Entrepreneurship: The concept, application, processes, practice & prospects - Part 2

CONTINUATION…. (PART TWO).

Three examples (cases/scenarios) of Entrepreneurial strides (enterprises) in our localities we can easily relate to, are presented below as case study for this article.

ENTERPRISE ONE (CASE/SCENARIO ONE):

Name of Enterprise: Korkoi Enterprise.

Name of Owner: Madam Korkoi.

Location of Business: Adjacent JonaBlank Laundry, Close to Janet Corner, New Achimota-Mile 7, Accra.

Business Type: Trading in Local Food Stuffs and Items.

Brief Introduction:
Korkoi Enterprise is a mini-localized super market that sells a variety of food stuffs ranging from: pepper, tomatoes, onion, cabbage, green leafs, spices, ginger, carrot, lettuce, dry fish, smoke fish, fried fish, salty fish, chicken, beef, groundnut mix, cooking oil, vegetables, okro, rice, spaghetti, indomie, corn dough (moolee), cassava dough (agbelma), maize flour, yam flour (kokontei), yam, weilei (cow skin-hide), biscuits, toffees, pampers, and many more items.

Motivation:

Korkoi is the owner and manager of Korkoi enterprise. Korkoi enterprise is the delight and shopping place of the community. Though Mile7 community has a recognized market center, it is very encouraging and delighting to realize Korkoi enterprise sharing patronage of the customer base equally with mile7 market.

Staff Strength:

She runs and sells her foodstuffs and food items alone, however as and when necessary she gets assistance and support from her husband and other siblings. Korkoi is very industrious, dedicated, committed, determined, focused, hardworking, and effective with her enterprise timelines (demand).

Background:

Korkoi starts her business by living home as early at dawn to rush to Dome market (the nearest biggest market) to buy items for her enterprise sales. She gets home with her food wares from Dome market most times after 2 to 3 hours to rearrange and sell to her customers. Her customers are mostly: women, men, kids, households, families, neighbors, passersby, strangers and far commuters. Ultimately Korkoi enterprise has stood the test of time for over 12 years and counting. Through the enterprise, Korkoi has been able to cater for herself, her two kids, her husband, often attend to family needs, and do see to the welfare and schooling of her children.

Name of Enterprise: WholeSale Man Enterprise

Name of Enterprise: Wholesale Man

Location of Business: Cocaine Rice Junction, opposite Game/Video Centre; New Achimota-Mile 7, Accra.

Brief Introduction:
The owner is widely known as “wholesale man”, started the buying and selling of footwear in Katamanto, Accra. He wakes up at dawn and engages in “donkomi” (promotional sales) of goods he took on credit.

Little by little he rented a shop and eventually relocated the footwear venture to Mile 7. He currently owns two other shops, one at St. Johns and the other at Madina.

Wholesale man enterprise deals in the wholesale and retailing of footwears of all kinds for both males and females. The venture sells: shoes, slippers, football boots, snickers, travelling bags, hand bags, belts, timberlands, and others. The shop opens at 6am and closes at 8pm daily.

Motivation: Starting from “Kanta” (another name for “Katamanto”) with dream and believe of making it huge with hardwork, determination and prayers always pushes him and gives him that hope of achieving higher goals and targets.

Staff Strength: Wholesale man has a staff strength of 3 permanent workers and 3 extra helping hands who supports at night to pack the goods of the venture. Making the total staff strength approximately 9 permanent workers and 9 extra helping hands.

vision: Within a matter of 10 years, to own and run not less than 25 retailing footwear enterprises in Accra and beyond.

Background: The joy of having a shelter after sleeping in the open of Accra at Katamanto has been the whole life experience and story Mr. “wholesale man” uses to inspire people to believe in their dreams and pursue their dreams to the fullest.

The generation of employment and source of livelihood for a number of youths and aiding them to meet their needs inspires Mr. Wholesale man’s dream of owning not less than 25 shops in Accra and beyond in the country.

Start-up capital: Mr. Wholesale man startup capital was through his personal money which he had through savings over a period of time.

Wholesale man enterprise is projected to make a weekly sales of Ghc4,000 to Ghc5,500; a monthly projected sales of Ghc16,000 to Ghc22,000; and a yearly projected sales of approximately Ghc192,000 to Ghc264,000.

ENTERPRISE THREE(CASE/SCENARIO THREE):

Name of Enterprise: Daavi Oblaayoo Enterprise

Name of Owner: Daavi Oblaayoo

Location of Business: Adjacent JonaBlank Laundry, Close to Janet Corner, New Achimota-Mile 7, Accra.

Business Type: Localized Break Fast Cuisines.

Brief Introduction: Daavi Oblaayoo is a grown up woman in her late 60’s to 70’s. She is very active, smart, effective and strategic.

