Before You Start Your Own Business -By Oladele Adekunle

In Africa today with particular reference to Nigeria, many people tend to apply for jobs that are not available. This is because the Government has been overshadowed with enormous responsibilities while also trying to cope with her numerous problems- oh! Sorry, challenges of insecurity, increasing crime rate, youth restlessness, job cut/ job loss, high lending rate and inflation which are unarguably signs of a failed economy.

However our institutions of higher learning  turn out thousands of graduates yearly without adequate job opportunities for these graduates. Perhaps, it is more news to opine that the era of white collar jobs have gone never to return again. The jobs most people beg to apply for were actually established by individuals like you and in some cases they are not as good, brilliant and courageous as you are but they  killed a MONSTER long time ago to arrive at where they are now. This goliath of a monster is called “FEAR”. The moment you overcome fear, the sky will definitely be your starting point.

Perhaps, you may be one of those who have failed to start up your own business ( that wonderful business idea that will catapult you into GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS due to fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of being rejected, fear of losing your present pay job for (un)certain venture, fear of inadequate cash flow and inarguably; the greatest fear of all – Fear of raising funds to start your own business.  You are likely going to face rejection, dejection, depression and even laughter on your Entrepreneurial journey; as the journey is mot likely to be without port- holes and accidents.

Let nobody deceive you that there won’t be challenges as you journey the entrepreneurial way. “ROAD BLOCKS” That will attempt wasting your time, “NARROW BEND AHEAD” – That will cost you to slow down, “ZEBRA CROSSING”- That will allow other people have their way and “SPEED LIMIT” – Which represents cash/capital to determine how fast you will go and grow.

Each year in Nigeria, about three hundred persons starts some kind of business on  their own. Most of them started as small businesses such as bakery, beauty stores, restaurant, laundry service,  car wash and provision stores. About 10% of people who goes into business of their own are successful. Some are so successful that they grow into large enterprise.

Self employment is accrued to the individual who desire independence. However, this desire is not enough to make you go on such undertaken/ venture; an individual must measure up to some other qualifications before he can expect to be a successful entrepreneur. In this edition, we shall be discussing some of these qualifications. If you are considering going into your own business as a career, it will be wise to evaluate both yourself and your chances of success before making your final decisions and while evaluating yourself, you must be truthful with a clear understanding that deceit will not take you anywhere.

The advantages  of being an entrepreneur are; Independence, Status in the Community, Working by own rules, Paying yourself and being your own boss. He disadvantages majorly is the inability to raise adequate money to start and maintain your own business until such business is established, you must be ready to work long hours, do a lot of paper work and expect possible failure or disappointment.

The worksheet bellow will help you evaluate yourself to see if you have some necessary qualification for going into a business of your own. You are to read and evaluate yourself by filling in the blank space with “Yes” or “No” as answers to the questions below. If you can answer “Yes” to most of these questions, it therfore means that you are wel equipped to pursue a cause of owing your own business.

WORK SHEET

1. DO YOU HAVE ORGANIZING ABILITY?…………………….

Fill in the bank with the correct answer in line with who you think you are. A well rounded mind is one of the basic qualifications for self employment. A routine part of managing one’s business is knowing what needs to be accomplished and to determine whom and by when it will be done.

2. ARE YOU GOOD AT MAKING SOUND DECISION?……………..

The field of self employment requires and demands a person who can think clearly, make wise decisions and stick by them.  However once a decison is made, you must also be flexible enough to modify and change it if necessary and in line with present circumstance or reality.

3. DO YOU HAVE INITIATIVE?………..

Initiative is the ability to take the first step in any undertaken. A leader must have good Initiative and a sound ability to work without supervision. The fact is that, if you are considering a career in self employment or being and entrepreneur, you must be a leader. And to lead successfully, you will need Ambition, Drive, Initiative, Imagination and be Courageous.

4. ARE YOU GOOD AT DELEGATING AUTHORITIES/DUTIES?……………

Most entrepreneur  fail because they do not have this quality, they attempt to do everything themselves and become so exhausted and frustrated that they cannot carry on. Delegation gives you( the boss) an opportunity to take on additional work on your own, it reliefs you of petty routine duties That can  be done by someone else and improve the morals of your employees by giving them a feeling of sharing responsibilities.

5. ARE YOU WILLING TO WORK LONG HARD HOURS?………………

Until a business is well established, the work hours of an entrepreneur are long and hard. There are no short cuts to success, not only will you be working long hours during the day but you will also be taking work home at night. These might go on for months or years but if you have the right attitude, you will probably not mind, as the business will soon be part of your whole life.

6. DO YOU ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITIES?……………….

As an entrepreneur, the responsibility of decision making is yours and you cannot place blame of failures on others as your decision will either make or Mar your business, therefore you need to think deeply before taking decision while also  ensuring that your decision is such that will promote, protect and enhance the growth of your company.

7. DO YOU HAVE GOOD HEALTH AND PHYSICAL ENERGY?…………………..

Young entrepreneurs usually work long hours without relief and vacation are often impossible.  The physical stamina to withstand sch pressure and working condition is a necessary qualification of self employment.

8. DO YOU GET ALONG WELL WITH PEOPLE?…………………

Self employment involves getting along well with other kinds of people, Customer, Employees,Sales man and Bankers. An entrepreneur must show friendly interest to whom he associate with and must be ready to tolerate and accommodate other people’s idea and thinking.

9. DO YOU PLAN TO ACQUIRE THE NECESSARY KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE TO START A BUSINESS OF YOUR OWN?……………………………

An entrepreneur must always plan ahead for the career of his choice. Self employment takes much, if not more planning as any other vocation. Success in any business of your own will greatly depend on the training you
acquire and your willingness to continue to add to your store of knowledge.

10. DO YOU KNOW WHERE TO GET MONEY TO START AND OPERATE YOUR BUSINESS?………………………..
This is a major problem especially for young entrepreneur as one of the major causes of failure of a new business is inadequate capital to keep the business operating until it begins to  generate profit. Most people finance their business mostly by borrowing money from friends and relatives, banks, private lenders, loan companies and even in some few cases, the Government.

11. DO YOU HAVE SELF CONFIDENCE?………….

Not only do self employment require confidence in yourself, it also requires inspiring confidence in others. Confidence in your ability, training and experience is needed to succeed as an entrepreneur and it’s most important to self development. You must have confidence in yourself, what you do and in the services you render as this may enable other people to believe in your ability and expertise.

12. DO YOU HAVE THE TEMPERMENT TO OVERCOME DISCOURAGEMENT?………………..

Anyone who  goes into business on his own, will have to face discouragement at one point or the other, there will be bad breaks as well as good ones. All you need to do is to take whatever challenges that comes your way, try solving them and strive on. A good entrepreneur will display resourcefulness when problems appears overwhelming.

13. CAN YOU HANDLE MONEY WELL?………………..

Hmmmm! this may be a difficult question to answer for if you are young at the moment, you may have had little experience of handling money however, you must take this ability into consideration when thinking about self employment as a career. Many entrepreneurs makes the mistake of eating up all their profit thinking that they have arrived, some even eat up part of their principal with the hope of expecting a kind of ‘Magical transformation’ in their business.

14. DO YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO PROFIT FROM YOUR MISTAKES?…………………

It must be realised that anyone who goes into the business of its own is bound to make some mistakes. Any successful business man should be intelligent enough to learn from his mistakes. He does not become discouraged if one of his decisions turns out to be a poor one but must resolve not to make the same mistakes over and over again.  He goes along his duties steadily learning a great deal as a student from the school of experience.

Oladele Adekunle
kunlimited01@yahoo.com