The chairman for CAGL Group Isaac Amoako Mensah said encouraging entrepreneurial behaviour among students will not only foster the formation of new business, but also shows how entrepreneurial thoughts and practices can help improve the operation of large organizations and the public sector.
He said the time has come for business leaders to nurture current and potential entrepreneurs so as to create a healthy and competitive environment.
Mr. Mensah was speaking at an Entrepreneurship Clinic held at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on the theme: “Creating Tomorrows Employers, starting and sustaining a Private Business: Means and Strategies”.
According to him, entrepreneurship is all about setting young people on the right path, helping them to widen their horizons, think more broadly and equipping them with real-world skills that will help them master greatness.
He said: “We can’t afford to risk letting the untapped entrepreneurial talent of thousands of other youngsters go to waste. More needs to be done to ensure they can fulfil their entrepreneurial ambitions, and it should start from an early age. Not everyone will want to be an entrepreneur. …There is the eternal debate over what truly defines an entrepreneur; whether they are ‘born’ innovative thinkers and risk takers, or ‘made’, through learning, development and experience.”
Mensah averred that owning a start-up is challenging and having the monetary capacity and knowledge to get a business off the ground is one thing; “surviving the fierce competition, volatile economy, as well as the oftentimes changing and unpredictable marketplace is another but those who do succeed typically spend significant time raising capital, deciding on a business structure: sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or limited liability, deciding on a name, getting all necessary licenses and permits, doing market research and developing a realistic business plan before launching their new company.”
He explained that entrepreneur is no longer just a business term anymore, but a way of life, saying that “You must always embrace an entrepreneurial attitude to see and seize the right opportunities right clients –– to assure the business not only grows, but sustains itself over t when prospecting the time.”
He also challenged up and coming entrepreneurs to develop the right mechanisms to grab the right clients saying that, “If you don’t have the right mechanisms in place to prospect the right clients, you will find it difficult to sustain growth let alone grow at all. Before your business can grow and sustain its momentum, you must take action to assure your company builds a strong foundation for long term success. Every company wants to grow their business, yet few know how to sustain it for the long-term or look beyond the next quarterly or yearly report.”
He said growing a business requires the right intellectual capital, carefully selected strategic partnerships, and products and/or services with strong marketplace demand.
“Beyond these fundamentals, sustaining growth requires a strong operational foundation to reduce the risks to the business over time,” adding that many entrepreneurs have the vision to build and run a strong company, but fail to take key steps to secure the company’s future.
He also touched on succession plan and indicated that a succession plan is something every strategic.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM