Opinion Courtesy Lily Ngarabz.
Yali Network Member.
Being an entrepreneur requires commitment and sacrifice in order to
achieve success. Although starting a business may not be easy at first
for all starters, once you start running it, there's a chance that it
may be sustainable. On the other hand, many of us, young African entrepreneurs whose
dreams are to be successful entrepreneurs, when it comes to starting a
business, all we think about is capital. However we fail to consider
other factors such as; testing our business ideas whether they
are feasible, attractive and needed in the market place. Building a
network of different people, some who can be your potential customers,
financial institutions ( microfinance) and even friends. What about some
of our physical assets? Have we thought about making good use of what
we already have? I guess not. Many of us don't consider such kind of
things thinking that there are irrelevant not knowing that they can help
us be successful entrepreneurs.
In addition to this, we should also
consider improving our skills, no matter how much we already know, we
should always try by all means to gain more and more knowledge each and
everyday. Life is all about learning. Attend a conference, go online and
learn something, all this will contribute to your success.
Therefore as
the youth of Africa, let's try to change our mindset and also consider
the above points as well and know how they will play a big role in
shaping us as Entrepreneurs. One more thing, do we believe that we can
start small and grow at some point?
Personally I do. From my point of
view, I think it is better to start small for startup businesses rather
than investing millions that may leave us bankrupt and probably
depressive. From my role model, Sina Gerald, a Rwandan entrepreneur who
started small with a mini Supermarket and now is able to make different
kinds of products ranging from yoghurts, juices( passion, strawberry,
pineapple and grapes), cookies, and many others which he now exports to
different continents of the world, gave me hope that it is still
possible if we also considers the other factors mentioned above.
Interesting, right? On top of that he always remembers to give back to
the community. Now that is what I call a successful entrepreneur.
Still, according to Collins Mabinda, a Yali Network member, It
is possible to start small and grow big.However, we want quick success
which makes us impatient. Matters are not helped by the fact that African entrepreneurs compare ourselves to western entrepreneurs such as Mark Zuckerberg who
made it rich quickly not knowing that conditions
in America are not the same as conditions in Africa. Besides many of us
think that we need tonnes of capital to start. I think that is why we
tend to postpone starting our ventures.We can bootstrap and save and
start small.Also, we lack role models who have started started small and
made it big. Look, I didn't know of the Rwandan entrepreneur you
mentioned until now.We only know of people that striked it
rich through underhand deals.That needs to change.Do you think it's
possible to start small and grow big? If not, why? is it essential for
future entrepreneurs to consider other factors besides capital?
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