 
Jeune Afrique magazine listed her as one of Africa's 50 most influential women of 2017 and as one of world’s most influential Africans in 2018 and 2019

She is one of the most influential  African when it comes to scIence ,technology and innovation. 
  If you are not following this great personality then do so  and get your mindset shaped.

2.Crescence Élodie 

Crescence Élodie Nonga is  tech Ecosytem manager (Active Spaces) and founder of snuggig.com.

She is Passionate about Community development through Digital entrepreneurship. Tech Entrepreneur and Founder of EN Group.


she has served for 3 years+  as Community Development Specialist for the Tech Hub and NGO called ACTIVSPACES.  She is  also the Founder of WETECH (Women in Entrepreneurship & Technology), a  training platform  that offers  opportunities and resources to women in Entrepreneurship and Technology.
She  is equally  the founder of  www.snuggig.com, a platform helping small businesses to attract and turn visitors into loyal customers.  More than 100 people trained through several initiatives, including AFRISTACK pan-African and regional programs (www.afristack.co) and AYADA Lab (www.ayadalab.com)  by Elodie. 
She equally blogs   her travel and Lifestyle journeys on her blog, Les Marches d'Elodie (lesmarchesdelodie.com)
If you are looking to step up your mindset. Then get to follow Elodie . 
                

3. Enstine Muki       


This is another interesting Cameroonian you need to follow. He is one of the first Cameroonians to have made a full time income on blogging and Affiliate Marketing. He is commonly referred to as the money making machine. He is not popular like those most of us  follow who share nice pics 😃😃😃😃😃. But if you think of stepping up the game in thinking then you should check this profile out. 

Enstine Muki is an online entrepreneur based in Douala Cameroon. He has been serving the online  community back in 20015. He creates website and applications to companies and individuals. He is an influencer at Warrior Forum Vault and founder of enstinemuki.com the money making blog. 
He is  PHP, developer , blogger and content producer. Below are some  of his  works:

  He has developed applications in the finance,social and wood sector that are being used in and out of Cameroon. 
Making money from home is possible in Cameroon and Enstine Muki can be your motivation.    

                            
4. Otto Akama    

Website: afrohustler.com
Otto Akama is a community development specialist (Active Spaces). This is another dynamic and active Cameroonians when it comes to entrepreneurship. He is the founder and Editor in chief at from Afro Hustler. There are alot of controversies regarding this particular profile on the internet but lets focus on the positive end of it. 

He is one of those who have been promoting the Cameroon tech community based in Buea called ''Silicon Mountain'' 

 ''My job is to create respected thought leaders from African business and management professionals. I am looking for Africans who want to share deep experiences and intellectual perspectives about business'' Otto Akama. 

 Otto Akama was the lead organizer and project manager of the Silicon Mountain Conference with first edition in 2015 which  was a room to expose youths to the tech ecosystem of Cameroon.

 He has served as ;  school administrator at Kangaroo IT Academy, Web Designer at ZoomOps , community development officer at Active Spaces among others. 

 He is currently the managing director of Makonjo Media and the editor in chief at afrohustler .

5 .Jovi

Website: newbellmusic.com
Jovi, is a Cameroonian rapper, songwriter, sound engineer, entrepreneur, and record producer. His official names are Ndukong Godlove Nfor. 
He is one of the few new generation musicians in Cameroon that has been consistent with his brand and genre (Mboko/rap)  with focus in giving Africa identity. 

 He is among the few Cameroon artist to featured on international Hip Hop magazines like the fader and vibe. Jovi  has work  as a producer in partnership with renown record labels like quincy jones studios,Bomaye Muisc ,Konvict music among others.

 He is  the artist that has broken linguistic and cultural barriers in Cameroon by promoting is genre mboko  as well as the culture mboko which represent Cameroonians without race,class or region. 

He is among the most stream African artiste on Apple as  he featured in the list of Most streamed artist in 2018 and lately as 2019 among  most streamed rapper on Spotify France. His work has led to a solid fan base that is referred to as the ''mbokogang'' of its kind in Cameroon . 

