Cameroon Domains

1. Develop your long-term goals and write them down. Also, write down how you
will measure success. When you are defining your goals, make sure they’re realistic and
be flexible.
2. Define your short-term goals. For each short-term goal, you may consider developing a
chart. Establish who is doing what, and by when. This process sets clear timelines,
milestones and establishes accountability. Identify how each short-term goal relates to
and contributes to the long-term goal.
3. Identify all human, financial and material resources needed and available.
4. Have an idea of how you will deal with unexpected challenges and have alternative
approaches to reach your short-term goals.
5. Periodically, when you are implementing short-term goals, step back, assess your long-
term goals with your team, and determine whether you need to change course. Be
flexible and adapt to changes.
6. At all times, it is important for you and your team to stay in your “circle of influence”
— that is, things you have influence over. Do not spend your time in your “circle of
concern” — that is, things that concern you but you have no control over.
If you find you’re facing a challenge and feel that it will introduce change, be clear and
transparent about communicating the nature of that challenge to your team and work with them
to develop solutions to address the challenge. Change is often difficult, so be prepared to
support your team members through it. Also, being a leader is a lonely position but it becomes
less isolating when you and your team members share the same vision and work towards
addressing the same challenges.
Remember, the very act of moving from a vision to a reality can bring out the best in
you because it’ll give you a sense of purpose and accomplishment. Ultimately, your vision
should and will continually evolve into something greater because your learning related to that
vision becomes richer and deeper.
Resoures, Young Africans  Leaders  Initiiative  website

Learning Objectives Of the Lesson
1. Understand the importance of ethical considerations when leading and managing.
2. Identify the sources of ethics.
3. What are the four questions every code of ethics should address?]
[TEXT: Dr. D. Christopher Kayes, Professor of Management, George Washington University]
In this session we are going to talk about ethical management and leadership.
Learning objectives include understand the importance of ethical considerations when leading
and managing. Identify the sources of ethics. The four questions every code of ethics should
address.
Leaders need to consider their actions in the context of others. Leaders understand that words
and actions have consequences. Understanding how others will react or perceive actions is
important because a better understanding of others helps to guide actions. It’s important that
others continue to have trust and that others perceive your actions and words as ethical.
When others perceive that a leader has made an unethical decision, people will quickly lose
trust in the leader, and that can lead to other consequences such as a loss of motivation. In
extreme cases, a loss of trust can threaten an initiative or an organization.
In order to make ethical decisions, even when those decisions aren’t popular, many leaders
develop and follow a personal code of ethics.
Without a personal code of ethics, leaders are often left with little guidance on how to act in the
face of difficult choices. One way to think about ethics is to think of a ship lost at sea without a
compass to guide the captain. Without a code of ethics, leaders will be lost when they face
tough situations. Developing a code of ethics will help leaders navigate difficult situations and
will help the leader build confidence that he or she is making the best, most ethical decisions.
Leaders turn to several sources when creating a code of ethics. Many individuals rely on
religious or spiritual teachings, others rely on the values offered by their family. Some
individuals turn to other leaders, leaders for whom they have admiration, and try to adopt the
values of those leaders. Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, and Mother Teresa of Calcutta are
often cited as examples of leaders who held strong codes of ethics.
One example of a difficult ethical decision occurred in a retail company. This situation, faced by a
former student of mine, shows the challenges that a person encounters when trying to do the right
Brian was the manager of a store, and he had a job opening for a new sales associate. His top
choice was a young woman who had previously worked in sales. She had outstanding references.
Brian’s boss, David, asked Brian to hire one of David’s family members. This person did not have
the same credentials as Brian’s top candidate. Brian understood that the other employees would
be disappointed if Brian hired someone who was unqualified but simply because they were the
friend of David. Brian was worried that if he did not do as his boss suggested, Brian might be fired.
However, Brian also knew that in some cultures, hiring someone you trust personally is more
important than hiring someone who has higher qualifications.
Leaders like Brian often rely on a code of ethics that answer four different questions:
First, am I breaking any established rules or laws?
In Brian’s home country, it was not illegal to hire family members, so Brian was ok on that question.
Two, is the action I am taking seen as fair by others?
Here Brian was on shakier ground because he knew, though it was legal to hire family members,
hiring the boss’ relative would be seen as inconsistent and unfair.
Three, how would I feel about myself if I took an action?
Brian felt that it was ok to hire the boss’ family member, even though he knew he could hire
someone more qualified because he knew that the job was easy to learn and that the family
member seemed motivated to do the job well.
Last, is the action I take consistent with the values of my family and community?
Brian felt that he could hire the family member because, although it may be perceived as unfair by
many, many organizations hired family members, especially small family-run stores like the store
where Brian worked.
As you can see, making ethical decisions guided by a code of conduct is difficult.

To develop a successful product, entrepreneurs need to examine the market in which they want to operate. They also must be able to identify their potential customers and their personal strengths and weaknesses, then structure their business accordingly.


