By: Arc
Level: 3
(3 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)
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The emboldened letters above form my reply to the much publicized “I’d rather be self made” campaign. It is becoming sickening the way entrepreneurs talk about “having a job”. If I should key into the trend of the 21st century, people with jobs are being “job-shamed” by the entrepreneur elites…Every corner there is someone bashing a 9-5, someone referencing Steve Jobs, Zuckerberg, Davido, Ikeji etc…I know they mean well, trying to inspire the young to break out of the chains convention has bound them with, get them to think outside the box…Quick questions though “Do you have to be so bashful about salary earning?” “Must you drive a desk job fellow to the famous suicidal bridge before you motivate others?” “Are you at all concerned that you are giving a very powerful sermon to a congregation full of unformed, unrefined and un-mentored minds?” Minds that lack in understanding as well as in wisdom…Minds that swallow all you say and fail to process thoughts accordingly, blindly following the “self-made” train…
Let’s delve into case scenarios; I’d do my best to keep it short…
“Divide your salary by 30 days and see what you get, see the funny thing about your salary plan. For example, (1) an average level-12 worker in the state government civil service earns N60, 000 and this translates to N2, 000 every day. This is less than the amount made daily by an average hawker in the city
(2) A freshly employed graduate banker in most Nigerian banks earns an average of N120, 000 i.e. N4, 000 as the daily value of work life which is less than the amount earned daily by an average driver in the city and in some villages.
(3) If you are a fresh graduate employee in some oil companies, you earn an average of N300, 000 monthly i.e. 10,000 daily which is less than the daily amount earned by an irrigation farmer supplying vegetables to Lagos markets or a truck driver.
When there is an issue in the family that requires financial assistance; the drivers, the hawkers and the rest looks up to you with a white collar job…Entrepreneurship is the way…Step away from that 9-5 and think about your life…Stop answering “sir” and become the boss…
See what they did there with the facts? They succeeded in making you resent your jobs. They have sown the seeds, 1 in every 5 youths would tow the “I-quit-my-job” route. Uninformed minds believe that hawking is better than a desk job…For real? Ever heard of smart work? Using the hawker example, if you sold N2, 000 from sale of bobo juice, is the N2, 000 your gain? Even when it is in fact your gain, how much goes to buying water to quench your thirst from the scorching sun? How much goes to buying towels to wipe the sweat? How much goes to treating malaria or headaches that arise from exposure to road vicious mosquitoes and blaring sirens? Their analogy looks like “fact” and it sure passes their message, their mission is to inspire but they can very easily lead people astray. Their talk should be geared towards refined minds and refined minds only, who can process what has been said and delve into taking calculated risks if need be. Let’s paint the picture of what circulating these “facts” indiscriminately can cause:
- Pamela, a straight A science student aspiring to become a petrochemical engineer gives her parents the middle finger, drops out of school and starts her Pam’s makeover campaign
- Chike, a 200 level pharmacy student uses his school fees to start the fish pond business…Doesn’t meet up payment and misses the entire session on account of this
Now Pamela can go on to become the best makeup artist the world has ever seen and rack in millions. She can also join the makeover gang, never break out to make millions and live her life off another human being-the beggar entrepreneur…It’s an odds game and imagine what it says for Pamela being a hungry petrochemical engineer; she can of course still end up broke but the odds are pretty favourable…Calculated risk taking for Pamela would be to complete her degree,earn a living and then use what she earns to start Pam’s makeover…Same goes for Chike…
Entrepreneurial lectures and seminars are great but I fault them for not telling the whole truth. It’s all for show and they blow up only the good stuff.
“I make so and so an hour.” “I answer to nobody.” “I’m not stuck at my desk 8-10 hours a day.”
