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1. Lack of discipline

Discipline, over the years, has played a vital role in many success stories of  entrepreneurs. Millions of people look at the achievements of Henry Ford and envy him, but discipline contributed largely to this great success story. Ford set his mind to make automobiles affordable to the average American household and achieved this dream by committing himself day and night to this course until he built his multi-billion dollar empire. In this scenario, he paid the price and reaped the benefits. Behind every success story lies a successful mastery of one’s chosen course, which requires this element of discipline.

2. Inadequate foresight

Foresight refers to the “ability to see the future outcome of one’s present decisions”. This ability helps the entrepreneur plan a business successfully on an effective day-to-day basis, which would lead to a fruitful future outcome. Inadequate foresight caused a great country like America to be driven into a market crisis, and Ghana to experience successive periods of load-shedding of electricity. Foresight is a very critical element in the running of a business, thus an entrepreneur without foresight can be likened to an aeroplane without adequate fuel to reach his destination.

3. Understanding competition

In this era of globalization, companies are in constant competition with each other, even across country and continental borders. This competition is so fierce that developing and developed countries are on a levelled field in the competitive battle in the business world. An entrepreneur who chooses to neglect this highly crucial factor would be forced out of business. Entrepreneurs, therefore, should consider this in their planning.

4. Procrastination

This, they say is the thief of time. Postponing events and deadlines leads to an information overload. Procrastination contributes to major setbacks in the life of the entrepreneur. When an entrepreneur discovers an idea or a business opportunity which has to be taken advantage of, procrastination, if allowed to set in, causes that opportunity to go to waste. In business, choices are to be made. These choices are also time-framed and some are not available forever. If an entrepreneur wishes to make his mark in the minds and hearts of his followers as well as his generation, then procrastination should not be part of his dictionary.

5. Ignorance

With the inflow of high-tech devices (the discovery of the Internet, fast transportation systems, the mobile phone and many others), knowledge has increased so much over the past two decades making information widely accessible. In this highly competitive era, which is usually referred to as the Information Age, a modern entrepreneur has to take it upon himself to be adequately equipped in his field of endeavour. This knowledge, if adequately used, would make the entrepreneur  a master in his/her field and lead to an assurance of success. A friend once taunted Abraham Lincoln asking him why he read so much. “Education has been of no help in earning a living,” he said. “I am not educating myself to earn a living,” Lincoln made it clear. “I am trying to find out what to do with a living if I ever earn it.”

6. Inadequate planning

To be assured of success, you must have plans, which are faultless. Thomas A. Edison “failed” ten thousand times before he perfected the incandescent electric bulb. That is, he met with temporary defeat ten thousand times, before his efforts were crowned with success. When we were growing up, we were always told that ‘practice makes perfect’ (which was very wrong). Practice does not make one perfect, but perfect practice makes perfect. Perfect practice can, however, not be attained until one subjects himself to the act of planning adequately before taking an action. In planning, an entrepreneur should divide his goals into three parts. Long-term, medium-term and short-term goals. In attaining the long-term goals, which are the final aims of his/her business, one should compare those goals with the immediate short-term day-to-day decisions and see whether they are aligned to those goals. The business of an entrepreneur, as well as all the factors involved, such as the labour, capital and the like should be re-examined regularly to ensure long-term success.

7. Bad control measures

Control measures are checks, which make sure that the business does not lose its focus. These checks are to be documented in the company rules and regulations, as well as in the business plan of the company or agency. An entrepreneur should make a mission statement, which is to serve as the map to his/her business to ensure that the expected future of the company is attained. These control measures are put in place to make sure that the goals are achieved. When they are defaulted, then ruin sets in. An entrepreneur who wants to have a taste of success should make sure that these control measures are put in place and made to function properly.

8. Lack of capital

Capital resources needed by the entrepreneur are mainly in the form of funds. Funds are also rarely accessible these days because potential investors are getting too many business plans and opportunities to invest their money into. Entrepreneurs who want to make it can generate capital by two main methods. The first method is to work and save towards it, which happens to be the rather longer method and is inapplicable in some cases due to the magnitude of the needed capital. The second is to approach venture capital firms for assistance. Approaching these firms for assistance requires a lot of convincing and a good business plan. Anyone who wants to make it by this method should be good in the art of communicating effectively in person and especially on paper.

9. Giving up too early

When Saraste, famous Spanish violinist, had given an exceptionally brilliant performance, a critic acclaimed him a genius. “Genius!” exclaimed Saraste. “For thirty-seven years I have practised 14 hours a day, and now they call me a genius.” In the life of a business, there are always times where one faces challenges, which when not controlled, may lead to the end of the business.  Entrepreneurs face so many challenges from the start-up stages of getting all the needed materials through the sustainability of the business to other unforeseen challenges which may come about as a result of factors which cannot be controlled. An entrepreneur who seeks to make the most out of his dreams must have it at the back of his mind to keep seeking after his dream, irrespective of the challenges which are faced.

10. Knowing when to stop

When an entrepreneur has a dream which he/she wants to follow, the examined idea should be examined to see how viable or beneficial it is. Some dreams or ideas are not workable and should not be followed.

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The general picture of Africa in the mid 1990s is that of a region full of enormous potential to be an economic giant in the world. Its human and natural resources have barely been tapped. However, in the global arena, Africa still stands out as a continent engulfed in civil and political conflicts, poor economic performance and deepening poverty.

We must increase global attention on the plight of African people! I wish I had the money and power to do so, but we are obliged to do what we can with what resources we have, and I believe your passion combined with mine will do just that.

