What Nobody Tells You About Entrepreneurship

Working for yourself is a dream for every young Ghanaian today, but often leads to dissapointment. Discover why and learn how to make entrepreneurship work for you. At this very moment, a significant number of people in Ghana are dreaming about leaving their jobs and going into business themselves.

These fantasies are fed by the times we've been to believe in ourselves, to embrace the 'YES WE CAN' dream of going our own way and doing it for ourselves.
There's no doubt that leaving behind a routine job and becoming your own boss is exciting, and many of those who set off on that path find personal and professional fulfillment there. But in any endeavor, reality is better preparation than fantasy. And when it comes to entrepreneurship in Ghana, the reality is complicated.

Here are are some of the things you don't hear about it but you should. 

• There is a dark side: The sad truth is up to about 90% of new businesses including entrepreneurial startups fail within a few years. It's inspiring to hear about RLG or Multimedia Group Limited but the risk of not making is so real. 

• Passion alone won't cut it: We've heard it a thousand times, passion will prevail. And the long haul, success has a lot more to do with less exciting character trait; patience and endurance.

• It takes Years of hard work to build a business: Many believe that entrepreneurship means shorter hours and more free time. In reality entrepreneurship means building your business carefully and faithfully day by day over a period of years. If there is a true secret of success, it is hard work or more accurately very hard work. Being in business for yourself is definitely rewarding but you have to be ready to work harder than you have ever worked for someone else.

•  To Lead others: You must manage yourself. In the popular imagination, entrepreneurship is just about having an idea. But successful businesses, even those with just a single employee have a great leadership. And the best leadership know, above all, how they manage themselves.

• You probably won't get Rich: Another misconception is that entrepreneurship is a good path for becoming filthy rich. The rewards are many but if what you are ultimately looking for is wealth, creating a business is probably not the best way to go.  When you feel hopeless, you have to be able to work hard to overcome any self-doubt, any feeling of doom or any situation that feels overwhelming.

I have come to realize that entrepreneurship is  not for anyone. But those with the heart of an entrepreneur will always go through making more opportunities than they find.