Productivity Tips, MS Excel and Inspiration

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It is very easy to feel some people have it easy because they are not facing the type of problems you are battling. A graduate with no job yet will think his ex-classmates who have gotten jobs have an easy life. A low salaried worker will feel his friend who is earning thrice his own pay is having an easy life. There is always someone you feel has an easy life.

The truth is that no one has an easy life. Or why would celebrities commit suicide or be drug addicts or always deep in scandals. Life is generally tough for everyone -- whether you are a billionaire or hundrednaire. There is a general degree of toughness everyone faces. What largely varies is the thickness of our skins.

The poor man living on the street worries about less than most rich guys who live in a mansion because he has a very tough skin and the pins that prick the rich guy have no effect on him. He is not worried that his shirt is not well ironed. He is not worried that someone is trying to steal from him. He is not worried that he is going to miss an appointment. He is not worried that someone will kidnap his family member. He is not worried about pretty much everything that worries the rich guy. And most of all, he wouldn't commit suicide because he's facing a tough life (like some rich guys do). His own troubles are different and very few -- what to eat, what to wear and where to sleep.

Now those are extremes most of us don't fall into. Consider it as two far ends of a rope. Most of us are somewhere close to the middle of that rope. As you move from the poor man's end to the rich guy's end, your troubles change but they don't ever get fewer nor do they make you work less. And most significant of all, your skin softens. The things that will get at you become more. People will think you are having an easier life but you know without any doubt that you are not. You now have more worries and feel more pain.

No one as it easy.

In our training feedback form, we ask for how the participants got to know about us. It's not unusual to see all of them fill "Internet".

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9 out of every 10 clients I have worked for found out about us on the internet. So recently I have been seriously expanding our digital marketing. I am now spending a lot on online adverts, premium online tools and buying software that'll automate some activities for me.

Just yesterday, I paid $60/month for a LinkedIn Business Plus premium account. I figured out that if LinkedIn has been getting me a lot of clients already without much promoted activities on it, then I should gain a lot more if I sign up for the premium accounts, use some complementary online tools (like Autopilot for LinkedIn) and do a lot more active marketing on LinkedIn.

I also worked on my Google Advert campaign. If you search for "Excel training" and some other Excel related stuff on Google you will see our advert on the Google Search results page. It is quite expensive as I am yet to see any conversion from it but I am sure it is getting us in front of the people we want to reach.

I have also been buying a lot of online tools (software) to automate common tasks I do or should do, And I have been using more indirect ways of marketing. One is the Amazon adverts I run for my book on Excel. It is doubling as both a likely means of extra income and a way of getting more exposure for the business. I would be running a 3 days promo soon and have already publicized it on over 18 ebook websites, hoping it would get us in front of new audiences.

I tried Twitter ads too but wasn't happy with the results and stopped after one day.

I am also running a LinkedIn ad campaign. Set the ad to show to type of people I have seen come for our monthly training. The calls haven't been coming in yet but I know it is at least growing our brand. Not many companies in Nigeria put up LinkedIn adverts because they are very costly; you tend to see only multinationals putting up adverts there. It puts us in the same credo level as those companies.

I have always been reading about how most of the successful companies spend a sizable chunk of their revenue on marketing. Some as high as 30% of their revenue. Now, I am beginning to convert that knowledge to practice and see marketing as an investment and not just something to do when there's spare cash.

Yes, you can download the Excel Function Bible here. It is developed by Norman Harker and Ron de Bruin, two Excel veterans.

The Excel Function Bible is aimed at providing meaningful and practical help in finding and implementing 468 Excel functions. It replaces and adds significantly to the help users can call for whilst building or using Excel workbooks.

A fully inclusive set of indexes allows users to find particular functions and gives the brief descriptions. Using these indexes on the classifications web pages users can bring up individual files for each function.

The first worksheet of each function file provides descriptions of the functions, the syntax, and descriptions of the arguments required. The front page includes a brief history of the function that allows users to determine which versions of Excel introduced the function and whether and when capabilities of the functions were changed. Each front page provides details of any equations used by the function in traditional and linear format. An addition section provides the cause of error messages that may be returned by the function. There is also a link on this worksheet to the Excel online help for the function.

