Partnership that Works: Success Secret of the Ages

I got inspired to write this article on January 4, 2012 while I was reading Success Digest!, a Nigerian wealth empoerment newspaper. Just then, I came across the business name, “LORD AND TAYLOR DEPARTMENT STORE.”

Instantly, my mind raced back to over two decades ago when a young pastor I used to attend his church shared with us the success secret of a man who established his business and traded under the name and style of “LORD AND TAYLOR DEPARTMENT STORE.”

It then occurred to me that the “LORD AND TAYLOR DEPARTMENT STORE” which I read about in the business newspaper is the very “LORD AND TAYLOR DEPARTMENT STORE” that the preacher talked about decades ago.

I want to believe that coming across “LORD AND TAYLOR DEPARTMENT STORE” in the business newspaper is not just a coincidence but also an opportunity to share with you on my blog another principle of success, prosperity and victorious living.

According to the preacher, the business, “LORD AND TAYLOR DEPARTMENT STORE” was established by a man called Taylor. Before Taylor set up his business, he went into serious prayer, asking God to be his partner in the business.

Taylor desired to prosper and said the only way he could prosper was to run a partnership with God. He then told God that as a consequence of the partnership, he would register his business name as “LORD AND TAYLOR DEPARTMENT STORE.”

Lord (Almighty God) would be the senior partner while himself (Taylor) would be the junior partner.

Taylor registered the business name as “LORD AND TAYLOR DEPARTMENT STORE.” Thereafter, he started going round informing people about his business, “LORD AND TAYLOR DEPARTMENT STORE.” Anywhere he went, it was “LORD AND TAYLOR DEPARTMENT STORE.” In his adverts, on the business card, on letter headed paper, etc, it was “LORD AND TAYLOR DEPARTMENT STORE.”

He set up the partnership, ran it in line with the agreement he made with God, his senior partner, and God prospered the business. The fact that “LORD AND TAYLOR DEPARTMENT STORE” is still a going concern and waxing stronger and stronger, bear testimony to the fact that Taylor’s idea of striking a partnership with God is a wise decision.

Running a partnership business with God is one of the prosperity secrets of the ages. Just as it worked for people down the ages, it will work and continue to work for as many as will apply the principle. The procedure for striking a partnership with God and running a successful business is as follows:

1.   Get God Involved

 Two heads, they say, are  better than one, and when God is involved in a partnership business, there is no Jupiter that can make the business to fail. Partnership deal is an age-old success principle and a serious deal that should be taken seriously.

We have read of God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We also read in the Bible how Jacob made a vow to God that if God would be with Him, prosper him, protect him and bring him back to his father’s house, he would serve God and give to God one-tenth of all things that God gave to him.

God protected and prospered Jacob and brought him back to his father’s house. Jacob also fulfilled his vow. This is partnership that works! WHEN YOU HAVE THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE AS YOUR BUSINESS PARTNER, YOUR COMPLETELY SURE THAT YOUR BUSINESS WILL FLOURISH. AND THERE IS NO PRINCIPALITY OR POWER THAT CAN DESTROY THE BUSINESS.

Unless one is doing an unlawful business (which is not advisable at all), I see no reason why one should not ask God to be involved in one’s business as Taylor and many Bible heroes did.

You may not register God’s name with your business name as Taylor did, but the important thing is that you should ask God to partner with you in your business and you should be ready to fulfill your own part of the agreement.

2.   Prepare an Agreement

In any partnership, there must be an agreement. The agreement usually contains the rights and obligations of partners, terms as to how profit and liability should be shared, how the business is to be managed, etc. 

Agreements are usually BINDING and enforceable on the partners involved. Taylor had a binding partnership agreement with God. Jacob and some Bible heroes also had binding agreement (covenant) with God.

Getting God involved in your business, profession, occupation or vocation involves an agreement – oral or written agreement. On God’s part, you would want God to prosper and protect the business. On your part, what would you do for God? Jacob’s part of the agreement he made with God was that he would serve God and give one-tenth of all that he had to God.

Think of the part you will play in the agreement. This is an issue you must decide yourself. No one can decide that for you.

