ENTREPRENEURSHIP, the Escape from Poverty, the Gateway to Wealth
Entrepreneurship, by definition;
is to see a need, create a solution to meet the need, and sell the solution for profit.
There is no small or big need; a need is a need and with the right attitude, one can make any amount of money they desire, and leave a lasting legacy for the generations coming after them. The lack of entrepreneurial mindset and innovation is the root of the wobbling economy, especially among believers. The escalating unemployment in our country, even in the world at large, simply means the population exceed the job opportunities. While we not all going to build public (JSE) listed companies, we can at least create jobs for ourselves, in a form of entrepreneurship.
Though the society in which we, the believers, live in is faced a legion of challenges (needs), we can only create better solutions for problems we are wired to solve; i.e. gifts and talents we possess. Which is why the first step to becoming a phenomenal entrepreneur is to know your gift and strengths. Despite so many challenges the society is faced with, which offer vast opportunities for each and every one of us, very few people are able to recognise and seize them; because, as Robert Kiyosaki once said ¾ “Opportunities are not seen with your eyes but with your mind”.
If we are serious about changing and impacting the world as believers, we need to be on a creative end, not only a consuming end. And the current times calls for more entrepreneurs, especially in the church. Here are the stats for you: Believers make the large percentage of the population in our country, about 60%. Do you know what this means? Yes or No? It simply means that we make a large percentage of poor and middle-class population. The church has a responsibility to develop and empower its members, especially youth, for business, and hence positively impact the economy. Entrepreneurship is a subject that can be taught like any subject, and we can’t leave all that responsibility to the government and school system, because it has failed.
Okay back to the individual believers. Each and every believer is responsible to make a positive difference in their families, churches, communities. and entrepreneurship offers that opportunities. We cannot create sustainable businesses with employment and poverty mindset, we need to develop the entrepreneurship mindset. And the church has a role to play in that. Preaching alone will not improve the lives of the believers holistically. ENTREPRENEURSHIP MUST BE TAUGHT! AND WE, THE CHURCH, MUST CEISE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A POSITIVE CONTRIBUTION INTO OUR YOUTH. BECAUSE BY SO DOING, THE CHURCH HAS A CLAIM IN THE SUCCESS OF ITS YOUTH, WHICH GLORIES GOD, AND WE STAND A CHANCE TO KEEP THEM INSIDE, THAN LOSING THEM TO THE WORLD THAT OFFERS ALL THESE OPPORTUNITIES.
Here are the 5 qualities of a successful entrepreneur
Talent or gift
You need to have some gift or talent or skill that can convert into a sellable product or service. And everyone has one. Once you have identified your gift, you must hone that gift to increase its value. Any gift has a potential to generate plenty of money.
2. Will to learn
No one is born an entrepreneur, but everyone can and be successful at it. You must be learning constantly to be successful as an entrepreneur. A good start is to read business and self-development books and get a mentor or role model that you can model. It has to be someone doing what you want and already successful at it. Reading must be the religion for those who hope to succeed. Tony Robins once said, . If you want to be successful, follow the steps of those already successful, and if they have written a book, even better. You don’t have to know how to run the business to start, but you must have a will to learn, and you learn better by doing. Experience is the best teacher!
3. Doer
Execution is applying the knowledge you learn. Knowledge is cheap, action is golden. You cannot be an entrepreneur, and except to be successful without a healthy work ethic, or rather work ethic. If you enjoy playing more than working, entrepreneurship is not for you; unless you are willing to make the sacrifice. We all have to sacrifice something for something. That’s the life of entrepreneurs, they sacrifice a lot to get what they want, and with persistence they eventually do get what they want.
4. Resilience
Entrepreneurship is hard, and without resilience and perseverance, you will not make it. There is no single successful person who has never failed or experienced resistance. and you overcome failure by not giving up; not by being smart.
5. Self-Confidence.
This is believing in yourself more than anyone else. You cannot be successful when you doubt yourself, timid and afraid of negative criticism, because you will get a lot of that. Negative criticism will only come from a place of hurt, hate and jealousy and you have no business with those kinds of people. I said negative criticism, not constructive criticism. Learn the difference.
Then there is this one invaluable technical skill that every entrepreneur must learn; and that is Sales and Marketing. We can talk about others later, like managing money, people’s skills, etc. The basis of entrepreneurship is making money. Again, knowledge comes through learning and learning through many forms, of which one of them is reading and listening to knowing individuals. You can make the best product but without being able to sell it, you still have no business. Obscurity is an entrepreneur’s #1 enemy.
Out of many factors contributing to believers not going entrepreneurial, these three stand out for me.
Fear of failure, a result of ignorance of self-power.
It is a good thing to be honest with yourself, because there are failures before success. Those who pursue entrepreneurship must be aware that they will be facing challenges, precedent and unprecedent. All one need is to cross past this line of fear, in full acceptance that it is part of the journey, before one succeed. Brace yourself and go for it, with FAITH that things will work out, and when they do, you will be happy you took courage. Fear is normal, we all have it; but when it is glorified, it becomes paralysis
As believers, we are shaming the Gospel and the Power of the Resurrection of Christ if we live in fear, for God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of a sound mind”. Cultivate your mind to be sound, and walk in Faith that you will be successful.
2. Lack of Money,
Thinking that money is all they need to start.
Money is made, not given. God gave us gifts to use to make money. We don’t need money to start a business, but idea, health and time. Aid will find you on the way. And once you begin, you will discover many ways to raise funds. Money come to those who are in action not those who are waiting for it to act. It runs…. Money hates a lazy hand. Not starting because you don’t have money, is another form of excuse and laziness.
“He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich”
KING SOLOMON.
3. Complacency
Being satisfied with nothing, way less than one’s potential, is another form of cowardness and laziness. Believers tend to hide behind contentment of the riches they will get when they cross to the next world. The gospel of Christ is not the gospel of poverty. Yes, trials and tribulations do come, but we can self-inflict poverty in the name of trials and tribulations of the gospel of Christ. If we are satisfied with just getting by the day, we will remain poor and shaming the gospel. If we are to become successful, we are to want more and more, because there is always more. If you are running a tuck shop, it’s time to think a supermarket. If you are an independent house builder, it’s time to go corporate, register your business and start operating professionally. God will not count that for greed and love of money on your head, but he will be glorified in that. The desire must then be followed by prayer and practical action.
Will to succeed and hunger for more, is the root of all success and civilisation. Success is intentional, not by chance. YOU MUST HAVE A WILL TO SUCCEED IF YOU WANT TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS. By success I mean ‘make money’. If you still have a belief that money is evil, check your heart. Money is not evil, people are. Someone once said, ‘Money is a good servant, but a bad master’. If we, as believers could make more money, we could make this world a better place, and leave it better for our children with wealth and comfort. The struggle and lack MUST end with this generation of believers.
And entrepreneurship is the solution!
The church must support its members who are in business. It is not wise to leave our people and support people from the outside. The success of one of us, is our success. But I must warn entrepreneurs, that abazalwane DO NOT owe you anything; they don’t have to buy from you just because they church with you. They must buy from you because your products and services are excellent, and worthy of every cent, i.e. value for money!
