dearpreye:


Happy Sunday sir. I've already disagreed with the author on this post. I found it more appalling that such a thread could make frontage.

It is a sad commentary on Nairaland and the values the leaders espouse.

ogawisdom:


[size=18pt]If u can[/size] achieve 0.005 percent of dangote in entrepreneurship u will easily meet all ur basic needs n wants. Dangote is d richest black man on planet earth n u must nt b like him to b successful. Any man worth 100m is rich in naija u kw

That is if you can, not every one can! Infact the people who can are few.

Charism:


I don't think you also understand my point, entrepreneurship is NOT FOR EVERYONE. Its a gift endowed by special endowments and circumstances. Would rather go ahead to waste time and money on something that's not for you?

Entrepreneurship is for everyone... just like emotional intelligence, some have it naturally and some must be trained or taught to be able to utilize it. Everyone can become a successful entrepreneur; the problem is discovering your niche and not following bandwagon approaches. If we invest in knowledge prior to the entrepreneurial effort, time and money would not be wasted. What you should be advocating is how to improve entrepreneurial pursuits not defeatism.

Anybody can become an enterprenour if they are willing to start small and build from there.
I don't see any luck in ymudulus's thread where he started small and kept rising to better businesses. If he could make that out of himself in this harsh economy then imagine what he'd do in a country where the government supports businesses.
The fact alone a few people make it in life does not mean others shouldn't strive to get there, its even more enjoyable falling by the wayside and tweaking methods used to arrive there - enjoy the journey not the outcome.
Don't forget there are more examples of people who grew up dirt-poor and struggled to become millonaires than there are of Dangote who was born to an already wealthy family. Discouraging those dirt-poor of today means killing tomorrow's dream or as Nigerians say "turning off their destiny".

Charism:


That is if you can, not every one can! Infact the people who can are few.

In Nigeria of today for survival and employment people dnt have an alternative to entrepreneurship. Nothing humbles a man like hunger. Everyone cannot get white collar job n dts d sad truth. Even those working r combining it with entrepreneurship as salaries r nt always regular.

Govt is ordinarily not supposed to provide d bulk of d jobs in a healthy economy, entrepreneurship does

ideykwum:


It is a sad commentary on Nairaland and the values the leaders espouse.

I perfectly understood the OP but all are excuses that won't prevent any serious person from achieving their dreams.

ideykwum:


Entrepreneurship is for everyone... just like emotional intelligence, some have it naturally and some must be trained or taught to be able to utilize it. Everyone can become a successful entrepreneur; the problem is discovering your niche and not following bandwagon approaches. If we invest in knowledge prior to the entrepreneurial effort, time and money would not be wasted. What you should be advocating is how to improve entrepreneurial pursuits not defeatism.

My boss, I totally agree with you. The more I study and meet with my successful entrepreneur colleagues, the more it became obvious we all have what it takes to become entrepreneur. We have a lot of wrong programming that's limiting our successes and talents.

alexx187:
.... ... Nice write up@op.....moguls tho, typo error i guess..... U were lucid enough.....

It is amazing to see people correct others about grammatical blunders while they make similar mistakes, albeit, probably more glaringly. And by the way, it is advisable not to abbreviate your words when correcting grammatical mistakes.

More importantly, there is no English word like 'i' (small letter). Regardless of where it is placed in a sentence, the word 'I' must always be written in capital letter, otherwise, the writer makes no sense.

I can only use white collar job to while away time.

aluk:



It is amazing to see people correct others about grammatical blunders while they make similar mistakes, albeit, probably more glaringly. And by the way, it is advisable not to abbreviate your words when correcting grammatical mistakes.

More importantly, there is no English word like 'i' (small letter). Regardless of where it is placed in a sentence, the word 'I' must always be written in capital letter, otherwise, the writer makes no sense.

.... ... Thanks dude noted, don't need to go into a long tirade with you....

