This video demonstrates the steps I described in the answer to my FACEBOOK PRODUCTIVITY QUESTION (posted 4th December 2011) – which was as follows:
“Sometimes you want to tell OTHERS about a certain Facebook post, that interested you. The “Share” feature does NOT work in cases when you need to share the Post in a comment or outside Facebook(e.g. via email). You NEED the URL of the Facebook post. Do you know “How to get the URL or Link of a Facebook post or status”?”
Watch the video (click here now) to learn how…
View the original post of this question at http://www.facebook.com/tayo.solagbade/posts/2630753884206
Category Archives: Self-Development
Why Today’s Extension Specialists/Farm Business Support Providers Need Spreadsheet Automation Skills to Succeed Better!
As a self-taught Excel-Visual Basic (VB) Solutions Developer, I’ve (over the past 2 decades) evolved my own unique approach to using my Spreadsheet Programming skills.
And I realize others who work in the Excel-VB programming industry, especially outside Africa, who are used to the traditional approach adopted by a large majority of developers may find my “model” a bit odd.
However, the truth is my disposition is informed by a need to make a useful impact on those who NEED help, as against joining in with others to do what tens of thousands of us already do.
Do a Google search using varying strings about MS Excel based problem solving, and you’ll come up with countless links to forums and blogs that offer basic to super advanced level solutions for business and even personal use.
Not just that, there are countless offers to be had, of training, both off and on the web, using various formats/channels.
And those offering them are often quite competent, with verifiable credentials as well as demonstrated expertise in form of published works and tutorials (video and text based).
For me, especially when I look at markets outside that which I consider my primary target (i.e Africa), I see a situation in which those needing MS Excel based solutions already enjoy access to an abundance of world class quality experts to choose from.
For that reason, and also because I see major gaps in data recording, analysis and report generation related problem solving, I feel strongly driven to focus my efforts on using my over 2 decades of Spreadsheet Automation expertise to serve clients FIRST within Africa, and then any others elsewhere.
For instance out here in Africa, especially with regard to generic use of MS Excel itself, lots of training/consulting providers abound.
It is however when one wishes to go beyond MANUAL use of MS Excel, to boost productivity by eliminating or drastically cutting down on routine and repititive data handling tasks in Excel use, that the VERY poor awareness of Excel-VB programming and its potential applications, becomes apparent.
I saw this GAP in the corporate world, back when I was using my spreadsheet automation skills, in my spare time, to excel as a high flyer in Guinness Nigeria – while employed as a brewer/manager in the Technical function.
The heights to which I climbed within 6 short years, into senior management positions, as well as the massive name recognition exposure I got as a reward for my efforts in creating value adding apps that transformed workplace productivity, convinced my that custom spreadsheet automation, used correctly, was a potentially powerful weapon for achieving what would otherwise be considered impossible.
I quit my high paying job to pursue that vision in December 2001.
The journey was not smooth, and the market, being non existent at the time, took time, effort, and lots of perseverance/pain to build from nothing I.e ZERO level.
In other words, Excel-VB (or indeed Spreadsheet Programming) as an income earning vocation simply did NOT exist in the Nigerian market when I started out.
I visited the largest/best known business schools (as far back as 2002) who offered MS Excel training up to what they called “Advanced Level”.
Those of them who mentioned Excel-VB at all did so by referring to the “Macro Recorder” – and they never failed to add “Introduction to…” before it.
Simply put, very few of them had ventured seriously into the Excel-VB programming terrain that had become so familiar to me at that time.
And NONE had developed their own range of commercial quality, bullet-proof apps, like those I’ve sold internationally for years now.
So, I found it hard to connect with the facilitators I spoke with.
Indeed, in some cases, I got the distinct impression that they were worried about looking LESS knowledgeable than I was, before bosses/colleagues, so they rarely let me meet with them in the presence of others, if at all they agreed to meet.
This situation forced me to rethink my strategy, and I began to ignore the corporate world, and training opportunities, to instead focus on finding individuals and small businesses who needed custom spreadsheet apps built to solve REAL problems they faced.
The change in my focus led me to eventually get hired to build a range of custom apps for use in a wide variety of industries such as hotels, hospitals, bars/restaurants, fitness clubs, churches, engineering/construction firms, accounting firms, and of course my MOST responsive market: FARM BUSINESSES!
“I found out that Mr. Tayo Solagbade is brilliant in the areas of (Web design/marketing) and Excel VBA” – Ibrahim S. – Environmental Consultant (Handwritten testimonial on Tayo’s Client/Customer Feedback Form)
“That (Tayo Solagbade) is a hard worker is an understatement. It’s part of him. He loves what he does – you can see the passion…Tayo’s heart is to see others empowered and know key success principles that he knows. As Zig Ziglar said, ‘You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.’ Tayo does not hold back, and I see him achieving and accomplishing much in life because he wants others to accomplish theirs too.” – Elvis U. – Leadership Consultant, Speaker, Author and Coach (Handwritten testimonial on Tayo’s Client/Customer Feedback Form)
“Mr. Solagbade is creative and in love with his job. (He) is a very industrious person. Very very committed to his work. He’s always full of ideas and solutions to problems, and for me, he is somebody that can give some great ideas to a business person that is facing some difficulties in any field you may think you are.
