START YOUR OWN BUSINESS

Over the years, one question that keeps recurring is whether to start your own business or work for somebody else.
However, there is no hard and fast rule for deciding what you should do or what the answer to that question will be. I think it depends on the circumstance surrounding you at the time and we all know that circumstance varies with individual. That said, it is important to know that having your business places you on the path to financial freedom. I recommend that everybody gives entrepreneurship a shot. If you are employed, don’t plan to remain an employee all your life, understand the sign of the time. Pension funds are dwindling and besides, nobody will take care of your financial problems better than you.

ARE ENTREPRENEURS BORN OR MADE
Entrepreneur is a key factor in fostering economic growth. Ten-percent and commission seekers are not entrepreneurs. All those who go around the corridors of power with the aim of influencing their relations to give them contracts which they re-sell are not entrepreneurs. Those set of people contribute nothing to the economic growth of the nation. They are parasites and saboteurs of the economy.
Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, are the pivot on which the economy of a nation rotates. Entrepreneurs are pioneers. They are creative and innovative as they provide new services and products. They also create jobs for others and bring down the unemployment rate. It is not the government that creates jobs but the entrepreneurs.

Hope is, however, not lost for any nation that has entrepreneur deficiency. This is because entrepreneurs are not born; they can be developed through fiscal policies, training and guidance. The economic, political, legal and technical environment can be readily and easily changed by public policy. Very few are born entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs are be made.

REASON FOR STARTING A BUSINESS
People don’t want to start their own business because of three notable reasons, namely:
1. No money
2. No ideas
3. Fear of failure
However, those who dare to start have the problem of making a success of them. Many businesses are started every year but fail to make it beyond 5 years, when you ask why? The answer is usually capital. This is not a sound excuse.

In as much as ideas and money are needed to start a business, what is actually needed most is business opportunity. Rather than go for business opportunity, most would be entrepreneurs see their products or services as the ultimate. They think the world of them. The problem is not the product or service you are willing to render, the problem is the customers. Are they willing to spend and buy the product or service to solve their problem?

If your business is to remain relevant, that business must exist only for the purpose of solving a problem for somebody. You must have a value proposition. The market on the other hand, must be willing to spend their money to buy your product or service to solve their problem. It is only when these conditions are met that it can be regarded as investment opportunity.
To know if your business is meaningful, think through the following question-
1. What problem do you want to solve?
2. Why is it a problem?
3. What causes the problem?
4. If your business is gone tomorrow, what would the world lose?
5. Why do you think you can solve the problem?
6. How does your product or service solve the problem?
7. How does your product or service make your customer’s life better?
8. What do you think your customers really need from a company like yours?
This is how to build a brand.

Remember, every true business only exists to solve a problem so as to make life better for their customers. If what you do does not benefit others, it is not meaningful.
There are right and wrong reasons for starting a business. The right reason is not a desire to make much more money but a desire to build something lasting and beneficial to the society. Also, to enable you enjoy creativity that is stifled in a corporate world. If you make the pursuit of money your main reason for starting a business, you are very likely to be frustrated when the money does not start coming very quickly.