Too many people drag the past around with them as unnecessary excess baggage and too many others dream of a future they cannot find a way to make happen. The only time we really have to work is with the here and now. This is where we tear down the real or perceived barriers and replace them with bridges from the past to the future. We determine our own future by the choices and decisions we make in the present based on what we have learned from the past and our current situation.

It seems to me that in Africa, we must create a generation of Champions of Change from so many victims of circumstance. The young people are the hope and future of Africa. Our generation has it all wrong, waiting on the more developed countries to come to Africa’s assistance. It hasn’t worked. The cries of infants suffering and dying have fallen on deaf ears in the developed countries. I believe the media is the key. We must find ways to develop people from the inside out, determined to shape their own future while, at the same time, using the media to raise the awareness level of people in the more developed countries. Change will not come through governments or even international organizations. It will only come from people like us reaching out to each other as brothers and sisters.

Reading the history of Asia, I have learnt of the “development” taking place there and there is a valuable lesson for the African people to be learned from the emerging Asian countries as they “modernize”. That lesson is that we cannot afford to sacrifice the past for the future. We cannot afford to lose the traditional values and ways of any ethnic group in the interest of a few dollars. I see that happening Africa and it breaks my heart.

If Africa is to realize its incredible potential, it must not sell its culture and wonderful history in the process. That is, to me, nothing less than moral prostitution and is totally unacceptable. We have a major, major crisis in Africa today. The total decimation of entire populations of adults has brought about a terrible situation. Where are the young people supposed to learn values and principles? You have so many young people left without parents, abused and used for selfish and greedy purposes. These are the real victims and Africa will take a long time to recover from the gap that has been created in recent years. To me, the moral wounds are more severe than the physical ones, though both are connected. Confucius once said that you cannot teach philosophy to a hungry man. This is something I agree with.

One of the problems here is that people in the West do not believe that peace is possible in Africa. Many Africans feel the same and no one could blame them for their lack of faith and hope based on what they have experienced and are seeing take place all round them today. As long as they believe that peace is not possible, it never will be. That’s the first step. It is time for all African people to stop using weapons of war to destroy one another and begin using the mind and heart to form their own coalition to take control of their own destiny. You do not need Western governments and corporations coming in to lead the way down their path. That path is not what the African people need. It is a suicide run. What is taking place in the world today, which many refer to as globalization, is nothing more than economic colonisation. It is the subjugation of the poorer nations and their people, a stripping of their natural resources, and enslavement to none other than the almighty dollar. And that’s the point. People have replaced God and spirituality with money. That’s the philosophical side of things. This war on terrorism in which we are engaged is partly our own doing. We have to address the issues that created this intense hatred of America and the West while defending ourselves against those who would kill innocent civilians, women and children. It is a paradox and an irony that has most world leaders today baffled, but it is also reality. And so simple. It is we humans who are complicating it, and this is the reason for so much frustration. People in the West tend to look at Africa and see so much that is overwhelming rather than seeing it as a continent of individual souls and human spirits connected not only to each other throughout history, but also with themselves. Until we all make, it none of us do!

On the practical side, we need to work with the current victims. We need to teach them how to eradicate the wars and poverty and sickness that is wiping out millions of people at such a rate that it is astounding. We need to put an end to the conflicts which no one wins in the end. We need to direct the power of the human mind towards taking care of those who cannot take care of themselves, while building nations based on mutual trust and respect. That is how we end war, not with more guns and ammunition. It is true that violence breeds violence and never leads to peaceful resolution. History can teach us that if we but look at the truth, and not the way, it is recorded by the victors.

The Native American Indians learned that lesson the hard way. The more they tried to “become white” the more they lost in the process. Those who have survived the genocide that took place in many countries only managed to do so by holding onto the old ways while adapting to the evolving situations. Those who did not, perished. That is not to say that the West doesn’t have something to offer, however, something the Middle Eastern terrorist groups have lost sight of. You don’t have to take all that the West has to offer, just what you need to assist you in attaining your goals. You don’t have to remake Africa in the likeness and image of a country like America, but our principles of individual freedom and basic human rights are something that you need to instil in African people everywhere. That’s what’s missing - a basic understanding of and appreciation for the true gift of life, the human spirit.

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• Only 6% of refugee students are enrolled in secondary education, and even fewer opportunities exist for internally displaced youth.
  ^{(Women’s Commission, p. iii)}
• At least 6 million children have been seriously injured or permanently disabled by armed conflict.
  ^{(UN Office of the Secretary-General for Children of Armed Conflict, 2005)}
• ⁵⁾
• 300,000 children serve as child soldiers in armed conflicts, 40% of them girls.
  ^{(UNICEF. State of the World’s Children 2005)}
• From 2005 to 2006 the number almost doubled, from 6.6 million to 12.8 million, for Internally Displaced Persons receiving protection and assistance from UNHCR .
  ^{(United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 2006)}
• Of almost 14 million refugees and IDPs around the world, 45% of them are under the age 18, and 48% of those are girls.
• In Darfur, in northern Sudan, only 39% of primary-aged children are enrolled in school.
  ^{(Ministry of Education, Sudan)}
• In Liberia, after 14 years of conflict, an estimated 60% of primary school students are over-age. This can lead to increased dropout rates and it also discourages families from sending their younger children to school, especially their girls, if there are over-aged boys in school. Because children in conflict-affected countries are prevented from starting school until they are older, there is often an above-average age school population.
  ^{(Save the Children UK, 2005)}
• Only 1.5% of the total global humanitarian contributions in 2004 went toward education
  ^{(Women’s Commission, p. v, based on ReliefWeb)}
• Donors pledged just 37% of the $46 million requested for education through the UN consolidated appeals process in 2002 - excluding appeals for Afghanistan.
  ^{(Women’s Commission, p. v, based on ReliefWeb)}

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