They don’t tell you about all the years of hard work, I mean real hardcore work. They don’t tell you of all the nights they cried and prayed for a “paying” job. They don’t tell you of being dead broke, of all the times they failed…Their success always always seems overnight. Let no one deceive you that entrepreneurship ventures require less hours…Successful entrepreneurs work harder than any work force, round the clock without public holidays or sick leaves. Even while they famously sleep and earn, in their sleep they are working, their brain scheming how to remain relevant (big shots go under you know, re: Nokia, Mc Hammer, Black Faze). At work you can ask someone to cover for you, as an entrepreneur you get no such luxury; try convincing yourself that some nasty cough should deprive you from stacking “your” millions that day…At seminars tell the young unformed minds the gospel truth…
One genius, Brian Jonah Dennis had this to say on fb:
“Your Salary is the bribe they give you to forget your dreams” Bullshit
Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur. Don’t be deceived. Some people dream of receiving fat salaries every month. When that happens, invest in a business that works, you must not be an entrepreneur but you can have a side hustle attached to your fat salary.
Pogba has a fat salary, he’s not an entrepreneur and he is living his dream.
END OF STORY!
[HYDRA]
Only fault with above is surely Pogba is doing so much more with all the millions he is earning as a footballer and frankly he doesn’t really have to (risk of trying new ventures is close to negligible, he has football pay to fall back on). I’m sure he put that up in response to all those who shame 9-5ers and make it seem like there is a classification; entrepreneurs are gods, the rest are stupid mortals. Truth is we are all the same, we are trying to earn…Most 9-5ers have more entrepreneurial skills that the “self-employed” contingent. They even have the added advantage of having a non-beggarly source of capital. Working for someone is not laziness or lack of innovation. For a fact at the end of the day everyone is working for someone. That’s why you can not kick start your entrepreneurial idea on an island. The term “self-made” has been transformed to mean another thing; if I work in an organisation for 20 years, earn promotions and get into the big leagues, ain’t I self made?
Just do you…Everyone is built for something, entrepreneur or system worker…We need each other, only way society works…Stop spreading the gospel that young people just need to dream and dream and dream without actual work and hit big…People are falling victim to network/ponzi/pyramid schemes by the hour (another entrepreneur using others for his own profit claiming to sell entrepreneurship)
Entrepreneur: A person who organizes a risky activity of any kind—We all entrepreneurs, we organize the ultimate risky activity-“being alive.”
Since it all comes down to earning a living, moving forward and carving a niche I’d say no “thank you” to team I’d rather be self made—“I’D RATHER BE WELL PAID…” Well paid at whatever I am doing, whether it is working for someone or working on my own brand, WELL PAID is the language I speak…
(3 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)Loading...
Beautiful!
Thanks!
well said
I should share this…nice piece! !!
Now you twisting it. If I have a dream to earn big salary and then invest in a business then I am an entrepreneur. Most footballers are entrepreneurs, as the likes of Babayaro who didnt key into that when he was the highest paid African footballer. He is damn broke now. Maybe Jay Jay Okocha has a better story why been an entrepreneur is valueable, uhmmmm oh Ask Beckcham, no longer a footballer but he is still the richest after retirement. No, please remind me of Black face story, damn broke in Lagos because he relied solely on all the money he generated from music.
I think the advice enterpreneurs give to salary earners is worth it. Not fair to have one after retirement yet cannot afford to build his house or own a car. More lecturers and teachers have keyed into the idea and are now comfortable with or without salaries. They produce their books and have other businesses outside academics. Lemme image if they were fully dependent on just salary, Mehn with this government of no pay salaries for 4-8months? How would they survive? We ain’t saying you shouldn’t work for others but there must be a limit in which you have to stop working for others and start working for yourself. That’s how Wayne sees it.
Yup that’s how we roll…. Go FAM!!!
Wayne, that’s what the article says. Richie mentions that one can have a white collar job that can help finance his/her entrepreneurial pursuit.
For me, I think that what matters more is having an entrepreneurial mind. People who are entrepreneurial in their thinking are value-driven. They adopt critical thinking and embrace innovation and continuous improvement. They are the ones you see solving problems everyday and getting paid to do so regardless of whether they are the founders of the company or not. For example, Sheryl Sandberg is Facebook’s COO and author of Lean In. Being COO does not make her less important rather it shows that she is a value- driven individual.
Nice work Richie.