Charism:
Entrepreneurship seems to be the order of the day today, the press glorifies it, government officials put lots of emphasis on it as the only way out of poverty, its even a compulsory course for all university students. NYSC is all about it, from your afternoon lectures in camp, to your SAEED. But is it really worth it? Are they telling us the truth, or is it mere propaganda by politicians to give excuses for their failure?
Daily we are bombarded by happy ending stories of people who made it by starting up their business, we are told to emulate the likes of Dangote, Otedola, mike Adenuga. But the bitter truth is that not everyone will make it like Dangote. As a matter of fact the chances of Success is Very rare.
People who make it are the lucky ones, lucky in the sense that the have opportunities that others never had or will never have which they harnessed to their advantage.
Opportunities like capital, good location, skills, business climate, experience e.t.c. These variable are not things you have control over. Take for example Dangote started his business with just #500,000 (a huge amount of money during the 70's) given to him by his uncle Dantata (one of the richest men in nigeria at that time) who also groomed him in the tricks of business management. There are many people who have beautiful business plans out there, but no capital to fund them. Even when the capital is available, you don't any experience about the business climate of the business you are venturing into, its like a blind man crossing the highway unaided.
The truth of the matter is that not everyone is meant to be entreperneurs, if you believe in the determination, nothing-can-stop-me mantra, you might probably end up with a small food-stuff shop/kiosk business, or like the road side akara seller whose income would not be enough for you to start a family. If it were that easy, then our proffesors of business administration in our universitys, would have been top business moguls by now.
Truth be told, our politicians need to sit up! And make economic policies to would encourage investment and growth. If the economy is favourable, both entrepreneurs and employees, would be better-off.

OP this is why an Igbo

Conducive environment is the best atmosphere for everything to flourish.

Charism:
Entrepreneurship seems to be the order of the day today, the press glorifies it, government officials put lots of emphasis on it as the only way out of poverty, its even a compulsory course for all university students. NYSC is all about it, from your afternoon lectures in camp, to your SAEED. But is it really worth it? Are they telling us the truth, or is it mere propaganda by politicians to give excuses for their failure?
Daily we are bombarded by happy ending stories of people who made it by starting up their business, we are told to emulate the likes of Dangote, Otedola, mike Adenuga. But the bitter truth is that not everyone will make it like Dangote. As a matter of fact the chances of Success is Very rare.
People who make it are the lucky ones, lucky in the sense that the have opportunities that others never had or will never have which they harnessed to their advantage.
Opportunities like capital, good location, skills, business climate, experience e.t.c. These variable are not things you have control over. Take for example Dangote started his business with just #500,000 (a huge amount of money during the 70's) given to him by his uncle Dantata (one of the richest men in nigeria at that time) who also groomed him in the tricks of business management. There are many people who have beautiful business plans out there, but no capital to fund them. Even when the capital is available, you don't any experience about the business climate of the business you are venturing into, its like a blind man crossing the highway unaided.
The truth of the matter is that not everyone is meant to be entreperneurs, if you believe in the determination, nothing-can-stop-me mantra, you might probably end up with a small food-stuff shop/kiosk business, or like the road side akara seller whose income would not be enough for you to start a family. If it were that easy, then our proffesors of business administration in our universitys, would have been top business moguls by now.
Truth be told, our politicians need to sit up! And make economic policies to would encourage investment and growth. If the economy is favourable, both entrepreneurs and employees, would be better-off.

Oga,I believe u have a company that will consume the 3 batches of NYSC graduates yearly? or what are u saying! I think u have a job that has given u the audacity to talk abi? what would u recommend that a graduate that has attended several interviews with no luck for straight one year do? if u don't have a solution to this reserve ur comments abeg ! u obviously cannot assess the hopeless situation of unemployment in country comprehensively !

mandarin:


Agreed but what you termed as buying and selling as in the case of Nigeria is not the way to grow an economy. Its simply importing what were produced in another country and sell in your country.
Entrepreneurs use resources in their countries to produce needs or to meet needs for example, a baker uses Nigeria made cassava flour to make bread. Tailors sow made in Nigeria Ankara or fabrics to make Aso Ebi, that is growing economy not buying from Taiwan and selling in Nigeria.
And that sector of buying and selling is about 11% of the GDP but who produce what is sold?
Growing the economy need entrepreneurs who want to meet needs in the society.

Is it only buying and selling Igbo's do?
The tailoring you used as an eg, don't Igbos indulge in it?
Which other part of Nigeria export made in Nigeria clothes more than Aba ? Smh

You are absolutely wrong!
If you were taught about building a business the way you were taught English and Mathematics, there would have been many flourishing businesses.
May be I will give you a rebuttal on this post.