 Jovi has  12  major music projects  ( 4 Albums and 8 EPs)  Discography Here
He is one the Cameroonians who have proven that you can make it in music here in Cameroon as he rejected many opportunities to fly and stay abroad.   Jovi equally owns a record label and produces artsit from far and near.
6. Roland Fomundam 

Website :
Roland Fomundam is a Cameroonian entrepreneur  and founder of the  Greenhouse Ventures
Green House Ventures is a company that promotes   development of organic farming with new technologies to provide lasting solutions to Africa's agricultural sector. 

He is a technology and business development expert. He specializes more on business intelligence,management consulting,process optimizations , platform establishment and others.
He has lectured in several universities in Cameroon, founded You Action Africa Inc, and currently founder of the Green House Ventures.

  He is making money in the agri sector which most people shy away from . Have you think of following your dreams but  feel the pressure of  being laughed at? Follow Roland. 
7.
Joan Ngomba 
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Website: http://decodedtv.com
 Joan Ngomba is a blogger , TV host and  Producer.
She has served a presenter at pulse TV in Lagos Nigeria (pulse.ng).She  created the fist Urban entertainment Tv show on Biscon World Television in Lagos, served a a celebrity editor at pules.ng, and  is  well known for her program Joan on sex on pulse Nigeria. She is currently the founder  of Decode TV one of the major online and TV entertainment platform in Cameroon.She has served  in Nigeria before coming back to Cameroon  to start her own proper platform decode Tv which is unique

''Dcodedtv.com is a platform to showcase Cameroon's entertainment and entertainers. From the biggest stories, unto the most exclusive interviews, to the biggest events and latest discoveries of our hottest spots/places, be sure to get 100% entertainment'' 

If you just want to be that person that speaks out his/her mind without fear, then follow Joan.

Thanks for your time. Your favorite might not be on this list.  But these re people who are real about themselves, outspoken and super focused. They all have  the opportunity to travel or stay and work in foreign countries but there are following their dreams by creating a brand/identify with their country name. 
Who do you think should be added to the list? Mention in the comment section and their activity 
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It is without doubt that becoming a successful entrepreneur is not the easiest thing to do. However, the process is simply challenging but not impossible. Many have made it to the top level of success in their respective industries and you can also do same. You just need to make sure that you are at the right place doing the right thing at the right time. Make use of the following tips to smooth your path to successful entrepreneurship.




1.   Become a problem solver
 A competent entrepreneur is known through his/her ability to identify problems and propose efficient and long lasting solutions. It is for this reason that entrepreneurs are globally referred to as problem solvers. Through their problem solving skills, they create value which in turn yields in cash or profit into their wallets.
2.   Embrace innovation
A competent entrepreneur is easily figured out through his/her innovative skills. Innovation is an important element in successful entrepreneurship. In simple terms, innovation goes in line with creativity. Hence we can portray it as the ability to conceive and bring forth a more efficient solution to an existing problem. Have in mind that entrepreneurs are great thinkers who are always looking for new ways to cut-down the cost of production while maintaining an acceptable level of quality and maximizing profit.

3.   Learn from your failures and strive ahead
Perhaps you were not aware but the entrepreneurial venture failure rate is really high. But what keeps competent entrepreneurs a step ahead from others is the fact that instead of dwelling on past failures, they learn from them and continue their journey to achieving financial freedom. Dwelling on past failure won’t help you but it will rather prevent you from reaching your goals. That’s why we hereby advice you to learn all what you can from failed ventures and strive ahead, for success lays ahead and not in your past failures.

4.   Take calculated risk
Successful entrepreneurs are those that take well calculated risks. Note here that it is not just about taking risk but taking calculated risks. Chances are high that you’ve heard of the saying that “entrepreneurs are risks takers.” Being able to identify a wort taking risk and embracing it can open new doors and move your business to higher levels of success. Within calculated risks are great opportunities for business growth and greater profits. You can as well read this  write-up on why risk is necessary for business growth.

