Organisational Culture is an aspect that impacts every organization’s functioning. Keeping in view the vital role that plays in the success of any Organisation. I would like to mention the desired culture is the “OCTAPACE” Culture.

“OCTAPACE” culture is the best initiative for any Organisation, whether it’s an IT or Non-IT organization.

Let’s look at- what is “OCTAPACE” culture? How will it be helpful to Organisational Growth?

To recapitulate, Organisational culture represents Values, Beliefs, behaviors & Capabilities acquired by the members of the firm. We can truly say if the Organisation has all Dimensions of “OCTAPACE”, it is on the way to SUCCESS……….

• This library user for firebase integration dependencies 

• {
  implementation 'com.google.firebase:firebase-auth:19.4.0'
  }

• This permission use internet connection checking

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />

<com.facebook.login.widget.LoginButton
         android:id="@+id/login_button"
         android:layout_width="match_parent"
         android:layout_height="match_parent"
         android:layout_gravity="center"
         android:visibility="gone" />

• This permission user for user data get. Without this permission user data not meet
  
  

• “loginButton” This button is Facebook button 
  
  

• LoginManager.getInstance().logInWithReadPermissions(FacebookLoginActivity.this, Arrays.asList("email", "public_profile")); 
• loginButton.setReadPermissions("email", "public_profile");

void initializeAuthentication(){
                FirebaseAuth  mAuth = FirebaseAuth.getInstance();
             GoogleSignInOptions gso = new GoogleSignInOptions.Builder(GoogleSignInOptions.DEFAULT_SIGN_IN)
             .requestIdToken(getString(R.string.default_web_client_id))
             .requestEmail()
             .build();
    mGoogleSignInClient = GoogleSignIn.getClient(this, gso);
}

• This function user login result return

void faceBookLogin(LoginResult loginResult){
     setFacebookData(loginResult);
     Profile profile = Profile.getCurrentProfile();
     if (profile != null) {
       String avatar =  ImageRequest.getProfilePictureUri(profile.getId(), 200, 200).toString();
   }
   handleFacebookAccessToken(loginResult.getAccessToken());
}

• This token return firebase login fails or not an event

private void handleFacebookAccessToken(AccessToken token) {
AuthCredential credential = FacebookAuthProvider.getCredential(token.getToken());
    mAuth.signInWithCredential(credential)
           .addOnCompleteListener(this, new OnCompleteListener<AuthResult>() {
               @Override
               public void onComplete(@NonNull Task<AuthResult> task) {
                   if (task.isSuccessful()) {
                       FirebaseUser user = mAuth.getCurrentUser();
                       user.getIdToken(true).addOnCompleteListener(new OnCompleteListener<GetTokenResult>() {
                           @Override
                           public void onComplete(@NonNull Task<GetTokenResult> task) {
                               String token = task.getResult().getToken();

                           }
                       });

                   } else {
                      String errorCode = String.valueOf(task.getException());
                       Toast.makeText(FacebookLoginActivity.this, "Login failed.", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
                    } 
            }
    });
}

• “Default_web_client_id” this keyword, not changes because creating google-services.json file time automatically this keyword in add values so this key work put at its

The Stripe Customer Portal is very useful for managing customer subscriptions like Upgrade, Downgrade, and Renew.

Customers can review their invoices directly and also check their history.

Portal billing setting

Do login into your stripe account

Navigate to the portal settings to configure the portal, and do below billing settings

Create Product

First of all, we need to create products. Follow the below process for creating products.

Click on the “Products” menu from the sidebar and click on the “Add Product” button on the top right corner of the products page and create a product.

Here is an example of how to create a product.

Create two or three products as shown below.

Select product In portal settings

If you want to allow your customer to change their subscription by an upgrade, downgrade, cancel or renew you need to set products in your portal setting.

Now navigate to customer portal settings again, in the Products section, you will find a dropdown “Find or add a product..”, click on it you will find the plan you have added, select the price of this product.

Don’t forget to save all these settings.