3.   Keep to the Agreement

This is the most important aspect of the partnership deal. For a partnership business to thrive, parties involved must keep to the agreement. On God’s part, He remains ever faithful and will keep His agreement. Where the problem lies is with us.

When you enter into partnership agreement with God, will you keep to the agreement or will you breach it? Taylor kept his own part of the agreement and God prospered him. Agreement with God must be taken seriously.

This is why King Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived said that it is better you don’t make a vow at all than to make a vow and fail to fulfill the vow.

And finally, dear reader, the principle of partnering with God is an age-old success principle that never fails. The man, R.G. LeTorneau attributed his ability to make millions to his “partnership with God.”

The prosperity secret of the ages has been delivered to you today. Are you ready to invite God to partner with you in your business? As you plan and run your business with God, and play your own part in the agreement, the ever faithful God, the God that cannot lie, will prosper your business beyond your imagination!

Bulk SMS Technology: how Its Application Can Turn Around Your Business

For the uninitiated, bulk sms is the process of sending short text message (sms) to as many recipients as you want (usually up to 100,000 recipients) at a go, with a click of the mouse.  

The sending of bulk sms on the internet with the computer is made possible with the development of customized website which is used to send the sms. For details about what a customized bulk sms website looks like, click this link to have a glance at my bulk sms website: CFVLSMS.

Now, the essence of technology is to improve our quality of life. There are several faster medium of communication these days than many years back. Among these medium are mobile phone, email, fax, television, radio, etc. Of late is bulk sms sent from the website to as many mobile phone numbers as you want at a go - with just one click.

Bulk sms technology is fast gaining ground, not just because it is faster, but because it is also cheaper. And it is equally effective and more reliable than phone calls.  No wonder, many successful politicians and blue chips are leveraging bulk sms to market themselves, business and products.

For individuals and small businesses, bulk sms is a cost-effective way of sending greetings, notification, invitation, reminder, etc., to recipients. The fact that over 97% of mobile phone users will open their mailbox  to read messages sent to them before they decide either to retain or delete it, makes it an effective way of getting your message across.

For the the business persons, using bulk sms in the marketing campaign will result in more awareness, more sales and more profits. Looking at the impact of bulk sms technology so far, one can say that this is another platform for building business, relationships and increasing income.

As a Chinese business mogul once said: “When you simply apply technology to the resources around you, the money will flow.” For those looking for a faster and  yet cheaper medium of marketing, publicity, election campaign, fostering relationships, notification, invitation, reminder, etc., bulk sms is  obviously the right medium for  you.

Consultancy

If you are convinced that bulk sms is  an effective tool for getting  your message across to as many people as you want at the same time, with just one click, then, don’t hesitate to use our platform – CFVLSMS.

Cfvlsms is a subsidiary of Centreforvictoriousliving.com (CFVL), a motivational blog set up to empower people for victorious living. One of the benefits of using cfvlsms platform is that you have the options of logging in to cfvlsms.com to send your sms yourself, or you can ask us to send your sms on your behalf – at no cost! Yes, you won’t pay us a kobo for helping you send your sms.

Once you pay for the amount of sms credits you want, just send to us the message you want to send (not more than 160 characters) and the list of mobile phone numbers you want to send the message to. We will execute your order as soon as you send them to us.  

For more information about prices of our bulk sms credits, visit our bulk sms website. Just click this link: SMS PRICES. 

And  for urgent enquiry, you  can reach us via:

Phone: 07061016859

Email:  info@cfvlsms.com

NOTE: If you need detailed report of any message you sent via cfvlsms.com, we will send it to you at your own request and cost.

NOTE: For politicians, business persons and individuals wishing to send sms to all mobile phone users in any state of Nigeria and FCT-Abuja, we use this medium to inform you that we can help you obtain phone numbers of all mobile phone users in any state of Nigeria and FCT-Abuja.  

Making Things Happen

Success doesn’t come on a platter of silver. People who succeed make things happen. Often, our inability to achieve our goals in life stems from our reluctance to take decisive steps necessary to reach our goals.

One major factor responsible for our reluctance to take decisive steps is fear of failure, fear of the unknown and fear of starting something new. Everybody experiences these fears, but people who succeed in life are those who refuse to be held down by fears.