I’m in a clinical setting and he has been offering some great solutions to problems we face everyday. I listen to his relations with many of his clients. Some are into Agricultural sector, some are into legal sector, and he has been helping them to improve their practice, and to do better business.
He has a very good customer relationship. He knows how to relate with people, how to talk with people, how to flow with people. And he’s somebody that when you enter into conversation with him, you ke(ep) on talking without having to end it. He’s good…” – Simeon A. – Clinical Audiologist (Video testimonial transcript & Handwritten testimonial on Tayo’s Client/Customer Feedback Form)
That last group (farm owners) have proven to be the most profitable, and after I narrowed down to them (using the Pareto principle), I have since focused my efforts on finding better ways to serve them.
As a matter of fact, despite my deliberate effort to focus on those in Nigeria/Africa, my website contacts database entries from submissions made on my Cost-Saving Farm Business website since I launched it in 2006, reveals that I’ve had enquiries about my range of solutions from farm CEOs and other stakeholders in agribusiness, from all over the world – and I do mean that literally.
Today, some of them have purchased and use my apps.
This is why I noted in an International Agribusiness paper I got paid to write, that Extension Professionals ANYWHERE in the world can dramatically boost their ability to help farm businesses of ALL sizes if they acquire MS Excel-VB (or Spreadsheet) Programming Skills.
Note that I happen to hold a B.Sc degree in Agricultural Extension Services from the University of Ibadan, where I graduated top of my class.
Today, in serving my Farm CEO clients, I function primarily as an Extension Services provider, in supporting them – way beyond use of my apps, to helping them learn how to make the most of their farm operations, using Best Practice Systems.
In other words therefore, I make my above proposal to Extension experts from an informed position!
This is the 21st century.
Farm businesses across the world do NOT have uniform operating procedures, and so it can be a bit hard to build an app that is at once affordable and also suitable to their unique needs in their different markets.
The viable alternative is for Farm CEOs to learn how to mould MS Excel to fill that need they have, using Excel-VB automation. Or to hire an employee or consultant to develop a simple app for them.
However, not all farm CEOs will have the time, training or money to go this route.
But an Extension professional working with government, an NGO or even a university, would most likely be better equipped to do just that.
That’s because s/he would then be able to put that skill to use in serving multiple farm businesses over time.
Many downloadable MS Excel based resources formatted for use by Farm CEOs are wonderful in their usefulness, but the authors often (wrongly) assume the farmer will have (or be willing to go get) Excel proficiency to make error-free use of them.
My experiences indicate that few of the farm owners do (or are)! As a result, more harm than good may end up being done to them.
However, if novice-proof automation interfaces like those I use Excel-VB coding to incorporate into my apps are present, more farm owners and their staff would be able to make use of those same workbook resources with little or no resulting errors.
The need for the workbook template creators in Extension practice to learn Excel-VB programming can therefore NOT be over-emphasized.
If you are an Extension Professional, or a decision maker who works with them, and you’d like to learn more about the ideas I’ve shared in this piece, click here to send me a message.
BELOW: Exceprts from my International Agribusiness Paper
In this paper, we acknowledge efforts made by extension specialists, to develop flexible MS Excel based feed formulation resources for farmers.
We however note that farmers need more time/effort saving, and robust error-resistant solutions, to derive ration formulas that yield profitable performance.
The customizable Excel-VB driven Ration Formulator™ is presented as an example of what is possible.
[Watch a 4 part video tutorial demonstration created for the app here]
The Need to Explore Cheaper, Local Alternative Feed Ingredients, In Formulating Least Cost Diets
Rising prices of major feed ingredients like Maize, Fish Meal and Soya beans as well as dangers associated with aflatoxin complications in use of groundnut cake, have driven many farm business owners to explore alternative feed ingredients.
But in doing so, they also have to enter uncharted territory.
Locally available ingredients which are often cheaper, typically tend to b5e less well documented in terms of their value to animals.
Farmers often have to settle for “typical values” from published reports, or send samples to the laboratory.
Different feed formulation methods exist, such as linear programming, Pearson square, and stochastic programming.
The farmer’s choice of method must be guided by the purpose of the diet s/he aims to formulate.
For instance, catfish and poultry have amino acid needs that vary greatly from that of pigs.
The farmer will have to take that into account in formulating his/her rations. But that can be a tasking process!
Low Cost Automated Feed Formulation is Needed
Software automation can make that process less tasking, and more reliable in terms of accuracy.
But feed formulation so9ftware tend to be pricey (see email excerpt in section 2.0). In addition, some – due to legal requirements – limit ingredients types usable (see sidebar) .
That’s why more farmers now adopt manual Excel formats developed by researchers/extension specialists.
