INTRODUCTION
Last week we started with ‘Provoking Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship’ as a management solution to youth unemployment and restiveness in Nigeria. Today, we shall discuss it more deeply by looking at some reasons people have for starting business and the concept of Responsible Management’.
SOME REASONS FOR STARTING BUSINESS
Reasons for birthing a business venture can be understood in terms of “PUSH” and “PULL” influences.
PULL INFLUENCES
Some individuals are attracted (or pulled) towards business ownership by positive motives and influences that include:
• A desire for independence (a need to be your own boss)
• A desire to exploit opportunity – the identification of a perceived gap in the market place through personal observation or experience.
• Turning hobby or previous work experience into a business
• Financial incentives – a desire for financial independence
PUSH INFLUENCES
Many people are “pushed” or forced into founding a new enterprise by a variety of factors including:
• Redundancy
• Unemployment
• Disagreement with a previous employer
• Culture
• Government Regulations
• The Political Environment
Critical “Must Dos” Before Starting Your Own Business
1. Have a clear idea of what you want to do. Every business enterprise starts as an idea of a perceived opportunity which is then translated into a product or service that a customer needs and is prepared to pay for.
2. Ask critical questions, e.g.
• What business is right for me?
• What technical skills have I developed/acquired?
• What do others say I am good at?
• What marketable talents do I possess?
• How much time do I have to run a successful business?
• Will my idea fill a need?
• Can I create a demand for my business?
• Will the business provide sufficient returns to justify the efforts and resources to be committed to it?
We shall discuss Entrepreneurship in details in a subsequent write up.
2. RESPONSIBLE MANAGEMENT
Another management solution to youth unemployment and restiveness in Nigeria is Responsible Management.
Nigerians generally import everything importable and cherish anything imported, even at the expense of local industries. We consume far more than we produce, especially due to corruption. Who and what will save us from this corruption fed importation trap? Professional Managers and Responsible Management.
Responsible management is the responsible, efficient and effective utilization of human and material resources to achieve agreed organizational goals and objectives through planning, organizing, leading and controlling.
Who is a responsible manager? He is an individual who holds a position of responsibility and authority in an organization (governmental, educational, business, or non-governmental) and makes effective decisions about allocation of human and material resources. Management is an art when its theoretical knowledge and skills are personally applied to achieve desired results. It has the following ‘artistic’ characteristics:
• Practical knowledge
• Personal skills
• Creativity
• Perfection through practice
Thus, we can say that management is an art when it deals with the innovative moulding of responsible attitudes and behaviours of people at work towards achieving desired goals.
Next week, we shall discuss the relevance and role of professional managers in the management of the nation’s resources. Meanwhile let us consider these two forms of a critical poser: If Doctors and Engineers whose professional errors can cause just a few deaths at a time require at least six years of post-secondary training and National Youth Service discipline before practice, why did the Nigerian Constitution prescribe that political office holders, whose management misdemeanors can destroy millions of destinies, should possess a minimum of just an Ordinary Level certificate? If a WASC or SSSC holder is forbidden from managing customer funds in a Nigerian bank, why should he be allowed to become a Nigerian politician and manage scores of present and future generations?
To be continued next week.
Sunday Ade Bello (SAB) is a multi-talented and analytically inspired management trainer, writer, and examiner. He is the CEO of WorkLife Training Professionals, Lagos.
