Frida Owinga’s seven tips for entrepreneurs wanting to be the next Dangote
 |
| Frida Owinga |
Frida Owinga is the CEO and
founder of the Kenyan-based PassionProfit School of Entrepreneurship
that helps aspiring and existing entrepreneurs turn their passion into
profit-making business ventures. If you have an ambition to become a
successful entrepreneur, here are seven tips from Owinga.
Are people born entrepreneurs
or can business skills be learnt? Owinga believes the basics of
entrepreneurship can be taught.
However, it is essential to have the
ability to identify opportunities, a business mindset and a passion for
whatever venture you want to pursue.
“In this environment there are a lot of people who are employed but
they have a dream to start their own business. But at the same time they
feel they don’t have what it takes. I believe the skills and behaviours
of entrepreneurship can be learned. You can learn how to plan and
strategise, how to attract, convert and retain clients and how to
network and form partnerships,” says Owinga.
2. Be ready to face harsh realities
A positive attitude is crucial to be an entrepreneur but Owinga says
you should also be able to recognise and deal with harsh realities.
“You need to have an attitude that can recognise brutal facts when
things are not working. Don’t just close your eyes and say it will work…
What you would need to be asking is ‘what can we do and what can we
change to make things better’. You are not changing the vision, you are
just changing the strategy.”
3. Don’t just exchange business cards
The right way to network, according to Owinga, is to keep your eyes
open and look for people that you could collaborate with, strike-up a
conversation, explain what opportunities you could share, and keep in
touch.
“You need to be willing and able to network and I don’t mean
exchanging business cards, but cultivating relationships and forming
strategic alliances. To survive in the business place today you need to
be able to collaborate with others.”
4. Failure is part of the journey
According to Owinga, failure is not the end of the road if you are
still alive and willing to give it another try. If anything, she adds,
failure comes with a lot of learning that can be useful in your next
venture.
“In entrepreneurship failure is not a problem; it is part of the
process. The first step to success is failing,” says Owinga. “Are you
willing to try something else? If the answer is yes, you have not really
failed. As long as we are alive we can get to our goal if we don’t
stop. However, if a business collapses you need to find out why, before
you embark on another business venture. You should speak to someone in
that industry or someone who has done that kind of business so that next
time your venture will not collapse for that same reason.”
5. You need staying power
Owinga says the most common mistake entrepreneurs make is “giving up
too soon”. She attributes this to unrealistic expectations and poor
planning.
Entrepreneurship is a tough journey that may involve working for
months with little or no money, investing millions and losing it all,
and facing ridicule in society for failing. Those who choose to walk the
journey, Owinga says, should “be willing to endure” through the hard
times.
“You need to have the attitude to stick to what you are pursuing. You can’t jump out of the boat every time a storm comes.”
6. Don’t fall for the romanticised fairy tales
Entrepreneurship is increasingly gaining acceptance in African
society. The success stories of self-made billionaires, such as Nigerian
industrialist Aliko Dangote, have been told again and again.
Owinga says you should not fall for the fairy tales and recognise
that for all these celebrated icons it took long hours of work, tons of
perseverance and even a dose of failure before the billion dollar
success.
“A lot of people go into business with unrealistic expectations. We
are surrounded by pictures of people who are making it. Bill Gates
dropped out of school so we think we can drop out of school and tomorrow
we will be a Bill Gates. What you need to find out is after he quit
school did he stop learning? There is a difference between stopping
school and stopping learning,” notes Owinga.
7. Being an employee can be just as satisfying
Owinga says some of her clients have “freaked out and stayed on at
their jobs” even after receiving training and coaching in
entrepreneurship.
“Sometimes people feel a job is more secure than a business. They
want to have the comfort of a pay cheque and the other benefits a job
offers. They know going into business has high potential but it takes a
while so they think ‘if I am earning Ksh. 120,000 (US$1,365) a month,
why rock the boat?’”
The business coach says there is nothing wrong with working for
someone else as long as you find satisfaction in it. Although
entrepreneurship has been romanticised and magazine headlines scream of
self-made billionaires, you should not go into business if that is not
where your passion lies.
“Not all of us can start a business. Some people will be employees
and there is nothing wrong with that. The honourable thing is to earn a
living, which you can do by working for somebody else or working for
yourself. It is a choice and people should be allowed to choose,” says
Owinga.
Commentaires
Enregistrer un commentaire