Then do the setup of your business information, also do branding settings in the “Appearance” section, and save it.

Once you are done with settings, you can preview the customer portal by clicking the Preview button beside the save button.

This will launch a preview of the portal so you can see how customers will use it for managing their subscriptions and billing details.

Integrate into Laravel

• Get you API keys
  • Go to “Developers > API keys” here you will find your “Publishable key” and “Secret key

• Create customer using stripe dashboard or by API
  • Create customer by Stripe API.
  • First of all, you’ll need to set your stripe secret key. For development mode, you can use test mode keys, but for production, you need to use your live mode keys

\Stripe\Stripe::setApiKey('sk_test_YOUR_KEY');

$customer = \Stripe\Customer::create([
    'name' => 'jenny rosen'
    'email' => 'jenny.rosen@example.com'
]);

• Once you create a customer using stripe API, now you can create a billing session for that customer using stripe API.
  • Create a billing session of the customer by API

\Stripe\Stripe::setApiKey('sk_test_YOUR_KEY');
\Stripe\BillingPortal\Session::create([
   'customer' => 'cus_HnKDAQNjBniyFh',
   'return_url' => 'https://example.com/subscription',
]);

You’ll get a response, like the below object:

{
  "id": "pts_c5cfgf8gjfgf73m5748g6",
  "object": "billing_portal.session",
  "created": 453543534,
  "customer": "cus_bGFsnjJDcSiJu",
  "livemode": false,
  "return_url": "https://example.com/subscription'",
  "url":
"https://billing.stripe.com/session/{SESSION_SECRET}"
}

In the response body, there is a URL attribute:

Now redirect your customer to this URL immediately. For security purposes, this URL will expire in a few minutes.

After redirecting the customer to this URL, the portal will open and customers can manage their subscriptions and billing details in the portal. customers can return to the app by clicking the Return link on your company’s name or logo within the portal on the left side. They’ll redirect to the return_url you have provided at the time of creating the session or redirect URL set in your portal settings.

Listen to Webhooks

You must have a question, what is this Webhook!!!

It’s just an event, which will fire when a customer does any changes in his/her subscription in the portal, we can listen to this event in our app and make appropriate changes.

For example,

If a customer cancels his/her subscription in the portal, then how we will know about it!!

For it, when customers do any changes in his/her subscription

“customer.subscription.updated” event will be fired and we can listen for this event and, get to know the customer has changed subscription so we need to do appropriate changes in our app also.

Set webhook in your app

In the webhooks.php (in routes folder) file set up a route for handle webhook.

You can use the [Laravel Cashier Package (https://laravel.com/docs/8.x/billing) to handle webhooks.

To set up a webhook for your portal navigate to the “Developers > Webhooks” menu you will find the below screen, here I have added a webhook to handle subscription cancel and update events, it will fire when customers update subscription, and you will receive it.

Click on the “Add endpoint” button and the below pop up will open. In Endpoint URL set the route you have created in the webhooks.php file. Select subscription updated and deleted events.

All done.

For more details, you can use stripe customer portal integration

Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) is a cross-platform messaging solution that lets you deliver messages for free.

It allows you to send push notifications from the Firebase console or from the application server or some trusted server where logic runs.

Step 1:- Create a new Android Studio Project

First, create a new Android Studio project and add the dependencies. First set up Firebase in your project. You can find a good tutorial.

Add Firebase messaging dependency to your app-level.

build.Gradle
dependencies {
  implementation 'com.google.firebase:firebase-messaging:19.0.1'
}

Step 2: Create a Firebase Service

The next step is to create Firebase Services:- MyFirebaseInstanceIDService and MyFirebaseMessagingService. first MyFirebaseInstanceIDService service will handle the device registration process and the second MyFirebaseInstanceIDService will handle the reception and display of notifications. The services have no visual interface and are used for operations that run in the background. To create a service, right-click and select the Applications folder New -> Service -> Service.

Type in your service name, and click the Finish button. Repeat the same steps for the second service.