Development of Customizable Excel-VB Driven Feed Formulation Spreadsheet Applications By Extension Specialists
For ration formulation to succeed, derived rations must be cost-effective, and also yield the desired livestock performance. Customizable Excel-VB solutions, featuring intelligent error- handling and intuitive “novice-proof” graphic user interfaces can give such superior benefits
Extension specialists can learn basic Excel-Visual Basic programming, and collaborate with farmers to develop software to achieve the above.
The Excel-VB Driven Ration1 Formulator™ (see Annex 1.0) was developed in 2004 , and regularly updated since then, for farmers with limited budgets, and a need to freely explore locally alternative ingredients.
It is accompanied by a 70 page feed formulation hand book (published in 2002), which explains the improved Pearson Square feed formulation technique on which the application works.
The application has been used mostly for poultry and fish farming feed formulation.
The above Agribusiness Research Paper I got paid to write in December 2013 by a European Union funded NGO based in Holland is titled “Adoption of PC-Based Feed Formulation Methods by Farmers, Feed Manufacturers and Extension Professionals, in South West Nigeria.”
Learn more about it at http://tinyurl.com/AgribizPDF
If a Farm CEO decides to buy my Excel-VB Poultry Farm Manager, I’ll give him/her a PDF GIFT copy of the avove paper, plus my popular Feed Formulation Bundle 100% FREE. The bundle comprises the following:
A. My Excel VB Ration Formulator Software – see videos at www.tinyurl.com/RealRationDemo
B. My Feed Formulation Handbook – see it on sale in my online store at http://www.lulu.com/shop/tayo-solagbade/practical-livestock-feed-formulation-handbook/ebook/product-20817463.html
C. My 30 page Annotated Pictorial Introduction To Livestock Feed Formulation Ingredients
Annotated Pictorial Introduction To Livestock Feed Formulation Ingredients
PS: GET BUILT-IN MS EXCEL SOLUTIONS DEVELOPMENT
Self-Development Academy (SDAc)’s Excel Heaven™ was founded by Tayo K. Solagbade in 2002, as the FIRST provider of On-Demand Preprogrammed Custom Spreadsheet Solutions for individuals and businesses in Nigeria/Africa.
We offer Workbook Auditing/Optimisation and VBA Automation; Custom Spreadsheet Software Development; Sales; Job-Based Spreadsheet Coaching; and Consulting/Advisory Services on effective application of spreadsheets for business use.
Call +234-803-302-1263 (in Nigeria) or +229-66-122-136 (in Benin).
See video demos here.
Visit our Excel Heaven mini-site : here.
[Invitation] Join Tayo’s Excel Heaven Visual Basic Automation Club:
1. Click the link below to download a 9-page MS PowerPoint Slideshow which explains in FULL details what you will be learning – and doing.
here.
2. On the page linked below, you can watch a video version of the above slideshow, and some sample tutorials/demo videos:
here.
PII 027: Make Money Selling Spreadsheet Workbooks You Use
The key to making money is finding a solution to problems that others around us are prepared to pay us profitably for.
If you know how to go about it, you CAN make good money selling the Workbooks you build for use in your work as a business user of MS Excel, or indeed any other spreadsheet application.
I say this as one who has done just that for well over a decade and (as I explain below, I have come across many other experts in various fields of endeavour who do the same.
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Tayo K. Solagbade* Self-Development/Performance Improvement Specialist *Best Practice Farm Business Support Specialist & Founder of the MS Excel Heaven Visual Basic Automation Club and Competition Mobile: +234-803-302-1263 (in Nigeria) or +229-66-122-136 (in Benin Republic) Tayo K. Solagbade is a Location Independent Performance Improvement Specialist and Multipreneur (i.e. a highly versatile/multi-skilled entrepreneur), with a bias for delivering Best Practice solutions to Farm Businesses and others. Since 2002, he has earned multiple streams of income providing individuals and organizations with personal development training and coaching, custom MS Excel-VB solutions, web marketing systems/web hosting, freelance writing services, and best practice extension support services (for farm business owners). Tayo is the author of the Self-Development (SD) Bible™ and the popular Livestock Feed Formulation Handbook. He is also the developer of its accompanying Excel-VB driven Ration Formulator™ and the Poultry Farm Manager™ software. He has delivered talks/papers to audiences in various groups and organizations, including the Centre for Management Development, University of Lagos, Christ Baptist Church, Volunteer Corps, Tantalisers Fast Foods and others. In May 2012 he was the Guest Speaker at the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development’s Annual Semester Entrepreneurial Lecture at Yaba College of Technology in Lagos. On 1st April 2013, Tayo (who reads, write and speaks the French language) relocated to Cotonou, Benin Republic to begin slowly traveling across the West African region. His key purpose is to deliver talks, seminars and workshops on his key areas of focus and interest to interested audiences (Email tayo at tksola dot com for details). In a previous life, before leaving to become self-employed, Tayo served for seven years (October 1994 to December 2001) as a high performing manager in Guinness Nigeria. He rose from Shift Brewer to Training & Technical Development Manager, and later acted in senior roles as Production Manager and Technical Manager. In addition to constantly challenging the status quo and influencing positive work changes, he built a reputation for using self-taught spreadsheet programming skills (starting with Lotus 1-2-3, and later moving to Excel Visual Basic) – in his spare time – to develop Automated Spreadsheet Applications to computerize manual report generation processes