INTRODUCTION
A
number of factors would determine whether the Church would survive in our time
and the legacy of Restoration Movement bequeathed to future generations. These
would include:
·
Doctrinal
integrity (II John Vs. 9-11; John 8:31; I Tim. 4:16).
·
Faithfulness
of Brethren to contend earnestly for the Faith (Jude v.3).
·
Financial
empowerment of each individual Christian in our various local congregations.
This, precisely is
where the issue of entrepreneurship comes in. entrepreneurship principally refers
to financial independence of persons through skills acquisition, value-added
service and products’ creations, leading to financial independence and economic
stability of persons involved in one entrepreneurial activity or the other.
This presentation is
a sensitization effort as the time allotted would not be enough to deliberate
on the whole universe of entrepreneurship.
In the beginning was entrepreneurship,
entrepreneurship was creativity and innovation; creativity was productivity and
resourcefulness. There was nothing that was ever made or ventured into by
humans that were accomplished without an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs are goal-getters,
achievers, and arrivers. No government or society can do or exist without
entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship was, is and will continue to be.
Every society that
is worth being mentioned in the committee of developed societies must be
entrepreneurship-oriented. Entrepreneurs are change-agents, movers and shakers.
By default, entrepreneurs are catalysts. Any developed economy is a testimony
to the active participation of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are the livewire of
societies. Remove entrepreneurs and societies would collapse.
This, perhaps,
explains why Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister enthused, “I want
Britain to be a nation of entrepreneurs, a nation where talent and ability
flourish.” (Business: The Ultimate
Resource, 2008: 1745). In the same vein, my desire for members of Church of
Christ is to become entrepreneurial.
The growth of
individual Christians is the growth of the Church. The well-being of Christians
is the well-being of the Church and vice-versa (cf. Jer. 29:7). As Christians,
individually, we are building blocks of the Church (I Pet. 2:5). When a
congregation is said to be strong, it is because all the component parts are
strong. If a congregation is said to be wealthy, it is because members of that
congregation are wealthy. If a congregation is said to be educated, it is
because individual Christians who make up that congregation are educated. As go
individual members so goes the Church.
The growth,
development, stability and otherwise of individual Christians will rob off
positively or negatively on the Church. Consequently, to speak of enhancing the
capacities of a local congregation tantamounts to the building the capacities
of Christians who make up our local congregations.
Church of Christ all
over the world is a Church with unique message, New Testament Christianity. Propagation
of this life-changing, Kingdom-enlarging message is hampered by lack of
resources. To a large extent, the Church of our Lord has become beggarly. We
depend on American Brethren to support our preachers. Most of our congregations
are indigent, so much so that to support any brother or sister in need we must
write letters seeking for help from sister congregations. Funding our media
outreaches has become Herculean. To say the least, the Church is poor!
To move to the next
level, capacities of each congregation have to be enhanced. To do this would
require increasing the capacity of individual Christians, which make up our
various congregations. How can this be accomplished? The answer lies in entrepreneurship!
Most New Testament
Christians were entrepreneurs, including Apostle Paul (Acts 18:1-3). Because Paul
was entrepreneurial, he was able to support himself and those who were with him
(Acts 20:33-35).
WHY
ENTREPRENUERSHIP?
The moment we understand
that no one owes us anything in life but that we are the people who ourselves
whatever we desire, that same moment we will begin to take our destinies into
our own hands to seek economic empowerment. We will switch from our economic
dependency mode to economic independency mode.
UNDERSTANDING
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Entrepreneurship is
all about job and wealth creation. It deals principally with needs’ identification and taking steps to bridge
existing gaps by providing solutions to
those identified needs (cf. Ezekiel 22:30).
At the center of
entrepreneurship is the entrepreneur who is the vision-bearer, the
idea-generator, who by default is a self-employed person. Relying solely on
his/her abilities to generate ideas for products or services, an entrepreneur
mobilizes factors of production such as resources, personnel, and materials
towards transforming his/her ideas into tangible or intangible products or
services.
In a society where
jobs are not readily available, one must begin to think entrepreneurial. This,
not only saves you the hassle and stress of job-hunting but also gives you the
freedom to explore, exploit and maximize your human potentials; become your own
boss and book an important place in the annals of movers and shakers.
Becoming an entrepreneur
provides for you senses of direction, belonging and fulfillment. Not only does
thinking entrepreneurial and becoming an entrepreneur make you ‘feel
important,’ in reality you are! You are important by every stroke of human
imagination. Without entrepreneurs societies would not make any meaningful
progress.
Look around you:
your body and your environment, you would readily see that next to God’s idea
of your personality, you are a product of entrepreneurs. From your
haircut/hairstyle to the shoes or sandals you are wearing, entrepreneurs have
really defined you. In other words, you are a by-product of two great ideas:
God and entrepreneurs!
Three
outstanding elements of entrepreneurship are NEEDS, OPPORTUNITIES and ACTION.
WHY
BECOME AN ENTREPRENEUR?
