₦airaland Forum

Nice write up. Very balanced! I sometimes wonder, if everyone becomes an entrepreneur, who would work for the entrepreneurs? Cos they need people to work for them!

Good writeup.
But your major assertion is the Oil company and Banks (two industries/companies that pay their senior employees lots of fortunes), the question is What Is The Percentage of Nigerians That Can Be Employed In Those Fields?

Enabling Environment that can create good Investors, stable Basic Amenities (power, food, life &property security, water etc) will do well to set many Nigerians up.

With these on ground (especially start-up investors), capital will be easier rack up and the better for us since the so called employment is a rarity, so to speak.

Etizz:
What suprise me is dat, if everyone is self employed, who will work for your firm or company

Ghosts

NairalandDotOrg:
Have you seen any of them with the story that they rejected a job of six digits pay immediately after graduation just to learn skill and be a boss of their own?

Those people forgot that if everyone venture into 'boss of there own whatever', there will be saturation.

Lets imagine a situation whereby all the branch managers of the big banks resigns to start micro financed banks. Imagine how many banks will surface on the streets.
How then will banking business be in Nigeria?

THE ONLY THING IS EVERY ONE SHOULD GO FOR HIS/HER PASSION.
Just make sure you are equal to the task in ur chosen field.

If you make N1million a month in paid employment, that's N12million a year.

People that are self employed and successful are the ones that spend that amount on a car.

neahyo:
The last decade has witnessed a surge in all
manner of motivational talk in Nigeria.
Hundreds of seminars and thousands of articles
have been churned out by the motivational
talkers and the frenzy continues to gain
momentum. This is good, as everyone surely
needs motivation.

One of the most common subjects of such
talks is entrepreneurship/self-employment.
Good subject. I believe it is good to be self-
employed and seriously craves being one. The
benefits of owning one’s business are pretty
obvious: you are in full control of your
resources (time, finance, etc), you share all the
rewards. Fine point.
Owning one’s business is clearly one of the
best goals a person should desire to achieve. It
even makes you exercise your brain more. Most
of the richest people in the world own their
businesses, their brands. Aliko Dangote owns
Dangote Group (although being a PLC, he
doesn’t have 100% ownership); Mike Adenuga
owns the Adenuga empire; Michael Dell owns
Dell Computers; Bill Gates owns Microsoft;
Mark Zuckerberg and friends own Facebook,
etc.
These guys are bottomless moneybags. No
disputing that. They have done their selves
some good by coming up with some ideas and
making money from them. The
entrepreneurship advocates therefore have in
them fantastic examples to draw from in their
self-employment sermonizing. But that is where
it ends.


The self-employment preachers in Nigeria, good
as their intention is, are however beginning to
go off the mark. And this is where my problem
with them lies. There is a dangerous trend of
demonizing paid employment in the thriving
business of self-employment advocacy. Every
Ade, Ada and Adamu that can string two words
together has turned into self-employment
preacher and the fad is to demonize paid
employment. Being in salaried job, to them, is
slavery.

First, our self-employment advocates
oversimplify things and sometimes when you
listen to them or read what they write, you
begin to wonder why they are not Dangote
themselves. To be sure, I don’t have a problem
with self-employment preachment; indeed, it is
my ultimate goal too to own companies and
businesses too, on full time basis. I also hold
that being self-employed, if one gets it right, is
better than being under someone else’s control.
But is everyone cut out for being self-
employed? Capital NO.


This is why I think in the process of advancing
their advocacy, salaried jobs should not be
demonized. I don’t believe salary job is
necessarily slavery. I also don’t hold that you
cannot be rich with paid job. You may not be
as rich as Dangote or Adenuga, but if you work
hard to become CEO of Shell Nigeria (a salaried
job), for instance, I doubt your next generation
can ever be poor. Not everyone will be as rich
as Dangote, but with a dint of hardwork,
becoming a manager in a decent company can
earn you decent saving, and with sensible
investment (preparing for retirement), you can
live a satisfactory post-salary life.


I have seen some young graduates and
prospective graduates vowing they can never
work for anyone and they will go straight into
entrepreneurship. Good one, if you have the
idea. But managing businesses most times
goes beyond the theories we read in those
materials and the smooth talk of the self-
employment advocates. Apart from the
constraint of raising capital to fund the idea,
there is an even more critical factor in
management. Most times if you have never
worked for any other person, you may find it
difficult in running your own businesses.