in the departments he worked. Over four(4) of his applications were adopted for brewery level reporting. Tayo holds a B.Sc degree in Agricultural Extension Services from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, having graduated top of his class – with Second Class Upper Division honors – in 1992. He is an Associate Member of the UK Institute & Guild of Brewing, a 1997 National Finalist of the Nigerian Institute of Management’s(NIM) Young Managers’ competition, a Certified Psychometric Test Administrator for Psytech UK, innovator of Spontaneous Coaching for Self-Development™ (SCfS-D™), and Founder of the Self-Development Academy (SDAc). When he’s not amazing clients with his superhuman skills (wink), Tayo works as the creative force behind his Daily Self-Development Nuggets blog – on which he also publishes The Farm CEO Weekly Newspaper (sent via email to paid subscribers) and his Weekly Performance Improvement IDEAS newsletter. You can connect with him on Twitter @tksola.com and Facebook. Visit Tayo Solagbade Dot Com, to download over over 10 performance improvement resources to boost your personal and work related productivity. ====
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PII 026: You Can be Competent Yet Lack Confidence!
To boost your chances of making sales, you need to have sales conversations as often as possible. And that requires creating systems to generate a regular stream of sales leads/prospects.
I learnt that truth the hard way, and today, I apply that learning with diligence. My ability to succeed in making sales in spite of adversity is proof of this. I continue to have sales conversations with CEOs belonging to my different target audiences – on and off the web.
However, like I’ve repeatedly noted in my writing, I continue to reap more profitable benefits for my efforts, from those who come to me through my…
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Tayo K. Solagbade* Self-Development/Performance Improvement Specialist *Best Practice Farm Business Support Specialist & Founder of the MS Excel Heaven Visual Basic Automation Club and Competition Mobile: +234-803-302-1263 (in Nigeria) or +229-66-122-136 (in Benin Republic) Tayo K. Solagbade is a Location Independent Performance Improvement Specialist and Multipreneur (i.e. a highly versatile/multi-skilled entrepreneur), with a bias for delivering Best Practice solutions to Farm Businesses and others. Since 2002, he has earned multiple streams of income providing individuals and organizations with personal development training and coaching, custom MS Excel-VB solutions, web marketing systems/web hosting, freelance writing services, and best practice extension support services (for farm business owners). Tayo is the author of the Self-Development (SD) Bible™ and the popular Livestock Feed Formulation Handbook. He is also the developer of its accompanying Excel-VB driven Ration Formulator™ and the Poultry Farm Manager™ software. He has delivered talks/papers to audiences in various groups and organizations, including the Centre for Management Development, University of Lagos, Christ Baptist Church, Volunteer Corps, Tantalisers Fast Foods and others. In May 2012 he was the Guest Speaker at the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development’s Annual Semester Entrepreneurial Lecture at Yaba College of Technology in Lagos. On 1st April 2013, Tayo (who reads, write and speaks the French language) relocated to Cotonou, Benin Republic to begin slowly traveling across the West African region. His key purpose is to deliver talks, seminars and workshops on his key areas of focus and interest to interested audiences (Email tayo at tksola dot com for details). In a previous life, before leaving to become self-employed, Tayo served for seven years (October 1994 to December 2001) as a high performing manager in Guinness Nigeria. He rose from Shift Brewer to Training & Technical Development Manager, and later acted in senior roles as Production Manager and Technical Manager. In addition to constantly challenging the status quo and influencing positive work changes, he built a reputation for using self-taught spreadsheet programming skills (starting with Lotus 1-2-3, and later moving to Excel Visual Basic) – in his spare time – to develop Automated Spreadsheet Applications to computerize manual report generation processes in the departments he worked. Over four(4) of his applications were adopted for brewery level reporting. Tayo holds a B.Sc degree in Agricultural Extension Services from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, having graduated top of his class – with Second Class Upper Division honors – in 1992. He is an Associate Member of the UK Institute & Guild of Brewing, a 1997 National Finalist of the Nigerian Institute of Management’s(NIM) Young Managers’ competition, a Certified Psychometric Test Administrator for Psytech UK, innovator of Spontaneous Coaching for Self-Development™ (SCfS-D™), and Founder of the Self-Development Academy (SDAc). When he’s not amazing clients with his superhuman skills (wink), Tayo works as the creative force behind his Daily Self-Development Nuggets blog – on which he also publishes The Farm CEO Weekly Newspaper (sent via email to paid subscribers) and his Weekly Performance Improvement IDEAS newsletter. You can connect with him on Twitter @tksola.com and Facebook. Visit Tayo Solagbade Dot Com, to download over over 10 performance improvement resources to boost your personal and work related productivity. ====
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[MP3 Audio] How to Deal With Prospective Buyers Demanding Lower Prices You Find Unprofitable
This audio is a sequel to last week’s issue titled: The Secret to Succeeding Financially As a Service Provider
Preview: Why you should never let your target audience interpret your service as a “commodity” they can get for any fee they want, via aggressive pricing, or “haggling”.