Entrepreneurs
as innovators make something new happen. While each new enterprise usually
starts as a small business and often remains small, entrepreneuring, on a
national scale is a very large and important business. One United States
online entrepreneurship website reports that “in a typical year, small
independent businesses create 2.6 million jobs, while large corporations
eliminated 1.6 million jobs.” Without entrepreneurs, national economies
would decline.
People
are motivated to become entrepreneurs because of their desire to:
·
Be their own bosses.
·
Become rich and famous.
·
Prove something to parents or to some other people.
·
Use their skills.
·
Enjoy a sense of achievement.
·
Earn a living when jobs are not available.
In one
way or two we can all identify with one or all of the above points.
Entrepreneuring is potentially
rewarding. I want to encourage you to follow the path of
entrepreneurship. If you know how to reduce the risks involved you can
increase the possible gains of entrepreneurship.
YOU CAN BECOME AN ENTERPRENEUR
Yes, you
can become an entrepreneur if you find any of the following applying to you:
1.
You have an idea for a product or service and you want to build a
new
business.
2. You
want to increase your success in responding to changing conditions.
3. You see an opportunity for a new venture in your community or place
of residence.
4. You
are unemployed and the prospects for a new job are not good.
5. You
see a need and has an idea of what it takes to fill that need.
WHAT
QUALIFIES FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP?
University degrees do not equate
entrepreneurial spirit. Rather, entrepreneurship thrives on ideas. Robert
Kiyosaki and Sharon Letcher (1999:13) affirm that “college (university)
education is important for traditional professions, but not for how people
found great wealth. They developed their businesses….” They went on to write
that “many successful people had left school without a college degree, people
such as Thomas Edison, founder of General Electric; Henry Ford, founder of Ford
Motors Co., Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft; Ted Turner, founder of CNN; Steve
Jobs, founder of Apple computers; Michael Dell, founder of Dell Computers and
Ralph Lauren, founder of Polo,” Mack Zukerberg, founder of FACEBOOK, etcetera.
In
Nigeria, household names like Coscharis Group, Ekene Dili Chukwu, Ifesinachi
Nig. Ltd., Chisco, Ogbuawa, Louis Carter, Chikason Group, Peace Mass Transit,
etcetera were not all university graduates.
What then qualifies
for entrepreneurship? Entrepreneurship
is about using your potential at 100% capacity. It is about building yourself. Anyone
who takes a challenge becomes an owner, a boss and a judge of his own life.
If you are
risk-averse, entrepreneurship is not for you. If you have a weak heart,
entrepreneurship is not for you. However, if you have an adrenalin-friendly
heart, you are welcome to the world and practice of entrepreneurship.
WHAT
DOES ENTREPRENEURSHIP REQUIRES?
Entrepreneurship
requires:
1.
New
thinking.
2.
Ideas
that are relevant to society’s needs.
3.
Ideas
that are constructive and affective.
4.
Ideas
that are proactive.
To generate
entrepreneurial ideas a would-be entrepreneur must learn to come up with ideas
for a product or service. To generate the needed ideas, he/she should learn to
“think out of the box.” Thinking out of the box requires doing what people
would rarely do. Sometimes entrepreneurial ideas could come from unlikely
places, from unlikely people and from unlikely situations or circumstances. A
good entrepreneur immediately recognizes these ideas and seizes them.
ADVANTAGES OF BECOMING AN ENTREPRENEUR
Every
successful entrepreneur brings about benefits not only for himself/ herself but
for the society, country and the world in general. The benefits that can be
derived from entrepreneurial activities are as follows:
§ Enormous
personal financial gain.
§ Self-employment,
offering more job satisfaction and flexibility of work schedules.
§ Freedom
from dependency on jobs offered by others.
§ Ability
to have great accomplishments.
§ Reduction
of the informal economy and emergence of vibrant Middle Class.
CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ENTREPRENEUR
A number of traits
characterize entrepreneurs. Principally, entrepreneurs have enthusiasm, vision,
and the driving force for setting up enterprises. Other characteristics of
entrepreneurs are:
• Protest mentality.
• A positive mental attitude.
• A strong sense of personal awareness.
• Willingness to take initiative.
• A strong sense of commitment.
• High energy level.
• Integrity and reliability.
• Patience.
• Ability to deal with failure.
Entrepreneurs brainstorms on a regular basis; they are ingeniousness and
resourceful. They are opportunists, creative, and unsentimental.
PRACTICAL STEPS TO
TOWARDS BECOMING AN ENTREPRENEUR If you have been thinking of becoming an entrepreneur but have
little information on how to make the first step, then, you have to take the
following into great consideration.
1.
Scan the
environment to see
a.
What
you can do; a bridge you can build.
b.
What
is being done but is not being done well.
c.
What
you can improve upon.
d.
Find
a need and fill that need.
2.
Look inside yourself to see
a.
What
you have passion for.
b.
What
ideas usually come to mind
3.
Seek counseling and
information from people
Seek out people,
especially those who are already in business who will be willing to share vital
pieces of information with you.
4.
