Follow your own path

We live in a society where the state of the economy has demanded a lot of people to start up their own businesses especially in my country - Nigeria. I hear a lot of people say that if you want to make it big, you have to be your own boss. You have to take the initiative and start up your own business rather than work under someone. It seems like people are condemned for being employees and continuous praise goes to the entrepreneur.

Who then is an entrepreneur?

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

According to the business dictionary, a person who exercises initiative by organising a venture to take benefit of an opportunity, and as a decision maker, decides what, how and how much of a good or service will be produced.

The question is this

Should everyone be an entrepreneur?

Nowadays, when I go online on social media, I see that a lot of people are marketing either one good or the other. It's almost like everyone is starting their own business.

We come across new books on how to become an entrepreneur and how to excel as one. A big shout out to all those that are following that path of starting their own business and are consistent in what they do.

What about the people that aren't cut out for that path?

The truth is that everyone can be an entrepreneur but not everyone should be an entrepreneur.

In my country, there's this idea that is going around that going to school is a waste considering most people finish school and can't find jobs. Most people are jumping into the train of starting their own business when they don't even know how to go about it.

I believe there's nothing wrong with being an employee because we all need each other. Some people actually enjoy the working hours. If you know you're not cut out for the life of an entrepreneur, then don't follow the multitude. You can succeed and do very well for yourself on your own path.

To be an entrepreneur, here's a few points

• You have to make sacrifices

The truth is being an entrepreneur is hard. Starting a business isn't easy. At first, you won't have people rushing in to patronise you. At that time, you need to sacrifice your money or savings to start what you want. It may take a while before the business starts to pay and support you like you would want so for a certain period, you have to manage.

• Be able to take risks and make decisions

Being an entrepreneur in itself is a risk because you can't be certain the business will pay off. They have to take decisions concerning their business and how it's supposed to move forward. Taking a risk is being open to the possibility that the plan might work out or not. It's like fifty fifty. If you can't handle that, maybe it's not a part for you.

• You need to have passion

If you're looking for fast money, entrepreneurship might not be for you. The truth is, you can't be certain money will come fast from your business. Still, you have to be consistent and do what you do and continually look for ways to make things better and promote your business to make profit. It just doesn't happen overnight. You need to really be interested in what you're doing if not, it'll be easy for you to give up along the line.

• Be a people person

Hahahaha. To be an entrepreneur, you must know how to relate with other people. How else do you expect people to take interest in your business and want to patronise? Good networking and connections can move your business faster than you think. You cannot sit in your comfort zone and people will come to you.

• Be able to manage and market

To be an entrepreneur, one must know the concept of money and how money works. It's important so that you know where you stand and can run your business effectively. Also, you must know how to properly market your products to get people interested.

Is the entrepreneurship path for you or not? Whether yes or no, as long as we're all doing well for ourselves in our respective interests, that's all that matters.

What do you think?