Entrepreneurship & How to choose your God-given talent

What the bible says…

•Whatsoever your hand finds to do, do it with thy might, for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, where you are going – Ecclesiastes 9:10
•And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and every other creature upon the face of the earth-Genesis 1:28
•What are you created for?..God does not want us to live without purpose on earth!

Entrepreneurship
•Entrepreneurship has its root in the word “entrepreneur”, which originates from the french word “entreprendre”, which means “to undertake”. It simply means to find a work for yourself”.
•Basically, the concept of entrepreneurship is understood as a combination of creativity and knowledge. It is the dynamic process of creating incremental wealth.
•Therefore, entrepreneurs are the great achievers of our society who have the courage, determination and belief in themselves to pursue a dream, to overcome obstacles, to nurture ideas to fruition.

Talents
•According to the dictionary, a talent is a group of aptitudes useful for some activity…but I would rather say talents are gifts from God, given by God to man to serve God and humanity.
•They are the gifts that someone has quite naturally, to do something that others may not be able to do.
•Talents are inestimable treasures. They are dominant gift(s) that emerges consciously or unconsciously.
•Identify those things that you can do with ease, passion and enthusiasm.
•Identify those who are great, study their life styles and think and behave like them…

HOW ENTREPRENEURS THINK & BEHAVE
•Research has shown that the modern day entrepreneur is that individual who believes in himself and his ability to dream big and pursue such dreams with vigour, drive and energy without being afraid of failing.
•An example of such people is Richard Brandson, who is one of the leading industrialists in Europe today. He started as a mail order clerk, but dissatisfied with his status, and nursing a passion to excel in life, he begun his business from a telephone booth. Today, he sits on a giant multi-billion conglomerate that has among its products, Virgin Airlines, Virgin soft drinks, virgin cosmetics, virgin rail and a host of other product lines that are in high demand today!
•Entrepreneurs are visionary in nature. They are like Eagles. They can see what others can’t see. They perceive through their sub-conscious minds what a situation, place or environment should look like. They develop their talents from within. They are goal-getters. They take risks in life. They maximize every opportunities that present themselves, even in the face of challenges and discouragements.
•They are problem solvers. They delight in finding solutions to every problem related to human existence.
•The ability to think is the greatest asset of a true entrepreneur. Thought is a product of dream, dream is a product of ideas.
•Ideas, no doubt rules the world. So, what is in your mind?

START WITH WHAT YOU HAVE
•The largest businesses in the world today were started by little and unknown people who had great visions for their tomorrow.
•George Eastman 1854-1932 George Eastman made photography an amateur sport. When competition in the camera industry heated up, he shifted his attention and created the film roll, which replaced cumbersome glass plates that required more complicated processing. The innovation also became the basis for motion picture film. Eastman obtained a patent for a camera to use the film roll and later developed the Eastman’s Kodak Brownie, which sold for $1, making it possible for average people to create their own Kodak moments.
•Quote: “Price yourself into a mass market.”

ENTREPRENEURS WHO DEVELOPED THEIR GOD-GIVEN TALENTS
•Steve Jobs b. 1955 The Apple Inc. story is a well-documented one; Steve Wozniak combined his computing genius with Steve Jobs’ marketing prowess and, Apple was born. Ultimately, their impact was to make personal computing much more user-friendly, while their entrepreneurial talent was in creating product loyalty and in owning every aspect of the computer. When Wozniak and Jobs built their first Macintosh, they had no idea of the impact it’d have on user-friendly personal computing. Then came their revolutionary operating system, which gave users a desktop, windows and a mouse. If it weren’t for these elements, we might still be using a C: prompt.
•Conquering both the hardware and software worlds was quite a feat, but Apple took it another step. Since Jobs’ return as CEO and the subsequent reinvention of the brand, Apple has led the digital music revolution, selling more than 110 million iPods and 4 billion songs from its iTunes online store. (Apple announced in February that iTunes is the No. 2 music retailer in the United States, behind mega-retailer Wal-Mart.) Apple even entered the mobile phone market successfully with its revolutionary iPhone. No other competitor has conquered so many markets with the panache that Apple Inc. has, and that wouldn’t have been possible without Steve Jobs. Jobs also founded Pixar Animation Studios (originally The Graphics Group, which he bought from George Lucas) and served as CEO until it was acquired by Walt Disney Company in 2006, making Jobs the largest individual Disney shareholder.
•Quote: “Half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the nonsuccessful ones is pure perseverance. Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
•Asa Candler (1851-1929) Asa Candler saw the potential in a little tonic syrup mixed with water and baking soda and created the international phenomenon called Coca-Cola. Invented by pharmacist John Pemberton, Candler came up with the idea to premix the ingredients and bottled the drink for individual sale. Their little enterprise became one of the largest manufacturers, distributors and marketers of nonalcoholic beverages in the world, largely through their brilliant marketing and merchandising. From its first advertisements in the Saturday Evening Post to its introduction of plastic soft drink bottles, Coca-Cola under Candler’s influence is a key example of what works in effective marketing.
•Quote: “Aggressive marketing, unique brands and stylish packaging go a long way.”
•Thomas Alva Edison 1847-1931
He gave us the light bulb, the phonograph, motion picture projector and more than 1,300 other patented inventions, but Thomas Alva Edison is considered one of history’s greatest entrepreneurs for his ability to develop the profit potential of his creations. He was the first professional inventor who used the profits from his creations to fund further research and development, eventually establishing his R&D facility at Menlo Park, N.J.
•Quote: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.“
•The story of this man had become a source of inspirational sermons to many preachers and authors!

NIGERIAN YOUTH WHO DEVELOPED THEIR GOD-GIVEN TALENTS
•The CEOs and founders of Jobberman, Nairaland, Flying Doctors and Red Media are among the listed 30 under 30 Best Young Entrepreneurs in Africa by Forbes.
•According to Forbes, young entrepreneurs are changing the face of Africa and the list of the 30 Africans under 30 years old are of people making the most dramatic impact across the continent.
•Jobberman founders, Opeyemi Awoyemi, Olalekan Olude and Ayodeji Adewunmi, run the biggest job search engine and aggregator.
•Jobberman went live in August 2009, and today the site attracts over 50,000 unique users each day. Through simple, yet cutting-edge technology, Jobberman helps link qualified personnel to the right job opportunities. Jobberman is one of the few companies in Nigeria’s tech space that enjoy venture capital backing.
•Oluwaseun Osewa, is the founder of Nairaland which was described as the largest online forum in Africa. Nairaland now has close to 1 million registered users and is the most popular Nigerian website today. In Nigeria, Nairaland gets more visits than Wikipedia.
•Ola Orekunrin continues to make news as the founder of Flying Doctors, West Africa’s first Air Ambulance Service. Flying Doctors Nigeria provides urgent helicopter, airplane ambulance and evacuation services in Nigeria and other countries across West Africa.
•Chude Jideonwo and Adebola Williams, co-founders of The Future Project and Partners of Red Nigeria.
•Read more about Awoyemi, Olude and Adewunmi and Jobberman on their websites.

CONCLUSION
•To discover your purpose in life, you must turn your life to God’s word.
•By God’s endeavor, God has already supplied all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19)
•For the thoughts of God towards us are not evil but good, to give us our expectations( Jeremiah 29:11).
•Therefore, God has already made adequate provisions for your success in life, if you believe Him!
•May God lift you up in Jesus name.
•Remain rapturable till we meet again.

The Rev. Ayo Adebanwa
Diocese of Lagos Mainland
Ikate Circuit Youth-work Coordinator
E-mail: aadebanwa@yahoo.com
Tel: 08038320753; 08053491720

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