DADIYA YOUTH SUCCESS FORUM (DYSF) 6 EDITION © 2015 · Web address: , Every business relies on...

DADIYA YOUTH SUCCESS FORUM (DYSF) GOMBE STATE, 6th EDITION © 2015

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DADIYA YOUTH SUCCESS FORUM (DYSF) 6th EDITION ©

2015

Theme:

POSITIVE INTEGRATION IN A WORLD OF GROWING INFORMATION

TECHNOLOGY

Topic/Focus

THE PRECEDENCE OF ENTREPRENUERSHIP IN TODAY’S

ECONOMIC REALITIES

ODINAKA KINGSLEY OBETA

YOUNG MOTIVATORS INITIATIVES

(YMIFOUNDATIONS)

TUDUN WADA JOS

PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA.

29TH DECEMBER, 2015




http://www.ymifoundations.wordpress.com/






ABSTRACT Nigeria has no business being rated among poor nations of the world given its

human and natural resources. The development and transformation of Gombe state,

Nigeria and the Sub -Saharan Africa entirely is highly dependent on youth empowerment

through Entrepreneurship. They are the bedrock of economic development all over the

world and play important role for employment, income and societal changes, particularly

in transition economies like Nigeria. Considering the level of growth in modern

technology. This document contains a vivid explanation of the importance and possible

application of entrepreneurship in today’s world of growing technology.

Key words: Entrepreneurship, economic empowerment, unemployment, entrepreneurial

ideas.

INTRODUCTION

The youthful period which is a very critical one that has been noted as

an essential time for training in entrepreneurship, provides a positive

distractive alternative from the self-destructive and aggressive behaviors that

are frequently associated with adolescents and growing up (Woolflk, 1998). In

a study of American adolescents in 1998, it was reported that a good number

of the youths had little information about life and life expectations. If this is

true youths in a developed nation; what can be said of Nigerian youths? This

critical age however is the right time to teach them the concept of

entrepreneurship to help them learn wealth creation. The question then is

what is entrepreneurship? Entrepreneurship has been defined by various

professions to mean many things since the middle age (Igbo, 2006). The

entrepreneur has been seen as an actor, innovator or a developer of

technology. However, the summary of what entrepreneurship means will

reflect the individual definer’s point of view. Entrepreneurship is the

willingness and ability of an individual to seek out investment opportunities,






establish and run an enterprise successfully (Inegbehebor, 1987). The

entrepreneur is essentially a person who owns or controls a business through

which income is gained. National Directorate of Employment (NDE) (1989) in

Onyebueke and Ochonogo (2002) defined entrepreneurship as the art which

involves recognizing a business opportunity, mobilizing resources and

persisting to exploit that opportunity. According to Gana (2001),

entrepreneurship is the ability to seek investment opportunities and establish

an enterprise based on identified opportunities. The entrepreneur takes risks

and is focused and energized by an inner drive. The ability to develop a new

venture or apply a new approach to an old business is sole idea of

entrepreneurship (Steinfioff and Durges, 1993). In other words, the individual

gives the market place a product or service by using resources in a new way.

Esomonu (1998) defined entrepreneurship as the effective manipulation of

human intelligence as demonstrated in a creative performance. This singular

risk taking act leads an individual to create something of value from practically

nothing.

Some factors required for entrepreneurship includes;

The environment

The entrepreneur

The concept

The resources

The organizational context

The entrepreneurial process

The environment you find yourself as an individual fully determines the

type of business expected to flourish in such an environment. When a business

is established in a wrong environment failure becomes inevitable.

The entrepreneur has a lot to do with the process, he/she is expected to

possess the required qualities of a good entrepreneur before venturing into

the business, as a lack in such qualities can lead to poor or no output.

Nobody starts a business without a business idea, the market woman

selling tomatoes actually thought of her business before taking a step to start it

up. The concept is the foundation of the entire process.






Every business relies on capital which is also a form of resources, to start

up a business you should have calculated the accessibility to resources which

may include; raw materials, finances, facilities, social amenities, goods and

services.

Entrepreneurship is not just a skill acquisition process, it is process which

requires managerial skill, education, and the ability to work with people. The

idea of division of labor should be introduced in your business in order to save

time and maximize profit.