I explan (using true stories) that sometimes you’ll be better off walking away from a sale, and spending your time creating more quality sales leads, instead of accepting to serve a buyer who insists on focusing ONLY on price, ignoring unique benefits s/he will reap, from choosing YOU over others.
To do otherwise would mean “profit-making-suicide” for you!
Format: MP3 Audio
Duration: 18 minutes
Filesize: 17 MB
Author: Tayo K. Solagbade
Web: www.tayosolagbade.com
E-Mail: Tayo@tksola.com
Target Audience: Tayo Solagbade’s Inner Circle Members
Tip: The ideas discussed here can be successfully adapted for selling products as well.
<h3>Related Articles</h3>
<a href=”http://tayosolagbade.com/sdnuggets/should-you-worry-if-a-client-says-youre-too-expensive/” target=”blank”>Should You Worry If A client Says You’re Too Expensive? | SD Nuggets™</a>.
Attend Tayo Solagbade’s FREE 1 Hour Talk on Potential Applications of Excel-VB Spreadsheet Automation: “Proven Strategies for Using MS Excel to Boost Employee and Company Productivity” [Sat 6th August 2016 & Sat 13th August 2016 in Ikeja-Lagos, Nigeria]
Invitation to CEOs/Independent Consultants, and other business users, as well as Trainers:
Attend Tayo Solagbade’s FREE 1 hour flagship talk linked below, on the tentative dates shown below, in Ikeja, Lagos…
Title: Proven Strategies for Using MS Excel to Boost Employee and Company Productivity
See details in talk’s flyer at:
<a href=”http://tayosolagbade.com/sdnuggets/1-hour-talkno-5-proven-strategies-for-using-ms-excel-to-boost-employee-and-company-productivity/” target=”blank”>http://tayosolagbade.com/sdnuggets/1-hour-talkno-5-proven-strategies-for-using-ms-excel-to-boost-employee-and-company-productivity/</a>.
Tentative Date 1:
Sat 6th August 2016
Tentative Date 2:
Sat 13th August 2016
Venue: To be in Ikeja, Lagos.
Actual date and specific venue address will be communicated to confirmed attendees.
Requirements: A minimum of 10 attendees is required for the event to hold.
Each prospective attendee must book a seat by submItting the form at the bottom of the page at <a href=”http://tayosolagbade.com/xlvbfirms.html” target=”blank”>http://tayosolagbade.com/xlvbfirms.html</a>.
Share this page with others you believe will be interested.
PII 025: What Every Business User of Spreadsheets Needs to Boost Productivity
Quick Take-Away: This article will benefit ANY business user who wishes to understand how to get more productive work done by him/herself and/or others who work with/for him/her – using spreadsheets.
My discussion is based on MS Excel, but the ideas I advocate apply to ANY spreadsheet application that offers code driven automation functionality.
Over 2 decades of industry level automated spreadsheet solutions development experience and exposure, across a wide range of industries, gives me unique insights into how spreadsheets can be maximally utilized to achieve business goals.
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Tayo Solagbade’s
Performance Improvement IDEAS
(PI Squared) Newsletter
Monday 1st August 2016
NB: This PI Squared newsletter will be published weekly, on Mondays, in place of the Speaking/Web Marketing IDEAS newsletter, starting from today – 15th February 2016. I’m reinventing my Monday newsletter content and theme, to accommodate my vision of serving the growing audience of serious minded individuals and organizations reaching out to me, with information, education. news and research findings designed to help them do what they do better.
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PII 025: What Every Business User of Spreadsheets Needs to Boost Productivity
Quick Take-Away: This article will benefit ANY business user who wishes to understand how to get more productive work done by him/herself and/or others who work with/for him/her – using spreadsheets.
My discussion is based on MS Excel, but the ideas I advocate apply to ANY spreadsheet application that offers code driven automation functionality.
Over 2 decades of industry level automated spreadsheet solutions development experience and exposure, across a wide range of industries, gives me unique insights into how spreadsheets can be maximally utilized to achieve business goals.
Indeed, as a multipreneur, I enjoy what can be called an unfair advantage over most business users of spreadsheets.
This is because I get to see DEEP into the various ways that different business users with widely differing needs in different areas of specialization, have to make use of MS Excel.
From accountants, to construction engineers, HR professionals, sales/marketing executives, research organizations, hotels, hospitals, fitness clubs, farm businesses, professional speakers/coaches, churches, consulting firms and others, the usage range is virtually limitless.
