PRECISE IN-DEPTH OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

By: Mfon Celebrity 

Entrepreneurship: A Brief Overview 

 Entrepreneurship is basically the setting up of an enterprise for the sake of making profit. It is considered as the economic driving engine of a country. Andthe entrepreneurship development in a community could provide sustainable employment and economic development. Entrepreneurship means tuning a new idea into a product or service which consequently provides increasing productivity, creating wealth, prosperity and employment (Nwoye, 2018, p.55). An entrepreneur therefore is in person who develops a news idea and takes the risk of setting up an enterprise to produce a product or services which satisfies consumer needs (kuratko and Hodgetts, 2005). It is widely believed that entrepreneurship is beneficial for economic growth and development. Promoting entrepreneurship involves the process of enhancing entrepreneurial skills and knowledge through structured training and programs (Davidson, 2001). It consists of harnessing the individual potentials and initiative to transform a business concept into a new venture or enterprise with high growth potentials. UNDP (2010), defined entrepreneurship as the process of using private initiative to transform a business concept into a new venture or to grow and diversify an existing venture or enterprise with high growth Potential Entrepreneurship refers to the process of creating a new enterprise and bearing any of its risks, with the view of making the Profit. To Shane (2010),entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur, which can be defined as "one who undertakes innovations, finances and displays business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods”. This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response to a perceived opportunity. Entrepreneurship is an activities of the entrepreneur geared towards identifying an opportunity, an innovative idea, to seize mobilize money and management skills, and take calculated risks to open markets for new products, processes and services. It is when a business minded individual finds a means of providing or designing unique product either as goods or services usually to solve problems and make a profit off it. 

 Brief History of Entrepreneurship 

Entrepreneurship began when people produced by themselves more products than they needed. This made them seek for ways to get out of their stock. Therefore, they exchanged these surpluses with others who were in need of it. For example, if a farmer produced more potatoes than he needed, he exchanged the extras he had with a blacksmith’s extra axes which were what he needed. This way, Nigeriansin the olden times were involved in entrepreneurship. Generally, entrepreneurship is characterized by small capital start-ups and this was the same is the Colonial era. During this period, only a few Nigerians had the privilege of kick-Starting a business in buying and selling. At this time, it was important to make use of the banking Sector to either obtain loans or help save money. This was only made available to those who settled in the urban areas or those with adequate people connections. Moreso, these banks majorly sought to increase profits for the colonial The colonial rulers also brought in their wares and used Nigerians as their middlemen. After the colonial era, entrepreneurship was not encouraged due to the bad experiences of many entrepreneurs. The foreign entrepreneurs at the time set up business Strategies that were non-beneficial to Nigerians. For example, the United African Company (UAC) which was at the time responsible for of large percentage of imports and exports in Nigeria refused to make use of the services of local entrepreneurs; deciding to deal directly with producers. This was detrimental to the local entrepreneurs and did not allow for grow and expansion. Due to this factor, many businesses folded up and those that didn't had enough resentment and reservations about entrepreneurship to be passed on to prospective future entrepreneurs. Also, the introduction of formal education discouraged the flow of entrepreneurship. This is because formal education brought with it the opportunity of being employed in the civil service or to work for other organizations. Back then, the economy was large enough to accommodate many and into prestigious occupations. However, there came a time and even now when thingswere not so anymore. With more people being educated, the Nigerian Government did not have the capacity to employ many graduates and this encouraged many to make attemptsat being self-employed. Therefore many have come to the Conclusion that entrepreneurship in Nigeria is based on necessity. After independence, the Federal Government began the privatization and indigenization scheme to promote the businesses of Nigerians so as to allow for a more stable and independent economy and for the alleviationof poverty. Other economic policy programs have also been put inplace by the government to assist entrepreneurs in Nigerians such programs include Open Apprenticeship Scheme, Graduate Employment Program etc. This gears the economy towards a self-reliant stand. There are other policies that also make it easy for entrepreneurs to obtain needed funds.Such policies include Peoples Bank of Nigeria, funds for Small-Scale Industries (Fussi), Co-operative Societies etc.