Charism:
Entrepreneurship seems to be the order of the day today, the press glorifies it, government officials put lots of emphasis on it as the only way out of poverty, its even a compulsory course for all university students. NYSC is all about it, from your afternoon lectures in camp, to your SAEED. But is it really worth it? Are they telling us the truth, or is it mere propaganda by politicians to give excuses for their failure?
Daily we are bombarded by happy ending stories of people who made it by starting up their business, we are told to emulate the likes of Dangote, Otedola, mike Adenuga. But the bitter truth is that not everyone will make it like Dangote. As a matter of fact the chances of Success is Very rare.
People who make it are the lucky ones, lucky in the sense that the have opportunities that others never had or will never have which they harnessed to their advantage.
Opportunities like capital, good location, skills, business climate, experience e.t.c. These variable are not things you have control over. Take for example Dangote started his business with just #500,000 (a huge amount of money during the 70's) given to him by his uncle Dantata (one of the richest men in nigeria at that time) who also groomed him in the tricks of business management. There are many people who have beautiful business plans out there, but no capital to fund them. Even when the capital is available, you don't any experience about the business climate of the business you are venturing into, its like a blind man crossing the highway unaided.
The truth of the matter is that not everyone is meant to be entreperneurs, if you believe in the determination, nothing-can-stop-me mantra, you might probably end up with a small food-stuff shop/kiosk business, or like the road side akara seller whose income would not be enough for you to start a family. If it were that easy, then our proffesors of business administration in our universitys, would have been top business moguls by now.
Truth be told, our politicians need to sit up! And make economic policies to would encourage investment and growth. If the economy is favourable, both entrepreneurs and employees, would be better-off.

lincolnj88:

guy d shoes made in ABA are not imported but rather exported.... entrepreneurs also source for raw materials externally outside their national boundaries...
and if import is bound in dis country .. some igbos would turn billionaires... start with car ban, innoson to d rescue start with foreign footwears ABA boyz to d rescue

Yes man, am a fan of Aba made but entrepreneurs also must see that needs are deliberately met and existing gaps must be filled with products that can compete. I had patronized Aba shoes while growing up but I had to pay for products of low quality that carried financial value with originals.
if I need shoes today designed in Nigeria I patronize guys in Lagos, they make quality shoes and sandals, my wife is one.
Grooming entrepreneurs is important especially filling skills gaps

I actually expected more facts and figures from the OP to booster his points about Entrepreneurship not being the solution but what I found is quite disappointing. In a system like Nigeria's, we are always going to have more graduates than jobs, it only makes sense that entrepreneurship comes up as an avenue to combat unemployment. Most people think entrepreneurship is about starting big but in reality it's not. The true sufferers of unemployment in Nigeria are those without education, those who are not necessarily exposed and for such people an investment of 50,000 Naira can work wonders. I know a guy that served his master for 3 years so as to learn how to build shoes, after 3 years he invested 35,000 Naira in materials and started making shoes. At first it was friends and family patronizing him and later those people started recommending their friends. This 35,000 Naira investment has grown to the stage where he can afford a shop and 2 workers. He is now making enough to pay his own rent and pay workers. Imagine if he had waited for government's help? There's another woman that went into fish business with only a 50,000 Naira investment, she made use of her friendly nature and started a pepper soup joint within 2 years business was booming that she added a TV viewing center to the business and that place is very popular in the Badagry area right now. My point is entrepreneurship is the perfect solution for Nigeria, it will not only give unemployed citizens a way out but also reduce the demand for employment in private sectors which would result in an easier labor market.

InyinyaAgbaOku:

Is it only buying and selling Igbo's do?
The tailoring you used as an eg, don't Igbos indulge in it?
Which other part of Nigeria export made in Nigeria clothes more than Aba ? Smh

I don't do ethnocentrism, please step away. I cited examples and that was all.
I said entrepreneurs meet needs not importing and trading in goods made elsewhere, where is the innovation?

mandarin:


I don't do ethnocentrism, please step away. I cited examples and that was all.
I said entrepreneurs meet needs not importing and trading in goods made elsewhere, where is the innovation?