If you must achieve great success in life, the first thing you should do is to get rid of the fear in your mind. And the way to get rid of fear is to ignore it. Don’t listen to your fear.

Fear has a way of holding you down for as long as you allow it. You haven’t launched out yet, but fear makes you feel that you cannot succeed. No wonder, Shakespeare said” “OUR DOUBTS ARE TRAITORS AND MAKE US LOSE THE GOOD WE OFT MIGHT WIN BY FEARING TO ATTEMPT.”

What great opportunities we miss when we allow fear to hold us down. George Benard said: “THE WORLD IS RULED BY DEED, NOT BY GOOD INTENTIONS.” The movers and shakers of this world are not the idealists but the practicalists.

Decades ago, a gubernatorial candidate in Enugu State, Nigeria, by name Rev. Dr. Hyde Onuagulushi, was interviewed on the TV and one of the questions he was asked was: “What are the qualities expected of a governor that you think you possess.”

As the question was asked I thought he was going to respond by reeling out the number of certificates and degrees he has acquired over the years, but surprisingly, he did not. Rather, his answer was: “I don’t know the qualities a person may possess to become a governor, but what makes me the right candidate is that I MAKE THINGS HAPPEN.”

And you know what? The man’s success story reveals that he is not a theorist but a practicalist. He has been chairman and managing directors of conglomerates and he is also a founder of a church called God Dabbath Mission located at Achi, Enugu State. Talk of certificates and degrees, he had them in great numbers, but he never relied on them. THE GREATEST ASSET HE RELIED UPON WAS HIS ABILITY TO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN.

There is a great lesson for us to learn here. In life, it is not the number of degrees and certificates you have that matters; it is what you can do with the knowledge you have acquired.

Dear reader, are you a theorist or are you a practicalist?  All the knowledge you have acquired will be of little avail if you don’t utilize them for greater accomplishment. One of the greatest assets you can deploy for greater accomplishment is your God-given ability to make things happen.

How do you deploy this ability and start making things happen? Below are three steps you can take:

1.   Find Your Own Opportunity

Successful people are those who get up and look for the opportunity they want. They don’t try to copy or imitate others. They don’t jump into any venture because they see others doing it. They look for their own opportunity and they stick to it.

This is one the greatest secret of success: BE ORIGINAL, DON’T BE A CARBON COPY OF ANOTHER PERSON. IF YOU TRY TO COPY ANOTHER PERSON, YOU CAN NEVER BE YOUR BEST, BECAUSE BY VIRTUE OF YOUR GOD-GIVEN ABILITY, YOU CAN ONLY FUNCTION OPTIMALLY WHEN YOU OPERATE ON YOUR OWN PLATFORM. So, find your own platform. Discover your potential, for that is what you need to make things happen. You make things happen faster when you make up your mind to function on your own platform. Be original; don’t be a carbon copy.

2.   Create Your Own Opportunity

Successful people create their own opportunity, if they cannot find the opportunity they are looking for. Charles Cotton said: “GREAT MINDS MUST BE READY NOT ONLY TO TAKE OPPORTUNITIES, BUT TO MAKE THEM.”   

 Every person is loaded with creative abilities. With these abilities, there is no limit to what you can do. So, if you cannot find the opportunity you want you can harness your ability to create the opportunity you want.

During my undergraduate days at Ibadan, a friend of my roommate once told us of an OND Insurance graduate who went out looking for a job. But when he couldn’t find it, he took a bold step to create the opportunities he wanted. Today, the Insurance graduate owns several hotels, secondary schools and vocational centres in Nigeria as well as several businesses abroad.

The man’s advice to graduates who used to come to him for jobs is: “YOU USE YOUR HEAD. YOU DON’T HAVE TO WAIT FOR OTHERS TO CREATE EMPLOYMENT AND EMPLOY YOU. I DID NOT WAIT FOR THE GOVERNMENT OR ANYBODY TO EMPLOY ME. I WENT OUT TO CREATE EMPLOYMENT FOR ME AND OTHERS. MY ADVICE TO GRADUATE IS THAT THEY SHOULD NOT WAIT FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE JOBS FOR THEM. THEY SHOULD RATHER GO OUT AND PIN THEIR INTEREST ON A PARTICULAR VOCATION AND STICK TO IT.” 