5.   Continue learning
We live in fast changing world. Just a little slumber will get the competition ahead of you. That’s why as an entrepreneur, you should never stop learning and ameliorating your skills. Set a few minutes every day to read business books or articles on business websites like Trybusinessandfinance.com

Author Bio
Written by Desemond Mbantoh, an online entrepreneur and blogger at Trybusinessandfinance.com, a website aimed at providing the best financial and business related articles for both young and experienced entrepreneurs.

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Being an entrepreneur means being under constant stress. The problems, obstacles and threats keep appearing and your task is to deal with them as ready as possible. However, you can’t be successful if you don’t know how to deal with stress. In order to do that, you have to know your enemy, i.e. the points of stress you are bound to encounter on your entrepreneurial voyage. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Obtaining capital

Without enough capital, your business can’t survive, which is why every entrepreneur is constantly worried about having access to sufficient funds. There is also the famous problem of cash flow, where your business might be profitable on paper, but you don’t have enough capital to pay your workers and bills because you still haven’t collected the money your clients owe you. Managing cash flowis one of the crucial aspects of management, which also involves a lot of stress. Getting capital from loans, credit lines or investors are other options, but each one involves a lot of work and stress, as well.

Building and keeping reputation

Each entrepreneur is the face of their company, which means whatever they do reflects on the entire company. Every time they lie, cheat or fail to keep a promise, the reputation of the entire company is compromised, often for good. Sometimes promises that are not kept are not the fault of the entrepreneur, but it’s them who are eventually blamed. So much pressure and responsibility comes with a good deal of stress, which is why you should really pay attention to your actions and not make any unrealistic promises.

Decision making

Entrepreneurs have to make decisions on a daily basis. Some are easier than others, but in order for the business to thrive, they should all be the right decisions. However, if you’re feeling tense or frustrated, it’s easy to make a wrong call, which could have detrimental effects on your company. That’s why many successful entrepreneurs have their own ways of de-stressing. Some listen to music, while others always have their scented candle supplies ready in the office and at home. So, find the best way to relax before making any tough calls.

Remaining strong

The leader is someone everyone else looks at in times of crisis. If your employees see that you’re stressed, nervous and upset, they’ll feel the same way and will not be able to give their best. Their minds will be occupied with other thoughts and they might start panicking very soon. That’s why you need to stay calm and contained in the face of difficult times, thus sending a very strong message to both your employees and business partners.

Overload

It’s easy to take on too much responsibility as an entrepreneur. You want to control as much as possible, which is natural, but also impossible. You’ll have people to meet with, meetings to prepare, events to attend and tasks to complete before you leave the office and you can’t possibly do all that without a certain amount of stress. Try to give yourself enough time between two tasks, i.e. allow for something to go wrong and allocate enough time to correct it. If everything runs smoothly, treat that period as a reward and try to unwind.

Clients

Ideally, your business will have multiple, reliable streams of revenue from multiple sources. That is a difficult stage to achieve and you can’t expect it to happen overnight. This is especially true in the early days of your business, where you might find yourself in a position to heavily rely on one partnership. If that’s the case, you’ll have to do your best to keep that relationship strong, which is another source of stress. What if they get a better offer? What if you fail to deliver? All these and other questions will hover above your head and might prevent you from developing your business.

The unknown

The more experience you’ve got, the better chances of succeeding you’ll have, but you’ll also learn that there are always many unknown variables and unknowable situations that might affect your business. The fear of the unknown is probably one of the greatest ones and it is known to induce a lot of stress.
While a bit of stress in inevitable and potentially good, because you want something to keep you alert at all times, stress can really be the thing that leads to a majestic failure of a business. Recognising the situation when it occurs and learning to deal with it is of the utmost importance for every entrepreneur. The better you manage stress, the better manager you’ll be, which means your company will be much more likely to thrive.
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Safety is one of the most important issues in the workplace, which makes it into a field that’s constantly seeing some innovation. Employers all over the world would do well to keep a close eye on it in order to be able to keep up with the latest trends. Employees, on the other hand, need to know their rights and are, therefore, personally involved in this topic, as well. Here are top six innovations in the field of workplace safety that you need to know about.