The entrepreneur should also have a knowledge of entrepreneurship, he/she

should be able to note the three entrepreneurial abilities which is listed under

the next question discussed.

On a lighter note I want to clearly state here that, entrepreneurship is

not birthright, not genetic, not luck/right place, right time, not magic and not

simply the starting and running of a small business. Entrepreneurship is the

pursuit of opportunity without regards to resources currently controlled.

Who then is an entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur can therefore be seen as a person who in the bid to

survive makes profit and owns his/her own business. He/she effectively utilizes

his/her abilities and potentials confidently. He/she takes risks, is focused and is

energized by an inner drive. He/she equally seeks and exploits employment

opportunities, applies creativity aggressively, takes initiative as he/she seeks

market opportunities. The entrepreneurs further awakens his/her ability to

maximize his/her potentials through the discovery of new and existing

business ideas as he/she uses proven principles in managing small and medium

scale businesses until they grow. He/she also creates the platform for the

exchange of ideas and training in skill acquisitions. Through the process

involved in entrepreneurship, success habits are imparted as the person

develops entrepreneurial integrity. A good entrepreneur should be; assertive,

creative, opportunistic, self-confident, dedicated, independent, resourceful,

and should have calculated risk- taking abilities.

According to Anayakoha (2006), the entrepreneur is one who chooses or

assumes risks, identifies business opportunity, gathers resources, initiates






actions and establishes an organization or enterprise to meet such demand or

market opportunity. From this definition, the entrepreneur is seen as an

independent, self-sufficient individual who is willing to sink or swim with

his/her idea.

In order to be entrepreneurial one need to possess three major abilities

namely;

Ability to perceive and act upon opportunities in the environment.

Ability to create and build something from practically nothing.

Ability to go in for a successful pursuit of opportunity without regards to

resources currently controlled.

Nigeria as a country has numerous business and investment potentials due

to the abundant, vibrant and dynamic human and natural resources it

possesses. The performance and effectiveness of entrepreneurs in the country

as an instrument of economic growth and development has long been under

scrutiny. This intense scrutiny has been against the backdrop of the low

performance and inefficiency that characterized small business particularly in

assessing its role on economic growth and development. Tapping the country’s

resources require the ability to identify potentially useful and economically

viable fields of endeavors. Nigerians have equally made their marks in diverse

fields such as science, technology, academics, business and entertainment.

Entrepreneurship activities and innovative ingenuity in Nigeria have

developed enterprises in areas such as agriculture/agro-allied, solid minerals,

transportation, information and telecom, hospitality and tourism business,

building and construction etc. According to Anyadike, Emeh and Ukah (2012)

these human and natural resources notwithstanding, Nigeria is still one of the

poorest countries in the world and has one of the highest rates of youth

unemployment in Sub-Sahara Africa, and despite its alleged strong economic

growth. In respect of the above sad and deplorable situation, the government

has done little to reduce the misery and frustrations of the citizenry. This has

foisted a state of hopelessness on majority of young and old people who have

resorted to any means including crime to succeed in life. They resort to vices

because they are not gainfully engaged. In other words, they are unemployed;

unemployed, not because they lack the qualification but because the system






has been crippled politically, economically, socio-culturally and even

religiously.

The need for entrepreneurship development in the country today is

necessitated by the fact that entrepreneurship development is a major factor

in economic growth and development and also the permanent cure for

extreme hunger and poverty necessitated by unemployment.

5 STEPS TO BECOMING AN ENTREPRENEUR

Identify an opportunity

Develop a business concept

Assess the required resources

Acquire the necessary sources

Implement and manage

FEW TIPS TO CONSIDER WHEN DECIDING WHAT BUSINESS TO GO FOR

How knowledgeable are you about the business you are considering

opening? What do you know about the products, services, and market? Look

at businesses that you know very well, and not just from a technical

perspective, but from a market standpoint.

Make sure you have all the necessary skills to run the business (e.g. not

just those required to manufacture the product, or deliver the service).

Remember no matter what the business is, you will have to do some selling.

How much money do you have to invest? Businesses such as graphic

design and consulting require far less start-up capital, for instance, than

opening a retail establishment buying a franchise can be a good idea, but do

you have enough capital for both the purchase and the initial running costs?

