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Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Why my (2) barbers cannot charge me equally

Credit: Pinterest

Some days ago, I overhead a conversation where a rep of an institution had tried to justify why his outfit was charging its customers a certain amount for services rendered.
He compared his institution to another that delivered far better services than his.

His mistake.

You see, I've got two barbers who are good at their jobs. They both deliver the same services, but the quality of their service delivery, differ.
The first one has an air-conditioned salon, nice sitting area, with newspapers and magazines, and a fully stocked fridge of customers' favourite drinks.
He uses smaller clippers, rather than razor blades in trimming the edges of customers' hairs. Instead of the 'usual alcohol' used by the second barber after a shave, he uses Nivea's after shave. He disposes off the heated towels used on cleaning clients' head before applying hair cream to it. He's got a back up electricity power system that ensures customers are attended to, even when dumsɔ hits.

My second barber doesn't have these investments to enhance his service delivery. He therefore cannot charge the same rate as my first barber.

In service delivery, we are sometimes tempted to charge rates based on what our competitors charge, without doing.a proper homework on improving our services to match the rates we are charging.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

GhanaThink Foundation's #JCIP is a career booster

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Meet the 10 enterprising SHS interns of the JCIP

The first ever paid internship for Senior High School students in Ghana, being run by the Junior Camp Ghana initiative of the GhanaThink Foundation has passed its first month. Another month awaits. Here are the first 10 interns of the JCIP, sharing their reasons for applying to the programme:

Felix Dewornu, Lamudi Ghana
(Alumnus, St. Augustine's College)
"I see the JCIP as a networking platform to create relationships that would go a long way to help me identify my innate skills, and map them to my future career goals.I see myself in the military, with a degree in Pharmacy. I hope to further my education while in the military, and enter the corporate world as an entrepreneur. My hobbies are reading,watching movies,playing video games,playing and watching soccer. My favorite position is right full back(2) and my favorite team is Chelsea fc, my favorite Chelsea player is Willian Borges da Silva."
Benjamin Kornu, Hatua Solutions
(Alumnus, St. Mary's Seminary High School)
"The JCIP I believe would help me gain skills, and experience needed to achieve my dreams. I trust the programme will help me get an ideal idea about my career goals. I want to become an IT Engineer in future, with a great interest in humanitarian development. I enjoy playing soccer,watching movies, playing the comic relief, and using the computer."
Georgina Damilie, Agripro
(Alumna, Accra Girls' High School)
"I relish the immense networking opportunity the JCIP promises to provide me. I hope to learn of relevant skills and trends that would inform my career decisions. I’ve developed a curiosity for journalism and communications related careers, and hope to pursue a degree in broadcast journalism and marketing communications."
Felix Gborglah, Impact Hub Accra
(Alumnus, Pacesetters Senior High School)
"I see the JCIP as a platform to ‘test drive’ possible jobs based on my interests. The possibility of gaining new insights that can’t be got from the classroom is an attraction of mine to the programme. I aspire to become a medical doctor, to help fight diseases and find permanent solutions to some tropical ones."
Cedric Nudanu, Jovago Ghana
(Alumnus, St. Martin's Senior High School)
"I applied to participate in the Junior Camp Internship Programme because of the experience and exposure I believe I’d gain. I also see it as a launch pad into my tertiary education and career. I want to become a lawyer in future, to help promote justice in my community. I have interests in Archaeology and Heritage Studies."
Maame Yaa Serwaa Bona-Mensa, iSpace
(Alumna, Archbishop Porter's Girls Senior High School)
"I am optimistic the JCIP would help me focus my interests better to achieving my career goals. I believe it will improve my networking skills as well, while making me discover my strengths and weaknesses. My career interests are diverse: Engineering, Music and Arts, and Film-making! My hobbies are; listening to music, writing my journal and poems, acting in my mirror, taking pictures, reading interesting books, watching interesting movies, funny videos and music videos."
Ishmael Adjei, Oilseed Investments
(Alumnus, Osu Presbyterian Senior High School)
"I believe the JCIP would set me apart from other candidates as I progress in life. Networking with my fellow participants and other stakeholders is also an attraction for me applying to the programme. I aspire to be an investigative journalist in future, and harbour a passionate interest for graphic design, which I wish to use to enhance communication of information to the public. I enjoy advocating on radio and on social media too as well, aside that, I also like designing and writing poems in relation to issues affecting young people and the world at large. I envision a world where, children enjoy their rights and other policies also work."
Thomas Agoe Armah, Agripro
(Alumnus, Nungua Senior High School)
"I applied to the JCIP to experience the work environment and also gain a great insight into my chosen field. I look forward to honing my skills and meeting other individuals from different backgrounds. I hope to attain the highest academic laurel I can, and work in the medical or agricultural fields."
Thelma Agbakpe, Impact Hub Accra
(Alumna, Keta Senior High & Technical School)
"I see Ghana as a country where there’s more talk, and less action. I applied to the JCIP as I believe it would help me perfect my potentials which would be geared towards making a positive impact in my community. I am looking forward to studying English at the university and see myself as a public speaker, author, and lawyer."
Sheilla Gyamfi Lamudi Ghana
(Alumna, Swedru Senior High School)
"I see the JCIP as a platform, to enable young people develop their skills and talents while waiting to further their education. I look forward to networking with other individuals and putting into practice what I learnt in the classroom. I want to study Business Administration, and build a career in Organizational Planning and Management."