Fola Adeola and Tayo Aderinokun founded GTB
after working for other banks; Aig-Imoukhude
and Herbert Wigwe apprenticed with GTB
before breaking out to found Access Bank.
Most of these guys cut their management
teeth working for someone else. This is why I
hold that learning by being under someone
else’s employ is most times helpful. Of course,
I have not said it is necessarily the case. It is
very possible to go straight into one’s business
after finishing school and still go ahead to
make it big. Aliko Dangote is an example here.
He started straight away.
So, oh you self-employment preacher, before
you tell me I am a slave for choosing the path
of salaried employment (for now), know you
that the CEO of Shell is a ‘slave’ to Shell. I
want to be one.

www.jarushub.com/excuse-me-mr-self-employment-advocate/

Cc lalasticlala

nice one

neahyo:
The last decade has witnessed a surge in all
manner of motivational talk in Nigeria.
Hundreds of seminars and thousands of articles
have been churned out by the motivational
talkers and the frenzy continues to gain
momentum. This is good, as everyone surely
needs motivation.

One of the most common subjects of such
talks is entrepreneurship/self-employment.
Good subject. I believe it is good to be self-
employed and seriously craves being one. The
benefits of owning one’s business are pretty
obvious: you are in full control of your
resources (time, finance, etc), you share all the
rewards. Fine point.
Owning one’s business is clearly one of the
best goals a person should desire to achieve. It
even makes you exercise your brain more. Most
of the richest people in the world own their
businesses, their brands. Aliko Dangote owns
Dangote Group (although being a PLC, he
doesn’t have 100% ownership); Mike Adenuga
owns the Adenuga empire; Michael Dell owns
Dell Computers; Bill Gates owns Microsoft;
Mark Zuckerberg and friends own Facebook,
etc.
These guys are bottomless moneybags. No
disputing that. They have done their selves
some good by coming up with some ideas and
making money from them. The
entrepreneurship advocates therefore have in
them fantastic examples to draw from in their
self-employment sermonizing. But that is where
it ends.


The self-employment preachers in Nigeria, good
as their intention is, are however beginning to
go off the mark. And this is where my problem
with them lies. There is a dangerous trend of
demonizing paid employment in the thriving
business of self-employment advocacy. Every
Ade, Ada and Adamu that can string two words
together has turned into self-employment
preacher and the fad is to demonize paid
employment. Being in salaried job, to them, is
slavery.

First, our self-employment advocates
oversimplify things and sometimes when you
listen to them or read what they write, you
begin to wonder why they are not Dangote
themselves. To be sure, I don’t have a problem
with self-employment preachment; indeed, it is
my ultimate goal too to own companies and
businesses too, on full time basis. I also hold
that being self-employed, if one gets it right, is
better than being under someone else’s control.
But is everyone cut out for being self-
employed? Capital NO.


This is why I think in the process of advancing
their advocacy, salaried jobs should not be
demonized. I don’t believe salary job is
necessarily slavery. I also don’t hold that you
cannot be rich with paid job. You may not be
as rich as Dangote or Adenuga, but if you work
hard to become CEO of Shell Nigeria (a salaried
job), for instance, I doubt your next generation
can ever be poor. Not everyone will be as rich
as Dangote, but with a dint of hardwork,
becoming a manager in a decent company can
earn you decent saving, and with sensible
investment (preparing for retirement), you can
live a satisfactory post-salary life.


I have seen some young graduates and
prospective graduates vowing they can never
work for anyone and they will go straight into
entrepreneurship. Good one, if you have the
idea. But managing businesses most times
goes beyond the theories we read in those
materials and the smooth talk of the self-
employment advocates. Apart from the
constraint of raising capital to fund the idea,
there is an even more critical factor in
management. Most times if you have never
worked for any other person, you may find it
difficult in running your own businesses.