She is engaged in the enterprise of selling cooked breakfast varieties: Oblaayoo, Rice water, Oats, Tom-Brown, Wheat, Bread (tea, butter and sugar), and other varieties as breakfast to her cherished customers.

Motivation: Daavi for short as we do call her by, she started this enterprise of preparing and selling breakfast varieties vending it around the vicinity, far and near.

With time, she progressed to sitting at a spot close to mile seven park. She now has three branches (spots) where her breakfast varieties and delights are served and sold.

Customer Base: Daavi’s clientele includes but not limited to: school children, the youth, office working men and women, trotro drivers and passengers, taxi drivers, passersby, households, market women, commuters, and the general public. Daavi do have clients that place order for a week, others for a month, whilst others for occasions.

Background:

Daavi Oblaayoo starts her daily routine by crystallizing (sorting) the raw materials such as rice, maize, wheats, and oat. She sort each dish by the quantity and quality to meet the delight (satisfaction) of her customers.

She wakes up as early as 3:00am at dawn to start preparing the breakfast dishes. Mostly by 5:30am the breakfast varieties for the three branches are ready to be transported to the places of sale.

Daavi has a worker strength of over 7. She’s very smart and strategic in her hiring of workers. She gets her workers mostly from her hometown. The workers reside in a wooden home (two wooden home) she built for their shelter and rest.

The three cases/scenarios are typical of our environment, culture and daily economic activities.

The local food stuffs trader, the wholesales and retailer in footwears, and the local breakfast food cuisines seller gives us a gist (the realities) of the entrepreneurs in our immediate societies and communities, and the extent of risks (uncertainties) they undertake and the returns (benefits) thereof they get.

There are numerous and countless opportunities abound that are untapped. Go out there, start something on your own to aid you unearth great opportunities, achieve greater financial rewards and to achieve personal satisfaction (gratification).

The Entrepreneurs Role (Agent of Economic Change):
1• Combination of Economic Factors.
2• Providing Market Efficiency.
3• Accept Risk.
4• Maximizing Investors (Personal Investment) Returns.
5• Processing of Market Information.

The entrepreneur is considered as the agent of economic change, simple because it is through the economic activities, risks taking, value additions and innovations of the entrepreneur that economies of countries is vastly changed and bettered.

The entrepreneur is expected to play roles such as: combining of economic factors (money, material, machine and man), providing market efficiency for the efficient distribution of economic resources, accepting of risk on investing in uncertain economic activities, maximizing investor’s returns on ventures undertook (to be undertaken), and processing of market information for decisive decisions (outcomes).

In your own small possible way, give your best shots at implementing these entrepreneurial roles. With practice, consistency and sense of purpose you will surely perfect them. Kindly, no point (stage) is early or late to start implementing them. The motivation is to start now. Act now dear once.

The Entrepreneurial Process:

1• Identification and Evaluation of Opportunity.
2• Development of the Business Plan.
3• Determination of the Required Resources.
4• Management of the Resulting Enterprise.

Hardly will an entrepreneur fully appreciate and benefit from an enterprise or business unless grasping the entrepreneurial processes.

The entrepreneurial process are: identification and evaluation of opportunity, development of business plan, determination of required resources, and management of the resulting enterprise.

Kindly read and learn further on the entrepreneurial process as an entrepreneur and put committed efforts towards implementing the entrepreneurial process to engender an optimal business prospects for your enterprise or economic activity.

The entrepreneurial process is vital and needful to grasp fully achieving profitability, market share, problem solving, multiple task performance, and strategic long (short and medium) term goal of the enterprise.

The 10 Deadly Entrepreneurial Mistakes (By Meir Liraz, president of BizMove):

A research finding by Meir Liraz that awakes our need to be aware of some deadly mistakes punishable by the market forces and equally rewarding of those who heed and apply through their entrepreneurial journey and life. They are as follows:
• Sticking to a single idea for too long.
• Not having a result-driven marketing plan.
• Not knowing your customers.
• Ignoring your Cash Position (Working Capital).
• Ignoring your Employees (Morale).
• Confusing likelihood with Reality.
• Not having a Sales Plan.
• Being a Lone Ranger (Learn to Delegate).
• No Mastermind (get an advisory group or mentor).
• Giving Up (Never and Ever).

According to Meir Liraz, as a business person or a business, avoid the above mistakes. The mistakes according to Meir Liraz are deadly entrepreneurial mistakes.

Let’s take heed and eschew the suggested 10 deadly mistake. The optimal approach is to see the 10 deadly mistakes as a guide and warning, a line not to be crossed. Hence, customize the findings and own it to suit the model and style of your enterprise or management (operation).

I recommend you boldly itemize the 10 deadly mistakes, print it and hung it directed (and targeted) to your sight, as a constant reminder to you and your establishment.