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Career Tip: the Art of  Selling

And How You  should ShowingUp+

Let us assume you are in an interview. The interviewer then asked,
Show me how to sell this pen?

Your answer in a rush;
This is the best pen ever built. It is quality and have longer life and son……

Trash! You lose the game!

Hint: One of the best approaches you can do, the least, is to ask the interviewer back,
• whether they used a pen in their organization,
• how long they have been using a pen,
• Do they see any challenge or shortcoming of using a pen?
• Do they try any other alternative to a pen and so on?

In an exploration of getting to the bottom of the existing problem the organization faces and whether the pen at hand can really be a solution to their problem and if it does to advice how best they can use the pen.

You know a doctor cannot prescribe a medication without uncovering the disease first. Same to organizations.

#showingup #exposurematters #personaldevelopment

Follow ShowingUp+ for more relevant contents.

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Do Show Up More

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Why Showing Up?

“Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open? Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking. The entrance door to the sanctuary is inside you.”, Rumi

#Ethiopia in mind, and you may be wondering what it has got to do with #showingUp.

Well, watching out the current turn of events in #Ethiopia, have you observed how powerful #ShowingUp and #SpeakingUp has become? #Social Media used as a positive force for good.

Staying silent for many years, the majority of #Ethiopians woke up to see their country in danger. Out of an adrenaline shock, they reacted, #ShowedUp and let their Voices be heard. In less than few weeks, there has not been any continent spared for waving #green, #yellow, #red colored flag in their skies. Of course, #Eritrean as well.

The outcome: Ethiopians Unfrozen the status quo and build to shape their own narrative, no matter what. Now, Ethiopia is winning in almost all fronts.

It is all the same, in #careergrowth and #personaldevelopment especially for #Ethiopians

Unfreeze your status quo and start to #ShowUp, #SpeakUp, and #Expose yourself for growth.

#ShowingUp is the first key step that led us where we aspire to go. To get to the top, boldly taking the first, the second, third etc. steps is the no brainer.

 #ShowUp, #SpeakeUp, #Expose yourself for #growth. The early the better.

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A  Dialogue of Two Men: A & B

#weekendreads:  from ShowingUp+

A: What is your advice for #overthinkers?

B: A boy and a horse are in the woods.
And a boy says to the horse, “I can’t see a way through”.
And the horse says, “Can you see your next step”?
And the boy says, “Yea”.
And the horse says, “Then just take that”.  

A:  #wow….
 
#Moralofthestory:

All of the time we look at the goal, we look at the future, we look at the end game, we look at how long a journey is and we feel #overwhelmed. Instead of that, with each step, we get closer to that. So, we don’t need to worry too much how far away it is. All we need to focus right now is our #nextstep.

Source: goal. Cast

#showingup #exposurematters #personaldevelopment 
Follow ShowingUp+ for more. 

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Know your numbers”

This important note was taken form #StriveMasiyiwa Facebook page
ShowingUp+ brought it here for you to learn from. #Knowyournumbers

He said:
“Know your numbers” is a fundamental precept … __Are you sure you can “see” the business?
I once took a Finance course where the Prof would give us a set of financial statements in which details on type of business or industry were deliberately removed, and you would be given a few minutes to explain what it was.
I loved it because I never failed once to get the right answer!
The exercise ingrained in me that when it comes to analyzing a business, any business, I must first look at its financials!

Don’t say to me: “Such and such a company is BIG O!” because if I dare to interrogate your response, I might embarrass you.
__On this platform, my job is to remind you what really matters for entrepreneurs.
Questions: [No prizes]
How m

any Premier League businesses are listed on the Stock Exchange in the UK?
Who owns Formula One? Who owns your favorite sports team? Is it a good business? How do you know? These are businesses, guys! It’s a New Year. Time to get back to business. Let’s talk.
#showingup #exposure #perosnaldevelopment #Shwingupblogs

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Exist Strategy

#ExitStrategy mistake is much like the #RiskManagement practice. You either plan or do it later, and often times it is late to course correct it.

#Ethiopia: this is a pragmatic and something that you cannot ignore advice from Addis Alemayehou and GrowthAfrica

#ShowingUp#exposurematters#personaldevelopment

TOP PITCHING MISTAKES AND HOW TO AVOID THEM: Often entrepreneurs have an entry-to-market strategy but rarely do they articulate their exit strategy. How do they plan on scaling? Who takes over as CEO 5 years from now?

Addis Alemayehou, Chairman of Kazana Group, a celebrated Entrepreneur in Africa, highlights that an exit strategy is one of the missing links that could cost an entrepreneur a good investment. His investment firm has to date supported 22 portfolio companies in Ethiopia, 1 in Kenya and 1 in Sudan. He shares in depth, key considerations entrepreneurs ought to make, while pitching.

Features of a successful pitch
1. Clear and precise – Investors will in most cases not have time to read through a 40 page pitch deck. Ensure that you can explain your idea in precise points
2. Confidence – Investors need to see that the person pitching is confident in their own idea because if you don’t believe in it, no one else will.
3. Experience – It is crucial that investors see that the entrepreneur has the ability to execute and follow through with the idea they are pitching Rarely do people follow through what they pitch
4. Team composition – Ensure that you have thought about the technical team who have the skills, knowledge and experience to execute
5. “Skin in the game” – The investor needs to see the entrepreneur’s personal investment into his idea. He/she doesn’t have to have invested a lot of money but if they want someone else to invest, why not lead by example?

Mistakes when pitching
1. Lack of practice – Pitching is like an exam and you need to practice. Remember someone is taking a risk on you so you need to be well prepared
2. Analysis of the competition – Some entrepreneurs don’t research on the competition, yet this could cost them their entire business if not properly analysed
3. Assumptions and no concrete data – the numbers mean a lot and need to be backed up by data.
4. Over confidence – People who have never run a business think it will be easy and sometimes oversimplify the competition and put zero consideration to bureaucratic structures that could hinder execution
5. Exit – Some look at starting the business but don’t project into the future and how will they scale.

In closing Addis highlighted that as investor, he is looking for startups that will create jobs, have the ability to scale and can adapt to technology. He also highlighted that as n investment firm they hope to create 50,000 jobs in the next 5 years, through the companies they invest in. Source: GrowthAfrica

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