Hypocrite. Cry me a river
Did the person you quoted mention buying and selling ? Why start it in the first place ?
Don't importers even pay import duties that add to igr and economy in general ?
I am sure you used an imported phone to type this , if people like you didn't want imported products, there would be no importers.
You are contributing to the importation issue by buying imported products yourself

@Op! You belong to the school of thought of the poor dad. You must also be related to Hem and Haw. Anyway, maybe when we meet again, you would have confirmed that your cheese moved long ago and you have to do something

SillyeRabbit:
First, let our government provide constant electricity.

With sound economic policies and govt should stop multi-taxation

How will graduates be entrepreneurs when for a very long time they have always been deceived? Its been a long time that Nigerian graduates have been deceiving themselves that the lecturers are teaching them and the lecturers also deceiving the students that they are teaching the students. All I know is that we are gradually moving away from society where you get job by simply tender your certificates, to a society where the employers will test you on what you know before giving you job due to increase competition in the labor market.
I am also an entrepreneur , and I have come to know that contrary to people belief that Capital is the first thing you need to start a business , you need knowledge first and the will to start business even before capital.
In fact, Nigerians only like two things;
1. Things that are free : Tell them to come and attend training and the training is free , many people will attend.
2.Certificate : Tell them a training will be conducted by a recognized university and training fee exorbitant and they will be given the university certificate at the end of the training , many people will come not only because they want to acquire knowledge but because they want to acquire certificate.

I think you're wrong by your submission.
Everyone can be an entrepreneur. Have you ever seen people retiring in a country like Nigeria? People change jobs. You retire from your job to become an entrepreneur, so why not start as one? At all levels in an economy is an entrepreneur. Contracts are executed by entrepreneurs, the educational challenge in this country at all levels is been abated by entrepreneurs starting their own schools.
My brother, the gadget you wrote this write up on was produced by an entrepreneur. The annual budget on this nation is not up to the annual income of Microsoft or ExxonMobil. ...e.t.c.
So, I strongly believe that entrepreneurship is the key to fixing Nigeria's unemployment challenge.

mandarin:


Agreed but what you termed as buying and selling as in the case of Nigeria is not the way to grow an economy. Its simply importing what were produced in another country and sell in your country.
Entrepreneurs use resources in their countries to produce needs or to meet needs for example, a baker uses Nigeria made cassava flour to make bread. Tailors sow made in Nigeria Ankara or fabrics to make Aso Ebi, that is growing economy not buying from Taiwan and selling in Nigeria.
And that sector of buying and selling is about 11% of the GDP but who produce what is sold?
Growing the economy need entrepreneurs who want to meet needs in the society.

Then you don't understand the meaning of entrepreneurship.it solving problems.if import or buying and selling will solve a need,so be it.entreprenuers satisfy needs and create a business out of needs of people.So,if there is a need for import BRAND of cloths,guy if u can satisfy that need,u are in ur way of been in money.And remember,he who those not think,will die.

I'm glad you concluded by saying you "hope to be an entrepreneur too". My dear entrepreneurship is not for everyone, I said it because u also opined that govt. Should make policies that will benefit the masses, why masses and not serious minded entrepreneurs? Many thinks they can become entrepreneurs if they win lottery so that they can use the money to start a business they know nothing about overnight and when it fails they hang the blame on govt. Customers and family. My point is entrepreneurs are different from day trader or business men, entrepreneurs think outside the box to leverage on anything they forsee as problem or challenges to others and they work hard overtime to create wealth from it. If you start waiting for govt to create the enabling environment first before you put your ideas to work you may end up not doing anything after all.

247notire:
No bro, no. The main issue is that except u have enough capital or access to capital you don't even stand a chance these days, then thrs the mgt issue... Govt creating jobs isn't abt the civil service but about creating the enabling environment so that industries and businesses can thrive more easily by making policies and decisions that would benefit the masses; the opposite of course is what we see today. Yes he did not go into details but if u read in between the lines you would have understood this, this is not to in anyway take away anything from entrepreneurship. I hope to be an entrepreneur too!

The op is right on a couple of points. For those condemning this topic, I guess it's the title. But from some of his points you should ask yourselves why you need a government? No one expects the government to drop food on your table but at least provide a conducive environment for people to do so. Basic things like:
1. Security, why should you hire a bunch of security to watch your business when you pay tax for the police to do so.
2. An intellectual property system that actually works to protect invention.
3. A reliable justice system for the common man and perhaps a population/crime database to deter fraudulent people from taking advantage of people's startups
4. Border reinforcement to prevent illegal liability immigrants from bleeding our resources dry and whatever jobs left for citizens.

