₦airaland Forum

Omohjick:
I mean there would be job opportunities, that's what the op is trying to say. People grow up everyday, nd a day old baby can't start working d same day and a graduate or under...can't establish a biz in one day, but wen d available ones av laid down somtin gud, dats wat doz ones will meet and raise der own capital from. Well some pple r meant to serve while some r meant to rule. U still don't get it do u?

majekdom2:
Realunclej, I thought you would make sense until I saw the communication skill GAP. So, you assume all graduates are what and who you put upthere. I would think you need to use words like MIGHT, MAY and not you are this and you will that you used. Please, if you cannot post a link to your business as a motivation, delete your post as you talked about being digital and will expect you to be. Pls, people need jobs for different reasons. To garner skills to run their businesses , source for funds, make connections et all. I wonder why this kind of threads are allowed on FP. They are not motivations to boost entrepreneurship in anyway. You don't come out all negative about an idea or thought just to make yours valid. You should promote your ideas and use it as a counter. What you should tell me is " WHY ONE SHOULD START A BUSINESS and what makes it better than a JOB. That's how you sell your business " MR BUSINESSMAN".

Sexytemi:
So because one is a graduate and holds a degree means he shouldn't look for a job...smh.

Dearest o.p not everyone has the mindset or destined to be an entrepreneur o.

muller101:
No wonder most of our youths are jobless. Smart way to start up ur biz. All u need to do is acquire a skill. Partner with some one who will support the business financially. And u support it will ur acquired skills. From there u can raise something to set up ur own personal business. Am posting from experience.

realunclej:
Excuse #1. You need idea to start business not money. That was the lesson I learnt when I attended a business seminar with Prof. Izedomin of Accounting in Uniben and Pastor Sunny Ojeagbase both successful business men. So far, all the business I had ventured into, I have spent little or nothing to get started. Where I had spent money, it is largely from savings, family or converting asset I don't need for now. So, you will need to build your entrepreneurial skill and recap your thinking faculty to come up with a business opportunity to get started.

jideniceguy:
Thanks for this piece OP. I'm a graduate too and currently havin my NYSC programme and finishin by September ending. Plannin to set up a gas retail biz immediately after service, Is the business lucrative as well? Cos I've been learning the business for some months durin this my service year now.

Reuben2012:
To what extent can we partner with such person? Is it adviceble to disengage the partner providing such fund when you have made your own money? Probably you want to be the CEO of your business. Please sir, your advice is needed. Thanks.

realunclej:
I function does not mean I work full time. But in a position to recruit when the need arise.

realunclej:
In all my life, when it comes to source of income, the only thing I have not done is work for anyone in a 9 to 5 job. I made that decision long before I went for higher institution. I could remember my dad telling us that he is sending us to school to acquire academic knowledge but that if we want to succeed financially in life, we should be thinking of starting our own business. Those were my guiding words all my year in school. So, while in school, I made sure I had a profitable business. In fact, it was the proceeding I used to see myself through and even start a better business after graduation. Today, I have a couple of businesses and I still have bigger dreams. I can't thank my dad enough. Maybe today, I would have been roaming the street looking for job.

If you are a graduate and you are looking for job/employment, honestly, there are at least 10 reasons why YOU will not get a job. So, I will advise you should start building your capacity to start your own business. Below are 10 reasons why you will not get a job.

1. You Lack The Required Skill. Employers continue to complain about a dearth of skills among graduates. Employers are obviously tired of seeing same set of individuals with same set of qualifications springing up for interviews daily whereas they are in need of someone that will stand out. So ask yourself, what employable skill do I have?

2. You Lack Personal Capability To Deliver: I think many graduates believe in their certificate and not in their individual capability which would make or mar their pursuits of employment. Many lack self-development and I belief you belong to that category. What have you done since you graduate to develop your personal capability?

3. You Are A Product of a Bad Educational System: Poor funding and management of our Educational system in addition to strike has made our institution products a laughing stock. In fact, the curriculum of some studies in the institutions are not in demand. Failure of school curriculum to place emphasis on practical concepts of entreprenuership and too much emphasis on theoretical education than entreprenuership exposure is a major problem.

4. You Can't Meet Employers’ Unrealistic Demands: Employers stating job experiences as much as 3 years for fresh graduates. Age restriction, height, gender, language and many more, under these tense conditions, hardly will you see a graduate that will scale through and qualify for job application requirement except those who want to cross-carpet..

5. Lack of Digital Skills: In this digital age, if you lack the digital skills and creativity to thrive in relation to your profession, you will surely be chasing a ghost if you are looking for a well paying job.