AndroidManifest.xml file and update your service declarations under the application tag. Also, add INTERNET and CLOUD TO DEVICE MESSAGING permissions so your app can interact with the FCM server.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
  package="com.exmple.notify">

  <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
  <uses-permission android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.permission.RECEIVE" />

  <application
    android:allowBackup="true"
    android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
    android:label="@string/app_name"
    android:roundIcon="@mipmap/ic_launcher_round"
    android:supportsRtl="true"
    android:theme="@style/AppTheme">
    <activity android:name=".MainActivity">
      <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />
        <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
      </intent-filter>
    </activity>

    <service android:name=".MyFirebaseInstanceIDService">
      <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="com.google.firebase.INSTANCE_ID_EVENT" />
      </intent-filter>
    </service>

    <service
      android:name=".MyFirebaseMessagingService"
      android:permission="com.google.android.c2dm.permission.SEND">
      <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="com.google.firebase.MESSAGING_EVENT" />
        <action android:name="com.google.android.c2dm.intent.RECEIVE" />
      </intent-filter>
    </service>
  </application>
</manifest>

To handle the device registration process, MyFirebaseInstanceIDService must increase the FireBaseInstenside service class. Under this service, override the tokenrefresh() method so that whenever the system decides to refresh the tokens, it will be requested. This usually happens when the user installs/reinstalls the application or when the user clears the application data.

Since you are sending notifications between devices, each user must subscribe to an issue with a different user_id. This ensures that users receive notifications sent to topics that match their user_id. Here is the implementation of MyFirebaseInstanceIDSericiclass.

public class MyFirebaseMessagingService extends FirebaseMessagingService {

  private final String ADMIN_CHANNEL_ID = "admin_channel";

  @Override
  public void onMessageReceived(RemoteMessage remoteMessage) {
    final Intent intent = new Intent(this, MainActivity.class);
    NotificationManager notificationManager = (NotificationManager) getSystemService(Context.NOTIFICATION_SERVICE);
    int notificationID = new Random().nextInt(3000);
   /*
    Apps targeting SDK 26 or above (Android O) must
    implement notification channels and add their notifications to at least one of them. Therefore, confirm if the version is Oreo or higher, then setup notification channel
   */
    if (android.os.Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= android.os.Build.VERSION_CODES.O) {
      setupChannels(notificationManager);
    }

    intent.addFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_CLEAR_TOP);
    PendingIntent pendingIntent = PendingIntent.getActivity(this, 0, intent, PendingIntent.FLAG_ONE_SHOT);
    Bitmap largeIcon = BitmapFactory.decodeResource(getResources(), R.drawable.notify_icon);
    Uri notificationSoundUri = RingtoneManager.getDefaultUri(RingtoneManager.TYPE_NOTIF CATION);

    NotificationCompat.Builder notificationBuilder = new NotificationCompat.Builder(this, ADMIN_CHANNEL_ID)
        .setSmallIcon(R.drawable.notify_icon)
        .setLargeIcon(largeIcon)
        .setContentTitle(remoteMessage.getData().get("title"))
        .setContentText(remoteMessage.getData().get("message"))
        .setAutoCancel(true)
        .setSound(notificationSoundUri)
        .setContentIntent(pendingIntent);

    // Set notification color to match your app color template
    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.LOLLIPOP) {
      notificationBuilder.setColor(getResources().getColor(R.color.colorPrimaryDark));
    }
    notificationManager.notify(notificationID, notificationBuilder.build());
  }

  @RequiresApi(api = Build.VERSION_CODES.O)
  private void setupChannels(NotificationManager notificationManager) {
    CharSequence adminChannelName = "New notification";
    String adminChannelDescription = "Device to device notification ";

    NotificationChannel adminChannel;
    adminChannel = new NotificationChannel(ADMIN_CHANNEL_ID, adminChannelName, NotificationManager.IMPORTANCE_HIGH);
    adminChannel.setDescription(adminChannelDescription);
    adminChannel.enableLights(true);
    adminChannel.setLightColor(Color.RED);
    adminChannel.enableVibration(true);

    if (notificationManager != null) {
      notificationManager.createNotificationChannel(adminChannel);
    }
  }
}

Step 4: Implement the notification sending logic

This is the most important part of the whole article. This is where you define the content of the instruction and how it will be modeled. However, before you dive into coding, follow these steps to get your server key from the Firebase console.