In this lesson, you will learn how to identify markets, how to research your idea, and how to
determine your skill set.
One of my professors gave me some great advice. He said, regardless of your business idea,
the entrepreneur must ask him or herself, “What is the single necessary and sufficient condition for a
business?” It is not a product, a technology, a customer need, a business plan, a vision, a strong team,
investors, or competitive advantage. While all those things are important for a company to have, none
of them is the right answer.
The single necessary and sufficient condition for a business is a paying customer — the person who
will pay your company money for its product or service. Knowing this, how does one identify a need
and business opportunity? The business opportunity is always related to the needs of that
paying customer.
Begin by estimating how many paying customers there are in your chosen market. Digging deeper,
find out where they are geographically, and how much they would be willing to spend on the
product or service you intend to sell.
However, just because you have a paying customer does not mean you have a profitable business. In
order to have a profitable business, the entrepreneur will need to gain enough paying customers,
spending enough money within a relatively short period of time, so that the business does not run out
of capital. These calculations are difficult, and demand quite a bit of research.
How do you go about researching your idea, then?
The goal is to launch a business based on an innovative product or service where no market
currently exists. If your business idea is to sell batteries for mobile phones to residents of your
home city, you will need to do the research, based on what we call market segmentation. You will
have to find potential future paying customers and ask them questions about the batteries in their
mobile phones. Take advantage of the Internet, if you have access, or make connections by talking to
friends and family. Get on the phone or in the car, or walk the streets, to pursue information and
potential opportunities.
Even if other companies might already be selling batteries, the objective is to make sure no one is
selling batteries like yours. If your battery is not better, not cheaper, doesn’t last longer, or
more advanced than existing batteries, then there is no reason to start a new business selling batteries.
However, if your battery is better than existing batteries, provided you’ve done the research to
identify your target customer in order to estimate how much money they would be willing to spend on
a better battery, you will attract lots of new paying customers. You will then have a high market share
that you can use as a basis for future expansion.
How do you determine what fits your own skill set?
You’ve done all the research, based on an approach that we call market segmentation. Now you are in
a position to know your future paying customers. You have an idea of what they like and dislike
about their mobile phone batteries, where they live, where they shop, what jobs they have and their
monthly income. You even have a good idea of how much they might be willing to spend on better
batteries for their mobile phones. But in order to sell lots of batteries to your newly identified target
market, you will need to make sure that target market is consistent with your values, your
passions, goals and aspirations as an entrepreneur.
The ambitious entrepreneur becomes obsessed with the wants and needs of the paying customer. But
he or she must be smart about the role they want to play in the business. If the entrepreneur
is interested in the technology of making better batteries, and good at receiving feedback on how to
improve the battery, then he or she should focus on product development and let other people on the
team concentrate on sales or marketing.
If, on the other hand, the entrepreneur is good at explaining the benefits of the new battery, and
why customers should pay for them, then they should be in sales or marketing.
It takes time and patience to convince new paying customers to buy your product. You will succeed if
you know your market and your own personal skills.

Today i took a lesson  i will like to share with you.
 Four Things i learn were how to:

1. Identify potential business partners.
2. Look at the key elements of a pitch.
3. Craft and deliver a pitch and
4. Follow up.


                                                                Details
If you are serious about starting a new venture, you must demonstrate to potential business partners and
investors that you are passionate about the idea and truly believe that the business can succeed. You must
be willing to work hard, on weekends and late into the night. You will show your investors that you
can do what it takes to make your business thrive, knowing that profitability and growth will one day
justify all the efforts. Although many businesses fail within the first year, many others succeed
because their founders have drive and a great idea. They were able to rally a winning team and investors.
How does an entrepreneur identify potential business partners?
It’s very important to choose business partners according to both skill set and personality. Explore your
own skill sets. If you are passionate about technology and see yourself as more of an introvert, then you
should choose business partners who are more extroverted — partners who are willing to go out,
meet customers and engage in the marketplace. If you are not very organized, then it is crucial to add a
business partner who is very detail-oriented and good at handling complex tasks, whether dealing with
lawyers, accounts or suppliers.
It is also good to have at least one founding team member who knows how to handle investors and answer
difficult financial questions.
Still, for the business partnership to work well, you need more than just a balance in skill sets. You need
to be relatively certain that your personalities will not clash. Too many businesses fail because of ego or
personality mismatches.
How can you find a good match in your business partners?
By first getting to know your potential partner well. Make sure you have clearly assigned roles
and responsibilities from the start. Set up a system that allows you to resolve differences
amicably, without fights or unnecessary arguments.
Once the business plan is written, how does the entrepreneur craft the pitch?
The pitch should be short, explaining the idea, the potential and team members’ expertise. The key is to
convey why this business is worth investing in. The pitch should explain why the target customer is
willing to pay for the product or service. It should explain what kind of value you will create for
that customer. Once that value proposition is framed into numbers and full market- potential
quantified, the founding team should make five-year sales and expense projections and come to the
required investment amount. The objective of the pitch is to get an investor to commit capital to the
business.
What are the key elements of a pitch?
A sophisticated investor will listen to your pitch and assess whether you understand the market and
competition. In your pitch, you should focus on a single initial market and grow from there. If, after your
short pitch, the investor is convinced that there is something there, then you have succeeded in grabbing
their attention and they will want to investigate further and review your full business plan.
How to best deliver the pitch?
It’s really about getting to know the audience you are pitching to. If you are meeting one investor, then
you will need to research them and know what kinds of companies he or she has invested in in the past,
and if they were successful. If, however, you are pitching to an audience of 12 people, you must first
understand the decision-making process and figure out which audience members will have the
greatest impact on the actual investment decision. Grab their attention and get them excited by
showing them why your idea has the potential to change the market and lead to a consistently profitable
business.
How to follow up after the pitch?
Don’t be afraid to email them relentlessly. Walk them through your business plan. Remember, investors
like persistent entrepreneurs and everything you say will need to be backed up by numbers, research, and
a plan. Don’t be boring and don’t allow the investor to be distracted. Your job is to help them
imagine what your company could one day become, with their funding.

1. Create a business model for your product or service. Include:
a. a description of your customers
b. the problem you are solving for them
c. the features your solution must have
d. how you will make money from your solution
e. how you will reach your customers and how much it will cost to acquire them
f. the messages you will use to entice your customers