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How to become a captain on industry
Akeem Lasisi
ONE of the most inspiring titles you can earn is that of a “captain of industry”. Before anyone can be addressed as such, a number of fundamental questions would have been settled in his life. As an entrepreneur, he has reached the pinnacle of the industry in which he operates. Where good money is the issue, he is comfortable enough to raise his voice. And whether he is an entrepreneur or an entrenched and accomplished manager, he is in full control of his destiny, while also having a considerably firm grip on the economic destiny of many other people, including his employees and other dependants.
If you really want to confirm how “sweet” it is to be a captain of industry, just watch the aura that drives the likes of Deacon Gamaliel Onosode, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Dr. Christopher Kolade, Chief Peter Okocha and Prof. Pat Utomi each time they are addressed as captains of industry at different occasions. The status is such that only a few people do not wish to be like them, especially on the note that they seem to have secured a permanent visa to the estate of the wealthy.
Interestingly, although it takes more than a day to become a man – as an adage says – these distinguished Nigerians and other successful entrepreneurs achieved the feat neither by magic nor by miracles. They made a choice that millions of other people have yet to make. They formed certain habits, developed certain attitudes and observed certain principles that experts say have always been in existence with man. You too need to come to terms with these values if you want to graduate into the captains’ club.
Chief Ernest Shonekan, who had made a great impact as a business driver before he became Nigeria’s Interim Head of State, and Chairman of Cell Communications Limited, Chief Patrick Chidolue, gave useful hints on the principles and secrets of the entrepreneur recently, when a Lagos-based businessman, Dr. Ausbeth Ajagu, presented a book entitled, The Entrepreneur, to Nigerians and the international community. The 360-page book “spoils” the reader with “secrets of getting to the top and staying there happily.” Apart from the hints, starters in business have a lot to gain from the profiles of some 40 leading Nigerians entrepreneurs contained in The Entrepreneur.
On the ingredients of profitable entrepreneurship, Onosode, who has been chairman of blue-chip companies such as Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Dunlop and NAL Merchant Bank, notes that entrepreneuship has value, and that it largely combines the qualities of a good manager. The implication, according to him, is that you cannot do a water-tight compartmentalisation of a successful entrepreneur and a successful manager.
More importantly, however, Onosode stresses that one of the most reliable weapons of an entrepreneur is courage. “You can’t get far as an entrepreneur if you lack courage,” he says.
The entrepreneur is a smart person who exploits other people to achieve his dreams and goals. But often, in the process, he ends up building his workers too. Shonekan underscores this when he poured encomiums on founders of UAC Nigerian Plc, the company he worked for and acquired the title of a captain of industry. “I wonder what I would have been today if not for the initiative of those who started UAC or Levers Brothers,” he says.
According to Shonekan, parts of what makes an entrepreneur, is power of innovation and readiness to take risk. While an employee is usually joining a business that is already on ground, the entrepreneur is out to create a new one, and is prepared to face the challenges and consequences of doing so. He adds that the entrepreneur is bound to experience temptations in the course of pursuing his vision and dream, but he must be weary of trampling on ethics.
He adds, “An entrepreneur can succeed without cutting corners. During my tenure as chairman at UAC, there was the era of import licence. We made it a point of duty not to join the scam of buying licences. In the short run, we paid dearly for it, but in the long run, the decision paid off for us. It is only an entrepreneurship built on transparency, honesty and accountability that can survive for a long time.”
In the book, Ajagu defines an entrepreneur as anyone who owns a business enterprise for the purpose of making profit. But, in a way that shows that wealth creation is not limited to “white-collar businesses” alone, the writer, who is chairman of Betcy Group of Companies, notes that entrepreneurs include contractors, producers, investors, traders, industrialists and manufacturers.
Referring to some other experts’ ideas on the subject, Ajagu further adds that an entrepreneur is someone who runs a business at his own financial risk. He is, on the other hand, that person who sees an opportunity, puts together a team, and builds a business that profits from the opportunity.
“Successful entrepreneurs are uncommon achievers,” Ajagu explains. “They are different. In a doubting world, they believe; in a slow world, they run; in a weeping world, they laugh; and in a quitting world, they persevere.”
To excel as an entrepreneur, however, Ajagu says you require a sharp instinct and initiative. You should have a positive mental attitude, and be warm to people. On the prime quality of initiative, the author notes, “Successful entrepreneurs are original, skillful, gifted, resourceful and quick to embrace opportunities. In fact, they long for opportunities to come. They are resourceful thinkers and investors.”
Other qualities include good organisation, decisiveness, energy, perseverance, conscientiousness and non-procrastination.
The PUNCH, Tuesday, September 27, 2005
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