Second and subsequent worksheets provide copy and paste facilitated examples of the use of the function ranging from simple implementation to more complex examples of use including use by interaction with other functions.

You can read more about it here: Excel Function Bible

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There are many paths to becoming a consultant, and each path is uniquely different. Today, I will be sharing with you the path I followed.

In 2011, I printed my first business card. It wasn't Excel that was on it or data analysis. I called myself a "Venture Capitalist". I think "Angel Investor" would have been more appropriate but as usual I was dreaming too big. I had too much money and didn't know how best to spend it. So I was looking for business ideas to invest in. One of the people who pitched me is now running his own startup. He's a very gifted and industrious guy. Unfortunately, it doesn't take long for too much to become not enough.
Same 2011, I lost the job that was responsible for the too much money. I went to Cotonou for one month French immersion and got a job offer as I was about concluding the French programme.
Same 2011, I resumed a new job in just a little after one month of losing the other job. I was spending more than I was making and began finding ways to adjust my lifestyle.
2012, I began shifting focus to having secondary income sources. I printed a second set of business cards, again not as an Excel expert. I was marketing myself as a Mathematics Teacher for home lessons, covering VI and Lekki. I also sent letters with sample of my best writing to Punch, The Nation, The Guardian and one other newspaper looking for a freelance writing opportunity.
Same 2012, I changed job. Then printed a third set of business cards. This time around as an Excel and VBA expert. I also signed up on many freelance job sites. I was slowly getting jobs and a small side income.
2013. The Excel consulting side job was going great and growing. I began seriously considering quitting my job and doing it full-time. I was making just from my weekends enough to live on the entire month.
Same 2013, I registered UrBizEdge Limited. Then started saving towards my eventual start-up. Wanted to save enough to cover my one year living expense.
2014. I finally quit my job and became a full-time consultant.
Same 2014. Jobs dried out and I wasn't making anything for many months. Just when my savings was about to run out, I started making steady small income.
2015. I began making enough to live on and have some money left to put back into the business.
Same 2015. Things began improving and I started building back my depleted savings and pouring more into the business.

And that has been my path to becoming a full-time consultant.

The sad truth is that experience is not the best teacher. You can go through an experience and learn the wrong thing from it or not even learn anything useful from it. And that is why schools exist; to help us learn the right things the right way.

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Beyond the knowledge to survive and satisfy our basic need for food, clothing and shelter, experience becomes a very limited and ineffective teacher. When it comes to high level skills and sound knowledge of complex matters, experience can only serve to refine the knowledge you have. You will need to first acquire the knowledge that experience will now help fine tune. And the proven way of acquiring knowledge is by reading and learning from those you truly know.

It is no coincidence that all through your schooling days, you were required to read at least a book for each subject/course. Then when you get a job, the induction process includes having you read a lot. And every time you go for a professional course, there are a bunch of books you are required to read. Reading is the easiest way to acquire knowledge. Even the most expensive schools in the world won't do a knowledge transfer surgery on you, they will load you with books to read and force you to read them. They know knowledge doesn't come from thinking and recycling whatever incomplete and incorrect information you have. Sound knowledge doesn't come from practice. That's why a doctor spends about 10 years learning, mostly by reading, first before being allowed to practice. And while I was learning to swim, I was constantly told that practicing with the wrong form (knowledge) will only make you better/perfect at swimming with the wrong form.

When you make reading a habit and read wide, you are acquiring knowledge and improving yourself continually. You learn things you will never know otherwise. You see things from other people's perspectives. You become knowledgeable on the things you are yet to experience. You open yourself up for opportunities. Your world expands and your value rises. You do more with the same resources because knowledge gives you power.

Most times we gain nothing from lying or being dishonest. Apart from being not being good on both a religious and a moral standpoint, dishonesty zaps a lot of our energy. Science has proven that it takes a lot more work for the brain to come up with a lie than to tell the truth. And that is not yet factoring in the more work you will need to do to keep the lie looking real.

The one that I see people do and get no gain from is lying about how close they are to where they are going. "I am already close by, there is a lot of traffic; I'll be there in 5 mins." Someone who is more than 30 mins away. Now he's kicked his entire system into a needless hurry just to make the lie look real. In the end he gets there 30 mins later and the original lie hasn't been of any help. People overestimate how dumb others are. They would lie about as many things as they can even when there's no obvious gain in sight. Fooling the other person is like fun to them. The only issue is that they leave our the reality that lies have a shelf-life.