Fola Adeola and Tayo Aderinokun founded GTB
after working for other banks; Aig-Imoukhude
and Herbert Wigwe apprenticed with GTB
before breaking out to found Access Bank.
Most of these guys cut their management
teeth working for someone else. This is why I
hold that learning by being under someone
else’s employ is most times helpful. Of course,
I have not said it is necessarily the case. It is
very possible to go straight into one’s business
after finishing school and still go ahead to
make it big. Aliko Dangote is an example here.
He started straight away.
So, oh you self-employment preacher, before
you tell me I am a slave for choosing the path
of salaried employment (for now), know you
that the CEO of Shell is a ‘slave’ to Shell. I
want to be one.

www.jarushub.com/excuse-me-mr-self-employment-advocate/

Cc lalasticlala

nice one Op, u just read my mind. Dont mnd dose 'preachers', most of dem are just usng their listeners to make money

tonychristopher:
I age and still be at the board ..I am an Nnewi dude and I have seen first hand what the advantages of running your firm from small to big and compare it with the yes sir memo answering people and retrenchement

bro I choose the former ...I keep praying on that ..mind you I have enough work experience and I have a good job but this is the last job I am taking even if the offers come

its better to reign in hell than serve in heaven

no pastor will tell you that



I am scared of redundancy and gratituty at old age

I'm curious to know how you intend to make money at old age?.

I'm also self employed, I run my own business, but you fail to know not all firms go from small to big, check with the Corporate Affairs Commission the amount of registered businesses that fold up on daily basis on you'll be alarmed.

My problem with people like you is that you fail to know that "not all human can be self employed, because if everyone is self employed, who will work for who? Its just like giving everybody in Nigeria 5 million Naira just because you want to curb poverty.

Some people have the flare to run their own business, others do not, it all boils down to what you as an individual want, not what one motivational speaker is throwing at you.

You said "it is better to reign in hell than serve in heaven", well I'll tell you it is better to "serve in heaven and have peace of mind than reign in hell and worry". (Hope you get my drift?).

This is a very nice article. In as much as support and advocate self-employment, I frown at how people think entrepreneurship is for everybody.

My Dear,

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tonychristopher:
I age and still be at the board ..I am an Nnewi dude and I have seen first hand what the advantages of running your firm from small to big and compare it with the yes sir memo answering people and retrenchement

bro I choose the former ...I keep praying on that ..mind you I have enough work experience and I have a good job but this is the last job I am taking even if the offers come

its better to reign in hell than serve in heaven

no pastor will tell you that



I am scared of redundancy and gratituty at old age

The bolded cracked me up!

Put it it another way, it's better to reign in Naija than wash toilet in America.

joseph1832:
I'm curious to know who you intend to make money at old age.

I'm also self employed, I run my own business, but you fail to know not all firms go from small to big, check with the. Corporate Affairs Commission the amount of registered businesses that fold up on daily basis on you'll be alarmed.

By problem with people like you is that you failed to know that "not all human can be self employed, because if everyone is self employed, who will work for who? Its just like giving everybody in Nigeria 5 million Naira just because you want to curb poverty.

Some people the flare to run their own business, others do not, it all boils down to what you as an individual want, not what one motivational speaker is throwing at you.

You said "it is better to reign in hell than serve in heaven", well I'll tell you it is better to "serve in heaven and have peace of mind than reign in hell and worry". (Hope you get my drift?).

well said

menxer:
The bolded cracked me up!

Put it it another way, it's better to reign in Naija than wash toilet in America.

guy u funny ooooo

before you decide to be an entrepreneur you must have the passion. I see nothing wrong in paid job many have lived a successful life through it. Working before starting up your own business is a good way to start. it helps you to be discipline. For me today I'm an entrepreneur but worked in the bank for a while. I'm into solar systems, and have been enjoying steady flow of income. but for two months now due to regular power supply business has been dull. But before resigning from my job I made sure I had up to three business plans. so now that solar business is dull I've shifted to plan C. u may not believe it my plan C business is unique because i'm likely the only one doing it. I've gotten a request already. my advice to future entrepreneur look for an idea don't follow the crowd. You already know the blog, pure water, etc. are saturated businesses. think of an idea that will make individual, companies part away with their money. ok let me think for you. there are two things disturbing this country; Unemployment and isecurity. Question is how can I convert these problems to money without offending the law.

Ephemmm:
true talk.

what is true talk there?

