The news on all global top media channels from CNN to New York Times, are that old is good. More and more people are buying old phones whose prices are now increasing, and the likes of Nokia and Motorrola quietly dusting off their old production lines to make more to the market. It is a new development that is threatening the market value of smart phone makers especially Samsung and Apple. So why are people going back in time to say old is gold? Here are my expert views – things they are not telling you. After eight years as…

Taxes matter a lot and you better plan for them. Understand the different between tax evasion and tax avoidance.  Tax evasion is illegal failure to remit taxes while tax avoidance is legal. You need to plan your business and incomes to take advantage of tax avoidance schemes available. For example, income from your property is subjected to lower taxes than income from your stocks or salary that is usually charged at 30%. So, investing your savings in real estate appreciation may be better strategy. But note that rich people invest in business assets where they claim high tax savings in…

Real Madrid have won the conveted tropy. The score board after the AET (120 minutes of play) read as follows; Real Madrid 4 – 1 Atletico Madrid Football is damn a bad game for the heart. Atletico Madrid got an early lead in the 36th minute and played well only to let it go with just two minutes remaining. It looked a done deal by 90:02 minutes, until an equalizer by Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos in the 3rd minute of the five minutes of injury time. From nervousness to happiness, then to hopes and finally sadness then nerves. You cannot…

One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is hiring someone to market their businesses. Many of the ‘salespeople’ cannot actually sell anything! They are office type of executives who are afraid of even making a small presentation in front of a room full of prospects. Their idea of marketing is sitting down in office, writing a ‘marketing plan’ usually of over 50 pages, complete with graphs and projections of the next ‘5-years’ sales and their marketing budget. When you dig deep into their numbers, you realize they plan to generate revenue by placing ads in newspapers, tv, radio and making…

Orange Uganda has finally bowed out of the Uganda market amid increasing competition, unpredictable regulatory environment and general high costs of doing business. Orange has registered limited success in Uganda since its official launch in early 2009, with a reported 620,000 thousand mobile subscribers as at the end of December 2013. As I wrote in January 2014, telecom is a numbers business.  To break-even, a telecom company needs a minimum of 3 million subscribers due to high interconnect costs. Orange’s survival has been attributed to its flagship data service product – Orange Internet Everywhere. However, with the market leaders MTN…

Great leaders are of course, not the smartest of all. I am not comfortable working with folks who cannot think on their own. You need people who are smarter than you as they keep you on your ‘toes’ with brilliant ideas for implementation. Plus when someone originates an idea, they make it their business to ensure it succeeds. And that happens to be the secret to some of the most successful businesses. If you have to originate most of the break-through ideas and innovations, then you probably have a wrong team or the environment you have established is not idea…