A Business Development Coach, Mr. Prince Ackuaku has urged the youth to seek assistance and advice from coaches and specialists to have sustainable start-ups and Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Businesses (MSMEs).
According to the Development Coach, business planning, research and hands-on training are very key in business survival apart from finance.
Mr. Ackuaku, who is also a banker, in an interview indicated that MSMEs constituted about 85 percent of businesses in Ghana, adding that: “As such, their sustenance is critical to economic development and employment creation.”
Mr. Ackuaku was concerned that most MSMEs tend to fizzle out in a brief time due to a myriad of challenges, including access to finance and market, lack of proper book keeping and inadequate research.
However, the business development coach noted that those challenges could be surmounted when young people in business or those who intend to operate MSMEs seek assistance from business coaches.
“A business coach is helpful in setting goals and developing a strategic plan, over a certain period to achieve set targets. The coach will assist you get direction about your goal and clarify all the issues to be able to stay in business.
“The coach also helps you to avoid the pitfalls. What the University gives individuals is a broad understanding of the business world and operations, but it doesn’t automatically make you a business graduate – that’s why mentorship is important.”
Mr. Prince Ackuaku
Mr. Ackuaku encouraged young and start-up entrepreneurs to seek succour from business coaches, and not to sit back with the intention of getting a consultant to do things for them.
A Call On Government To Help Promote MSMEs
The Business Development Coach has called for the right environment to be created by the Government for MSMEs to thrive.
“MSMEs employ a lot of people, contribute to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and production in the economy to enhance the living standards of people. So, government policy and business regulations should be geared towards helping them.”
Mr. Prince Ackuaku
He added that: “If it is business registration, government can indicate that when one is starting-up, a one-page business registration can be done, then after six months or a year, then more elaborate registration can be done.”
Mr. Prince Ackuaku also called on the Government to support business incubation centres, whose work has also become critical for start-ups in recent years.
Among others, the incubators, he said, help people with book keeping, marketing, financial strategies and operational scale up – which is critical to business survival, therefore, must be encouraged.
Mr. Ackuaku finally disclosed that there are opportunities to be explored in the agricultural sector, and the post Covid-19 period has brought up more businesses in the hospitality, pharmaceuticals and travel and tour businesses, among others.
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