Traits of an Entrepreneur Who Can Start a Business in Africa
Do you feel confident in your entrepreneurial skills? Can you withstand the storms of starting up a business in Africa? Is the idea of total financial freedom appealing to you? If you answered yes to all three, you should capitalize on the resources and opportunities in Africa to create a booming source of income.
If you don’t feel convinced yet, here are 22 traits that indicate you are ready to tread the path of an African entrepreneur.
1. You have a sense of organization
Running a business requires specialized skills, abilities, and knowledge. At a certain stage of its development, you would have to consult experts such as lawyers or accountants.
But in the beginning, chances are, you will rely on yourself to track cash flow, delegate enough responsibility to your people, or pitch your startup to investors yourself. You will not be able to carry out your mission properly without being well organized.
2. You are aware of the importance of the seizing business opportunities
Competition is weak in Africa, if not non-existent, in all sectors of activity and the most basic needs are important: to dress, move, consume, or communicate. If you are a daring entrepreneur, you will be able to meet the needs of consumers in the huge market that constitutes the African continent.
3. You feel the need to help people
Helping each other is part of African culture. If you have this powerful desire to help people by providing products and services tailored to their needs, that too is a clear sign of your potential to run a business. This desire to help people improve their daily lives makes it possible to better combine the joys and sorrows that a startup boss knows in his obligations. The strongest companies in the world are those that have been able to respond to a real need, for a product that everyone is raving about.
4. You want to create jobs
In an African economic context where the authorities are sparing no effort to implement structural reforms likely to promote job creation, you have a very special thought for some of your former colleagues and university comrades in search of a new job, people with whom you have shared exceptional and strong moments.
If you have complete confidence in them and recognize their talents, you can help them out by creating a company that can hire them.
5. You have a strong sense of conviction
You can be confident that you can build a much better business. You are no doubt overconfident. However, your strong belief that you can sustain and grow your business better than anyone in the world will give you momentum.
6. You always wanted to be your own boss
Whether you are obsessed with wanting to control everything or can't stand taking orders at work, you are particularly determined to become a business owner.
7. You are able to inspire others
You are the person to turn to for advice in difficult times. If you love this role, owning your own business gives you the opportunity to inspire those around you to start their own business.
8. You hate sitting behind a desk
If you feel like you are locked in a cage at your workplace, get out there and work on your own at a location of your choosing.
9. You have never been afraid of failure
As a business owner, you are likely to experience a lot of setbacks. If you are still keen to start your business, you can learn from your past setbacks to better bounce back.
10. There are talent in Africa
Whether you are a member of a network of African students or someone who has already started working, you are surrounded by qualified and competent teams.
You can encourage them to join your startup by offering them, for example, an opening to the company's capital and a working environment that is stable, pleasant, and stimulating.
11. You are a born leader
Having a great concept is one thing, knowing how to communicate it and rally people to it is another. If you have the leadership to bring together and motivate your troops, you may want to consider starting your own startup.
12. You are a lover of thrills
Some don't like to take risks, others are more adventurous. Nothing seems more exciting to you than to find a good business idea and to commit yourself fully until its realization, throughout the entrepreneurial adventure with its ups and downs.
13. You show a great sense of resourcefulness
If you manage to accomplish things in everyday life without having to resort to substantial means, do not hesitate to put your talents and skills to work in a professional environment where you could make all the difference.
14. You are pragmatic
You are one of those people who think that thinking too deeply can cut off your momentum and cripple your action. You give yourself a short time to make your startup project a reality. If you find that overthinking can kill your momentum, adopt this slogan: “Act first. Then think.”
15. You are motivated
You don't need to surround yourself with people who impart infectious energy and abundant enthusiasm to you. You wake up every morning and go to great lengths to come up with solutions without external intervention. Your personal commitment will play a key role in the success of your project.
16. You can afford to take risks
Being single and living alone without children gives you every chance to fully experience your entrepreneurial adventure. If, on the contrary, you have family ties, you must make sure that your relatives support you.
17. You have a remarkable work ethic
Your principles allow you to materialize your dreams and achieve your goals with ease. Why not put them at the service of your startup of which you would be the founder and manager?
18. You set your own hours
You are used to working at your own pace to “break” the routine and be less stressed. An arrangement of working time that gives you the status of a business manager gives you the opportunity to enjoy a better quality of life: more personal time for your loved ones or vacations, resulting in better productivity.
19. You like to engage in the unknown
You recognize yourself in these profiles of people who make uncertainty not a problem, but a solution, because you fight your ignorance in order to progress. The higher your level of uncertainty, the more you will seek to learn and understand, and you will be in a position to anticipate, adapt and act. As an entrepreneur, this state of mind would allow you to understand negotiations, with a view to signing a major contract.
20. You are ready to take on new challenges
You are no doubt in the throes of insurmountable difficulties in your current job, at the risk of feeling bored. The path, even successful, of an entrepreneur is also strewn with pitfalls. In this respect, the entrepreneurial challenge is perhaps more in line with your expectations.
21. You want to acquire new skills
Some people have an insatiable desire to improve and a constant thirst for learning. As an employee, the risk of doing the same job for many years is great. Conversely, you could achieve your goals if you put on the costume of a business leader.
22. You want to ensure your own job security
One of the worst things in the world that can happen to you is working for someone else who is inclined to fire you without qualms at the slightest opportunity or when your startup is sold entirely to investors. Starting your own business could guarantee you job security.
If this is you, you already know you should waste no time in taking your ideas to the market. Provide the value only you know how best to, and create jobs . The end is a life filled with profit and job security for you and .
If this is you, you already know you should waste no time taking your ideas to the market. Provide the value only you know how best to and create those jobs. The end is a life filled with profit and job security.