Think about what you enjoy doing, and what you are passionate about.

You are more likely to stay the course and be successful, if you enjoy what

you do. However, be careful that your passion for your hobby doesn’t blind

you to the business potential it has. You may be an excellent writer of

poetry, but making a living from it is all but impossible.

Decide what type of selling might be involved. A retail store for instance

allows you to be a little like a spider in its web, waiting for people to come

along before interacting with them. Being a consultant on the other hand,






means cold calling and attending business mixers. Remember selling is

ALWAYS a major part of any business.

How competitive is the field you want to enter? You may have worked for

many years as a lube technician and feel that you have what it takes to

launch your own business, but how many other oil and lube businesses are

there in your town, and is there enough business for another? Analyze your

market and see how saturated it is. Remember, you will be trying to take

market share away from existing businesses, unless your business is the only

one of its kind in the locale.

Look for where there is a gap in the market where there is unfulfilled

demand. If you are looking at the retail market, is there a product that

people currently have to travel along way to purchase? Consider the example

of social media consultants; as the business world started to see the potential

for marketing their products via Facebook, Twitter and other sites, there was

no one around to tell them how to go about it. The gap was quickly filled by

entrepreneurs who saw a need that was at that time unanswered.

Look at market trends and see what is become increasingly popular, and

what may be coming to the end of its popularity.

For instance, now would not be the time to open a video rental store, or one

selling CD’s or DVD’s. If, however, you can develop apps (or perhaps be a

reseller) for Smart phones then you’d be in a growing business. In 2010 the

industry was worth around $1.7 billion, within the next three years it is

predicted to grow to $3.8 billion. Now, that’s a business to get into.

Be wary of going into any business where consumers make their buying

decisions based entirely, or primarily on price alone. As someone new in

the market, your competition will have deeper pockets than you and you

could watch your profit go down the drain as they undercut your prices. This

is where service businesses have the edge, as people don’t choose who they

work with solely on price.

Come up with several business concepts and test them out. The best thing

you can do to prevent yourself starting a business that simply doesn’t work

for you, is to work in it fora while. If, for example, you are considering

opening a coffee shop, go and work in one while you are writing your






business plan. Experience the business first-hand and you will not only learn

a great deal, but you’ll see if you enjoy the environment.

Here are the list of some few businesses one can get into in order to

practically engage his/herself in entrepreneurship;

Seasonal Farming

Laundry (Dry cleaner)

Barbing

Teaching

Photography

Graphic designs

Make up, pedicure and Medicare

Hair styling

Blogging

Livestock (Dogs, cows, goats, chickens and many others)

Painting

Modelling

Tailoring / boutique

Buying and Selling

Soap/Detergent making

Interior and Exterior decorations

Catering

Bead making / jewelries

Fast food outlet ( Tea, Noddle’s, and restaurants)

Retail sales (open up a shop)

Online purchase and sales

Construction

Carpentry

Computer literacy

Commercial Driving

Sound production

Repair services (phones, electronics, cars, tricycles, computers, bicycle

and many others)

Shoe/bag making and repairs.






NB: Branding is a major ingredient when it comes to entrepreneurship, you

should note that quite a number of people are already into that which you are

about start. The only way you can thrive effectively is by adding a sense of

uniqueness to your new products that is after considering the cost and selling

price of such a product.

Branding includes, the name of your product, the company name, the

packaging, the cost, the awareness, the content and the marketing of such a

product. You should of cause know that in these fart of the world fancy things

draw the attention of many, with regards to that you should be able to craft out a

fancy name for your company and product, while doing so you should also keep

in mind it is the quality that matters not the quantity. The quantity of a product

attracts a costumer but it is the quality of that product and the services rendered

that actually brings them back for more.

The Entrepreneurship Mindset

As an aspiring entrepreneur you should be able to have what I refer to as

an entrepreneurship mindset, having this mindset helps increase the pace at

which you search for what to do, and how to get them done without much

deviation, the entrepreneurship mindset can also be seen as rules guiding

entrepreneurship;

Passionate pursuit of new opportunities

Pursuit of opportunity with enormous discipline and tenacity.