Yes, we cannot all be entrepreneurs, after all some people will work for the entrepreneur.

What we are saying is that, if you do not have a salaried job, do not stay at home for 5 years complaining.

Nigeria is big market enough and opportunities abound withy little governmental control as we have in Europe.

Here, you can open shop today and nobody will ask you questions.

The guy talked about those who were in big companies before venturing out. For every one he mentions,
I will mention 10 who rose to the top without salaried jobs.

Bill Gate, Elleganza, Adedoyin, pa Ojo of Toyota, Thomas Okaya, late Azeez Alao Arisekola etc

I agree with him too, "No man is truly free who works for another man"

See my site http://naijabizideas.com/ and read Acres of Diamond and you will never remain the same.

Etizz:
U shouldn't have reply him....... He's just looking for attention.

I thought as much but I could'nt help lol

Anybody who says self employment is rosy, easy, walkover should be shot. As an entrepreneur they challenge is something else, but even at that, it has it's own merits, you know, when the hen comes to roost.

With the few years of experience as an entrepreneur, sometimes I wished I had a job, but the thought of applying for a job, going for an interview with thousands of other competitors and actually working for salary just scares the hell out of me.

Anybody caught preaching evil about being employed should be flogged, I respect and value workers, they keep the wheels of civilization grinding.

Am a believer that impossibility is nothing, It's still possible that everybody can be self employed, don't even think it if you are not a radical thinker.
Yes, If own a company and I hire workers as independent contractors who are themselves owners of their own firms. Life will be easier, cos I don't need to monitor them, I just tell them what to and they do it otherwise, we review the contract and they may get a dent in their reputation.

tonychristopher:
with passion you can be frustrated you keep doing it


have you ever thought of this ..what if that place that you work is not established by that man ..where will you work

Like I said b4.this is where the quest 4 initial capital comes in.The primary needs of a sef sufficient biz is a stable environment t not necessary money.

tonychristopher:
with passion you can be frustrated you keep doing it


have you ever thought of this ..what if that place that you work is not established by that man ..where will you work

(Assuming am working for someone) Not everyone goes into business because of passion, some people establish their business as a means of income, not necessarily because they are passionate. I will rather work with someone who has a commercially viable business and can pay his or her staffs, than with someone who has passion for his business but no one else does.

Pidggin:
Yes I am. The situation may get to a stage where passion can no longer carry you after being frustrated by lack of success, this is why even passionate owners of businesses sometimes fail.

Passion is not limited to a particular kind of biz.the passion I'm on about is the one to succeed. You get me now in my own case passion carried me abroad.

Pidggin:
(Assuming am working for someone) Not everyone goes into business because of passion, some people establish their business as a means of income, not necessarily because they are passionate. I will rather work with someone who has a commercially viable business and can pay his or her staffs, than with someone who has passion for his business but no one else does.

because of this quality I think and advise you stick to earning wages ...CEO is not your forte

juliusjulius:
I'm an extra year
student of oau, the
school has been on
session for many
weeks now and I'm yet
to pay the required
school fees which is
around #27,000. I'm
using this medium to
beg nairalanders to help
me. I don't mind if it's a
loan, or if I'll have to
work for it, I just
wanna finish up with
my degree here. I'm
ready to disclose my
real identity and I'm
ready to submit all my
credentials as collateral.
God bless you all. Thank
you all
07018038211

Go to the property section.there are loads of builders there.they can offer you Jobs.it's better to earn than to beg.

erico2k2:
Like I said b4.this is where the quest 4 initial capital comes in.The primary needs of a sef sufficient biz is a stable environment t not necessary money.

your right

macandy21:
Anybody who says self employment is rosy, easy, walkover should be shot. As an entrepreneur they challenge is something else, but even at that, it has it's own merits, you know, when the hen comes to roost.

With the few years of experience as an entrepreneur, sometimes I wished I had a job, but the thought of applying for a job, going for an interview with thousands of other competitors and actually working for salary just scares the hell out of me.

Anybody caught preaching evil about being employed should be flogged, I respect and value workers, they keep the wheels of civilization grinding.