Being honest always pay off. First, it becomes obvious to those around you. And except you a partying teenager, you will get more beneficial relationships. People would rather work or do business with you than someone less honest, even if your honesty involves making your weakness obvious while the competition hides his.

And being honest makes you try harder to fix your weaknesses and problems. Your being honest makes them obvious and forces you to fix them. Unlike the dishonest person who is more concerned with coming up with new and more convincing lies to cover them up.

Also being honest frees you up to spend your energy on more valuable tasks rather than trying to keep up with a chain of lies and avoiding being found out. Honesty is not just about being honest with others, it's also about being honest with yourself. You see clearer when you have no intention of hiding things. You open your mind and tap into endless possibilities when you are not tied to a fake past to make look real.

I strongly believe that when you live responsible and are hardworking, honesty will always serve you better than dishonesty in all circumstances. If you live right, honesty is the best policy.

This year I bought some very interesting books; books that are very different from my usual ones. They sort of reflect the changes I am trying to make -- going from a techy to a business savvy person. I still bought my techy books but not as many as I used to buy and I won't be including most of them in this list.

So without beating around the bush, below are the recent interesting books I added to my reading library.

1. Proposal Development Secrets: Win More, Work Smarter, and Get Home On Time (Matt Handal)

As you must have guessed, the book is on how to make better and more effective proposals. It was written by a guy who has spent over 20 years writing proposals and currently runs a consultancy that coaches you on how to make winning proposals. It is filled with many valuable information he learned the hard way on the job.

Unfortunately, it is not so well suited for a business like mine where there is no proposal team (yet). But the knowledge I got from it is golden and I believe will be useful to me someday.

2. Kotler On Marketing: How To Create, Win, and Dominate Markets (Philip Kotler)

Everyone who has done a marketing course in the university will know Philip Kotler. He is the most respected guru on marketing. This book is a little too old but has a lot of timeless advice. And most importantly, it teaches from a research backed perspective of what works and how to do proper marketing.

3. Blue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant (W. Chan Kim, Renee Mauborgne)

This book is one of the most revolutionary books on business strategy. If you run your own business or will someday do, then you will be doing yourself a big good by reading this book.

4. Kellogg on Marketing (Bobby J. Calder, Alice M. Tybout, Philip Kotler)

Another very highly rated book on marketing by the people who truly know and have spent the most of their adult lives finding what works and consulting for the type of companies we all hope to either work for or build one like.

5. Magic: The Complete Course (Joshua Jay)

I wanted to learn some magic tricks. This book is regarded as the best and the author a legend. He teaches you how to do very cool magic tricks that will make you the hero of every small party.

6. Microsoft Excel and Business Data Analysis for The Busy Professional (Michael Olafusi)

Yeah. That's my bestselling book on Business Data Analysis and Excel for the very busy professional. Over 500 copies sold. Do get your copy now. I already got mine.

7. High Impact Data Visualization with Power View, Power Map, and Power BI (Adam Aspin)

Very good book on Power BI.

You'll always find time for the people and the things you love. And writing is something I love. The only set of people I have consistently wanted to be like are writers. Since I was 8 years old or so, I had taken a lot interest in books and loved writing.

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I don't have photo albums, even when they were popular and something you were expected to entertain visitors with. But I still have most of my writings. They are my photos. They show me who I was 12 years ago and how I have changed through the years. Writing is my favourite way of expressing myself. In written words, I can say everything and anything without thinking much of the consequence or having a headache.

Last week, I came upon a recommendation of a dictating software. The concept was that it would enable writers write faster, as you simply dictate what you want to write and have it do the actual typing for you. It didn't appeal one bit to me. I would rather have the opposite -- a software that reads out what I write and saves me the trouble of talking.

I was discussing with a professional editor about engaging her services for my novel. She advised that I finish the novel, which I am already passed half-way into, before having it editted. Then suggested that I could get it done faster by booking dictating sessions, where I dictate the next chapters over the phone and have her do the writing. I told her it wasn't going to work at all. The words I write are not predetermined, they come out only when I place my hands on the keyboard. There won't be anything to dictate.

