According to Claude Grunitzky, a renowned Global media entrepreneur, regardless of your business idea, the entrepreneur ought to ask him or herself, “what is the single critical and ample situation for a business?”
It no longer a product, a technology, a consumer need, a enterprise plan, a vision, a strong team, investors, or competitive advantage. While all those things are necessary for a corporation to have, none of them is the right answer.
The single essential and ample situation for a business is a PAYING CUSTOMER – the man or woman who will pay your corporation cash for its product or service.
Before any precise commercial enterprise design is hatched, the first element that comes to thinking is the goal customer.
Ironically, in our setting, some customers can cave in a business of the young entrepreneu with their self-seeking gains, with the help of some careless, self-seeking or short-sighted personnel engaged by way of an entrepreneur.
Every entrepreneur would desire to be successful in business, but unfortunately, greed can push some to orchestrate to convey down colleague entrepreneurs in their quest to be successful at all cost.
he motive why most Ghanaian organizations do not live to tell the tale is as a result of these issues – lack of integrity, dishonesty, bad planning and self-centeredness, which have eaten deep into our moral fiber.
There have been numerous tries with the aid of political or enterprise leaders geared towards encouraging Ghanaians to assume of proudly owning their very own business. Examples are the Presidential Pitch, McDan Entrepreneurship Challenge etc., plus a whole Ministry set up to push this agenda.
However, many start-ups are also confronted with numerous challenges ranging from money glide management, time management, capital etc.
But in my view, one of the most challenging challenges in entrepreneurship mainly in the Ghanaian society, is having the right personnel, mainly for entrepreneurs who are engaged fully in their professions, but control a enterprise on the side.
Aside from get entry to to capital which is certainly a hard hurdle most start-ups are confronted with, the next massive hurdle as I cited earlier; is the quest to have the right personnel. Most of personnel these days, in particular the youth, have exclusive motivations for work, and have turn out to be self-seeking.
For this reason, they can effortlessly abandon the commercial enterprise or stifle it from growing.
A ‘Side-Entrepreneur’ Friend’s Experience
A friend who works with one of the authorities organizations shared his bitter trip of his failed facet business with me. He started his ‘Iced Kenkey’ enterprise and employed a few humans to handle it.
Although he performed a essential position in the running of the business, he fingers over to the personnel and goes to work in his expert house each morning.
According to him, he realized later that, his team of workers conspired to produce the same product on his blind side, and then after that, used his resources (Van, Ice chest) to promote theirs – allowing his (‘Iced Kenkey’) to go bad.
This man went to the extent of registering with the Food and Drugs Authority, FDA, and yet had to wind down his commercial enterprise after the disappointment.
My ‘Side-Entrepreneur’ Experience
As the owner of a start-up in the courier space myself, one component I identified in my enterprise is that, some customers are in a position to collaborate with personnel to short-change a business.
They do this by dealing directly with the office or the field staff to shortchange the enterprise owner.
In this case, some area team of workers i.e. riders; pocket monies meant for the commercial enterprise and deliver objects to clients at the price of the company.
I found out that many customers, in particular in the courier carrier area I find myself, reduce corners simply to make unusual profits.
A wide variety of these customers operate in the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) sector, comprising restaurants, retail shops, fashion designers among others.
A traditional situation is the place employees supply out their private Mobile Money numbers to customers; instead of providing the workplace Money Transfer number; and then divert the enterprise proceeds for their private gain.
They do these in collaboration with some of these dishonest customers.
Some of my customers, particularly the restaurants, ended up poaching my firm’s riders. Unfortunately, they lose them to other courier companies; and you discover these equal clients returning to us to interact in business.
How does this client count on the commercial enterprise proprietor to pay these identical employees at the stop of the month?
How do they anticipate the commercial enterprise proprietor to stay in business, whiles these clients whom I presume are non secular or profess to be morally upright, pray to God for their agencies to flourish?
How do they count on the enterprise to finance everyday upkeep of the bikes?
And how do they prefer the commercial enterprise to extend the fleet of motorcycles to meet the desires of customers?
I understand that every so often employees are callous to their employers or the commercial enterprise because they are not paid properly or dealt with better.
But some employees are usually dishonest, ungrateful and adverse regardless of how properly they’re treated.
As a start-up, I did my great in making my staff comfortable.
There’s additionally the scenario the place the customer, upon seeing a new enterprise setup, would go there and examine their services with the “giants” in the industry, and punch holes in all your tactics just to take benefit of the younger entrepreneur. They will no longer provide you any risk at all to grow.
There was an occasion where a patron walked into my office, and created the impact that she was in a hurry. She hurriedly dropped her object for onward delivery, and then provided contacts to the supposed recipients, however she failed to leave at the back of her private contact details.
She then again made price and quickly left.
Apparently, all the two contacts of the said recipients have been incorrect and could not be reached.
The workforce used to be for this reason unable to deliver the object (A Wreath), for the reason that each the sender and the supposed receiver should now not be reached.
The Sender extraordinarily back to the shop to demand charge of GHS300.00 for the wreath due to the fact it should no longer be delivered, even although we’re now not to blame.
In the end, the agency had to painfully section away with GH¢300.00 simply to save photograph after she created a scene.
Clearly, this was nothing but a well-orchestrated method to extort cash from us.
These are just a few of the many hurdles a younger business owner has to go through just to maintain a business afloat in this country.
In the end, some of my younger riders broke into my office and made away with two of my motorbikes just a day after they all acquired their salaries.
It’s unlucky that a giant quantity of our youthful populace are searching for money, but obviously do not want to work honestly. They have the ‘get rich rapid mentality’, and so they interact in suppression of cash, thievery, insubordination etc.
Although my Comprehensive Insurance Policy has taken care of these stolen bikes, I am in the system of winding up this enterprise because it appears pretty clear that for as long as I will preserve the commercial enterprise as my side job barring my full attention, I can’t discover sincere human beings whether as supervisors or ordinary employees to run the commercial enterprise properly.
So, a lot of start-ups in Ghana proceed to struggle with an extremely unfriendly business environment that hits from all angles whether from customers, employees or authorities agencies, whilst the excessive cost of deposit remains a bane for businesses.
You can in no way be sure that any kind of business will be successful. But starting a side commercial enterprise and ultimate in employment, can supply you some peace of idea that if your commercial enterprise doesn’t work out, you will nevertheless have work and be producing an income.
It additionally offers you a competitive gain in your career, as beginning a commercial enterprise requires you to analyze new skills. Such skills can be used to enhance your own career and provide you a competitive advantage.
And starting a side business can be the ideal way to unleashing the creativity internal you; even though it additionally comes with some dangers such as you no longer having much spare time to spend with household and friends, and less time for your side enterprise and your primary job as well.
Nonetheless, in dealing with the aforementioned challenges of employee dishonesty and the likes, I dare say that one of the most necessary options for any start-up is to be utterly current and absolutely involved in the customary growth of the business.
This will supply you the proprietor the danger to thoroughly admire better the nooks and crannies of the new business.
The Author, Felix Ekow Eshun, is a Banker and Supply Chain Professional. He is also member of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) and an entrepreneur.