Everybody – even the housewife running a home business – has some use for MS Excel
My romance with business spreadsheets automation began while I was employed in Guinness Nigeria as a Graduate Trainee.
I’ve told various aspects of the story of my 7 year stay in that company, especially as it relates to how my spreadsheet automation skills earned me rapid career advancement, in past articles.
Here are 2 of them:
Achieve Recognition and Attract Career Advancement Opportunities By Being A Change Agent
How To Turn A Major Blunder At Work Into A Career Advancement Opportunity
For specific details of what I did, in terms of solutions that added measurable benefits to the organization, thereby earning me rewards, click here to view full details in my PDF resume.
Over the past decade since I left Guinness to develop custom Excel-VB software for a living, I have developed high profile bullet proof custom apps for clients in many of the industries mentioned earlier in this article.
One thing that has become clear to me from working closely with all these MS Excel business users during this time, both in and out of paid employment, is that 95% of them have NO CLUE that they can cut down over 60% of time and effort they spend getting their work done in that application.
In many ways the fact that this is so, is a testimony to just how powerful MS Excel is a business reporting application. That it enables people get work done, even when they are not using it half as efficiently as they can – and should….WOW!
The above is what drives me to do what I do as a Best Practice Spreadsheet Solutions Developer. I see what that 95% of users do not see. And I understand why they find it hard to see, talk less visualize it.
You see, these are business people who often have a LOT of work on their plates, constantly demanding their attention. As a result, most of them simply cannot afford the luxury of setting aside the time to explore the potential goldmine of time saving features hidden in the automation of MS Excel.
Let me be specific:
I estimate that 95% of MS Excel business users currently waste quality time, effort and resources doing routine and repetitive tasks MANUALLY in the process of using MS Excel.
For instance, most of them who have standard report generation/analysis workbooks they painstakingly build preoccupy themselves with duplicating them for daily, weekly, monthly or annual use MANUALLY – when Excel-VB code can enable them do it within seconds, instead of the hours it takes them.
But that’s even going too far. On a much simpler level of “data entry” alone, many of them are shooting themselves in the foot, daily, without even knowing it.
Many of them lose hundreds of hours crawling all over huge spreadsheets that they have to update DAILY, to generate critical decision making reports.
Yet, Excel-VB automation makes it possible to use modeless forms to retrieve data from ANY cell in ANY size of spreadsheet table, into a small single screen form interface, where changes to be made can be done without ANY need to interact directly with the cells!
Example: Below are screenshots of 2 interfaces in an Excel-VB data entry form driven version of a Bookkeeping Spreadsheet I downloaded from Accountinator.com, which I created and emailed as a demo to members of my Excel-VB club. Click here to read more about it.
Imagine how much more pleasurable it would be to do your work, when you know that the mundane task of posting updates can now be done without the stress and strain of spending time searching for, and verifying the correct cell to post your value, so as to generate a report update?
As a business decision maker, you stand to benefit more if you spend less time and energy doing such routine tasks – freeing yourself up to make more sense of the reports you end up with from posting your updates.
In other words, I am saying that many business users are working too hard to get their jobs done. And 80% of what they are doing is often NOT something that needs to be done by them – at least not manually.
Instead, they are tasks that can be turned over to Excel-VB code that will be designed to be run on demand (via mouse click) or even at time intervals or indeed based on an event occurrence.
Click here to view videos of the Poultry Farm Manager app that I sell to Farm CEOs in/out of Africa, which auto charts Hen Day Percentages and generates summaries via Excel-VB code.
These are results that would take a competent user MANY long hours to produce, with the risk of human errors added!
Simply put, business users can be more productive if they intelligently incorporate smart Excel-VB code driven automation to eliminate the routine and repetitive tasks they have to do to get their work done.
They need to find ways to eliminate mundane activities from the spreadsheet based work they do, so that more quality time and effort can be devoted to doing the things that require their conscious attention and involvement. For instance, reviewing charted data trends, against expectations through the use of dynamic menu driven controls.
If you’re not working in MS Excel as described above, that’s proof that you have room for productivity boosting improvement in the way you use MS Excel.
Or to put it differently: You need to make MS Excel do what you want, how you want it, when you want it, so YOU can get the results you want with less effort, in less time, and using less resources.
If that interests you, consider joining my Excel-VB club(you get a FREE app of your choice), or better still take up this promo offer of bundle Excel-VB software development, and coaching.
