Walk The Talk

It is not enough for one to talk the talk. One must go further to walk the talk. In other words, one must practice what one preaches. 

In the same vein, knowing that entrepreneurship is the key to Ghana’s development is not sufficient. Ghanaians must develop an entrepreneurial culture which will enable them engage in entrepreneurial activity. “The entrepreneurial culture can be nursed by devising programmes for the youth, retired and entrenched workers on enterprise building skills. The entrepreneurial culture takes better root when introduced early enough alongside formal education to develop motivation and management skills for small enterprise operations” (Baume 2012).

After the entrepreneurial culture has taken root in us, we would be good to go. To be able to walk the talk effectively, we must always think outside the box and see things from different perspective. We must see the glass as half full rather than half empty. A story is told of a man who sent two servants to go to a nearby town to see whether there is a potential market for the shoes that he has produced. After the survey, one servant reported that the residents in that town do not wear shoes and as such there is no potential market there. The other reported that the fact that the residents in that town do not even wear shoes, makes it a good business opportunity that his master must capitalize on.

            Furthermore, many a times, business ideas flash into our heads from nowhere but we just let them vaporize from our heads and they do not return again. Most, if not all of such ideas can be capitalize on for entrepreneurial purposes and as such they should be written down. These ideas should later be assessed in order to rule out the non-feasible and the non-viable ones.

Finally, conceiving a business idea without incubating it is no good than not conceiving it at all. After cross examining the ideas, the rest which proves to be prospective should be then converted into workable/marketable products or services. One must take the bull by the horn and must also be innovative and creative to be able to bring these ideas into reality. One mistake most people make is that they want to figure everything out completely before implementing their ideas but those ideas never materialize since their minds wander on 1000 reasons why the idea will not work although the business idea is feasible and viable. Don’t be afraid to experiment after all entrepreneurs are risk takers. Start small but think big! As the adage goes, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” One must also have a business plan which serves as a blueprint for how you are going to start, manage, grow, and finance your culinary venture as well as a communication tool or instrument to communicate with other stakeholders. It is an undeniable fact that financial constraint has become a hard nut to crack for many upcoming entrepreneurs since the banks are reluctant to give out loans to people of such caliber. One can start investing a portion of one’s income (chop money) whilst in school and/or part of their national service salary into lucrative investment portifios so as to accumulate enough funds to finance one’s own venture.  

Do you have a business idea? Is it feasible and viable? Is it prospective? If your answer to these questions is “yes”, then what are you waiting for? The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” – Chinese Proverb

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” – Chinese Proverb    

Reference

Buame, Samuel. Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurial Education, Venture Creation and 
    SME Management in Ghana. Weija-Accra: University of Ghana Business School,
    2012. Print.

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