Navigate to the Cloud Messaging tab, and copy your Server key

Implement the Sending Logic: An FCM server with the following request properties only needs an HTTP post request to send a push notification:

Method Type: POST

URL: https://fcm.googleapis.com/fcm/send

Headers:

Authorization: key="Firebase server key" Content-Type: application/json

Body:

{
 "to": "/topics/notification_userId",
 "data": {
  "title": "Notification title",
  "message": "Notification message",
  "key1" : "value1",
  "key2" : "value2" //additional data you want to pass
 }
}

With these concepts in mind, you will first create a JsonObject of Notification body within your activity class. This object budget will contain the subject of the receiver, the title of the notification, the notification message, and the other key/value pair you want to add.

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
  EditText edtTitle;
  EditText edtMessage;
  final private String FCM_API = "https://fcm.googleapis.com/fcm/send";
  final private String serverKey = "key=" + "Your Firebase server key";
  final private String contentType = "application/json";
  final String TAG = "NOTIFICATION TAG";

  String NOTIFICATION_TITLE;
  String NOTIFICATION_MESSAGE;
  String TOPIC;

  @Override
  protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
    edtTitle = findViewById(R.id.edtTitle);
    edtMessage = findViewById(R.id.edtMessage);
    Button btnSend = findViewById(R.id.btnSend);

    btnSend.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
      @Override
      public void onClick(View v) {
        TOPIC = "/topics/userABC"; //topic must match with what the receiver subscribed to
        NOTIFICATION_TITLE = edtTitle.getText().toString();
        NOTIFICATION_MESSAGE = edtMessage.getText().toString();

        JSONObject notification = new JSONObject();
        JSONObject notifcationBody = new JSONObject();
        try {
          notifcationBody.put("title", NOTIFICATION_TITLE);
          notifcationBody.put("message", NOTIFICATION_MESSAGE);
          notification.put("to", TOPIC);
          notification.put("data", notifcationBody);
        } catch (JSONException e) {
          Log.e(TAG, "onCreate: " + e.getMessage() );
        }
        sendNotification(notification);
      }
    });
  }
  private void sendNotification(JSONObject notification) {
 ...
  }
}

The next step is to request the network server using the library volley, then use the parameters to the root server will request notification on the target device.

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

  ....

  private void sendNotification(JSONObject notification) {
    JsonObjectRequest jsonObjectRequest = new JsonObjectRequest(FCM_API, notification,
            new Response.Listener<JSONObject>() {
              @Override
              public void onResponse(JSONObject response)
              {
                Log.i(TAG, "onResponse: " + response.toString());
                edtTitle.setText("");
                edtMessage.setText("");
              }
            },
            new Response.ErrorListener() {
              @Override
              public void onErrorResponse(VolleyError error) {
                Toast.makeText(MainActivity.this, "Request error", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
                Log.i(TAG, "onErrorResponse: Didn't work");
              }
            }){
          @Override
          public Map<String, String> getHeaders() throws AuthFailureError {
            Map<String, String> params = new HashMap<>();
            params.put("Authorization", serverKey);
            params.put("Content-Type", contentType);
            return params;
          }
        };
    MySingleton.getInstance(getApplicationContext()).addToRequestQueue(jsonObjectRequest);
  }
}

Finally, add a MySingleton class that will serve as a request queue for instruction requests.

