12 Clear Reasons Why You Should Start A Business In Nigeria Today; Check It Out -By Nwosu Chidiebele

Starting a business is something that many people think about at one time or another during their lives. Motivations for wanting to become an entrepreneur can vary greatly. Truly, milestones are what entrepreneurs and business owners work towards. You reach a certain point, then reflection can truly begin. Sometimes, it is a whole lot of drama. Now, what motivate people to start a new business? Anyway, there is a popular perception that the main motivation for starting a business is just to make money i.e. to earn a return from making an investment and taking a worthy risk. There is certainly plenty of evidence to support this perception. However, research suggests that there are many more reasons why someone wants to start a business. Some of the motives include:

Financial Ambition

The necessity to be rich legally and fast may motivate someone to begin a new business. His interest is the financial reward that entrepreneurship can bring him. It has to generate enough profit. Unlike a job where your earnings are limited to what your company is willing to pay you or a predetermined wage scale, the income you earn from a business is often determined by your efforts and business skill. Also, if your initial venture is successful, you can add to your earnings through expansion.

Desire to Pursue a Business Idea

A business idea may occur from any source to a prospective entrepreneur. He may eventually be motivated to pursue the idea and begin a new business. Successful entrepreneurs achieve wealth because they believe in what they are doing and inject personal core values into how they build a business. Wealth is their reward; not their God.

Take advantage of an Opportunity in the Market

They say that opportunity only knocks once. In the business world, however, opportunities do not get the chance to knock before they are shoved through the door. You see, entrepreneurs take business opportunities very seriously. Serious entrepreneurs do not wait for an opportunity to come to them. They study their environment and find the opportunity. Opportunity counts for so much in the business world. One need to grasp it and submit it to your will. Some entrepreneur takes advantage of business opportunities through seduction, as prey, as plant and as luck.

Desire to be their Boss

An employee could be motivated by his desire to be his boss and become an entrepreneur. He/she eventually begins a new business that will be under his or her full control. They want to be their own and in charge of all of the day to day operations of a company. The entrepreneur want to be the one making the important business decisions, determining the direction the company will take, making the call on product development and marketing and being responsible for every aspect of the company’s operation.

Frustration with Low Pay

A worker who is frustrated in a company may decide to get out and establish his outfit which he believes can compete favourably with his previous employer. Note that he must have acquired enough experience from them. He knows the weakness and strength of the previous company and their desire to control their destiny.

Desire to control the Economy

Some entrepreneurs want to control the entire or certain aspects of the economy of their people. In Nigeria today,Aliko Dangote, Wale Tinubu, Wale Adenuga, Jimoh Ibrahim, Dantata, Cletus Ibetos, Tony Elumelu, Jim Ovia etc are individuals being motivated by their desire to control certain aspect of the Nigeria industry. Today, these entrepreneurs are controlling the building industry, petroleum, cement, food, telecommunications and banking. The desire of such persons or their group motivates them to continue to start new businesses.

Replicating a Business Idea found in other Environment

Some entrepreneurs who travels may come in contact with a business idea that is new to his environment. This may be replicated in the new place by the entrepreneur on his own or with with the assistance of the original environment. Of course, actual business people know that few ideas are truly original. Almost every new product, service or business model owns inspiration to something that came before and in some cases another environment.  Favourable government policies and procedures A favourable government policies and procedures can motivate entrepreneurs to begin a new business. The Nigerian government has a lot of policies in place to assist entrepreneurs. These include establishment of special banks like the Bank of Commerce, Agriculture and Industries. Government policy tolerates civil servants to venture into any area of Agriculture while in service and the protection of creativity and innovations.

Exposure to some available Fund

The availability of some excess fund that is not being used may motivate the idea of beginning a new business. So many bankers, civil servants, retirees, exposed to a lot of gratuity become entrepreneurs. In some cases, many entrepreneurs have to dive into their bank accounts and personal savings to get things started. You may not need to completely liquidate your nest egg, but you will have to front at least some personal money, and that means abandoning, or at least diminishing your safety net.

Life after Retirement

The fear of what to do to augment their pension salary challenges retirees to begin a new business. Retirement age in Nigeria is between 60-70 years depending on one’s profession. To prevent their early death, medical doctors have recommended that retirees at that age range should be involved in continuous activities like that of their offices while in service. Retirees are therefore motivated by these two challenges to begin their own business.

The desire to make things improve the World Someone can be motivated to begin a new business if he/she feels highly pressed to make things that will improve the lots of common man in the society. Your motivation is one of the most important things that allows you to keep moving forward with your goals and dreams. It all about having the right mindset to solve problems. Also, there are situations where an entrepreneur invites someone to begin a new business for him.

Maintain own ethical values which their employer didn’t share

The desire by a prospective entrepreneur to maintain his ethical values may motivate him to establish a new business. The mis-match between the values, goals and ambitions of these entrepreneur spirits and their employers is a very strong motivating factor for establishing a new business. Also a spirit of returning to the society, who already feels accomplished but now want to contribute to the society by offering valuable services to their customers. He or she may then decide to start a new business that may or not compliment his original business. These are the reasons why you should start a business today. However, we understand the effect of our environment, so also are cultural factors. Please let us know your peculiar environment and how your culture affects business.

Till we meet again, have a nice day.

Nwosu is a business manager and CEO, Cpraxis Integrated Services.