The above are not things the common man can do, only government can.

Also, employment is not only for making money as I have seen some people post here, if that were the case, everyone would be in crime. It should be government's priority that with each succeeding generation, infrastructure improves and people especially the young are fully engaged in nation building and they are happy doing it.

Nigeria is a country where citizens provide their own electricity power plant, security, water and other key infrastructure to run a business successfully with minimal startup funds, how far can such business go? Even Bill Gates would crumble if he had to cover the costs of all of these himself in present day Nigeria without much to start up on. Most business owners in Nigeria are doing it to get by, and had to be in huge debt to sponsor the business through the early stages providing all the resources themselves that should already be present in any well meaning society. No one is saying Govt should build sky scrapper companies for citizens, but they can create an enabling environment for business startups to flourish and investors would gladly do these and provide employment. Ignoring our infrastructural deficiency would only increase more shabby businesses that won't have the ability to build the nation, How does resorting to learning a 18th century vocational skill for a living after going to a 21st century university, help build the nation?

In most developed countries, government funds students education through student loans which they pay back when they get a job afterwards, it's government's way of ensuring their youths aren't idle or resort to mischief.
It's chief educational aim as government, is also to ensure every citizen would certainly be gainfully involved in nation building in the future when they(students) have invested in education (yes paying fees is an investment even if they got loans they still have to repay) and to accomplish this, the government in turn ensures the students reap their investment by ensuring there are opportunities for them to carry out what they learnt in school to aid nation building.

The government in Nigeria has to sit up and call their best brains together, they need to fix the basic things and quickly. Sweeping things under the carpet is so pre-colonial era. Let the brains do the thinking and solve the infrastructural decay viz: Security, Justice, Crime Database, Accessible Power, Subsidised Transportation etc. As for employment, it would take care of itself, rather they should concentrate on introducing these vocational skills to those who need skills but who of their own accord don't want the hassles of higher education. Then focus on improving the learning facilities of the higher institutions to world class standards so those schooling there can actually learn the skills they went there to study. Then maybe someday the basket weaver, who either did or did not receive higher education,can save time and cost he uses for providing himself all he needs to run his business, and invest them in developing new inventions using his weaving skills and maybe the world would be keen to buy his stuff as it won't be so expensive considering his running and living costs.

Charism:
Entrepreneurship seems to be the order of the day today, the press glorifies it, government officials put lots of emphasis on it as the only way out of poverty, its even a compulsory course for all university students. NYSC is all about it, from your afternoon lectures in camp, to your SAEED. But is it really worth it? Are they telling us the truth, or is it mere propaganda by politicians to give excuses for their failure?
Daily we are bombarded by happy ending stories of people who made it by starting up their business, we are told to emulate the likes of Dangote, Otedola, mike Adenuga. But the bitter truth is that not everyone will make it like Dangote. As a matter of fact the chances of Success is Very rare.
People who make it are the lucky ones, lucky in the sense that the have opportunities that others never had or will never have which they harnessed to their advantage.
Opportunities like capital, good location, skills, business climate, experience e.t.c. These variable are not things you have control over. Take for example Dangote started his business with just #500,000 (a huge amount of money during the 70's) given to him by his uncle Dantata (one of the richest men in nigeria at that time) who also groomed him in the tricks of business management. There are many people who have beautiful business plans out there, but no capital to fund them. Even when the capital is available, you don't any experience about the business climate of the business you are venturing into, its like a blind man crossing the highway unaided.
The truth of the matter is that not everyone is meant to be entreperneurs, if you believe in the determination, nothing-can-stop-me mantra, you might probably end up with a small food-stuff shop/kiosk business, or like the road side akara seller whose income would not be enough for you to start a family. If it were that easy, then our proffesors of business administration in our universitys, would have been top business moguls by now.
Truth be told, our politicians need to sit up! And make economic policies to would encourage investment and growth. If the economy is favourable, both entrepreneurs and employees, would be better-off.

Any Nigerian youth who wants to become a successful entrepreneur should never look at people like Dangote, Otedola, Jimoh Ibrahim and the likes as mentor....he should look at Igbo businessmen who usually start from the scratch with little capital and over years, turn their small capital into a big business venture without government assistance, politics, oil money or inherited wealth.

