INNOVATIVE MARKETING PRINCIPLES THAT WILL BOOST PROFITABILITY & GROW

INNOVATIVE MARKETING PRINCIPLES THAT WILL BOOST YOUR SALES & HELP YOUR BUSINESS GROW

                                                     By Ishola Ayodele

                                                                                                        

According to Robert Kiyosaki a business is like a wheelbarrow nothing happens until you start pushing. But to really push your business to succeed having the knowledge of what you do is not enough. For instance, there is a clear difference between being a doctor and running a hospital for profit. To succeed faster and better in your business you must possess some business acumen, understand some cogent principles of business & have Marketing strategies with which you hope to fight completion and gain the market share.

Here are Fifteen Principles that can really boost your sales and aid your business growth.

    1. HAVE A SOUND COMPANY’S MISSION –

This is like goal or the purpose of your business. That is, that particular thing your company stand for which directs what you do in your business and how you do it. This is where most businesses fail. Ask many-a business owner what the most important function of a business is? 90% of them will say profit. The fact is that for a business to grow and endure it most important function is not profit but TO SERVE the need of the customer. Your Customers will feel secured and buy more from you if they know that your desire is to render quality service and not just to make money from them. Thus, your mission statement becomes imperative as it is the window through which people see your business and what it stands for. 

2. LET QUALITY, QUALITY, & QUALITY BE YOUR WATCHWORD –

             You can only deceive people once as they will flee from you as soon as they realize your                    service or product is lacking in quality. But this is not the worst that will happen to you, they              will tell everybody about how poor your service or product is. In case you don’t know                          

             "Marketing is a battle of perception.  No matter how good you are, 
              your prospect's perception of you is their reality".

                                       

But when the economy looks the way our current economy does, it’s easy to think about cutting corners. That’s fine to do internally as you reduce some operating expenses, freeze wages, freeze hiring, or possibly even letting someone go, but never, never and I repeat never compromise on the quality that you provide to your customers. As a customer myself, when I start to see quality decrease, I go elsewhere. It’s hard to gain a customer, but it’s very easy to lose one quickly if we don’t continue to provide what they expect and are accustomed to. Remember this always, 

“An advert can only bring you prospects only the quality of your product or services can make them your customer and keep them for life”.

3.      BUILD A SOUND AND LOYAL EMPLOYEE BASE –

This start by employing credible staff based on merit and the desire to work not based on ethnic or religious sentiment. A loyal and well-trained workforce will help your business move forward and stand up strong against the competition. It will also help to reduce employee turnover which means less lost of productivity spent retraining new staff. To achieve this you as the business owner need to have the in-depth knowledge of the following.

i. How to make work productive and also make workers achieving.

ii. How to combine being a Manager with being a Leader. (They are not the same)

iii. How to work on your business and not in your business.

4.      HOLD EMPLOYEES ACCOUNTABLE –

Holding employees accountable for their individual tasks. Train them to be responsible for what is assigned to them or get an expert to help you instill in your employees your vision and mission of the business. I said an expert because whether you accept it or not your employees main purpose of joining your business is MONEY another is to use your business as a stepping stone. The truth is that if they can’t see what you saw before establishing your business they can’t perform at their best and your business cannot grow as you envisioned. Get an expert to help you train & inspire your employees. Remember if you have not trained them you can’t blame them and rather than just firing your staff fire them up for peak performance. Then they can be held accountable for their task.

Here are few of the things you need to learn as a business leader to lead your staff well

i.                    Learn to blame softly (blame in the covert)

ii.                  Learn to praise loudly (praise in the overt)

iii.                Learn to say “thank you”

iv.                Learn to say “I’m sorry”

 5. MAKE YOUR CUSTOMER THE HERO, NOT YOUR PRODUCT,  

           SERVICE OR BUSINESS

Whatever business or profession you are running, your customers or clients are your most valuable asset. Not the volume of your stock. Not the dexterity of your skill. Not the level of your qualifications. Not your staff. Not your overheads. Not your marketing efforts.

