We promised to publish some of the scholarship essays form the Aspire-Canada Scholarship applications process for 2015, from a broad range sample of topics. Make sure you don’t miss the deadline for the Aspire-Canada Scholarship for 2016! See Sample essay below from Victoria Nwabuisi.
SCHOLARSHIP ESSAY BY VICTORIA NWABUISI – DO’S AND DONT’S OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
A generation of Entrepreneurs and Technology is what our world awaits; business management and business starters are key for a new world order. Entrepreneurship is the process of starting one’s own business or organization. There’s a lot involved in starting one’s own business and a few things that are mandatory to be understood before delving into the world of Entrepreneurship.
The first thing to understand about Entrepreneurship is that it’s not rocket science. No way. Entrepreneurship is Business and business involves meeting a need. How do you think Major League players in the world’s economy like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, set out and set up? Yes, they decided to meet a need. Whether it was within their community or even within their home…meeting a need was all it took.
The heart of an Entrepreneur should not only be to make some good profit, but should also be to meet a need, for in meeting a need, profit is made with ease. The first key to begin as an Entrepreneur is to discover what’s missing. What can be made easier? What can be made faster? What can deliver better? An Entrepreneur is always looking for a solution to problems. These problems are usually overlooked by others, but not an Entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurship is a risk. As an Entrepreneur you can never be a hundred percent certain that your product or organization will satisfy the public for whom it was created. But it is worth the risk. It might not satisfy everyone but it will satisfy a few and those few could become your market strategy and they could help you improve your market force. Remember the heartbeat of Entrepreneurship is to meet a need.
One day, I hope to become an Entrepreneur one day and run my own business. Although I’m not yet sure about what kind of need I’d like to meet, I’m certain there’ll be a need to be met and I’ll be ready to meet it. That’s another thing about Entrepreneurship. It works with the present. Not the past, the Present. An Entrepreneur will not seek to provide a solution to to a problem that existed a long time ago. No way. Even if it might be recognized in the market force, it won’t be as effective as it could have been when the problem was much more immediate and if that business could focus on an immediate problem in the society.
I grew up in an environment that treasures open minded and divergent thinkers. I’m from Nigeria, and in Nigeria there are a lot of business owners who seek, everyday, to provide a lasting solution to all of the problems the people around them face. Entrepreneurship is an act of servitude to the people and an entrepreneur’s services are not free. They cost money to provide. You’re not the government. but even at that it would be unfair to overcharge people.
As an aspiring Entrepreneur, I desire to be of great help to my generation at minimal cost. That’s one more thing about Entrepreneurship, it requires the provision of service affordable and relatable cost. Some entrepreneurs get caught up in the whole hype of having a business and they then begin to charge exorbitant prices for the services they provide. This is never good for business. A good entrepreneur should remember that he/she too was once a customer and is still a customer, so keep your prices fair and square.
An Entrepreneur should always keep a good network of friends and associates. No man is an island. If you must move forward in the business world you must be a communications expert, you mustn’t necessarily be an extrovert to be an expert. You must also be a good negotiator. Sometimes you might have to do business with others and if you can’t bargain and negotiate, you might be overcharged for whatever materials you require.
An Entrepreneur must be focused. You must always bear in my mind that just like a maths equation you can’t solve all the problems in a math textbook all at once. Subgoaling is highly important. Not just subgoaling, but focus. You can’t solve all of the world’s problems, but you can solve many of the world’s problems. So pick a need to meet and focus on meeting that need. Till you achieve a provision for that need there’s no slumber and no diversion.
Becoming an Entrepreneur requires a good level of sacrifice. You might not always have the capital to start your business, but depending on the scale of business you want to get into, your little could turn into much if invested properly. As an Entrepreneur you should be careful not to rush into any form of monetary investments. This leads me to my conclusion on the most important things an Entrepreneur should know. A good Entrepreneur shouldn’t lack a reservoir of Advisors. It’s always important to get information and advice on how the business world works and what and what not to do as an entrepreneur.
Becoming an Entrepreneur, like I said earlier, isn’t rocket science. Although it requires a lot of devotion, sacrifice and hardwork. It’s a salient way to contribute to one’s economy and an investment in one’s potential. I dare to become an Entrepreneur. What about you?