1.      Wearable safety

Smartphones and smart watches aren’t just a distraction and there are many different ways in which they can be used to improve the overall workplace safety. For instance, in some industries, mobile inspection is used to check out employees who are suspected of risky workplace behavior. Same goes for smartwatches. While this may not be a safety measure in the traditional sense of the word, apps can gather data from numerous incidents and this data can later be used in order to diagnose the problem.

2.      Improved analytics

Previously, we’ve talked about the issue of diagnosing the problem. An employee in question might be reluctant to speak the truth, believing that this would disqualify them from a potential workplace injury claim. The same goes for other eyewitnesses who might not be eager to tattletale on their coworker. With the described wearable technology, the truth will be impossible to hide. This would allow regulators and employers all over the world to make workplaces a lot safer and healthier for work.

3.      VR training

One of the biggest problems in a lot of high-risk industries is the fact that your employees may lack proper training. Simulations that they’re facing may do their best to create a life-like environment, yet, the end result is never the same. For instance, no instructor is ever going to send their fire squad into a blazing building just for the sake of training. With the help of tech trends like VR training, it might be possible to create scenarios that are much closer to real-life scenarios that some employees are going to encounter. This alone could make a major stride in the right direction.

4.      Not just physical safety

In the past, the majority of safety officers and regulators focused exclusively on the issue of physical safety, completely leaving the issue of mental safety aside. Long-term exposure to loud noises can lead to some pretty serious repercussions, which is why more and more employers in fields like manufacturing and construction are introducing mandatory noise protection gear. We’re talking about sophisticated gadgets that provide adequate noise cancelling ear protection to its wearer, acting as a mandatory part of your PPE arsenal.

5.      More sophisticated PPE

The issue of personal protective equipment (PPE) is probably the first issue that people want to discuss when it comes to the issue of workplace safety. In this field, a greater emphasis on comfort, greater durability of synthetic materials and greater investment in designing and manufacturing may create some life-saving features. Nowadays, we already have sophisticated technology like smart safety helmets, which with the help of improved analytics, may help warn a worker in question about some potentially dangerous situations and hazards that they would otherwise miss.

6.      Robotics and automation

Several years ago, Amazon purchased Kiva Systems for $775 million in order to initiate one of the largest processes of warehouse robotization ever seen. At the moment, the majority of the business world was skeptical about the move, yet nowadays, no one suspects it was the right thing to do. One of the side-effects of this purchase (whose primary goal was cost-effectiveness) was a reduction in the number of workplace injuries. This is only natural due to the fact that the machines were suddenly the ones doing the majority of heavy lifting.

Conclusion

There are a lot of people who question the true motivation behind an investment in workplace safety. Ethical entrepreneurs just want to see fewer injuries, while those who are efficiency and profit-oriented probably want to avoid hefty fines and settlements. Either way, the end result is always overwhelmingly positive, which means that innovation in this field makes the world a better place, in general. For this reason alone, it’s quite likely that a development in this field will be a never-ending process.

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 Talking the ownership over your own career and starting your own business always involves a certain amount of risk. The good news is that, although not amongst the most glamorous career options out there, starting a moving business cuts that risk to a bare minimum. It’s actually very simple – families will always need housing, and as long as they are buying or renting new properties, they will need to move.

If you want to last in this industry, you only need to lay the groundwork that will set your business for success. Let’s take a look then at some of the necessary steps you should take.

Come up with a viable business model

When people think about the moving industry, they often imagine huge warehouses and big trucks. However, according to the American Moving and Storage Association, 83% of all relocation projects in the USA are performed within the same state and require only the basic manpower. So, there are obviously several models you can successfully apply to your future venture. If you want to cut the startup costs, you can easily set your business as a local, family-oriented company and scale your services once you start increasing revenue.

Think of the branding

Industries like moving often tend to overlook the importance of branding, wrongfully assuming that branding is something reserved for giants like Apple and Coca Cola. In reality, the brand is nothing more than a way people perceive your company. The more effort you put into setting up this image properly, the easier job you’ll have standing out from the competition. So, once you have identified your target audience, try to come up with a catchy name and appealing logo, and work your company’s identity out from this foundation.