public class MySingleton {
  private static MySingleton instance;
  private RequestQueue requestQueue;
  private Context ctx;

  private MySingleton(Context context) {
    ctx = context;
    requestQueue = getRequestQueue();
  }
  public static synchronized MySingleton getInstance(Context context) {
    if (instance == null) {
      instance = new MySingleton(context);
    }
    return instance;
  }
  public RequestQueue getRequestQueue() {
    if (requestQueue == null) {
      // getApplicationContext() is key, it keeps you from leaking the
      // Activity or BroadcastReceiver if someone passes one in.
      requestQueue = Volley.newRequestQueue(ctx.getApplicationContext());
    }
    return requestQueue;
  }
  public <T> void addToRequestQueue(Request<T> req) {
    getRequestQueue().add(req);
  }
}

With it, you're done creating your app. You can start sending push notifications between devices without typing any server-side code. Always make sure that the notification will not be delivered to you if the subject of the recipient is correct. If you do everything right, you will get the same result.

composer require ladumor/one-signal

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Ladumor\OneSignal\OneSignalServiceProvider"

Ladumor\OneSignal\OneSignalServiceProvider::class,

'OneSignal' => \Ladumor\OneSignal\OneSignal::class,

ONE_SIGNAL_APP_ID=XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX
ONE_SIGNAL_AUTHORIZE=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
X
ONE_SIGNAL_AUTH_KEY=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

use Ladumor\OneSignal\OneSignal;
$fields['include_player_ids'] = ['xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxx-xxxx-yyyyy']
$message = 'hey!! This is a test push.!'
OneSignal::sendPush($fields, $message);

Image Source

Shreemad Bhagavad Gita has a lot to speak about business management. In the last Post of Karma-Yoga, we have seen how our actions should be for the benefits of the others. Today, let's see Chapter 4.

In Chapter 4, Karma-Brahm-Arpan-Yoga (Jñāna Karm Sanyās Yog), verse 13th and 14th, Lord Krishna said,

चातुर्वर्ण्यं मया सृष्टं गुणकर्मविभागश: |

तस्य कर्तारमपि मां विद्ध्यकर्तारमव्ययम् || 13 ||

The four categories of occupations were created by me according to people’s qualities and activities. Although I am the creator of this system, know me to be the non-doer and eternal. (source: holy-bhagavad-gita.org)

પ્રકૃતિના ત્રણ ગુણો એન્ડ કર્મોના વિભાગ પ્રમાણે મેં બ્રાહ્મણ, ક્ષત્રિય, વૈશ્ય અને શુદ્ર એમ ચાર વર્ણોની રચના કરી છે. તેનો હું કર્તા હોવા છતાં પણ તું મને અકર્તા અને અવિકારી જાણ.

न मां कर्माणि लिम्पन्ति न मे कर्मफले स्पृहा |

इति मां योऽभिजानाति कर्मभिर्न स बध्यते || 14 ||

Activities do not taint me, nor do I desire the fruits of action. One who knows me in this way is never bound by the karmic reactions of work.(source: holy-bhagavad-gita.org)

કોઈ કર્મો મને લેપતા નથી, કેમ કે કર્મોના ફળમાં મને લાલસા નથી. આ રીતે જે મનુષ્ય મને જાણે છે, તે પોતાના કર્મો વડે બંધાતો નથી.

Based on occupation & activities, God created the following 4 Varnas:

• Brahmins - predisposed toward teaching and worship (how to get the God or go to heaven)
• Kshatriyas - inclined toward administration and management of the kingdom
• Vaishyas - form the business and agricultural class (Businessmen)
• Shudras - working class (The actual person who works)

In the same way, we also need 4 Departments in our Business.

• Brahmins - Marketing - Do the marketing & they actually help us to meet our God (Our Customer).
• Kshtriya - HR - Form a Business, Hire Team, Appoint People, Make Policies, define Penalties, etc.
• Vaishyas - Operations - Administration & Management (or your Top Management Team).
• Shudra - Technical - Actual working people, our employees who actually do work

What God did is, created these 4 Varnas and given them their duties and activities that they need to perform and he simply became A-Karta (non-doer and eternal).