SDN Blog™
New posts from last week*
Monday:
[Tuesday]:
[Wednesday]:
[Thursday]:
[Friday]:
[MP3 Audio] The Secret to Succeeding Financially As a Service Provider
[Saturday]:
N/A
[Sunday]:
Test-Drive Tayo Solagbade’s ExcelVB Automated Floating Data Entry Form Driven Version of the Accountinator.com “Simple Bookkeeping Spreadsheet”
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Tayo K. Solagbade* Self-Development/Performance Improvement Specialist *Best Practice Farm Business Support Specialist & Founder of the MS Excel Heaven Visual Basic Automation Club and Competition Mobile: +234-803-302-1263 (in Nigeria) or +229-66-122-136 (in Benin Republic) Tayo K. Solagbade is a Location Independent Performance Improvement Specialist and Multipreneur (i.e. a highly versatile/multi-skilled entrepreneur), with a bias for delivering Best Practice solutions to Farm Businesses and others. Since 2002, he has earned multiple streams of income providing individuals and organizations with personal development training and coaching, custom MS Excel-VB solutions, web marketing systems/web hosting, freelance writing services, and best practice extension support services (for farm business owners). Tayo is the author of the Self-Development (SD) Bible™ and the popular Livestock Feed Formulation Handbook. He is also the developer of its accompanying Excel-VB driven Ration Formulator™ and the Poultry Farm Manager™ software. He has delivered talks/papers to audiences in various groups and organizations, including the Centre for Management Development, University of Lagos, Christ Baptist Church, Volunteer Corps, Tantalisers Fast Foods and others. In May 2012 he was the Guest Speaker at the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development’s Annual Semester Entrepreneurial Lecture at Yaba College of Technology in Lagos. On 1st April 2013, Tayo (who reads, write and speaks the French language) relocated to Cotonou, Benin Republic to begin slowly traveling across the West African region. His key purpose is to deliver talks, seminars and workshops on his key areas of focus and interest to interested audiences (Email tayo at tksola dot com for details). In a previous life, before leaving to become self-employed, Tayo served for seven years (October 1994 to December 2001) as a high performing manager in Guinness Nigeria. He rose from Shift Brewer to Training & Technical Development Manager, and later acted in senior roles as Production Manager and Technical Manager. In addition to constantly challenging the status quo and influencing positive work changes, he built a reputation for using self-taught spreadsheet programming skills (starting with Lotus 1-2-3, and later moving to Excel Visual Basic) – in his spare time – to develop Automated Spreadsheet Applications to computerize manual report generation processes in the departments he worked. Over four(4) of his applications were adopted for brewery level reporting. Tayo holds a B.Sc degree in Agricultural Extension Services from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, having graduated top of his class – with Second Class Upper Division honors – in 1992. He is an Associate Member of the UK Institute & Guild of Brewing, a 1997 National Finalist of the Nigerian Institute of Management’s(NIM) Young Managers’ competition, a Certified Psychometric Test Administrator for Psytech UK, innovator of Spontaneous Coaching for Self-Development™ (SCfS-D™), and Founder of the Self-Development Academy (SDAc). When he’s not amazing clients with his superhuman skills (wink), Tayo works as the creative force behind his Daily Self-Development Nuggets blog – on which he also publishes The Farm CEO Weekly Newspaper (sent via email to paid subscribers) and his Weekly Performance Improvement IDEAS newsletter. You can connect with him on Twitter @tksola.com and Facebook. Visit Tayo Solagbade Dot Com, to download over over 10 performance improvement resources to boost your personal and work related productivity. ====
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Test-Drive Tayo Solagbade’s ExcelVB Automated Floating Data Entry Form Driven Version of the Accountinator.com “Simple Bookkeeping Spreadsheet”
[This post is based on an email sent to members of the Tayo Solagbade Excel Heaven Visual Basic Automation club]
<a href=”http://tayosolagbade.com/sdnuggets/join-my-excel-vb-club-get-my-farm-business-software-free-3-great-bonuses-expires-midnight-monday-1st-august-2016/” target=”blank”>Few days ago, I hinted in a blog post that I was building an ExcelVB driven modeless Floating Automated Data Entry Form</a} into the “simple accounting spreadsheet” (featured at <a href=”http://accountinator.com/2012/11/simple-accounting-spreadsheet-excel/” target=”blank”>http://accountinator.com/2012/11/simple-accounting-spreadsheet-excel/</a>
I also wrote an email to that effect, to “Mark” the US based owner of the Accountinator.com accounting spreadsheet, adding that I could help him convert it to a full Excel-VB driven software, like mine, complete with smart data entry forms and dynamic report generation menus etc.
Attached to this email are the following:
1. a copy of the demo version of the spreadsheet with the fully functional auto form.
As you’ve done for other VBA coded workbooks, you’ll need to enable macros when you open this workbook – otherwise the macro buttons in it will not work.
2. Two screenshot images showing:
A. The Raw Data Entry Table with over 30 fields into which entries are to be made.
This version of the Accountinator.com spreadsheet allows for up to 15,000 rows of entries to be made. It can however be extended to take thousands more.
But the main benefit of automation added here is the modeless Floating Automated Data Entry Form which all entries can be made.
Click the Make Entries button at the top left of the spreadsheet table, to load the auto entry form.
Try posting entries using the drop menus and text fields on the form. The interface is intuitive, so I’m leaving you to play around with it for a few days, to see how it works.
NB: A short video showing me posting entries using the form will be emailed to you later in the week.