Customers don't care about these things. Nor do they care about the machinery of running your enterprise. All they care about-rightly-is "What is this product, or service, and the organization I am buying it from, doing for me?”. 

People don’t care how much you know until you show how much you care.

  

The moment you become customer-focused you will attract more sales than you dreamed possible. Why? Because every minute you spend in front of a customer entirely focused on satisfying his or her immediate wants, that person will never forget or stop appreciating your efforts. He or she will keep buying from you repeatedly, and will also recommend you to everyone he or she thinks could benefit from what you sell. This is how the great Indian statesman Mahatma Gandhi defines a customer “A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is no dependent on us, we are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work, he is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business, he is part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him, he is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so”.

So, your customers the most important component of your business and satisfying them to the fullest your main aim then amazing sales and profit will besiege you but without this your time, energy and resources is a waste. Remember this always 

“NO SATISFIED CUSTOMERS,

NO BUSINESS”. 

  

                                               To be continued in the next edition

If this article has helped you in any way please leave your comment, testimonial or observations in the "post a comment" box below.  

Ishola Ayodele is a Public Relation Expert, Marketing Researcher & Advisor. 

He is on hand to provide you, your association or company the following beneficial services:

·                     Designing Creative and customer oriented Mission Statement.

·                     Innovative Public Relations activities for Profitability and Reputation boost.

·                     Cutting edge Fund raising Strategy. 

·                     Effective Marketing Strategies for small & medium Business and large cooperation.

·                     Staff Motivation and Exceptional customer service training and workshops.

·                     Thought provoking and action propelling motivational speeches.

For enquiry, Consultancy or booking call   08077932282, 07061121566, 08182884440  

Email: ayoishola77@gmail.com
Twitter @ishopr

The Law of Attraction

 The Law of Attraction

The law of attraction states that “You will always attract into your life people and circumstances whose philosophy harmonize with yours”.

What this implies is that what you think about throughout the day has a powerful influence on what you actually achieve or experience. In other words, your present life is a reflection of the type of thoughts you have kept in the past which have attracted the kind of circumstance, events and people around you now. And in the same vain the kind of circumstance, events and people around you in the future will be the outcome of your present thoughts.

Thinking positively will always attract like minds to you. That is, you will be coming across people who will share the same ideas as yours and will be interested in giving you a helping hand not only that, your mind will also be open to see the aspect of your present problems that favour the realization of your dreams in life.

For instance, if you think a lot about becoming rich you will start to attract the things into your life that will help you to become rich.

i.                    This “attraction” could come in the form of useful information on a business idea, job opportunity or secrets of wealth creation through reading books on money, magazine, Newspaper articles(like the one you are reading now). In fact, if you are reading this article now and feeling the energy that is emanating out of this article it is because you have been thinking positively.

ii.                  It might come in the form of assistance, such as by meeting people who can help you to achieve your long term financial goals through training, mentorship, sponsorship, donation, loan or grant.

And thinking negatively will also attract people who will share the same negative ideas and will compound your worries which will make your life more miserable and more regressive.

For example, If you focus on poverty you will tend to engage in actions that attract poverty to you.

i.                    This may come in the form of being careless with your money and wasting it on things with no financial reward, accumulating debt through the purchase of liabilities that quickly become worthless.

ii.                  At times you will come across people (spouse or friends) who give you negative advices, prevent you from taking action on good ideas or consciously or unconsciously impede your success.

iii.                It might also come in form of your interpretation of the circumstance that befalls you. You tend to interpret it as a calamity whereas it was a blessing or an opportunity you leverage on to get the right assistance by connecting with the right people. Thus you miss out on this golden opportunity.

Out of all the 20 laws of money, the law of attraction is perhaps the most famous and powerful whether this is due to some mystical force, or due to a change in your thought patterns and the resulting actions you take no one can really say, the fact is just that this law plays a role in how your life turns out either positive or negative and either consciously or unconsciously. Remember the recurring theorem in Psychology that says “A large percentage of our conscious activities are controlled by our unconscious activities”

The problem is, when confronted with challenges in life or business most people lament and only think of where to get it solved. A positive thinker thinks of how to solve a problem and not where to get it solved.