Prioritizing opportunities and not exhausting oneself or resources by

pursuing every one of them

Focus on execution and adaptation

Tolerance of failure and learning from failure

Spreading the entrepreneurial religion to a team

Healthy dissatisfaction

Critical Factor Affecting Entrepreneurial Development






Entrepreneur development takes place within a framework of forces that

constitute the system environment, which are either external or internal. A

critical issue in the entrepreneurial development and growth is firms' ability to

adapt to its strategies to a rapidly changing system environment to which the

entrepreneurs' role is critical to the success or failure of such firm (Amadasun,

2003) For the entrepreneur to be successful, he must be able to identify and find

a useful niche within the large environment where it takes its risk, make

strategic business plan and take/implement decisions. The various institutions

and forces which determine the success or failure of the entrepreneur is its

habitat also referred to as its eco-system or critical factors affecting the

entrepreneurship which is equally dependent on the stability of the environment

within which he operates, stability of environment exists in various degrees. For

entrepreneurial development to survive in these varying degrees depend on

strategic management of the environment (Gerber, 2002). Generally, the

internal forces that the business eco-system entrepreneur must face and take

strategic action to adapt in Nigeria are controllable, while the external forces are

generally uncontrollable. This paper will limit itself to the under listed

interrelated macro external environmental forces which impact seriously on

entrepreneurial development in Nigeria. These are General environmental forces

that do not directly touch on the short-run activities of the organization but that

can, and often do affect.

Constraint of Entrepreneurship Education in Nigeria

There are several factors that hinder entrepreneurship education in

Nigeria. They include:

1. Poor knowledge based economy and low spirit of competition

2. Poor enterprising culture

3. Lack of entrepreneurship teachers, materials and equipment.

4. Unavailability of fund

5. Non-inclusion of entrepreneurship program in the school curricula

6. Poor societal attitude to Technical and Vocational Education development

7. Inadequate facilities and equipment for teaching and learning

8. Insensitivity of government to enterprise creation and expansion strategy






9. Poor plan and execution of processes of action. (Oviawe and Ekhovbiye,

2008).

Ways of Encouraging Entrepreneurship Among Dadiya Youths

Nigerian youths in general tackle daily series of problems – poverty,

unemployment, conflicts and diseases is not an easy task. These problems

therefore will demand that the youths be empowered with creative problem-

solving skills. The training of educated individuals who can function effectively

in the society for the betterment of self and the society will require special

attention as the system will be deliberately set to concern itself with the

development of sound human capital required for national development (Ocho,

2005). Practically speaking therefore, he/she must do the following:

1. Ensure that schools deliberately provide sector specific skills needed for

the development of human capital, use professional and entrepreneurs as

instructors and mentors.

2. Teach entrepreneurship and creativity at an early age.

3. Organize for curricular integration of education, entrepreneurship and

community development

4. Plan programs such as the dadiya youths success forum (DYSF) to help

transform the youths.

5. Funds should be made available for youths who have undergone

entrepreneurship trainings, and more establishments should be created

with the aim of creating more rooms for entrepreneurial skill

development.

6. Parents and families in general should try to promote entrepreneurship on

their wards by motivating them towards taking that bold step.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion I can attest clearly to the fact that with the current state of the

economy if care is not taking within a short period of time, it would become

very clear to see my point in these quote “A country without a proper chain of

entrepreneurship can be seen as a vehicle without engine”.

Finally, the young entrepreneurs must learn to overcome innovative barriers.

Entrepreneurship flourishes best when the climate is conducive. In fact, creative

thing is fostered when peace is in place. However, things may never always






workout as planned, hence the need for psychological, sociological, economical

and technological training to prepare the young entrepreneurs for the rainy day.

Through well planned and executed entrepreneurship education therefore, the

Nigerian youths will learn to be happy and fulfilled persons. They will be

productive and committed as employees or employers of labor. They will allow

their unique abilities to be used for the development of the national and global

goals rather than abandon their country for greener pastures. Entrepreneurship

will teach the youths essence of business, which is finding a human need and

filling it. A healthy society then can be created as the entrepreneurs go to work.

In these contest I would want to advise my brothers and sisters the good people

of Dadiya to engage themselves in entrepreneurship, with the target of meeting

up the ever fast growing economies in several other parts of the country and the

world in general.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the various challenges encountered by both the youth and government

the following recommendations were made.

