Risk-taking, an unavoidable reality for new businesses – Modey

Joseph Modey

Mr. Joseph Modey is the Lagos State Coordinator, National Directorate of Employment. In this interview with Okechukwu Nnodim, he describes risk-taking as a fixed reality which young entrepreneurs must cope with when starting and managing a business

What are some key functions  of the NDE?

The NDE carries out skill acquisition training for various individuals, including those in the vulnerable group, undergraduates, graduates and persons who may not have acquired much education. This is aimed at empowering citizens to be able to work and make earnings from what they do.

What do you mean when you say vulnerable groups?

When we say vulnerable groups, it covers quite a wide range. This is because the training covers people who have lost their husbands, orphans, those living with HIV/AIDS, and those who are physically challenged. The government, during the training of individuals in this category, often provide transportation stipend to help the beneficiaries in the process. Normally when we organise such a training programme, we know that the participants face problems of transportation to the training centres, so the government pays them monthly stipends in order to facilitate or assist them in transporting themselves to the training sites.

For individuals in this category, what are some of the skills you train them in and are these skills marketable?

The available skills training for participants in the vulnerable groups include leather/shoe making, soap making, tie and die, beads making and catering. This is has been our practice of raising adequate manpower for economical development in Nigeria. Also, the skills that were chosen were based on their market acceptance and the services which they offer to the Nigerian society at large. This approach was chosen because it is sustainable and rather than allowing the vulnerable individuals depend on their wards, they should be able to fend for themselves based on the skills acquired. So this is why we urge participants to put in their best, show enough passion to learning so as to come out in flying colours, and do well in their chosen carrier.

Many youths in the country today are unemployed; many others are not gainfully employed. What will your advice be to this group of citizens?

Nigerian youths have to accept the reality of the times, which is that, for now the usual paid employment or white collar jobs are virtually non-existent. And so the new approach that we are developing is to bring that reality to the knowledge of the youths and then ask them to look inwards. This is because most of our youths in this country today really have potentials for so many things that they may not have discovered yet.

This is so because they have spent most of their time in expectation for paid jobs. But based with the reality of the times, most of them have discovered that they are very good at quite a broad range of activities. These activities could lead to generation of employment, not only for themselves but for other younger ones that they could employ at the moment they deploy this hidden talent through self reliance and self employment.

What will you say to individuals who have the talents but are afraid of taking the risk to start up a venture?

All these fears are taken care of in the business plans that we make for them. We put them through basic entrepreneurship development programme and it is important to note here that risk is identified as one of the realities that you must cope with in starting and managing a business. What is essential is how to evaluate that risk, so that first of all, you know it exists and you know how to manage it appropriately in such a manner that even with its existence you can still come out tops. So it is part of the integral business management programme that we train youths on.

What are your three key investment principles?

What we do at the NDE is that we have experts in business management programme that expose these requirements to all intending entrepreneurs. Therefore all these knowledge is embodied in the training and our trainees cannot go into business without being informed of what is expected of them. This, of course, is to ensure that they do well in their various businesses and impact positively on the Nigerian economy. When this is achieved, unemployment will be reduced to an extent and the lives of some people will be better, which is a good thing not just to the beneficiaries but to us at the directorate and to the nation in general.

But on a personal note, if I am to advice someone on key business principles, I will ask him to study the business environment carefully and understand what it takes to do that business. He must make sure that the market for the services that he intends to render exists and generally he should be determined and focused in what he intends to do. He should also know that successful entrepreneurs are uncommon achievers that are driven by the need to achieve uncommon things. They always try to accomplish something difficult; they try to master, manipulate, or organise things adequately to meet a need. I will advise him to do these as rapidly and as independently as possible. He should work hard to overcome obstacles and attain a high standard and must try to excel and surpass others.

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