Summary

The fact is that, It is when you start thinking positively that you start thinking rightly. And when you start thinking rightly, you will start meeting all the right people at the right places at the right times, for all the right reasons and right then you will start doing all the right things that will right all the wrongs in your life right away.

See, successful people are not problem oriented but solution oriented, they are

always thinking positively and are always optimistic about winning no matter their circumstances. They allow only positive thought to pervade their minds because they are aware that:

Consider This Poem

 

“One’s Thoughts evolve into words,

  One’s Words manifest into Action,

  One’s Actions develop into Habit,

  One’s Habits metamorphosis into Character,

  One’s Characters make up Ones Attitude,

  And One’s Attitude to life determines one’s Altitude in life”.

Remember this always

“Winners are not probability thinkers but possibility thinkers”.

The Law of Expectation

The law of expectation

written by Ishola N. Ayodele

"What you expect is what you get"

The law of expectations states that “whatever you expect to happen in your life eventually becomes your own self fulfilling prophecy”.

This means that you are always acting as your own fortune teller by the way that you think and talk about how things are going to turn out. When you expect good things to happen to you, good things usually do happen. When you expect bad things to happen to you, bad things usually happen.

This is germane to the accumulation of wealth because it determines what happened to the ideas or opportunities you get in life. No matter how good an idea is if your thought about the idea is negative it will never work for you even if it works for a million people.

A recurring theorem in the field of psychology states that, “A large proportion of our conscious activities are controlled by our unconscious activities”

If your business is not doing well others,

you are not getting contract like others,

you are not getting business opportunities like others,

you have tried and tried to save money but it is to no avail,

your career is not growing like it should,

you are not making a head way with your relationship with your boss, co-workers or other people,

your marriage is not going well and so on

The first person you need to check out is yourself and your first point of call should be your mind. Your present state of the mind is the way it is now based on your understanding or ignorance of this law.

The Law of Expectation works with the Law of Cause & Effect and the Law of Belief. If you understand that whatever you caused to happen must have an equal effect on you. If you act on an idea or opportunity promptly and with determination,

do your job with diligence and honesty,

deal with people with respect and forthrightness,

live with your spouse with sincerity and kindness,

then your expectations on the outcomes should be positive, as you are sure you are doing the right thing and effect will definitely be positive too.

One powerful effect of the Law of Expectation is that even when things are not going as you expected and the odd is against you, as long as your expectation is positive the outcome one way or the other things will put themselves right for you in an inexplicable amazing way that will bewilder you for the rest of your life. 

A Note of Warning

Please don’t misunderstand the Law of expectation to the expectation that you have about people reciprocating your gesture. For instance, expecting your friend to help because you have helped him before is not Law of expectation.

What the law of expectation is teaching you is that, if the dominant thought in your mind is that you will get help you will definitely get help. So, if your friend whom you have helped refused or his unable to help you the law of expectation tells us that as long as your mind is certain you will get help, help will surely come from sources you don’t even know.     

  

On September, 2004 I was to attend the Motivational Congress (a yearly gathering of the best brains in Motivational Speaking and Human Capital Development Consultancy) and I got the information just two weeks to the event. As a member I had a discount I was to pay just N5000. But believe you me that was like N500,000 to me because I was so broke that time I could barely feed myself.

Things were so difficult then that I was practically fasting daily due to lack of fund to even eat. But when I got the news I knew I was going to attend because my expectation was clear and that was “if I was not going to attend the Motivational Congress it will certainly not be because I couldn’t raise N5000” 

Within days of this conviction people begin to need my service and by the following week Tuesday which is five days to the event I paid the N5000. In the evening I called to confirm if my seat has been reserved but I got another shocking news.

It’s not that my money was not received or the seats have all been booked but as a member I am to attend in a dress code which is a dark blue suit and a sky blue shirt. I have suits but I don’t have a dark blue suit and a sky blue shirt. And right there and then I had no money on me or in anywhere. I felt sober and my brother asked me “what are you going to do now?” I looked up and said, “if I am not going to attend this  Congress it will certainly not be because I don’t have a dark blue suit and a sky blue shirt” .

Two days to the event a man came to me that a school in Shomolu local government needed graduation gowns and their number was large but I stay in Ajegunle and had no connection whatsoever to this school. This was too good to be true because it is rare for schools to do their graduation at the end of August. But it turn out they had to delayed it till then because of a circumstance which fortunately is a blessing to me. 

By 5pm on the Friday prior to this event I was coming home smiling with my Dark blue suit and a sky blue shirt with more than enough money for transport {which I didn’t even thought about before}.

You are always acting as your own fortune teller as a result of the expectations you hold. The beauty about this law is that your expectations are largely under your control. This means that you can decide whether you expect to be poor or whether you expect to be prosperous.

 When it comes to money, Wealthy people have a clear idea of what they want and expect to get it. For example wealthy people expect to live lives of financial abundance and have their net worth increase year after year. They may be  

labourers now like Henry Ford {the founder of Ford motors},

street sellers or mechanic like Roman Abramovich {the owner of Chelsea FC}

spare part apprentice like Cosmos Maduka {the chairman of Coscharis group}.    

a boy selling plantain like Timaya {The popular musian}.

But their expectation have always been to own a company and not work for money.

They focus on nurturing their idea and building a business out of it.

Whereas most people who are not wealthy, expect to struggle for their money and just earn enough to get by. They focus on money as the ultimate goal of their labour. This has limited their imagination which causes them to focus their attention on the present moment and the satisfaction of their immediate needs. As a result, their financial expectations also become limited, which ultimately becomes a self fulfilling prophecy that they live by.

If you want to bring financial abundance into your life, experience a good career and have a fulfilling relationship in marriage or with people, you therefore need to think big and expect the best, because what you expect to happen will largely determine the type of things that you work at achieving.

Summary

The expectations you have determine what you think will happen to you in your life, which then determines the aims and objectives that you work to achieve.

The higher your expectations are, the greater a level of wealth that you are likely to pursue. But having high expectations is not enough, as those who only dream of fulfillment without willing to work hard for it, will remain just that, dreamers.

 What are your expectations?

If this article has helped you in any way please leave your comment, testimonial or observations in the "post a comment" box below.  

Ishola Ayodele is a Public Relation Expert, Marketing Researcher & Advisor. 

He is on hand to provide you, your association or company the following beneficial services:

·                     Designing Creative and customer oriented Mission Statement.

·                     Innovative Public Relations activities for Profitability and Reputation boost.

·                     Cutting edge Fund raising Strategy. 

·                     Effective Marketing Strategies for small & medium Business and large cooperation.

·                     Staff Motivation and Exceptional customer service training and workshops.

·                     Thought provoking and action propelling motivational speeches.

For enquiry, Consultancy or booking call   08077932282, 07061121566, 08182884440 or  email: ayoishola77@gmail.com
Your  can also follow me on twitter @ishopr

A LIFE WELL SPENT (The Value of TIME in the life of a Muslim)

ESSENTIALTIME MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES FOR PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL EFFECTIVENESS   
(The Value of TIME in the life of a Muslim)

Written by   Muhammad-Nasirdeen Uthman Ayodele

   "A TIME WELL SPENT IS A LIFE WELL SPENT"

   

                                                   

                                ONE O’CLOCK (CHAPTER ONE)

TIME, THE GREATEST ASSET OF MANKIND

Time is the greatest asset man has and it is the greatest blessing and gift ALLAH has bestowed upon man. For Allah (Asawajalah) said what means “And He has made the sun and the moon, both constantly pursuing their causes to be of service to you; and He has made the night and the day, to be of service to you” (Ibrahim Q14:33),

“And he gave you all of that you ask for and if you count the blessings of Allah never will you be able to count them. Verily man is indeed an extremely wrong doer, a disbeliever”. 
 (Ibrahim Q14:  34)

TIME is fixed in availability as well as in it direction, we cannot influence, manipulate or change TIME.

The purpose of this lecture is not to teach you how to control your TIME as no human has control over TIME except the Almighty Allah (ASAWAJALAH) but rather the purpose of this lecture is to educate you on the importance of your TIME and how to control your actions so as to make judicious use of the TIME of your life.

But first why is time so important?

THE IMPORTANCE OF TIME TO MANKIND

1.           What ALLAH (Asawajalah) says about time

Allah (Asawajalah) made time a means of computation. He said what means

“He it is Who made the sun a shining brightness and the moon a light, and ordained for it phases that you might know the computation of years and the reckoning [of time]. Allah did not create it but with truth; He makes the signs manifest for a people who have knowledge” (Yunus, Q10:5)

Allah (Asawajalah) made time as an avenue to seek a means of livelihood and a means of knowing numbers of years. “We have made the Night and the Day as two (of Our) Signs: Then we have made dark the Sign of the Night while we have made the Sign of the Day illuminating; that you may seek bounty from your Lord, and that you may know the number of the years and reckoning: And we have explained everything (in detail) with full explanation”. (Al-Isra, Q17:12)

He (Asawajalah) also  created time so that it will be a sign with which the believers will remember Him (as the creator) and show appreciation for His mercy as He said what means, “And He it is Who has put the night and the  day in succession for such who desires to remember or desires to show his gratitude”. (Al-furqan, Q 25: 62)

2.      What Prophet Muhammad said about time?

Narrated Abdullah bin Mas`ud, Allah's Messenger (PBUH) said“A servant of Allah will remain standing on the Day of Resurrection until he is asked about four things

i.                    Your life:  How did you use it?

ii.                  Your youth: How did you spend it?

iii.                Your knowledge: How did you use it?

iv.                 Your wealth: How did you acquire it & how did you spend it?

                                                                         [At-Tirmidhi]

Narrated Ibn Abbas, The prophet (SAW) said “Grab five things before five others:

i.                    “Your youth before your decrepitude”,

ii.                  “Your health before your illness”,

iii.                “Your wealth before your poverty”,

iv.                 “Your leisure before your work”,

v.                   “Your life before your death”,                                                                                                 

                                                               [At-Tirmidhi]

3.      The Prophet‘s Companions’ perspectives on ‘Time’

  Ibn Mas’ud “I have never regretted on anything like the sunrise of particular day. The sunrises on that day and met me alive and sets with my life span decreasing without my good deed increasing”

            Umar bin Abdulazeez “The night and day that you see are actually working on you. If these two overcome each other on any new thing that thing becomes near to obsolesce, (degradation/destruction). You too should work on them (day and night)”

“Any day that passes me by without an increment in my knowledge that will make me closer to Allah; there is no blessing in such a day of my life”. Some people said this was from the prophet (SAW) but Ibn Qayyim Jaoziyah made us realized that it was actually the companion who said it.

One day, a companion passes by some youth who were playing and he stopped and asked them what they were doing. They replied “we are killing the time”, this companion said “I wish it is possible for me to buy from you your time which you are wasting now“.

4.      Islamic Scholars /Poets’ perspective of ‘Time”

Ibn Qayyim said, “The time of a man is his life in reality; it is the material that defines an everlasting life of permanent bliss or a narrowed-down life of severe punishment”

He also said, “Time is never neutral; it is either a passionate friend or an archenemy”

Imam Al Hassan l-Basri said “I grew up to know a group of people (The Sahaabah). This group of people value their time more than how you value your Dinar and Dirham”.

He also said “at the beginning of everyday a herald calls: ‘O son of Adam! I am a new creation and a witness of your deeds. So, take a provision from me because when I pass, for I never come back till the day of resurrection’”

Imam Hassan Al-Mujtaba said “Opportunity is something which is quick to vanish and late to return”

A Poet once wrote “If a day passes me by without increasing in knowledge or applying it in the course of Allah or benefiting someone with my knowledge. That day is not a good day for me”

A wise man also said  "I expect to pass through this world but once; any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again".

Another poet wrote, “Man rejoices at the days that he spends………. But every day that goes takes him closer to his end”

5.      Thoughtful and Scientific facts about ‘Time’

i.                    The human heart beats 72 times per minute and a life’s span is a billion heartbeats.

ii.                  Time will always depreciate with or without use.

iii.                There will never be enough time. There will always be shortage of Time.

iv.                 30% of your Time from age 18 to 39 account for 70% of your life time achievement.

v.                   70% of your Time will always be pre-occurred with unproductive activities.

vi.                 Time does not exist in the future but in the present. There are only two “times” in a man’s life. Time: The PRESENT and the PAST.

vii.               The Quantity of Time spent alone does not guaranty success but success is definitely a product of the VALUE you attached to your Time and the QUALITY of Time spent.

viii.             Everyone experiences Time difference. Work will also grow to fill up Time (As age goes up, Time decreases: As responsibility increases, Time decreases: as things to do increases, time decreases)

ix.                 There is no such thing as a free Time. Everyone is busy at any point in Time.

x.                   It is either you spend Time or Time spends you.

6.      Research and recent studies about how people spend their time.

An average human spends his/her time thus

27 years          to         sleep

10 ½ years      to         going to work

10 years          to         Watching T V

6 years            to         Internet

4 years            to         eat

4 years            to         stand in queue

3 years            to         bath (men)

6 years            to         bath (women)

3 years            to         chat & gossip

7.      The Divinity of time (According to Allah)

i.                             Allah swears by it.

“By Al-Asr(Time)” (Al-Asr, Q103: 1),

Sheik Yusuf Al-Qaradhanwi said, “It is agreed among Qur’an specialist and it is understood by Muslims in general that when Allah swears by anything in His Kingdom, He is attracting their (Muslims) attention to it. And also pointing out its benefit and significance”.

Allah also swore by some specific period of time like                                             “1. By the dawn.2. And by the ten nights”.(Al-Fajr, Q89: 1-2),

“1. By the night as it envelops. 2. By the day as it appears”.(Al-Lail, Q92: 1-“1.By the forenoon.2. By the night when it darkens.” (Ad-Duha, Q93: 1-2).

ii.                            The act of worship (salat) is allocated specific times.

“When you have finished the Salah, remember Allah standing, sitting down, and on your sides, but when you are free from danger, perform the Salah. Verily,Salat is enjoined on the believers at fixed hours”(An-Nisa, Q4: 103)

iii.                          Zakat, the third pillar of Islam has a time condition.

“And it is He Who produces gardens trelised and untrelised, and datepalms, and crops of different shape and taste, (its fruits and its seeds) and olives, and pomegranates, similar (in kind), and different (in taste). Eat of their fruit when they ripen,but pay the due thereof (Its Zakat, according to Allah’s orders 1/10th or 1/20th) on the day of their harvest, and waste not by extravagance. Verily, He likes not the wasteful”.

                                                                                                                (Al-Ana’am, Q6: 141), 

iv.                           Fasting in the month of Ramadan. The beginning and ending of fasting are timed by the sighting of the crescent.

“The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the criterion (between right and wrong). So whoever of you sights (the crescent on the first night of) the month (of Ramadan, i.e., is present at his home), he must observe Sawm (fasting) that month, and whoever is ill or on a journey, the same number﴿ of days which one did not observe Sawm (fasting) must be made up﴾ from other days. Allah intends for you ease and He does not want to make things difficult for you. (He wants that you) must complete the same number (of days), and that you must magnify Allah ﴿i.e. to say Takbir (Allahu Akbar: Allah is the Most Great)﴾ for having guided you so that you may be grateful to Him”                           (Al-Baqara,Q2: 185).

v.                            Going for Hajj has its specific time. Performing the hajj also is also within a specific time.

“They ask you (O Muhammad) about the crescents. Say: "These are signs to mark fixed periods of time for mankind and for the pilgrimage.'' It is not Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, etc.) that you enter the houses from the back, but Al-Birr is from Taqwa. So enter houses through their proper doors, and have Taqwa of Allah that you may be successful.” (Al-Baqara, Q2: 189)

﴿الْحَجُّ أَشْهُرٌ مَّعْلُومَـتٌ فَمَن فَرَضَ فِيهِنَّ الْحَجَّ فَلاَ رَفَثَ وَلاَ فُسُوقَ وَلاَ جِدَالَ فِي الْحَجِّ وَمَا تَفْعَلُواْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ يَعْلَمْهُ اللَّهُ وَتَزَوَّدُواْ فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الزَّادِ التَّقْوَى وَاتَّقُونِ يأُوْلِي الأَلْبَـبِ ﴾

The Hajj (pilgrimage) is (in) the well-known months. So whosoever intends to perform Hajj therein (by assuming Ihram), then he should not have sexual relations (with his wife), nor commit sin, nor dispute unjustly during the Hajj. And whatever good you do, Allah knows it. And take provisions for the journey, but the best provision is At-Taqwa (piety, righteousness). So fear Me, O men of understanding!)

                                                                                                 (Al-Baqara, Q 2: 197)

8.    Time In the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)) 

The Prophet (SAW) said, “Man is nearest to his lord during the last portion of the night. So, if you can remember Allah at that time: then do it”.

(At-Tirmidhi, no 3579).

The Prophet (SAW) also said concerning the month of Thul-Hijjah. “There is no work better than that time on the first 10 days of Thul-Hijjah,” they asked the prophet “even better than the jihad?”, he replied, “better than the jihad except a man who went out committing his body and wealth to fighting for Allah’s cause, but neither his body nor wealth returned”

[ Sahih  Bukhar].

9.      Time is a trade / commerce

Allah (Asawajalah) clearly emphases the fact that our Time is a commerce with which we can circumvent the Hell fire by Buying Paradise through the judicious use of our time.

“O you who believe! Shall I guide you to a trade that will save you from a painful torment?”   (As-Saff: Q 61: 10)

The prophet also compared the case of Muslims religious responsibilities to those of a businessman. The business man has some capital for Investment in trade. He wants to make profit and keep his capital secured. To achieve, his objectives, he has to be sure whom he trades with, has to prove himself trustworthy and has to be clever enough to avoid being an absolute loser.

Similarly, the Muslim’s capital is health and time in his business with Allah, he has to trust in HIM completely, Resist his own temptations as well as Satan’s so that he can gain the benefits of this world and of the Hereafter”.                                                                                                                          

                                                                           (Sahih Bukhar, chap.1, No 6412, p.234)

10.  Time is a great responsibility

In narrating what will happen to the disbelievers on the Day of Judgment Allah (Asawajalah) said what means.
He (Allah) will say: "What number of years did you stay on earth?" They (disbelievers) will say: 'We stayed a day or a part of a day. Ask of those who keep account”.  He (Allah) will say: "You stayed not but a little, - if you had only known! Did you think that we had created you in play (without purpose), and that you would not be brought back to Us?”

                                                                                                (Al-Mu’minun, Q23: 112-115)

Two of the questions on the Day of Judgment are on time usage according to the Hadith narrated in At-Trimidhi

1.         How you spend your life

2.         How you spend your youth.

If you have found this piece of writing useful then all praises be to the Almighty Allah (Asawajalah) for his guidance and understanding. And if you found errors in it which is sometimes inevitable it is from me. I am only a human and fallible. I am not a scholar nor an expert on Time management but an ardent seeker of knowledge. May Allah forgive me for my errors and I also seek your pardon for my mistake. 

The most truthful speech is the book of Allah and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (SAW).

Please leave your comments, corrections or observations in the comment box below. I will appreciate it. May Allah reward you.