It's now very common for people to come up with lists of things they want to do or places they want to visit during their lifetime. I don't have such a list but if I were to make one now, matching George Bernard Shaw's over 250,000 publications (books and published articles) would be on that list. He wrote daily and he's one of my main inspiration that I too can write daily.

For some people writing is fashion, something they do to get someone else's attention. They put their audience first and write only what they believe will get them the attention they want. For me writing is functional, something I do because it helps me pull through life better and it helps me empty my mind. After I write in the morning, I feel energized and ready for the day with a free mind.

Writing is that important to me and it's just natural that I will always find time for it. It's the second thing I do most morning, after praying. I write before I brush, before I bathe, before I prepare for the day and before I even think. If I get to anywhere late in the morning, it is always because I couldn't finish my writing early enough that day.

Once you take the dive into offering your expertise to companies and people as an independent consultant, it doesn't take long for you to realize that only a few days of the month bring you all the month you'll make that month.

When I started, my benchmark was the salary at my last job. I wanted to at least match it. I split the salary into daily pay and weekly pay. I tried to compensate for extra expenses and tax. So when people wanted my service, I had a daily rate and a weekly rate. I charged about N10,000 to N20,000 per day. It wasn't bad at first. Then there were projects that I couldn't bill per day. Software I built for clients. I would give a price I felt fair for the amount of time it would take me to get it done. Also, not wanting to charge higher than I made in a month on my previous job.

The wonderful thing about being out there is people will tell you how ridiculously low you're pricing your services. So I began to bump up my price and evaluate client reactions. Amazingly, what I found out is that no matter the price I fixed people will still try to negotiate it downwards and that what gets you paid what you ask is how confident you are about your value and you resoluteness in not going lower than what you stated. So I bumped up my rate to N50,000 per day. And I started pricing my software at double the price I usually would have charged. At first, it was difficult to convince people to pay that high as it's a lot higher than what the other guys they know charge. Same too for the software, people kept telling me why I should reduce the price and sold me the "for the sake of long-term relationship and more projects".

Again, the good (and sometimes, bad) side of consulting is that it takes you few projects to become booked out. I don't need too many projects, just a few per month is what I found I could handle. In fact, the ideal number is 5. If I get 5 good projects (training or consulting or software or a mix of the three) in a month and I don't charge stupidly low, I would be very good that month. And now I am getting more than that ideal number. So my only way of turning down the extra is by, again, raising my rate. Or forming a team so I can handle more than 5 projects per month.

I have taken the easy route first -- raising my price -- and trying to find a sustainable way of building a team. I now charge as high as N100,000 per day. Individuals are not willing to pay that amount, so it has essentially turned my business into a 100% B2B. I still take on N50,000/day but with reluctance and for a client who's promising more. But I know that it's just a matter of time before I stick rigidly to that price of N100,000. It will help me free up time to do more long-term strategic stuffs. Create products I can sell and hire a salesforce for. Move up to blue oceans and position myself for the future. And most importantly, I will be able to get the non price sensitive clients I want. And I can focus on improving my service quality and giving a value that they can be sure to get no where else (in Nigeria).

As a consultant, you will have to price your service on a value basis and not on a cost basis. For any price you set, you will always get a client. If you deliver on the job they would feel rip off. Your price is the only way to control your workload and get the kind of clients you want. If you want lots of price sensitive clients, then set a price accordingly that makes your service affordable to a lot of people. And if, like me, you want few well paying clients then raise your price to a level it becomes almost a luxury service. Be ready to not get clients for a long time too or mix with low paying ones till you finally swap them out with the high paying ones. In the end, you'll always get the type of client you price attracts.

Solver is an amazing tool. It's a decision analysis tool that lets you set your goal and set the conditions to adhere to while searching for the best way to achieve your goal.

Let's see an example I have set up.

Say we are a new company and have a budget for payroll which we want to maximize to the highest number of staff possible. Below are the details.

So we want Excel to calculate how many Senior Staff, how many Mid-level Staff, how many Junior Staff and how many Fresh Graduate we can employ with the annual budget of N105 million for payroll? And it should take into considerations the following constraints: