REDEFINING AFRICA: RISE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL LEADERS

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Arise Afrika Magazine flagged off  Face Of Arise Africa activities this year with a workshop to encourage young people in Africa in various entrepreneurial skills.

Here is excerpts of the first lecture on our virtual platform with Mrs Chioma Ikpa

INTRODUCTION
Enterpreneurship simply is the act of being an entrepreneur.
The concept of enterpreneurship has expanded in recent years to cover a lot of business activities and this has given it a wide range of meaning.

SO WHO IS AN ENTREPRENEUR?
Any individual who perceives an opportunity for a business and  creates a system to develop and manage the business successfully.

From the above definition you can easily pick out  the steps to take to become an entrepreneur.  In this group we have beautiful young ladies who aspire to become models, we also have young people who have potentials to do great things in their communities, surely each of us here have the potential to;

1) Perceive a business opportunity

2)Create a system (your team or associates)

3)Manage and develop the system
 In other words we can create and be creative, we can think , we can replicate, we can learn etc.

So why do we want to be entrepreneurs?
The need for entrepreneurship is simple, to create more jobs. Every blue chip, red chip, black chip company owner is an entrepreneur, that vision, that dream was what birthed the jobs we see today, and these jobs are fast disappearing because most people are not rising up to their full potentials, some people are either not pushing hard enough or they are downright lazy.
Be we the youth can change this narrative.

1) PASSION

Successful entrepreneurs are passionate.They feel deeply about their goals and mission. Without passion, there is no reason for your work and no drive to do it. Entrepreneurs understand that the success of the business ultimately rests upon their shoulders. Because of this, all successful entrepreneurs take their work very seriously. They love what they do and are extremely dedicated to the businesses they create. To be successful, you must be confident in yourself and your business, and you must be proactive with what you do and how you do it.
Passion is what will help you to find motivation when you are discouraged and will drive you forward.
*So quick question, what’s your passion?* (write them down)
 2) INVEST IN YOURSELF aka Get knowledge

There\’s always something you don\’t know and something else that has just been discovered and they are essential to us as entrepreneurs.
You can’t make other people better unless you make yourself better first.  This is what gives you the power to be able to explain and prove why your offer or business opportunity is worth the price.
This investment may be reading of books, attending seminars, attending webinars like this one, asking questions, learning from your mentor and avoiding mistakes made by your mentor.
If you are well informed, you will be confident  and it is this confidence that inspires people around you.
Investing in yourself can also mean UNLEARNING to gain best understanding of something.

 3) SELF MOTIVATION

 This simply means you need to be able to push yourself sometimes. Be a go-getter, have the \”we die here\” spirit. It might be hard but you can draw strength from others success stories and keep moving.
Very few successful entrepreneurs have made it without living through some failure, large or small. The difference is that the person sees failure is just an information about what doesn’t work, not the end of the journey. Instead of giving up, get creative.
Even in this trying times of Covid 19, John Maxwell taught us that we must learn to put behind difficulties and put forward progress.
Lots of businesses changed approach in this Covid era and recorded profit.

 4) BE AN INNOVATOR.
New ideas, new strategies and exploration of business ideas. You need to be ready to adapt to new development and ideas. Entrepreneurs think outside the box and are always looking for opportunities to come up with new solutions., some even throw away the box to become the box themselves 😀.
To be successful, you need to always be thinking of new ideas and better ways of doing things.
How do you do your own modelling? How creative can you get? Have you tried Electromodelling? 😂😂 New tactics (Dm for more)

When you are confronted with new challenges, we shouldn\’t see them as problems, rather see them as opportunities. We must be creative.
For instance , my bank made more profit in two months in e-payments, because they saw opportunities in a crises.
In my Longrich business I did more webinars than ever more than I ever did when everything was okay. I reached out to more people, on boarded more distributors. You must be open to changes.

5)Future-oriented

Entrepreneurs are constant dreamers. Always looking on the bright side.
They look at how they can do things better and make the world a better place. They never dwell on the past or the negative. Instead, they focus on moving forward and moving up.
Because entrepreneurs are focused on moving forward, they are always looking toward the future. Entrepreneurs are very goal-oriented and know exactly what they want. They set their goals and everything they do is aimed at achieving those goals. You need to be a visionary. Without a vision for the future of your business, you would just be working aimlessly without reaching any point of success.
One of my leaders in my business will always say “*Picture yourself in that future you want to feature in*”.

 6) Risk takers
To be successful, you must be willing to take risks. However, we don\’t take risks lightly. We plan, we research, we ask questions and then make a calculated decision that is best for our business.
Every successful entrepreneur I have ever known, I.e the ones I listened to their stories eg Ubong King, Tonye Cole, Jim Ovia, Biola Alabi, even Linda Ikeji. They all took calculated risks, they also made mistakes but the learned from them.

 7) MANAGEMENT SKILLS

This is tough because we are all different.
A good entrepreneur must develop a good working relationship with his or her team members and also know their strengths and weaknesses concerning the business and learn how to use it.

 8) COMMUNICATION AND PRESENTATION
This is very important as an entrepreneur.
You must have a good strong communication skills. You must be bold and sound in your business so you can sell it well.
You should also teach your people a good system of communication as well.

Any society with a higher level of entrepreneurs shows higher level of output and productivity while those lacking entrepreneurs have a tendency to generate lower level of output and productivity.

For me my entrepreneurship journey has given me the opportunity to expand my mind, think outside the box, face challenges and come up with decisions on how to handle such challenges, meet new people and learn from them.

So when opportunities are presented to you, allow your entrepreneurial spirit to do some digging, find out more about it, is it in line with your passion? Can you handle it? What are the risks? Can you deal?

In conclusion, an entrepreneur is a nation-builder, a wealth creator, a risk taker, an entrepreneur is smart, creative and proactive, an entrepreneur is an asset to the nation but only when the entrepreneur is successful. 
So  as we have taken the bold step to be enterpreneurs, let\’s seal it by being successful entrepreneurs and arise because the BIG is in all of us.

Thank you for your time

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Ikechukwu Anyanwu
PROFILE OF IKECHUKWU ANYANWU Ikechukwu Anyanwu is an Imo State born Nigerian. An Author, Public Speaker, Humanitarian, Blogger, Media Guru and Start-up Coach. He has inspired millions through Arise Africa Network Platform He Is Into Education, Media, Entertainment, Showbiz and Hospitality Industry. Having calved a nitche for himself as a leadership expert, human capital development and management consultant. He is currently the Chairman, Online Media practitioners Association of Nigeria, Imo State Chapter. Ceo Arise Africa Magazine, Founder Arise Africa Network – a non-profit organization. Face of Arise Africa, Managing Consultant GCFN Consult. Member, Imo State Bloggers Association. Ag National President, Association of Pageant CEO’s of Nigeria Human Resource Specialist and Leadership Coach with astute impact on many seeking to maximize their skills, intellectuals and innate potentials He has a track record of reproducing leaders and helping them to gain dominance within their nitch. Mr Anyanwu after a rich career that spanned for 18 years having worked as Human Resources Manger, Outlet Manager Rennys Foods Limited from 2004 – 2019, Management Consultant for various Quick Service Restaurants in Abuja, Enugu, Rivers State, Abia, Ebonyi, Kogi and Imo State is now focusing on helping young people to discover, develop their talents. He has built lots of platforms for young people of Africa to express their talents. He is passionate about writing, consulting, coaching and training. He blogs regularly via www.ariseafrika.com and has a thriving social media followership. He is a graduate of Sociology/Anthropology, Imo State University whose passion is to impart knowledge by educating, equipping and empowering young minds for the future. He is an alumni of Living Word Training Center He is also the West African Representative of All African Media Networks He is married to Mrs Carol Anyanwu and blessed with 3 sons.

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