Create a comprehensive business plan

The business plan should be the backbone of your future company – it should lay out its goals, market analyses, operations plan, financial plan, financial projections, marketing strategies, and finally the list of your services. This document is the only way you keep your business on course after the launch and an excellent reference point to measure how fast you are making progress. Also, if you ever decide to partner up with another company or ask investors for help, the existing business plan will make your job much easier.

Purchase the adequate equipment

Depending on your goals, the amount of money you will need to spend will vary. The one thing remains unchanged, though – the quality trucks for sale should be at the top of the list of your priorities. Once you find a good purchase that will fit your business model, you can proceed to the tools that are not so detrimental for success, like pallet jacks, ramps, appliance dollies, tool kits and hoisting straps. Keep in mind that some of these tools that won’t be used so often (e.g. pallet jacks) and are therefore cheaper to rent than buy and maintain.

Be sparing with full-time employees

Since you are most likely going to hire third-party companies or individuals to take care of your legal, bookkeeping and marketing obligations, you should delegate the bulk of the actual money-making work to yourself, part-time workers and independent contractors, at least for the time being. Putting too many full-timers on your payroll will produce a lot of pressure on your budget. Keep in mind that all of your employees need to be covered with liability insurance and provided with forms required by your local Revenue Service.

Stand out with pricing and service structure

If you don't have an established reputation, charging less than your competition is a certain way to get the necessary attention. The same goes for the level of service you are going to provide. Doing more for the same amount of money ought to earn you a lot of good will amongst customers. So, instead of simply moving the items and helping the owners with loading, you should expand your list of services with packing, storage services, insurance services, and even appliance services and furniture assembly.
These six tips should help you set your moving business on a solid foundation and put it on the map without too much effort. From this point on, it all depends on your hard work and dedication. One thing's for sure, though – the moving industry will give you a much better fighting chance than most of the other parts of what we like to call the business landscape.

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According to recent reports, employee productivity is declining. Business owners are worried about this trend continuing and they're doing everything they can to encourage efficiency and productivity. If you're among them, you'll be happy to hear that there are plenty of ways to help your employees get more work done. To help you, we came up with five of them that are guaranteed to help.

Let in natural light

Artificial lighting is known to cause stress. Reducing your dependence on it is a great way to give your employees a productivity boost. And with a recent study showing that more than one-third of employees feel like they don't get enough natural light in the office, adding more sunlight to your workplace makes a lot of sense. In case you're worried a view to the street will distract your team members from they're work, think again! Experts say that a view to the busy street encourages productivity and helps employees stay motivated. See if you can install more windows in your office or at least rearrange desks so that every workstation receives enough sunlight.

Come up with a smartphone policy

With all the gadgets and gizmos available, every tech-savvy employee can increase their productivity. However, reports say that more than half of all employees browse the web during their work hours. They check sports scores, browse social media and chat with their friends. Since most of them use a smartphone, coming up with a smartphone policy for your office is recommended. While you can't stop everyone from bringing their mobile devices to work, you can at least encourage them to turn on silent mode on during work. Also, have them use their PCs for email to limit potential distractions.

Get the design right

Office design plays a huge role in how productive your employees will be. After all, they spend the majority of their day at the office and you need them to feel comfortable. This means you're supposed to provide them with comfy ergonomic chairs and desks of adequate size. Moreover, if you want everyone in your office to stay organized, adding enough storage is recommended. Opt for quality shelving options and get rid of workstation clutter.  If you and your team members operate from an open floor office, it's a good idea to establish zones using desks, furniture or area rugs.

Discourage multitasking

Most of us believe that we'll get more work done if we multitask. But in reality, doing more than one thing at once actually makes you less productive. Not only that you find it more difficult to concentrate, but you're also more likely to make mistakes and stress out. With that said, it's obvious that you don't want your employees to tackle multiple tasks at once. The best way to make sure they don’t multitask is to avoid giving them a new task before they complete the one at hand. Also, if your team members use dual monitors, make sure they use both screens for the same task.

