There exists a duality in the way entrepreneurship is encouraged or discouraged in society....
Our narrative epistemology interviews showed many young entrepreneurs, especially those with degrees, at initial career stages their parents and networks felt they were wasting their degrees and the money used to educate them by engaging in entrepreneurship.
“Actually, my dad wanted me to work in the civil service too. He was a civil servant before he retired. He said he didn’t just waste his money for us not to finish school and not work. So I held up for some time and tried to get a job, but when it was not forthcoming I had to go back to what I knew how to do best and that was buying and selling.”
An entrepreneur expressed, sometimes parents make young people frightened of enterprise. A caring father said he did not waste money sending [his children] to school to become truants [in reference to an entrepreneurial career]. Another said business had high failure rates and sometimes it was a protective measure that made parents try to discourage their children showing concern for their safety and wellbeing.
“I didn’t set out to be an entrepreneur. I mean they don’t teach you how to be an entrepreneur in schools. It's not even encouraged; you are born, you go to school, you finish, go to university and then the next step everyone is like “You need to get a job” it is so much pressure. If you don’t have a job you are almost stigmatised. Then of course… everybody goes for job interviews.”
“My Dad told me to start but later on he was like “isn’t there anything else you can do?” parents don’t want their children to fail. We are a very secure society and we know what works and what does not, nobody wants to send their child to do something that 80% of the time they fail.”
“I realised growing up when I was in secondary school, and everybody would to brag about where their father’s worked. “My father works in the civil service, my dad works in […. corporate, agency]”. Most of my peer's fathers were civil servants, so it was more of a challenge to me when I say to my friends that my father has his own business. He is the CEO of his company. I had my father’s compliment cards, and he used to make diaries every year, and they see the diaries, and they love it like “Which company is this?” “It's my father's company” it's like they don’t understand it. “How can your dad own his own company? Everybody’s father works”. They work for the government or an organisation. We are used to this public service life, and parents won't even advise you. They’ll say go and get a job for job security. The only security you can have is, owning your own business even if it brings [cents] to you, or it brings [hundreds of thousands], this is the only guaranteed security, but people don’t what to nurture things.”
Around the world, the very successful entrepreneurs and private companies are celebrated as leaders, heroes, heroines, industrialists and acknowledged as the peak of achievement. They smile, and the whole world laughs with them but before their success with their established capacity to employ people they battled, gained scars, cried and healed alone as many did not want to patronise their new businesses. T. Harv Eker says “Rich people admire other rich and successful people. Poor people resent rich and successful people”.
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent”
The ignorant status-quo thinking only-in-a-box members of society admire some entrepreneurial leader’s ups but don’t care to learn about their downs, or true journey which includes in many cases starting micro, being broke, penniless and failing several times. Similarly, so-called minorities who start and operate good businesses are considered the reverse of anything entrepreneurial. There are significant cases of youths, females and so-called ‘minorities’ ignored and discouraged from an entrepreneurial career by society, strangers, contacts, friends and family, leading parents to advise their young to get jobs rather than pursue entrepreneurship. These evidences suggest a ‘duality in society’ whereby the environment positively or negatively influences entrepreneurship. The positives include tangible and intangible support from social networks, the negatives the ambitious and talented discouraged due to institutional constraints. This duality persists in society today.
“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept” (Dr Angela Davis)
Hence, some entrepreneurs feel undeserving of the entrepreneurship identity. An entrepreneur voiced not being one of the billionaires of the world or doing anything life-changing besides business. Consequently, some entrepreneurs experience doubt and can sometimes under-sell their achievements. But anyone who starts a micro or macro business can confidently be called an entrepreneur. Given other job professions are what people in society understand they can also identify with the job sector. For instance, an entrepreneurial doctor starts a private hospital, the accountant starts their own firm, the lawyer starts a firm or partners with other lawyers as an intrapreneur, the chef, the software developer, the fashion designer, freelancer, teacher and so on, these are all entrepreneurs. Remain prepared to guard against the self-doubt or sarcasm that accompany a decision to identify and proclaim “I am an entrepreneur who ...”. Our blog article and section 4.2 of the WESM book below titled "You Qualify As An Entrepreneur" discusses how to overcome labels.
Most if not all#Multinationals or the #Fortune companies started because of an #entrepreneur or a group of entrepreneurs who
recognised #opportunity. They took the responsibility for risk and reward and likely wanted to make a difference, and in the process created jobs, products, services and/or wealth.
Most if not all
Write your career story and if you want to identify as an entrepreneur, You can!
Sources referenced from the below.
Acknowledgement: We would like to extend an invaluable THANK YOU to the #Entrepreneurs who shared their stories leading to the quotes here.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOKS by Dr Beem Beeka & Doo Beeka @Amazon
DOCTORATE THESIS
3. Beeka, B. H (2015) Entrepreneurship as a Viable Career Choice for Nigerian Youth. Sheffield Business School, Sheffield Hallam University Doctor of Philosophy Thesis.
JOURNALS
SHEFFIELD DOCTORAL CONFERENCE: WON BEST PAPER
6. Beeka,
B. (2011) Entrepreneurship as a career choice: Opportunity recognition model
from an emerging economy. In Lee, B
and Palmer, N.J (Eds) Sheffield Doctoral
Conference Proceedings, pp. 19-36. Sheffield: The University of Sheffield
Management School Research Office.
#LEAD #ECC #Career #Intrapreneurship #Entrepreneurship
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