An ambitious entrepreneur can make it big in any environment, just that it will require more time, patience and creativity.

The best environment to become a successful entrepreneur is where there are plenty problems begging for solutions like we have presently in Nigeria....it is not easy to become a successful entrepreneur in comfortable environments like USA, Germany, etc....because it is difficult to find a general societal problem there to be solved except you think towards technology and application development which requires lots of talent and skill.

So in all, the best solution for Nigerian youths today remains entrepreneurship...and they should stop using Dangote, Otedola, Adenuga, Jimoh Ibrahim, etc as mentors or reference of successful entrepreneurs who made it from the scratch because all of them have a link with politicians, government officials, crude oil money and inherited family wealth.

Young entrepreneurs in Nigeria wishing to make it should look at Igbo traders at Alaba intl market, Ladipo, etc....because there you will see young entrepreneurs who came from the village with nothing...now owners of multi-million naira businesses...and waxing very big unlike those northern entrepreneurs using government connection to milk Nigeria's crude oil and forming millionaires and billionaires..we all know they aren't true entrepreneurs.

Nice topic

Yes, my father did not leave me with N1,000 or a plot of land. He only tot me to fear God, live holy, gave me a first degree and make right choices in life.

Who says i cannot be a Bill Gates ? I am left with my passion to take me there.

BLWeb:


These are the words of someone who is lazy and expects the government to feed him everything he needs.

One thing i'm sure we all agree is that no society is ideal because people act differently and think in different ways. Also people do also come together to form a common bond to show their ideas in togetherness. Now in your school of thought you are against entrepreneurship and you cast it down like it has not been something that has changed your life.

Take some time to look at how you have lived your life from infancy till now and tell me all the stuffs you have used through out life is from the government. You can't argue it because it is not the government that even made it possible for Seun to set-up nairaland that you are using to spread your discontent.

One thing that has always bugged me though is our lack of innovation by our young entrepreneurs and i think that is what worries you. What we need to do as people is to rearrange our mindset and see how blessed we are as a nation and as africans. All the solid minerals you can think of,all the agricultural resources, good weather, human capacities, we have all, then why are we still poor? The government blame game is so stale now, and not blaming someone like you for shying away from starting your own business will be a crime for me.

So i can feel your frustration friend. Success is not rare, success is relative to how you want to leave your life. Whatsoever a man thinketh that he is. There are small business owners who just want to be content with their income, run their business for as long as they live, take care of their family, stay away from insecurities and just be happy, That is how they view success. While some want to expand, build franchises and employ thousands of people, that is their own view of success. But you saying EVERYONE cannot be like Dangote is true but you are wrong to use it in a demeaning form while disrespecting well-meaning people all over.

Another thing i will need to tell you is that there is nothing like luck in business. I'm very sure you have never started a business before to know that Success is when Opportunity meets Preparation. You must be prepared to face the challenges no matter what and then be prepared to take use of the opportunity. The success you earn is relative to how you prepared and to how best you maximized the opportunity. So talking about luck in entrepreneurship? That is so lame.

I would also like to counsel you too. Failure is not the end of life. Successful people are the ones that learn to FAIL FORWARD. They don't let failures run them down. Don't you know these people you call their names like they are your demi-gods have gone through the most depressing times when they were getting around their business and success was elusive? Nothing was prepared for them on a bed of roses. Oh maybe you haven't heard of another man who collected even N1million from his uncle in the 70's to set up his business but he is a shoemaker today, while the Dangote you hear today thrived on just N500, 000 back then. Maybe you have not read the story of young boys in lagos who started their blogging enterprise with just N10, 000 back in 2005 and today they speak at TEDX. Or simply dont go too far, just talk to Seun and let him school you on how he started.

I believe in the "nothing-can-stop-me mantra" even if you end up selling c.d's at the road side, but the most importatnt thing that you should never forget is not to give up on your thinking, and who you are and what you want to become. If you continually strive at it while keeping your goals and dreams intact, you will definitely make it no matter what this OP's definition of success is. Abi nor be don jazzy be bus conductor for lagos before?

And lastly for entrepreneurs, i know the times are hard and you need money to make things work. But don't let the hesitation and frustration make you start a business you have no passion in. It is small business owners who did stuff with no passion and ended up messing everything that may have made this op to come out with an attack on people who are desiring to effect a change. Understand that it is passion before profit, but if you have side business giving you some funding, don't stay too long there - get some little funds no matter how little and dive into your PASSION and God will make it a success for you.