That is it dear. If you can’t find the opportunity you are looking for, Go out and create your own opportunity. Remember: YOU HAVE UNLIMITED POTENTIALITIES WITHIN YOU AND WITH THESE POTENTIALITIES, THERE IS NO LIMIT TO WHAT YOU CAN DO.

I wrote a book that deals exensively on the issue of creating your own opportunities. The e-book version is also available. For details about this book/e-book, click this link: SELF-EMPLOYMENT SECRET

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3.   Act on What You Know

Life is not about accumulation of knowledge; it is about contribution - using the knowledge you have acquired to better the lot of members of the society. The question then goes: what have you been doing with the knowledge you have been accumulating over the years? The fact is, things won’t happen until you act on thothese knowledge you have acquired over the years.

In this information age, what you need in order to excel is INFORMATION. There are many things you know which others don’t know. These are the things you need to put into action to make things happen.

Dan Kenedy, a successful internet marketer said: “Some dynamic insight into that small minority of people who achieve their goals and dreams, MAKE THINGS HAPPEN, get rich, etc, there it is: THEY ACT ON WHAT THEY KNOW. The vast mediocre – majority of people know more than enough to do much, much better than they do, it’s just that they never use what they know. I’d suppose if you could actually ACT ON WHAT YOU KNOW, 30%, 40% of the time, you’d be 3000% or 4000% of the time ahead of the 95% of the people around you.”

In conclusion, here is a rundown on what you should do to start making things happen for you:

• Get rid of fear and doubt by ignoring them or refusing to listen to them.
•  Create your own opportunity by choosing to be original and not a carbon copy

• Use your creative abilities to create opportunities for yourself

• Fasttrack your progress in life by acting on what you know.

And until I come your way soon, go out and MAKE THINGS HAPPEN by creating your own opportunities and living a victorious life!

How Charles Goodyear Earned Fame and Fortune from Problem Solving

Charles Goodyear’s name is synonymous with vehicle tryes. You might have come across tyres having the name Goodyear inscribed on them. But he was not the founder of vehicle tyres.

Goodyear began life with no formal education, but he had a burning desire to achieve great success in life. In 1821, he partnered with his father in a hardware business but the business failed.

Later, Goodyear discovered a big problem in the automobile industry. This problem was not with the engine or body of vehicles, but with the tyres. Vehicle tyres in the early years were hard and inflexible. As a result of this, vehicles’ velocity were not smooth.

The solution to the problem of hardness and inflexibility of vehicle tyres became the preoccupation of Goodyear. He looked for a way of making rubber, the raw material for vehicle tyres, soft and flexible.

He experimented for many years, all to no avail. But in 1839, after years of futile efforts in finding solution to the problem, Goodyear accidentally discovered a way of solving the problem.

How he discovered the solution was that he accidentally dropped a piece of rubber that had been treated with sulphur on his hot stove. And what he observed was that the rubber became soft and flexible. Thus, Goodyear discovered what is called “vulcanization,” which is a process of heating rubber and sulphur at a high temperature which makes the rubber soft and flexible.

Goodyear wasted no time in applying the solution to solve the problem of vehicle tyres once and for all. Today, in the automobile and rubber manufacturing industry, vulcanization remains the process of manufacturing tyres and rubbers.

Though not the founder of vehicle tyres, greater glory went to Goodyear for bringing in the innovation that greatly improved on the quality of vehicle tyres and rubbers.

Lessons from Goodyear

Dear reader, what can we learn from the success story of Goodyear? How can we earn fame and fortune from solving problems of humanity? Below are some lessons we can imbibe to turn our problem-solving skill into fame and fortune:

1.   Be Innovative

To make fortune from problem-solving, don’t bother being a founder; be an innovator. Being a founder is a bit more difficult than being an innovator. It may not be easy for all of us to be founders or discoverers, but all of us can be innovators. It is easier to come up with ideas that can be used to improve the quality of an existing product than to come up with non-existing product idea.

