Josh Adeyemi is the CEO of Leisure Stores, an e-commerce website specializing in the finest handbags for ladies in Nigeria. In a special interview session tagged ‘SME 1000 Hotseat’, he talks about his business, major challenges, and how it feels to be a man running a business aimed at ladies. Enjoy. Q: Josh... For the benefit of those who don't know... Tell us a bit about your business... A : I am an Ecommerce merchant...simply put, I buy and sell ladies handbags online. The business started around 2015 but I have being into a lot of other stuff from when I was in primary school. The bag business started as an idea. I enjoy buying gifts for my wife. Sometimes, I get it right, while other times, I get it wrong (I’m sure some us understand what I mean). I noticed that I always get it right with handbags so I kept repeating it to the point when she (my wife) could predict I was always going to get her a bag, she was always looking forward to it. Let me just say that ...

From a night out with the team to providing the latest tech, check out these tips from SME bosses for keeping employees happy and productive By their very nature, SMEs are more likely to have a close-knit staff than larger rivals. But that does not stop staff performance slumping when the necessary TLC is absent or work seems like a slog. A happy staff drives both output and staff retention, so these quick-fix motivational tips from SME bosses should help if you feel that your staff are ailing, or they just need that extra push to reach a seasonal target. 1) Try An Upgrade Francesco Cetraro, head of registry operations for .cloud at Aruba.it believes that an occasional small bump in airline seating or train travel can deliver a larger hike in performance. “Sometimes the difference in price between economy and premium economy is minimal, but the extra comfort can make all the difference,” he says. “Give staff the option to travel the day before a meeting, rather than forc...

C orresponding between offices can be hectic. Many mails come in and go out on a regular basis, especially when you have important information that has to be sent and received in hard copies. Too many recipients in too many destinations…it is hard keeping track of what mail goes where. What is even worse is that you have to commit resources (time, human, financial) just for that to be managed, and although it is crucial to the success of your business, it is not a core function. Luckily for you, we are here to help with that. Our Mailroom Management is one of the revolutionary logistics solutions we have offered our clients for over 15 years. It is an outsource service, aimed at automating the process of receiving, sorting and distributing incoming and outgoing mails. We provide security and coordination to help achieve the most efficient integration of inbound and outbound document processing requirements. We support our clients in the delivery of the core business services b...

A Nigerian start-up, The Perfect PA , has launched a platform to recruit and train a pool of graduates on employability skills and link them to high-end business executives, Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) through a Personal Assistant Management Platform. Executive Director, Strategy, The Perfect PA, Gbolahan Ore, in an interaction with journalists in Lagos, said that the platform is envisaged to boost skills set of graduates and prime them for job employment that require deployment of efficient task tracking and management systems to boost productivity. The Perfect PA provides busy business executives with virtual, real-time, flexible and physical administrative services and deploys a platform for handling tasks and other essential functions with a well-trained team. The firm screens, trains and provides personal assistants to busy professionals and small businesses.    Ore stressed that the platform will revolutionize the business space for upward mobile profes...

Monday 15th January, 2018 will mark the conclusion of the Red Star E-Commerce Festive Promo. It has been a blast since November 15th, 2017 and the response has been phenomenal. Merchants using Red Star E-Commerce Solutions have been able to deliver more products to their customers while saving money at the same time. It is only a few days left for the promo to run but until then, E-Commerce Merchants can STILL save 20% or more as they ship to their customers, courtesy of our Red Star E-Commerce Festive Season Promo. Also, merchants can enjoy ZERO charges for returned items; meaning ABSOLUTELY NOTHING is paid if an item has to be returned to them. At Red Star Express Plc, our E-Commerce Solutions Platform offers the best logistics solutions to e-commerce sites looking to expand their customer reach; both locally and internationally. Our services include both Prepaid and Cash-On-Delivery facilities, Drop-off and Pick-up Centres in all Central Business Districts nationwide, Consol...