SEASONS/SUCCESS/ ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Fear is the bogey of the Africans. Fear causes the Africans to become superstitious. fear causes the African to believe in ghosts, in witches , in wizards, in fairies , in evil spirits , in occultism , in astrology , in palmistry , in horoscopy , in mesmerism , in physiognomy ; in fact, in all the ‘unknowable’s’  which have chained mankind in mental slavery for ages.- Dr. Nnmadi Azikwe , the first Governor –General of Nigeria after independence.

Man’s life is divinely structured into three seasons; morning, afternoon and evening. The morning time is the early part of man’s life. To my mind, the morning time of life is between 0-28 years, it’s the post-birth period and the formative year when man learns to become a better person in life. It’s also a period when man makes mistakes that can be corrected with the passage of time.

It’s a period when people ordinarily would understand that a pupil who has failed an examination stands a chance to retake the examination and still do well, albeit, rigorous study.

In the morning time, a lot of many mistakes can be overlooked, because the person is still in the morning time. It’s within the period that a lady many treat everyman that asks for her hand in marriage with levity. But when she’s in the afternoon of her life, she would have no choice but to accept any available man a husband.

It is the period that man is confronted with many challenges in his quest to make a choice of career and attain life’s goals. this is the period we think of what we want to become or do in life and take some steps towards achieving it.

The afternoon season is when a man should get married. In contrast, a woman should get married in the late morning period. If at 49 a lady is still single, she would become an object of prayer request for her family members. The afternoon period of a man’s life offers him the opportunity to correct some of the mistakes he might have made earlier in life.

I am in the afternoon of my life. I missed it in the morning when I did not complete my secondary education; I dropped out in senior secondary (SS2). I went to look for a job at the Tin Can Island Port in Apapa, Lagos State, because I wanted to become a clearing and forwarding (freight forwarder) agent. I also desired to become an importer of automobiles into Nigeria when I was just 17 years old.  The dream came to pass in September 2016, when I took consignment of my first container of cars. Although it didn’t happen in the morning of my life, but I never gave up; I never exhibited doubts and I was happy when my dream finally came to pass.

I have narrated in my debut book “Out of the woods”, how I stowed away in a Russian vessel Cameroon, at age 17, but I am happy to have taken care of my inadequacies in the afternoon.

In the afternoon, you can make corrections of mistakes made in the morning time and before   you know it, people would start celebrating you because they might not know what you have gone through earlier in life. You know what you have missed in the morning, and you stand a chance of getting it back. Failure is not failure yet until you give up and stop trying.

When I returned from the trip after stowing away, I went to seven other African countries in search of the proverbial greener pasture without success. I however made all my money here in Nigeria; I made all necessary corrections to my past mistakes in the afternoon. I sat for my National Examination Council (NECO) when I was 33 years old.  I wore school uniform and mingled with teenagers who were my classmates. I was like their uncle in the class, but I had no shame because my goal was to make good grades especially in Literature in English and I did.

Don’t let anybody’s opinion tie you down nor prevent you from attaining your goals or make you feel rejected. Forget about what people say about you now, when you succeed they’ll change their comments and celebrate you. Today, I am a graduate of the University of Lagos and I am very happy.

You can only become what you want to be become in life and achieve whatever you set your eyes on, when you believe in yourself and refuse to entertain fear.

The evening period which is between 50 -79 years is one that man should relax. It is not a time to exert energy because the energy is no longer there. That is when people with fuller energy should be in your employ to further your business goals and undertake assignments on your behalf. This period offers man opportunity to become an entrepreneur, establish or set up a venture that can engender peaceful life till the night of his life.

When you set up a company, you employ, you train and mentor people to run your business. However, the pivot for success in life is proper preparation, so be prepared.

How well are you prepared to become rich? Have you been preparing yourself to be wealthy? How have you been preparing yourself to have everything you need in life at the time you want them? Are you one of those who pray to God for money? Hear this; God does not give money but wisdom to generate money –making ideas.

Sometimes, we blame people for our woes. Some would link their woes to the death of their parents or lack of support from their siblings and family members. The reality is that if you fail in life it’s your fault not someone else’s. Money would come through creative thinking on the kind of profitable business and offering of quality services to people. Your products and services can give the money that you want or long for, and gives you the luxuries that you desire in life. The good thing is that entrepreneurship has no age limit; you can become a business owner at my age or time of your life.

Stop crying for help from people. Stop disturbing people for money, because nobody cab give you the kind of money you need to live the kind of life you desire. Don’t go to people all the time for financial assistance because they will get tired of helping you out when you are hard up for money.

In Nigeria, wealth is in the hands of the people, because of our huge population, yet, people hardly come to terms with this reality. Entrepreneurship is the key to wealth creation and the blood of a nation’s economy. We need to create wealth and become an entrepreneur in order to earn better income and live well. So, pick a business idea, plan it, kick-start it, grow it and you will in no time excel beyond your imagination. Kill the fear in you and actualize your dreams by establishing a business that can turn your life around.

WHO IS AN ENTREPRENEUR?

An entrepreneur is a person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit.

According to Business Dictionary , an entrepreneur is “someone who exercise initiative by organizing a venture to take benefit of an opportunity and, as the decision maker, decides what , how , and how much of a good or service will be produced.

“An entrepreneur supplies risk capital as a risk taker, and monitors and controls the business activities. The entrepreneur is usually a sole proprietor, a partner, or the one who owns the majority of shares in an incorporated venture “.

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ENTREPRENEUR

Some entrepreneurs are risk-takers, their chances of success brightens if they do it well and take risks with tact.

One of the key attributes of entrepreneurs is tolerance for risk-taking. You just have to keep pursuing an activity without minding the fact that there might be any negative consequence. Establishing a new business is full of risk, particularly when you are deploying your personal resources into it.  The risk can sometimes be minimized by convincing people to invest business. However, you can’t avoid risk if you are going to start a new business.

Entrepreneurs also need to be creative. They must innovate in one or two ways, by producing or offering new products and service into the market, or improve upon existing ones in an ingenious way.

It is also important to note that entrepreneurship is all about leadership; hence, an entrepreneur must be willing to lead or act without being prompted or pushed. He does not need anyone to convince him to move, act or produce products or render services for profit.

THE ENTREPRENEURIAL PROCESS

1. IDEA GENERATION : This is the very first stage of the entrepreneurship process and it has to undergo three stages: a. Germination: This is like seeding process, not like planting seed. It is more like the natural seeding. Most creative ideas can be linked to an individual’s interest or curiosity about a specific problem or area of study. b. Preparation: Once the seed of interest or curiosity has taken the shape of a focused idea, creative people would search for answers to the problems. Inventors will go on to set up laboratories; designers would think of engineering new product ideas and marketers would study consumer buying habits. c. Incubation: This is a stage where the entrepreneurial process enters the subconscious intellectualization. The sub-conscious mind joins the unrelated ideas, so as to find a resolution.

2. FEASIBILITY STUDY : Feasibility study is carried out to determine the commercial viability of the idea and it has to pass through two steps: a. Illumination: After the generation of idea, this is the stage when the idea is thought of as a realistic creation. The stage of idea blossoming is critical because ideas by themselves have no meaning. b. Verification: This is the last stage to verify if the idea is realistic and useful for application. Verification is about practically to implement an idea and explore its usefulness to the society and the entrepreneur.