We as CEO, also need to do that same thing. Create these 4 Departments, assign them their duties and just become an external observer. Then all you need to do is, whenever they got stuck, help them, guide them or train them. That's it.

So just simply, Be a God of your Company.

You can also listen to full podcast here.

2019 was a great year for us in terms of business as well as in my personal life. We have some major breakdowns which taught us lots of good lessons while we resolved it.

1. Do not get your company to rely on one major client

The major mistake we made was our 80% staff was working for one client for years. And when that work got stopped the 80% company has no work with 50% staff was a senior and experienced developer with top salaries.

Of course, long term relationship is important but always keep working with multiple clients/people. It will keep your business moving even if one of your work got stopped for whatsoever reason. Because even if you have top talent, getting really good clients is too tough in the market.

2. Everything starts with YOU

Before you transform your business, the first thing that needs to be transformed is yourself. Once you start transforming, everything else into your business, your team will start transforming automatically.

Your team learns a lot from you, they are your main observers. Once they see you transforming, their life will also start getting transformed.

3. Wake up Early

All great leaders are early birds. Once you win your morning, you can win the rest of the day. 3 hours of early mornings are the main productive hours. That’s the time when you can complete your things which you are not able to complete throughout your day or you are not getting time for.

Also waking up at fixed early morning time will help you a lot in your health. Wake up at 5 am at least, do some exercise, reading and complete the most important thing of the day in the morning only.

4. Power of Reading

“Not every Reader is a Leader but every Leader is a Reader.”. This sentence has a lot to say. Once you start reading it will transform your life a lot. The good book contains years of research by the author. So you can directly get those years of knowledge by reading that book in just a few days.

5. Increase your Networking

I will say you should meet lots of people. Meet them, talk with them, know them, learn from them even if you are not working with local people.

Plan to meet one good CEO or Coach every month. Invite them to lunch or dinner and try to learn as much as you can from them. Ask about their processes, structures, systems, technologies, etc.

6. Contribution in other’s lives

When you contribute to other people’s lives, that contribution will come directly back to you by double. When you transform their life, your life will automatically get transformed.

7. Get a Coach or Mentor

Always surround yourself with Coaches and Mentors at every and each stage of life. In Business and Personal life as well. Your coach can be anyone from Friends, Family or some specialized Mentors and Coaches.

You always need someone who can push you, help you, guide you. Get someone who can give your honest and transparent advice and guidance.

8. Never stop Learning

Never stop learning. Always learn something every day or at least a week. Read Books or Watch Videos or Learn new technologies or Purchase some Courses. Even if you are super busy, put a dedicated time to watch 10 mins video or Read 10 mins every day.

In the long run, just 10 mins of every day will help you a lot.

9. Write Daily Journal

Writing your daily Journal helps a lot. List down your today’s achievements and your tomorrow’s goals. It will help you to track your daily progress as well as plan your day of tomorrow.

When you write a Journal, you will have an exact idea on the next day, what are your priorities in the morning only. Once you plan your day ahead a day, it has tremendous benefits.

10. Delegation

Delegation is really powerful. Before doing any task, just think if you can delegate it then delegate it. Your time is limited and precious, put it on the things where it’s actually needed rather than doing things that someone else can do from your team.

And if they are not able to do it right now, start training them and make them capable to take off your load.

11. Power of ToDo List

Start Maintaining To-Do list. It has huge power and will bring a great impact. Anything that you need to do, add to your ToDo list. Need to make a call to a friend? add it. Need to send an Email to the client? Add it.

Each and every small thing should be added to the ToDo list with a due date if possible. It will help you to prioritize your tasks and will give you motivation at the end of the day when you check the list of complete things.

12.Write a Blog

Start writing your blog. It doesn’t need to be fancy or content-rich. Just write down anything that seems to be useful to at least one person in the world. Just write down about things that came to you across the day.

Your blog post doesn’t need to long. Just write 2-3 small paragraphs and that’s it. But at least start writing something daily/weekly whatever is possible for you.

Hope you enjoyed it and see you next year with new learnings.