The mind frame of Nigerian future entrepreneurs

They say that for you to be a good entrepreneur you need to have a good managerial acumen and the capital to back it up. But for you to be a great manager you need a perfect curriculum vitae. That means you must have the type of qualities most employers want to see on a CV for you to be a great entrepreneur. A great entrepreneur will have most if not all of these qualities:
Good management qualities
Ability to take risks and solutions to problems
A good vision
Superb motivation
Leadership skills
Ability to work in a team
Taking initiative
Capital to start
An innovative mind
Ability to take responsibility
And a drive for success.

As a growing economical country, Nigeria is fantastic for people who want to start a new business, you don't even have to have millions of naira to begin. They say the country is bad yet people who started there business with half a million buy cars in less than a year. In Europe that will be highly difficult to achieve.

To understand better how a forward thinking Nigerian who wants to make a difference to the country by owning a business will reason lets use a true story to explain.

This is a story of two of my guys who were in the same class in Lagos State University.
The both studied electrical engineering and was the best in the class when they graduated. Both of them are Igbo boys so already had the drive to make money. Upon completion of their course one of them called Emeka decided to travel to London while Peter stayed back in Nigeria.

The first mistake he made was to travel with a visiting visa, when he got there he was tempted to over-stay his visa and that is exactly what he did. with no papers to get a decent job he resorted to mania jobs to survive while trying to get his papers. Luckily for him he got married to a Spanish girl who he really wasn't in love with and lived in a loveless marriage for year. Because of the change in statues he got his papers and started working 6days a week in a good firm.

He then noticed that it was still slavery because after all that work he does not manage to save up to 100 pounds a month (25 thousand naira) and some months he will over spend what he is being paid. So many bills to pay monthly does not help his case. He has to pay NI tax, council tax, road tax, income tax, insurance, house rent, house utility bills, vehicle MOT, speed camera fees sometimes and feeding is expensive too.

He sat down and thought about his life only to find out that he has made the wrong choices and he needed to change a few things. because he got his papers he had to let the wife go cos it just wasn't working out. He spoke to his friend Peter who visited London and found out he was doing great and he needed to come back to Nigeria and invest. The problem is, how will he invest when he cant save 100 pound sin a month. That problem keeps him unhappy in London for a few more years.

Peter on the other hand, as a forward thinking Nigerian entrepreneur, when he left school he combined with 2 of his friends that read the same course he read. They got money together and opened an power servicing outlet. They did not need a lot of capital since they already had the technical know how. All they needed was to rent a space and arrange it. and they imported a few tools and video upgrade on what they already knew in the field. Then they started talking to people who get contracts on power and but does not know the technicalities involved and they took them in as their agents because they were presentable as young school leavers and very sharp. The also wrote emails to overseas agents doing what they do so that they can have international affiliations and that pay them heavily when contracts and procurement finally landed on their table.

Peter with his Big bank statement walked into the British embassy and got a 6months visa, when he came back from London he got a 2years visa to go again, now he has a 10years Visa to London. something his friend does not still have living in London.

The right choice in this 2 instances cannot be left to guess work. The time to invest in Nigeria is now. I take my thumb up thou for some who go oversees to get some kind of skill set and come back to practice it and make Nigeria better and we need more of that. We need school leavers to think more on becoming an entrepreneur when u graduate instead of just looking to travel or get a job. If you have all the qualities we listed then what is holding you back. Maybe I can help if you get in contact. What do you think we can do to encourage more school leavers to become entrepreneurs and how can the government come in on this, your comments will be greatly appreciated.