>
Young Nigerians willing to go into business have been urged to take creativity and innovation serious to ensure success and reduce unemployment.
Speaking at a one-day interactive forum for budding entrepreneurs, the lead consultant of the Phoenix Learning and Developmental Academy (TPLDA), Lanre Aduloju, stressed the importance of planning, discipline and honesty in turning passion into profit.
He commended passionate entrepreneurs but enjoined young people to mix creativity, passion and effective planning to eradicate unemployment in the country.
He however acknowledged that there were factors limiting business. “There are so many things that Nigerians can do, but getting a loan is almost impossible,” he said. “There are proposed free trade zones, are they going to be affordable? Nigeria deserves more structured and licensed businesses to enable the government to get data, knowing how many existences add value to the economy.
“The technical schools have started to fail; they actually do not carry out their activities as expected. And more of the youth are not really interested in learning a technical work or trade because of the get rich quick syndrome. Everybody wants to be a politician, artiste making huge money but we fail to see there is a commitment to a process that has to happen. The Nollywood has made its way for local directors instead of hiring foreign directors.”
Also speaking at the event, Wonu Okoye, CEO and principal coach at Big Startup advised participants nit be afraid of failure or crisis in business.
“There is always a calm after the storm; the storm is there to teach you good lessons. I used to be afraid of failing but my biggest lessons and blessings have been found in those failures,” she said.
In her book ‘Startup Star’, Wonu highlights the possible challenges that a starter might face an accompanies readers to solutions to stubborn business problems.
She urged unemployed Nigerians to follow what they love and try to make a living out of it.
Her words: “Unemployed youths should find a craft that they have passion for, research, read, network as the internet as made networking more easy for business transactions. Take good advantage of digital and social media to make efficient research, figure out what you are good at and sell it. Do great jobs wherever you find yourself.”
The seminar tagged ‘Demystifying the concept of business structuring’ exposed willing Nigerian young entrepreneurs to the importance of passion and networking in building a business.
According to Aduloju, the seminar was organised by TPLDA to give back to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME’s) as well as startups.