6. You Are One of the Educated Illiterates: Every employer wants beyond just a certificate. Every employer is out to employ someone with reasoning and intellectual might, not someone who cannot play with a full deck. Someone who knows how to and wants to learn more than what they studied in school and on the job. Someone who can readily bring ideas to the table on how the company can forge forward. Not someone with low reasoning capability who won’t even be able to answer extremely trivial questions. But guess what, that is what many of our graduates are.

7. You Want The Pay But Not The Work: Many Nigerian graduates think of getting employed today and get a car or probably buy a mansion in the next month, based on their salary. You and I know that such only happen in dreams. Success is built over time and with hard work, perseverance, dedication and being focused over the years. Are you willing to make the sacrifice?

8. Too Much Ego With Empty Pocket: I have had the privilege to present some business opportunities to some graduates and all they can say is they can only do administrative work where they sit in an office to be answering yes sir or yes ma. It took someone who is not a graduate to embrace the same opportunity. Today these uneducated persons are 50 times better than the graduate in terms of personal capability, income, value and the caliber of people in their connection.

9. Companies Are Downsizing: I remember visiting a couple of industrial estates in Lagos recently. You will see busy security men at the gate, but when you approach them that you want to go in, they will tell you the company has folded or the workers are on strike. The story is the same across the state and I belief same thing is happening in other part of the country.

10. There Is No Job Out There: Investors are not bringing in money which means no new job opportunity is being created. There is economy recession in the country. Even the companies that are retrenching, what do you think will happen when they become financially buoyant again. I can bet they will simply recall their sacked workers. The reason is simple, it cost more to hire a new staff than to recall an old staff. So, where will you be then?

The Way Forward
The only way forward I see is for you to start something on your own. Do not despise small beginning. If you are going to start a business though, I will advise you focus on evergreen product or services. Those that are always in demand such as Agriculture, Health, Real Estate, ICT, Environmental services, Retail, Travel, Real Estate and maybe some few more. If you embark on this journey to discover your true potential, I pray for your SUCCESS but if you go down the popular path of seeking for job, I wish you lUcK.

nairashopping:
U are on the right path. make sure u get a good location basically residential areas. One step after the other, u will get to the top.

Ontarget:
Why would companies be in Nigeria and be demanding for Harvard certificates? They should better pack to those places with the Harvard certificates and skills.

Back to main topic, of course we all want to start our businesses, but everything involves money. Starting a business is not free. OP should better tell us how to raise funds rather cos that would be a better info to many people.

ayapatton:
Pls, I need information on the gas bizness. I'm seriously thinking of starting b4 d end of this year. What are the pros and cons?
Thanks

Reuben2012:
To what extent can we partner with such person? Is it adviceble to disengage the partner providing such fund when you have made your own money? Probably you want to be the CEO of your business. Please sir, your advice is needed. Thanks.

KPhantom:
before starting that business, you should ask yourself questions like
1) am I passionate about this particular business? many choose to start a business just because someone else is doing it. If you are a teacher, there is every tendency u love imparting knowledge, starting your own school will be a hit since you knw everything about it. If you are crazy about sports, starting a viewing centre or a bet shop is also a gud idea, if you are IT savvy, you can learn how to be a programmer, if you love fashion, you can learn designing.. don't go and open a school just because john is making money from his school oo. success in business is synonymous to passion(because by the time you are not making any reasonable profit after a year, it is only the passion for the business that can keep u going till you hit your breakthrough), and every area in business is profitable if you are passionate about it.
2) do you see yourself doing this particular business for a long time? ever wondered why first bank have the largest customer's base? They've been in the industry for decades, so the longer the existence of your business, the more profit and patronage you are going to have.
OP hope my talk dey OK? me sef na university aspirant(uniben), and I dey reason viewing centre for school.

majekdom2:
Realunclej, I thought you would make sense until I saw the communication skill GAP. So, you assume all graduates are what and who you put upthere. I would think you need to use words like MIGHT, MAY and not you are this and you will that you used. Please, if you cannot post a link to your business as a motivation, delete your post as you talked about being digital and will expect you to be. Pls, people need jobs for different reasons. To garner skills to run their businesses , source for funds, make connections et all. I wonder why this kind of threads are allowed on FP. They are not motivations to boost entrepreneurship in anyway. You don't come out all negative about an idea or thought just to make yours valid. You should promote your ideas and use it as a counter. What you should tell me is " WHY ONE SHOULD START A BUSINESS and what makes it better than a JOB. That's how you sell your business " MR BUSINESSMAN".

Raalsalghul:
Okay, I just got a job, to resume next month.