1. The government of Gombe state should put in more effort in other to

improve the effectiveness of the Dankwanbo’s youth empowerment






scheme so as to assist the people of Gombe undergo these entrepreneurial

change and development.

2. The Federal government should monitor the activities of power sector in

terms of their traffics and policies to make power supply affordable and

constant as this will hasten and encourage entrepreneurial activities in the

country as power is a major factor in the economy development.

3. That Terrorism, Religious crisis and Political violence should be

controlled and checkmated. People need to feel secure to be able to

function properly.

4. More emphasis should also be placed on the agricultural sector, since

farming happens to be a major source of income for the people, the

government and well to do individuals should help create incentives for

young farmers. Shortcuts will not work. The World Bank 2008 report

advocates for a comprehensive model that caters for rural development,

rural-urban migration, preparation of young people for the labor market

and investments in agriculture

5. Education curriculum must be immediately revised to incorporate skills

and enterprise development. Hence a process or a program geared

towards training youths in Nigeria in the act of entrepreneurship. They

ought to be progressive, proactive and pragmatic.

6. That there should be a government regulated means of entrepreneurial

development sponsorship devoid of politics and the likes that have

crippled those erstwhile attempts to encourage entrepreneurship

development in Nigeria

7. The government must be willingly to fund entrepreneurship activities

since finance is one of the issues hindering entrepreneurship development

in Nigeria and sub-Sahara African in general, well to do individuals

should also try to support the youths, as the growth one permits the

growth of many.

8. The aim of every government should be to create enabling environment

to promote investments. This includes provision of power, maintaining

law and order, and adequate security. Likewise Nigeria should key into

the ICT, since it would serve as means of reaching the “Change Agenda”

of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

9. Administration of refurbishing her declining infrastructures in

telecommunications, social amenities and technological advancement

10. Nigeria government should strengthen the legal framework for

entrepreneurship development programs, mandating states participation

in the NDE and Amnesty programs to ensure that strengths and potentials

of the youths are geared towards economic developments rather than






violence. Example, Boko Haram in the North, MASSOB in the South,

OPC in the west and Niger Delta militant.

References

Dr. Michael Morris Witting Chair in Entrepreneurship Syracuse University and Hilton Visiting Chair Iowa State University September 12, 2006

Eno-Obong, H. (2006). Challenges of entrepreneurship in home economics and

enhancement strategies. Journal of Home Economics Research (7), 69 -75. Etuk, E.

(2000). Great insights on home creativity. US: Morris Publishers. Igbo, C.A. (2006).

Developing entrepreneurship through entrepreneurship education. Journal of Home

Economics Research (7), 50 -54.

The Guardian (August 31, 2010): Workers Skills and Job Requirements: Is There a Mismatch? The People’s

Digest, p. 36.

Embracing Innovation: Entrepreneurship and American Economic Growth – National Commission on Entrepreneurship White Paper

Entrepreneurship as Organizing – A literature study of Entrepreneurship – Kristian Philipsen, Presented at DRUID Summer Conference June 9-11, Bornholm, Denmark

Fuelling Educational Entrepreneurship: Addressing the Human Capital Challenge – Frederick M. Hass, America Enterprise Institute and Bryan C. Hassel, Public Impact

Aruwa, S.A.S. (2004) The Business of Entrepreneur: A guide to Entrepreneurial

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Current, J.andStallworth, J (1989) International Small Business Journal, as in

Deakins, D. Entrepreneurship and Small Firms.

Deakins, D. (1996) Entrepreneurship and Small Firms, London: McGraw – Hill.

DejardinMarcus (2000) Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth: An Obvious

Conjunction.






FoluAyeni (2006) Opportunities for Entrepreneurship in Nigeria.

Knight, K (1967) A Descriptive Model of the Intra- Firm Innovation Process.

Drucker, P (1970) Entrepreneurship in Business Enterprise.

Mulvehill, Suzanne (2003) Employee to Entrepreneur: The Employee’s Guide to

Entrepreneurship Success.

Nwafor P.Z (2007) Practical Approach To Entrepreneurship: small and medium scale

enterprises (SMEs)

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