Why become a Student Entrepreneur?

Why become a student entrepreneur?

                                     – Jumoke Idowu

“Entrepreneurship prepares students for long-term academic and work achievement. If you’ve got an idea, the university is an ideal opportunity to pursue it.”

                                                                                 – Emerson Csorba

As the 2021/2022 academic year is well and truly underway, many students will still be considering what clubs they might join. On the campus, debating, journalism, drama, and philosophy are among the most obvious pursuits. Of course, these activities are worthwhile in that they promote qualities such as persistence and creativity – valuable ingredients both personally and professionally.

However, there is another field – that of entrepreneurship – that has been gathering momentum in recent years.

Indeed, entrepreneurship is an activity that cannot only enhance students’ success academically but strengthen confidence and instill qualities and skills conducive to success upon graduation.

Even though Entrepreneurship can be a stressful pursuit when undertaken alongside your studies, the rewards can enrich a traditional university experience. Student entrepreneurs gain hands-on experience with their education and grow their networks. However, such students have no choice but to become more diligent with their study time. Going by the words of Sir Richard Branson who once said that “Starting young is good, you can either learn through failing, as I did, or you can learn by being successful.”

 Entrepreneurship has inspired many students to learn about fields outside of their primary interests – politics and development – spending time in lectures on topics such as hi-tech, synthetic biology, and artificial intelligence.

In an increasingly interdisciplinary world, solutions to seemingly intractable problems will be solved by bringing together business, government, and charities. Students with the ability to think across disciplines and sectors prepare themselves for long-term success.

Traditionally, becoming an entrepreneur has been viewed as a risky endeavor. But with public figures including Oprah, Dangote, and other entrepreneurs serving as public role models in the United States of America, the U.K, and Africa, there has never been a better time to chart one’s course.

University is a formative and tremendously exciting time when students meet countless people, are exposed to new ways of thinking, and, in the process, come to better understand themselves.

Entrepreneurship, now one of the world’s great advantages, adds an entirely new dimension to university studies. Fresher and continuing students alike have never been more able to see their ideas become reality and generate meaningful change in the process.

The Survival of the 21st Century Black Youth in a Competitive Environment

One of the challenges of living in the ‘IT (Information Technology)’ that is changing faster and faster is the average person’s inability to handle all of the change. It is even more challenging as we now step into the ‘Innovation Age’.

Let us confront you with these characteristics of the 21st Century. Simply put:

• In an economy (national or global) driven by innovation and knowledge …

• In marketplaces engaged in intense competition and constant renewal …

• In a world of tremendous opportunities and risks …

• In a society facing complex business, political, scientific, technological, health, and environmental challenges …

• In diverse workplaces and communities that hinge on collaborative relationships and social networking …

• In this age of creativity…

• The best employers of the world over are looking for the most competent, most creative, and most innovative people on the face of the earth and are willing to reward them with top pay for their services…

Therefore, ingenuity, agility, competence, innovation, and skills are some of the major tools that are necessary for any youth to survive or to be heard or to make any meaningful impact in this present 21st Century competitive environment.

Black’s Youngest and Most Promising Entrepreneurs

Presently, there is an emergence of some of black’s youngest and most promising entrepreneurs. There are a rising number of young African Americans and Africans who are building fast-growing companies in food manufacturing, engineering, technology, hospitality, and any other industry you can think of. They are creating wealth as well as jobs, paying taxes, igniting the entrepreneurial spark among their peers, and most importantly, playing vital roles in the continent’s economic transformation.

It is a great opportunity to showcase some of these young promising rising stars in Africa. One hopes that Afro Scholars will join these potential leaders.