But this thread has taught me two things.

One: not to get too relaxed because I have a job.

Who knows, I might be booted out some day.

Secondly, I should keep saving and saving and start thinking of how to start my own business.

Thanks everyone

Lesson learnt

neutral2000:
Good write up. It is also a fact that the major cause of unemployment is shortage of job opportunities. The jobs we are competing for were created by some people. So, there is need to create more jobs. And whose job is it? If we don't, who will?

realunclej:
I am sorry if you think I am not objective enough but the idea behind the message is to call a spade a spade. Even though my message is directed at graduates, I do not expect everybody to accept that the message is for them. It is meant only for those who recognize they need to think outside the box. These are hard times that calls for hard measures not time for 'MAY' or 'MIGHT'. I understand that no matter how grim the situation might be, company will continue to recruit for one reason or the other. But a situation where 200 people need job and only one space is available how would you fill the gap?

aljpimp:
its not so easy as it seems...lemme give you my own example...immediately I finished Nysc, I never wanted to search for job so I got in touch with someone who is into oil and gas marketing and he operated a filling station too..I wanted him to put me through been in the biz for years..so we came into agreement that I invest some capital which I did..in less than a month everything went bad and I never profited a dime from the business...now I want my money back from him to use on another business but he keeps avoiding me...now that I have what I do ,market for a real estate company on commission, I find it hard feeding or getting transport down to work..not that people DONT wanna start a biz but the fear of getting in to the wrong hand nko...rippers are too much in this country

majekdom2:
you are calling a spade a spade without providing alternatives and how to go about the other alternatives. Ofcourse, 99 percent of the grads you are talking about know and want to get involved with their personal businesses ideas. Oga, ask anybody out there, they will tell you they want to be like billgates or dangote. How can they go about it is what you should be selling. How can they nurture their business ideas not how to stop looking for job and start some "businesses". What are they to expect when they start ? not where there are opportunities .from your posts and the whole hard times stuff, you are only advocating some business because you feel there is a need for survival and not a need to deliver value. 9 out of 10 startups fail in the first 3 months. Why? Because they were not prepared and don't know what it takes to run a business. Give a fresh graduate reasons and how to nurture his business ideas to convince him even as his friend just landed a job with a multinational while another friend of his is still struggling with his business after 3 years. You highlighted reasons/ weaknesses why a graduate might not get a job, he may decide to work on these weaknesses, turn them to strength and start looking job. This is a typical illustration: you pick a begger and take him to the riverside and then tell him to start fishing. He might insult you in a short time because it's like you are taking him from his unlucky state to a worse misery. You did no good because you refused telling and showing him the tactics and teaching him the skills required. If I do not have the skills to get a job, where did the skill to run a business come from then. Do you understand my point. YOU DO NOT TALK DOWN ANOTHER IDEA WHEN SELLING YOURS, YOU PROMOTE YOURS INSTEAD. If you talk it down, you have shown it it's weaknesses and they will be worked on. Even in the scriptures, Jesus said ; the devil has come to steal, Kill and destroy but I have come to give you life. He had to sell himself by promoting what he has come to do. And all through, we could read come to me I will give you life, eat for if you do I abide in you and you in me.

majekdom2:
Thank you for coming out being truthful. I personally run my business idea but that's not to say I resigned from my place of work. I know people whose businesses have failed several times. I am not talking just one business idea. I am talking 15 plus years after graduation but still his businesses has been failing. It's not a spiritual thing also. The thing is he never took his time to work for real businesses, never took the time to develop himself when it comes to running of businesses. I had a holiday job with his company sometime and I could tell as a student then that he lacked management skills. This is the case of so many entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Imagine what some of his friends that started work 15 years ago would be upto now. Some of them are running businesses whose turn over is in hundreds of millions. My point is just as there are certain skills required to get a job, there are certain skills required for a business.
@bolded, that's not even the problem. The problem is many have little or no market research, business plan and mode of value delivering. Did you do any market survey, did you have any market intelligence, did you have market and commercial analysis. There are a whole factors to consider when starting/ running a business. Even the iya olojas have solid market information and intelligence.

Easyticketsng:
Regardless of your quest in becoming an entrepreneur, one thing that stands in your way is how difficult it is to make money in Nigeria.

Most of the people that preach this entrepreneurship gospel need to realise that luck is a factor that played in their success.

There are no rules to making it, most times... it's just luck, being at the right place at the right time, meeting the right person at the right time etc

I have been trying this entrepreneurship stuff for over 2 years, i have lost more money than I have made.

One of my entrepreneurial product is http://Easytickets.com.ng