 

Importance of Entrepreneurship in Nigeria 

Job Creation Due to alarming rate of unemployment in Nigeria, entrepreneurship tends to provide job opportunities and generate income to youths and the nation at large.This is to say that entrepreneurship plays a key role in tackling reduction of unemployment in Nigeriaby equipping people with specific skills for self-employment and independence which includes creativity, innovation, critical thinking and reasonable risk taking. It teaches the people to think outside the box and become job creators rather than job seekers. (Your Story.com-Impact).

  Economic Growth 

The importance of entrepreneurship in the aspect of economic development cannot be overemphasized. Entrepreneurial activities have led to the economic growth of the nation and thus the encouragement of entrepreneurship among the citizens.When entrepreneurs create job opportunities, produce goods and services and also boosts the economic growth of the nation. It creates wealth for the nation by producing new and improved products or services. (Yourstory.com-Impact)

 Individual Competence and Self Development 

 Through entrepreneurship, people gain entrepreneurial skills such as creativity, problem solving, critical thinking, self-motivation, financial responsibility etc. It helps youths to be self-reliant and confident enough in their own ability to take calculated risks necessary to succeed and become independent. (yourstory.com-Impact). 

 Agent of Social Change 

 Though entrepreneurship, entrepreneurs create and embrace social change. Through Job Creation, jobs are created for the unemployed and this improves daily living, thus improving the standard of living. (yourstory.com - Impact).

 Anticipating Future Needs 

Since we are living in a world that is constantly changing, entrepreneurship helps to impart skills such as opportunity recognition, problem identification and solving, critical thinking, innovation etc. And these skills are very essential because as the society is changing constantly, there's a need to anticipate for tomorrow's needs and full in this need. Also, as labor market constantly evolves. Entrepreneurship provides the people with skills to adapt to these changes and improve their employability and life chances. (Yourstory.com-Impact). 

Factors that Affect Entrepreneurship in Nigeria 

 Poor Knowledge on How to Run a Business:

 Sometimes the success of a business depends not on the economic problems or insufficient capital but on the lack of the entrepreneur's experience and knowledge on how to be successful business person. Those who venture into any kind of enterprises do not always know how to manage and grow a business properly. They need to learn to get relevant and adequate information about management and marketing. What is needed is sufficient problem-solving skills in case problems arise as it was portrayed in "Lionheart" where Lionheart Transportation Company which was at the verge of liquidation due to reckless use of its assets to discharge liabilities due to excess borrowing if not for the timely intervention of Adaeze who was so resilient in making surethat she sustains the Company. (yourstory.com-impact). 

 Lack of Patience

 A lot of business persons who just started a business expects to make money quickly. It is likely said that if an entrepreneur is more money oriented that his efforts to gain fortune quickly will not succeed. And this is portrayed in the film "Lionheart”. The plot showed as Adaeze and the mother discovered that the failing of the business is due to Chief Ernest taking massive loan to buses in anticipation of winning a public transport bid, which he was defaulting in payment. It's true that people mostly go into business for money but if they need to have enough patience to grow a business to fully realize its potential. Entrepreneurs, who want to get the quick returns, lose their patience. Sometimes they lack entrepreneurial mindset which might be considered a result of poor goal oriented. Being an entrepreneur in Nigeria meansto face many problems and challenges.

  High Level of Illiteracy

A considerable percentage of Nigerian entrepreneurs are illiterates and as such, they lack the knowledge for modern business strategies. Their level of enlightenment is usually not sufficient enough for effective competitiveness in the market arena thus, leading to their inevitable eviction from the line of business or completely out of business altogether. (yourstory.com-impact). 

Ability to Plan It is said that he who fails to plan plans to fail. An entrepreneurs' ability to make smart Plans that focus on short terms as well as the long runs will go a long way to help keep the business afloat even through economic storms that would certainly arise. However, many Nigerians entrepreneurs fail to make concrete plans as long as business is running smoothly and prefer going with the flow until everything went amiss.  

Problem of Identifying a Potential Viable Project 

 Due to the existence of numerous businesses out there in the market space of Nigeria, it is usually mind boggling to come up with the right business idea with a readily available market.