Decorate with greenery

A number of scientific studies have shown that adding greenery to your office can help you get better results. Spending time in an environment with greenery decreases stress and makes your employees happy. On top of this, if you decide to decorate your workplace with plants, you'll keep the air inside the office fresh. We should also mention that using greenery for office design also helps you fight noise pollution and make sure nothing distracts your employees while they're working. And the good news is, there's a plethora of potted plants that can add style to your office while helping you increase employee productivity. Some of the plants you can't go wrong with include peace lily and dracaena.
Work is a process and to get best possible results, the process needs to be controlled. Follow these five ways and there’s no doubt your employees will become more productive and efficient.


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In the world of business, success can't be emulated. Every entrepreneur started their business in specific market conditions and played the moves with different hands. However, the mistakes are all the same. They can be made regardless of industries and current circumstances. That is why, if you want to start a successful business, you should try to avoid common pitfalls rather than try to follow the footsteps in shifting sands.
Let’s take a look at a couple of mistakes successful entrepreneurs never make twice.

Over-promising and under-delivering

Finding investors and stakeholders that will be willing to financially back up your small enterprise is harder than you think. It is understandable that you need to “sweeten the pot” during the initial pitch and present your company in a positive light. What you should avoid is to constantly make unrealistic promises to stakeholders and fail to pass milestones afterward. Keep your expectations realistic and be honest about them or you will quickly lose the confidence of all involved parties.

Believing in perfection

In the world of business, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Falling for perfect product gaps, untapped markets, and charismatic presentations is incredibly easy. You should be smarter than that and keep your feet firmly on the ground when you feel you might be swept away. On the other hand, seeking the unachievable level of perfection within your company and products can slow down your business and make you hesitant. So, forget about the word perfect altogether.

Playing too safe

Playing safe definitely has its merits. It works for Apple, it works for Disney, why wouldn’t it work for you? Well, these companies have rock-solid business models. Take a look at their history and you will discover their founders took huge risks in the moment of their inception. The startup landscape is much more dynamic and volatile than the “big league.” You won’t be able to grow unless you take a couple of risks and use small windows of opportunities opening all around you.

Refusing to change

On the other end of the business ignorance spectrum is the belief that you have a fail-proof business model and don’t need to change it even though you're failing. What makes this situation even worse is the fact that you might be right, but only need slight adjustments to be successful. Let’s take location for example. New Zealand presents a scaled down and less competitive version of the western economy with easy access to Oceania and Greater Asia. If you are constantly failing, why wouldn't you simply relocate?

Indulging themselves in comfort

Speaking of New Zealand, it is hard not to notice that one of the reasons local startups are so successful is the frugal atmosphere in which the whole startup community operates. For instance, a lot of newfound businesses choose to hire companies like Avis Car Rental that offer various discounts and benefits to corporate clients rather than burn their funds trying to build their own parks. Remember you are working to produce working capital, not amenities. The time for them will come down the road.

Lying to yourself

This is the only thing worse than lying to others. Why? Well, if you constantly seek the causes of your failures in others and avoid accountability for your actions, you won't only crash-land your startup into the ground. You will gradually adopt a victim mentality and completely lose the ability to cope with difficult situations. Growing means learning from your mistakes. And in order to learn something from mistakes, you first need to identify them and be brave enough to take responsibility for them.

Spreading too thin

It is easy very easy to look at people like Elon Musk and think that developing several business projects at the same time is easy. However, not even Musk could do that in the early stages of his career. Before he built his Tesla empire and started exploring space, the man worked on a small project called X.com which later evolved into PayPal. Only after cashing in on this chip was he able to plant the seeds for these other ventures. So, stay focused on one project and put all of your efforts into it – at least for a start.

Trying to change others

We talked a lot about the importance of adaptability and self-growth on this list. The sad thing about the business world is that, in order to stay competitive, you must force these things upon yourself, but don't expect to find them in other people. It's just the way the world goes round. Every one of us grows and changes their mind in a unique pace. That is why you should stay open-minded and eager to learn, embrace the bitter-sweet inevitability of Murphy's Law and brace yourself for a lot of tough people in the future.
This list could go on forever, but you get the gist. If you ever want to succeed in the world of startups, you should leave your emotions home, and stay with two feet firmly on the ground but be brave enough to explore new ventures and think out of the box.
No one said it’s going to be easy. But it’s definitely possible.

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