Panellists at an Absa Bank Webinar on Unlocking the power of entrepreneurship, have jointly advocated for young entrepreneurs to show dedication and consistency to their craft in order to generate success.
The webinar, which is organised monthly by Absa Bank, rides on the organisation’s Ready-to-Work initiative – an online learning platform that equips the youth with foundational soft skills required to transition from school into the world of work.
Overall, the Ready-to-work curriculum utilises modern tenets of entrepreneurship, leadership and financial management to empower today’s youth in navigating the challenging environment of today’s workplace and engendering success. The panellists explored a diversity of issues on entrepreneurship, including how young businesses can overcome key challenges such as access to funding, inadequate capacity building and skills development, among others.
All over the world, the concept of entrepreneurship is transforming many economies. In Ghana, entrepreneurship has become a key contributor to economic growth and an avenue for job creation in the country. Most business analysts see it as the future driver of Ghana’s transition to a higher middle income status country. However, outstanding challenges still exist.
Commenting on the webinar, Audrey Abakah – Head of SME banking at Absa Bank, urged young entrepreneurs to ensure they have the right structures and strategy in place to access funding from financial institutions.
“Entrepreneurs must be willing to create an enabling environment for their businesses to pass the funding test of most banks in Ghana. Banks have expectations of businesses they fund, and young startups must recognise that a lot of work has to go into making their propositions viable to attract more funding,” she said.
Kuukua Adams, Chief Executive of Clay Group – a management consultancy firm, implored young businesses to understand the industry they are in; research into how to thrive; and also seek advisory services and direction if they are to succeed. “Ask yourself whether the market really needs what you are selling, and whether you have resolved all the legal and contractual nuances associated with maintaining a sustainable business,” she said.
On the issue of creating and keeping customers for small businesses, the panellists urged businesses to nurture and show commitment to their customers every step of the way in order to remain sustainable.
The Ready-to-Work webinar series has become a leading platform for empowering and equipping the Ghanaian youth with financial, entrepreneurial, work and people skills as they transit from school into the world of work. It is a key initiative under Absa Bank’s education and skills development pillar of its ‘role in society’ agenda.