B. The Data Entry Table Title Settings Iinterface
To change any of the field/column titles in the data entry table, this is where you type your changes.
Once you’re done, click the sheet tab to go to the data entry table. There you’ll see the new title appear in the corresponding field heading.
The change you made will also show up in the drop menu on the floating form’s drop menu.
The above shows how one-size-fits-all automation can be used to save time and effort.
[MP3 Audio] The Secret to Succeeding Financially As a Service Provider
Preview: Why it never pays to price yourself cheap, and how to confidently offer fees that make you profitable, to clients you carefully recruit based on their need (ability to pay) for the solution you offer.
Format: MP3 Audio
Duration: 15 minutes
Filesize: 6.9 MB
Author: Tayo K. Solagbade
Web: www.tayosolagbade.com
E-Mail: Tayo at tksola dot com
Target Audience: Tayo Solagbade’s Inner Circle Members
Tip: The ideas discussed here can be successfully adapted for selling products as well.
Click here to request the audio
Join my Excel-VB Club & Get My Farm Business Software FREE + 3 Great Bonuses [Expires Midnight Monday, 1st August 2016]
Several variants of this time limited offer were sent out this morning, to different mailing lists of my clients, subscribers etc.
<blockquote>
I’m on a drive to recruit more members for my Excel-VB Automation club. To this end, I’m making promo offers to learning institutions (or departments within them), businesses as well as non-profits, to sign-up as “branches” of the club so they can get FREE access to weekly email. PDF, and video tips for their students/employees/staff.
Membership is $65 USD* per annum
*[Note that the equivalent fee to pay in Naira is N13,000.0 because I’ve resolved to continue – for THIS recruitment drive -using the same N200 to $1 USD rate I launched my club offer with in June 2015. Currently it’s N370 to $1 USD]
So simply pay N13,000.0 (Thirteen Thousand Naira) on or before midnight Monday, 1st August 2016, and get full membership, plus the 4 bonuses outlined below.
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Bonus membership benefit 1:
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FREE copy of any of my software of your choice. See examples like my popular Ration Formulator, Poultry Farm Manager at <a href=”http://tayosolagbade.com/sdn-sell.htm” target=”blank”>http://tayosolagbade.com/sdn-sell.htm</a>.
Get 50% off for others like General Accounts Manager, Automated Cash Bank With Bank Reconciliation, Automated Payslip Generator etc at <a href=”http://excelheaven.tayosolagbade.com/” target=”blank”>www.excelheaven.biz</a>.
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Bonus membership benefit 2:
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FREE time/effort saving Custom Automated Floating Data Entry Form incorporation into workbooks used by members for their work.
In other words, each member will be able to send in one workbook s/he uses for work, to have me incorporate intelligent data entry form based automation into it, to eliminate the need to manually interact with the spreadsheet, scrolling over large, potentially confusing areas.
Instead, s/he would simply be able to stay on the loaded form and post all needed entries into the spreadsheet without needing to go to each individual cell.
This feature can make doing your work many times more enjoyable than it currently is – and your productivity would skyrocket. You’ll be able to complete your routine spreadsheet data entry tasks in less than half the time you currently spend doing it.
To get an idea of how powerful this feature can be…
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Here’s a user guide video screenshot demonstration, for an app I built to take 1 year’s worth of income/expense cash book data:
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Name: Excel-VB driven “General Accounts Manager” with modeless floating automated data entry form
First built in 2007 for a medium sized hospital in Lagos, based on their paper based accounts & manual Excel reports.
See the video demo at
<a href=”http://
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUl4_RAja-g” target=”blank”>http://
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUl4_RAja-g</a>
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Bonus membership benefit 3:
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Each member will also get copies of demo applications I build based on real life manual workbooks I find online.
An example is the “simple accounting spreadsheet” (featured at <a href=”http://accountinator.com/2012/11/simple-accounting-spreadsheet-excel/” target=”blank”>http://accountinator.com/2012/11/simple-accounting-spreadsheet-excel/</a>) to which I recently added such a custom data entry form into.
<a href=”http://tayosolagbade.com/contact.htm” target=”blank”>Click here to request screenshot of the form during testing about 48 hours ago.</a>
It is now fully functional.
I have written to “Mark” the US based owner of the Accountinator.com accounting spreadsheet, about the “potential benefits of converting it to a full Excel-VB driven software, like mine, complete with smart data entry forms and dynamic report generation menus.
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Bonus membership benefit 4:
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Note that members will be given the Visual Basic Editor password to be able to open and view the forms, the activeX controls as well as the Excel-VB code that makes them work the way they do.
They will also get step-by-step tutorials on how I built in the form based automation.
In other words, they will get real world relevant coding knowledge they can readily put to use in their work.
Final Words
The above bonuses cannot be combined with any other offers or benefits.</blockquote>
<h3><a href=”http://tayosolagbade.com/contact.htm” target=”blank”>Click here if you’d like to take up this offer</a></h3>.
Have a great weekend.
Tayo