Am a believer that impossibility is nothing, It's still possible that everybody can be self employed, don't even think it if you are not a radical thinker.
Yes, If own a company and I hire workers as independent contractors who are themselves owners of their own firms. Life will be easier, cos I don't need to monitor them, I just tell them what to and they do it otherwise, we review the contract and they may get a dent in their reputation.

that's is called outsourcing

Best of the best posts in recent time. Self employment goes beyond having d capital and skill. My interviewer was surprised when I turned down a tellering job offer to continue with my barbing business.

The only part I agree with is that paid employment should not be demonized.

Question...what if you never make it to the position of CEO shell?

The market can never be saturated with entrepreneurs. Nigeria has too many problems to solve and putting it in simple terms entrepreneurs solve problems. Yes we know that entrepreneurship is not easy but it is very possible to make it.

Capital is key. Managing finances is also important. For example some 1 that has 500k and goes into egg trading can build a decent business. But if you have 500k and decided to go into a capital intensive biz will certainly fold up.

Lastly, our education system has groomed every1 to believe that you can make it only with paid employment aka whit collar jobs. As a result, entrepreneurship looks like a far reach. These preachers of entrepreneurship are doing their part to re educate us that you can actually make it without paid employment.

NairalandDotOrg:
Have you seen any of them with the story that they rejected a job of six digits pay immediately after graduation just to learn skill and be a boss of their own?

Those people forgot that if everyone venture into 'boss of there own whatever', there will be saturation.

Lets imagine a situation whereby all the branch managers of the big banks resigns to start micro financed banks. Imagine how many banks will surface on the streets.
How then will banking business be in Nigeria?

THE ONLY THING IS EVERY ONE SHOULD GO FOR HIS/HER PASSION.
Just make sure you are equal to the task in ur chosen field.

The next thing is to start exporting banking,
there is always a way out for true entrepreneurs.

kevoh:
Sorry Sir, I don' get your point could you be more explicit.

I'm on my fone e hence this craaapp. My friend is a mechanic.the other one is a green energy technician aka solar energy.they both looked 4 works more than 10 years.but today they are big names.

neocortex:
The next thing is to start exporting banking,
there is always a way out for true entrepreneurs.

We already ha e that in the UK. Hence western union died frm UK to 9ja.

tonychristopher:
I am salaried and I am working seriously to have my own firm and making contacts as a smart igbi dude we work to get experience not to have the long service award

starting up has always been hard but the future is rossy

I was in a meeting with a CEO of a top ICT firm he looked at me and told me why don't I think of floating my firm now that I am young ...it will be bad that I will regret that why did I not do it when I am old
I see people queing up for pension its scary, whenever there is staff shakeup its scary

above all your destiny is tied to one firm that is worst

bro keep it up...we will see in Forbes

have you ever seen any MD that is earning salary in Forbes?

I love this courage and sincerely I must say that the highlighted points of yours make part of my strong determination to put up a firm. Just as you said, people encouraged me to start up a firm while each time they tell me, I laugh deep down inside in me that where's the finance power to carry that out, na idea only?... an elder friend of mine would relentlessly geared me up, telling me that I have what it takes. I never took these words seriously until when in my office, i was being paid #13,000 and there was a job that i can do but because of the idea of "what do you know" on my employer, he called someone external and paid #170,000 for a very small thing like that. I was very furious to want to imagine how much he would have saved if he allowed me. That was my first point.

Secondly, I did something to someone at a very reduced price, the same thing I saw in the palace of a paramount King in Ogun State (don't wanna mention names). I know the person i did it for would have resold it to that palace at an exhorbitant rate. This is the main reason out of many that led to my self employed status.

Actually, it's nice and tasking to be. By the time we're gonna meet on that Forbes' list, I'll remind you then of this conversation, while I see myself being the Dangote of that time. Till then, remain safe bro!

ibrahym47:
Best of the best posts in recent time. Self employment goes beyond having d capital and skill. My interviewer was surprised when I turned down a tellering job offer to continue with my barbing business.

Yep yep. You are right. If you can average 3 a day.u are as good as some civil servants plus yoy can grow bigger.cos at that.U earn 60k a month.I once asked a mechanic how much on average do yu get a day.he said min 5k.in PHC.we both agreed that it's equally to 100 per month and that's more than a teacher.so he should be living well but he is not.so what's wrong there?lifestyle