Good day,
Today I'll be talking on the various challenges that we entrepreneurs encounter in our daily struggle to make our startup business ventures lucrative in the Nigeria.

We always read on the news about companies downsizing or cutting back on their staff salaries every day, some even go as far as owing staff salaries for months without pay which is very bad for those Nigerians with mouths to feed at home.

The truth about business is that there will always be ups and downs, so every entrepreneur best be ready to exploit his ups and manage his downs at all times in order to ensure profitability in their startup ventures.

A question you should ask yourself is that if large multinational companies with years of goodwill encounter numerous challenges in the business sphere, what about an entrepreneur just starting to test the waters?

"Only a Tree Stands Erect even in the face of Danger"

let's list the challenges being encountered by every Entrepreneurial Startup:

•Constant Hard work.
•Attachment Of Great responsibility.
•Business and government Policy.
•Startup and Growth Fundings.
•Official Corruption.
•Bureaucratic Burden.
•Negative Effect of tax regulation and high taxes

1). Constant Hard work:
"I wouldn't have a No. 1 record or song if I wasn't a hardworking person" ~ kesha

It is never easy starting a new business, it must always require constant effort and hard work from you if you plan on making the business successful in the long run.

Most times these startups take up very long hours of the entrepreneurs time and eventually drain him mentally and physically.

2). Attachment Of Great Responsibility:
"I was given the opportunity to run a business, but on that very same day, I understood that it comes with a lot of responsibility, and responsibility comes at a price. ~ Ofra Straus

The whole idea of being an entrepreneur is to test new waters,to look for ways to improve oneself and the community at large.

But most times these startup ventures can be very demanding and need great care and attention from the entrepreneur.

A case scenario is when you as an entrepreneur "hit a wall" on the implementation of an idea or business plan, and there is no one available to seek advise on the issue, pressure can build up quickly in these kind of cases.

3). Business and Government Policy:
"By definition, a government has no conscience. Sometimes it has a policy, but nothing more."

This point is like a two sided coin. In the sense that not every business and government's policy is unfavorable, as sometimes they can be favorable.

But currently the negative business and government policies in recent times greatly outweigh the positive policies, thereby creating a less favorable environment for startups to grow.

4). Startup and Growth Funding:
"I started Shutterstock without any outside funding; I believe in creating a lean startup. By not taking outside investors early, I was forced to use every dollar I had as efficiently as possible. And I was able to keep a large part of the company." ~Jon Oringer

The issue of sourcing for capital has always been an issue for startups in the country.

One of the greatest setbacks in generating funding for your startup is that majority of the banking institutions turn down offers to facilitate loans to grow these promising startup ventures.

5). Presence of Official Corruption:
"The worst affected from corruption is the common man." ~ Kailash Kher

Corruption has since become the order of the day in Nigeria.

Corruption has almost become a canker worm as it is being manifested in different forms daily in Nigeria. These forms could be:
•Embezzlement of public fund
•Undue influence of government contracts
•Peddling and fraud etc.

In the society today, the rich benefit from juicy government benefits through corruption, leaving the struggling entrepreneurs to struggle for bread crumbs.

6). Bureaucratic Burden
"Unfortunately, we are finding the bureaucratic inefficiencies and red tape have a tendency to slow the efforts of individuals and communities working to rebuild." ~Bobby Jindal

This in essence is another form of corruption in our government system.

It is no longer news that government officials use their positions to garner wealth for their families and friends at the expense of the public good which they were elected to serve.

7).The Effect of tax regulation and high taxes.
"I get how devastating high taxes are to job creation". ~ Michele Bachmann

High taxes have a very demoralizing and negative setback to new startup businesses in Nigeria.

The social and economic advantages of having small scale businesses in any developing nation cannot be overstated, but on numerous occasions the government has shown us that they do not care for the well being of new business in the country.

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