Understudy those who
are already in that line of business
Take time to understudy those who are in
the line of business of your
interest. In addition, do feasibility
studies on what you want to do.
5.
Start small, then
grow
Do not start “big”;
it is not a must that you must start “big.”
Often, it’s better to start small so that as your enterprise grows you
will know how to effectively manage it.
6.
Attend seminars/acquire
training
Entrepreneurship
requires continuous stream of information. In fact you need to keep abreast of
latest developments in your area of entrepreneurial activity.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND HOW TO MAKE MONEY
This
is the secret of ages. There is no particular model. What works for one may not
necessarily work for another. Succinctly stated, while money-making requires
elements of financial intelligence, it principally has to do with commonsense.
The hard aspect of commonsense is that it is not common. No one can be taught
commonsense by attending Harvard University, Lagos Business School, etcetera.
It is available to all of us in larger quantities. The key is possessing
ability in identifying and utilizing commonsense.
In
money-making, commonsense teaches you to look where others overlook, to see
worth in worthless things and places. In money-making, you must learn to
respect Kobo for Naira to be able to honour your invitation to make your
treasure box its abode. To make money, you must first of all:
1.
Identify
a need.
2.
Identify
source of meeting identified needs.
3.
Being
the bridge between the need and the needy.
4.
Setting
machineries in motions towards harnessing the opportunities available and your
potentials as the go-getter.
DEVELOP AND MARKET YOUR SKILLS
Exercise your
giftings – Fan your gift into flame (II Tim. 1:6-7). Tell the world who you are
and what you can do with who you are (John 7:3-4). Although, this piece of
advise given to Jesus in John 7:3-4 by some of His kinsmen was in bad faith, it
obviously is one of the most PR and advertising counsels anyone would give or
receive. It all boils down to this – tell the world who you are and what you
can do. Nobody knows the stuff you are really made of until you say it by
yourself. You are your own best PR and advertising agency. Dare anyone to dare
you on that which is or are your unique selling points. A trial will go a long
to convince anyone who is doubtful of your claims.
SUGGESTED IDEA AREAS FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL VENTURES
I want to suggest areas that prospective
entrepreneurs should focus attention on. These are only suggestions, which
should be improved upon.
1.
Services – provision of
services of all types, car wash, auto repairs, and training; educational
provisions for dropouts, adults, preparatory classes such as conducting lessons
for people, which may likely grow to
become full blown educational institutions, etcetera.
2.
Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT) - software design, engineering and
development.
3.
Agribusiness – poultry and
poultry feed production; animal husbandry and cash crops production.
4.
NGOs - Floating NGOs
that are targeted at solving different society’s problems.
5.
Communication – printing and
publishing, consultancy, etcetera.
6.
Crafts – designs, weaving,
carving, etcetera.
7.
Sales and marketing – providing
services for manufacturers, manufacturers’ representatives, etcetera.
8.
From waste to wealth
– refuse
disposal, human waste disposal, scraps (metal and aluminum), etcetera.
Writing on, The Lure of Entrepreneuring, Sunny
Obazu-Ojeagbase, one of the foremost promoters of entrepreneurship in Nigeria
in his well published monthly magazine, Success
Digest of February, 1998 edition, page 47 wrote this timely piece as he
asks and challenges us: Have you ever been in the vicinity where human waste is
being emptied from a septic tank? Right, you’ve got it: it’s not a nice place
to be around! What with flies and the foul smelling odour that fill the air.
The people providing the important service of emptying septic tanks have a nice
slogan that puts the reward of their job in a sweet-smelling perspective. They
say, ‘Owo igbe kii run,’ which means
that ‘human waste money does not smell.’ And I agree with them absolutely, it
doesn’t! But I have been thinking. Suppose there is a product in the market
which can be poured into a septic tank and, a few hours later, dries up the
excreta, wouldn’t it be nice? Imagine the septic tank being emptied without
everyone in the neighbourhood feeling the discomfort of foul smell for as many
hours as the exercise lasts. ‘That will be wonderful,’ did you say? Well, you
have the opportunity of bringing that product to the marketplace. And all home
owners in Nigeria, if not in ECOWAS, will be grateful to you for bringing a
badly needed product within their reach. How can you go about it? Your first
step is to find a chemist who can come up with the right formulation (or you
could come up with the formulation if you know how to) that will accomplish the
task described and, pronto, you are on your way to becoming a millionaire!
“Of course, it is not as simple as I’ve put
it. There is a lot of hard work and persistence before you can reach that
promise land. But it is worth the effort.
Just remember, nothing good comes easy! So, get cracking, and I’ll see
you at the top some day soon!”
CONCLUSION
To empower yourself economically requires
more hard work than goodluck. There are two types of luck - one is illusory but
the other is real. Real luck is when opportunity meets preparation. Do not
befriend mediocrity. Avoid the company of lazy people. Work hard and give no
sleep to your eyes. Pray and seek the face of GOD (Job 8:5-7, 21). Thank you and may God richly bless all of us
in Jesus’ name!
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