This is not meant to discourage you from inventing new products/things. If you are willing to make necessary sacrifices, like Thomas Edison did when he tried 10,000 times to discover the incandescent bulb, before he eventually succeeded, then, you should put on your thinking cap and invent a product or products that will benefit humanity.

In addition to being a founder, consider being an innovator as well. Most people referred to as inventors are more or less innovators. They didn’t actually invent the products. Someone else invented them, but they they take the glory by improving or adding more value to it.

Graham Bell was not the original inventor of the telephone. He started where the inventor stopped and eventually came up with a highly improved device for communication. Marconi was not the founder of radio; he took off where from where the original founder stopped and came up with an effective means of transmitting messages over a long distance. And of course, Charles Goodyear was not the inventor of vehicle tyres; he was only an innovator. He discovered a way of making vehicle tyres soft and flexible. By so doing, he earned greater glory for his effort.

Being an innovator is not so difficult. Take a pen and paper and start jotting down products you haver come across that are of poor quality. Whenever you buy a product/service and you see that what you paid for is not what you want, write it down.

After jotting them down, start thinking of how you can add value to the product to make it better. INNOVATION IS THE KEY TO INVENTION. And it all begins with ideas, thinking and creativity.

2.   Be More of a Creator than an Academic  

If you want to be a problem-solver and make fortunes from your problem-solving ability, be more of a creator than an academia. Formal education is not a prerequisite for innovation or problem-solving. You don’t have to be a degree holder, a post graduate or a professor to make fortunes from problem solving.

A person with little formal education but is willing to rack his brain and come up with solutions to problems bedeviling mankind, is sure going to earn fame and fortune for himself.      

Henry Ford of Ford Motors Corporation is one of the greatest inventors in the world, but he had little formal education. However, he was a great thinker, a man of great ideas and a man who believed he could find solutions to every problem he wanted to solve.

Dear reader, don’t use lack of formal education as an excuse for not being a problem solver. To a great extent, we are all problem solvers. We earn a living from making product/services available to those who need them. This is the problem solving we are talking about.

However, it is not just enough to meeting the people’s needs. It is equally important that you add value to the products/services you are offering to people. What will distinguish you and make you stand out in life is the VALUE you create. In reality, people don’t just buy products/services; they buy VALUE.

This is why you must focus on creating value. Add value to your products/services before offering them for public consumption. IF YOU ADD VALUE TO THE PRODUCT/SERVICE YOU ARE OFFERING HUMANITY, I ASSURE YOU THAT YOU WILL STAND OUT IN LIFE.

Regardless of your occupation, business, trade, vocation or profession, you can stand out from the rest of the pack, if you will add value to what you are doing in order to better the lof of the generality of the people.

We are seeing it happen everyday how some persons in the lower rung of the ladder are attaining national recognition because of the value they add to what they are doing.

In the National Merit Award ceremony held in 2014, I watched with keen interest the live broadcast of the ceremony on TV how former Nigerian President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan decorated common citizens who distinguished themselves in their work place.

Among the awardees was a taxi driver who was kind enough to return several millions of naira left in his car by passenger he did not know. There was also a traffic warden whose commitment, hardwork, seriousness and dedication earned him national recognition. And of course, there was this teacher who was described as a teacher of teachers and a moulder of people’s destiny. He also earned a national award for his commitment, hardwork, dedication and contribution to national development.

Dear reader, the fact is this: you may be a cleaner, messenger, attendant, mason, mechanic, carpenter, etc; it doesn’t matter. If you are willing to add value to what you are doing, you will stand out, you will be elevated.

You may be adding value to what you are doing and you may think no one is noticing it. Never get discouraged and quit. You can’t keep adding value to your work without being noticed. Let me assure you that someone is out there taking notice of the value you are creating.

If the awardees of the National Merit Award are honest enough, they would tell you that they never knew that people and indeed the Federal Government of Nigeria were taking notice of the value thay were adding to what they were doing.

So, never stop adding value to what you are doing.some time, someday, somewhere, your effort will be richly rewarded.

Until I come your way soon, go and live victoriously!