Nice one

Charism:


Thanks for the correction.



The average bricklayer on the street who earns #2k per 5hours of work. Works harder than a stockbroker who can earn almost half a million durin 5hrs of work.

Hardwork clearly is not working to his favour. Hardwork is an important virtue, but the truth be told, all fingers are not equal. Just strive to make the best out of the little luck or oppurtunity you have in your hands.

Dont misinterprete d concept of entrepreneurship,its not about unskilled labour,or skilled Labour,hardwork,its about being smart,consistent and being independent in wit u do ,to earn or maximise profits,d examples u made here don't reffer to ur arguments as both skill r entrepenural in nature it only depends on strategy,d "stock broker" can enjoy good brokerage as his commission and not "salary" vice versa with d bricklayer can maximise gud profits worth more than a million on a single supply of his product dat woudnt cost an hour to deploy,bro it depends on stratagy ,go and study d topic "benchmarking" cheers

BLWeb:


These are the words of someone who is lazy and expects the government to feed him everything he needs.

One thing i'm sure we all agree is that no society is ideal because people act differently and think in different ways. Also people do also come together to form a common bond to show their ideas in togetherness. Now in your school of thought you are against entrepreneurship and you cast it down like it has not been something that has changed your life.

Take some time to look at how you have lived your life from infancy till now and tell me all the stuffs you have used through out life is from the government. You can't argue it because it is not the government that even made it possible for Seun to set-up nairaland that you are using to spread your discontent.

One thing that has always bugged me though is our lack of innovation by our young entrepreneurs and i think that is what worries you. What we need to do as people is to rearrange our mindset and see how blessed we are as a nation and as africans. All the solid minerals you can think of,all the agricultural resources, good weather, human capacities, we have all, then why are we still poor? The government blame game is so stale now, and not blaming someone like you for shying away from starting your own business will be a crime for me.

So i can feel your frustration friend. Success is not rare, success is relative to how you want to leave your life. Whatsoever a man thinketh that he is. There are small business owners who just want to be content with their income, run their business for as long as they live, take care of their family, stay away from insecurities and just be happy, That is how they view success. While some want to expand, build franchises and employ thousands of people, that is their own view of success. But you saying EVERYONE cannot be like Dangote is true but you are wrong to use it in a demeaning form while disrespecting well-meaning people all over.

Another thing i will need to tell you is that there is nothing like luck in business. I'm very sure you have never started a business before to know that Success is when Opportunity meets Preparation. You must be prepared to face the challenges no matter what and then be prepared to take use of the opportunity. The success you earn is relative to how you prepared and to how best you maximized the opportunity. So talking about luck in entrepreneurship? That is so lame.

I would also like to counsel you too. Failure is not the end of life. Successful people are the ones that learn to FAIL FORWARD. They don't let failures run them down. Don't you know these people you call their names like they are your demi-gods have gone through the most depressing times when they were getting around their business and success was elusive? Nothing was prepared for them on a bed of roses. Oh maybe you haven't heard of another man who collected even N1million from his uncle in the 70's to set up his business but he is a shoemaker today, while the Dangote you hear today thrived on just N500, 000 back then. Maybe you have not read the story of young boys in lagos who started their blogging enterprise with just N10, 000 back in 2005 and today they speak at TEDX. Or simply dont go too far, just talk to Seun and let him school you on how he started.

I believe in the "nothing-can-stop-me mantra" even if you end up selling c.d's at the road side, but the most importatnt thing that you should never forget is not to give up on your thinking, and who you are and what you want to become. If you continually strive at it while keeping your goals and dreams intact, you will definitely make it no matter what this OP's definition of success is. Abi nor be don jazzy be bus conductor for lagos before?

And lastly for entrepreneurs, i know the times are hard and you need money to make things work. But don't let the hesitation and frustration make you start a business you have no passion in. It is small business owners who did stuff with no passion and ended up messing everything that may have made this op to come out with an attack on people who are desiring to effect a change. Understand that it is passion before profit, but if you have side business giving you some funding, don't stay too long there - get some little funds no matter how little and dive into your PASSION and God will make it a success for you.

This is a perfect Antidote for this disease of a thread!!!! .....1million likes!!!