Why i want you to become an Entrepreneur

"All our dreams can come true -if we have the courage to pursue them". -Walt Disney.

As a child, I remember dreaming having a high paying job, living in some really big and gorgeous looking house in a very nice environment, driving fancy cars, going on vacations with my family in any country of choice, having some good and fun time with my family. Dreams! Now I can understand why they were just dreams of infancy. Snap back to reality! The year 2012. I am way past adolescence. I have been through many schools, learnt a lot of interesting and challenging things and met a lot of interesting people. I am also well aware of the present global recession rocking this world since 2007, and I come from a country with extreme levels of poverty. Wow! What a contrast; reality is nothing close to my dreams.

As it is said, “the most difficult thing about growing up is coming to terms with reality”     

Does this mean that most of our dreams are mere wishes? No, there's nothing wrong with building castles in the air; all we need do is to place foundations and make them real.

"....there's never been anything false about hope"… Pres. Obama

A while ago, I checked out the meaning of the word “Entrepreneur”. It was reportedly derived from the 13th Century French verb "entreprendre"."Entre" meaning "to enter","Prendre" meaning "to take" this ideally describes an entrepreneur.

The most common response you'd get from a Nigerian Student on choice of career would be getting a job in Mobil, Shell or one of their kind. I think this in a great sense shows a high level of dampened Creativity and a lack of enterprise among the "literate class" in our country. But I won't blame anyone making that choice, as a matter of fact it's a pragmatic approach to choosing a career in our country today. After all our budget is almost totally dependent on Oil/Gas Sectors of the economy. One question must be asked though;” How has this nation with all its resource (human and Material) continued to grapple with poverty after over 50 years of political Independence? No doubt there must be a link between the prosperity of a nation and it's leadership. Our Colonial Masters (the British) steered our education in the direction of Literacy Education such as Liberal Arts, History, etc. The Nigerian Government at that time needed Indigenous personnel to take over from the expatriates at different levels of governance. The failure of policy makers to initiate a refocusing of our curriculum to produce manpower to address our present needs has created an unhealthy balance in the system. You’ve got many graduates chasing after very few jobs. Let’s face it, you’ve been trained all this years to look for a job, not to create one. It’s a lot easier taking a job that already exists than creating one that never was. This my friends marks the difference between an Entrepreneur and a regular person. An Entrepreneur is able to see the "unique" in the "familiar" and in embracing opportunity, he creates value and wealth for himself and others. While big companies are laying off workers, Entrepreneurs are hiring. New growth enterprise are the stimulus for any nation's economy, without a doubt, they are the engines of Job and Wealth creation. The regular guy drifts to the comfort of a job already granted, an allowance already secured a Car and house already paid for. An Entrepreneur on the other hand recognizes as he wakes every morning that he possess the Initiative and Responsibility to make things happen. His proactivity is a function of his decision and not his condition which means he still has the courage, the guts, the unflinching audacity to build a business even when the government's budget is a deficit. The Entrepreneur is passionate about his Job. He actually enjoys his work with all the difficulties and risks it entails because it gives him the freedom and opportunity to pursue his dream. I don't think the average regular guy who has to go to work (again!) every morning has a true sense of commitment to what he does. He works just to thrive, just to be able to live and support his dependants. If you gave him a fair choice; he’d quit the job without second thoughts.

With all that's been said; the frequent excuse we give for our failure to Innovate is a lack of Capital. I believe though, that the pursuit of Opportunity goes beyond the resource you currently control. If you have to achieve something significantly different, something that'd have lasting value long after you're gone; then you must brace up for the challenge of moving mountains and walking on water. It’s a good thing the government's beginning to respond positively by initiating Entrepreneurial Development Programs around the country. Despite the criticisms associated with the Poverty Alleviation Programme;its still making an Impact on the nation's economy. Countries like Malaysia and India Shared a similar colonial experience like us but have been able to put their acts right and produce a workforce that meets the country's needs. It’s better late than never, we still have all the time, all the momentum and the resource to turn the fortunes of this country around. How I wish we have the resolve as well.

I don't let a single day pass without stimulating the "Entrepreneurial Acumen" in me and I'd love for you to do the same. As long as we live in an imperfect world, conditions continue to exist, opportunities continue to abound; all of them screaming out, desperately begging for Innovation. Our ability to recognize and pursue these opportunities would determine if we'd ever have the luxury of living our dream or just walking the surface of the Earth as yet another mortal in the long line of the Homo sapiens Species. May the fear of Falling never keep us from Flying. This my friends is why I want you to be an Entrepreneur.