According to Jim Clifton, author “The Coming Jobs War”, while innovation was a good thing in the pipeline of job creation, it’s entrepreneurship that creates new customers by energizing the inventions.
One of the topics that have picked up in the country has to do with entrepreneurship. Kenya’s unemployment rate currently stands at 40 percent, 70 percent of those unemployed in the country are between the ages of 15 and 35.Though the government has been called to increase funds for capacity building, support training and development of youth entrepreneurs through entrepreneurial development, little has been done and especially in counties where corruption seems to be top on the agenda for the leaders rather than creating job opportunities.
There is a missing link between the potential young entrepreneurs and true success which is mentoring. I believe successful entrepreneurs have taken a backseat in this journey of guidance and especially the first phase of setting up a business. But then again it is a two-way relationship that requires young entrepreneurs to reach out to successful entrepreneurs and to network and learn from them. With proper guidance, many young people out there who have brilliant ideas will implement them and benefit from the vast opportunities that are waiting to be exploited. As much as everyone is looking toward been an entrepreneur there ought to be a link between their ideas with the market and make it realistic.
Romesh Wadhani founder of Symphony Technology Group launched a search for a new crop of entrepreneurs who can create the much-needed jobs in Kenya. The company for the last 18 months has been running a pilot locally to change the tact for creating jobs by tying up with major universities who identify top performing students turning them into renown entrepreneurs. If such programs were replicated in the market then there would be plenty of job creators and the high numbers of unemployment would decrease.
There needs to be a platform and a support system for potential entrepreneurs where they can be able to interact and that way the huge potential for entrepreneurship in Kenya would be attained. Though most people may want to quit once they experience failure a little guidance could be essential in getting over the first stage. Entrepreneurship requires a lot of patience and work and one ought to be willing to withstand the journey, but once you succeed I believe its all the way up.
If you want to be an entrepreneur you need to step out of the comfort zone and learn as much as you can and especially in the field that you desire. Take advantage of the devolution system that we have as a country and think of what is missing in your county and work on it.
This article was written by Capital Campus Contributor Minnie Grace.
