Start With What You Have, Entrepreneurs Counsel Trainees

Entrepreneurs have urged beneficiaries of the Cohort 3 Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme to start small, remain patient and beconsistent.

They were further advised to use the skills acquired to build sustainable businesses rather than waiting for huge capital.

The entrepreneurs gave the piece of advice over the weekend, at the Cohort 3 flag-off organised for beneficiaries on the Nyanya-Karshi Road corridor and within Mararaba and Masaka.

The training is being implemented under the World Bank’s IDEAS TVET project, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education.

At the ceremony, the training manager of the Zenou Development and Empowerment Initiative, Mrs Margaret Atsevah, said the programme was designed to equip unemployed people with practical skills to earn a living and become self-reliant.

Atsevah said the training was particularly significant because it had enabled training centres to provide skills development on a larger scale than they could previously afford.

“The project is about training people who have no jobs on hand with hands-on skills, so that they will have an income. Now, some people have been empowered and have acquired skills,” she said.

She said the beneficiaries were drawn from 14 training centres on the Nyanya-Karshi Road corridor, as well as in Masaka and Mararaba, with the number allocated to each centre determined by the capacity of its facilities.

According to her, some centres have 50 trainees, while others have 100, 150 or 200, with selected beneficiaries attending the flag-off ceremony.

Atsevah urged young people not to dismiss vocational training as a waste of time, stressing that patience and consistency were essential to achieving success.

“It is not a waste of time, and I advise them to take it seriously because it works. It helps,” she said.

According to Atsevah, young entrepreneurs should be willing to start with modest beginnings rather than waiting for large sums of money before taking action.

“The money that you make one day, huge money, just goes like that. But when you start small, when you are patient and start like this, when it comes, it stays forever. My advice is patience, and to be prayerful and faithful.”

Also speaking, entrepreneur Mrs Benedicta Emodi said the training opportunity was a privilege, noting that many entrepreneurs of her generation had learnt through experience without access to structured training or mentorship.

“You are very lucky. People like us had no opportunity to sit in this kind of class or have this kind of training,” Emodi said.

She encouraged the beneficiaries to take the programme seriously and use the knowledge acquired to establish businesses and achieve financial independence.

Emodi said she began her entrepreneurial journey more than two decades ago by making yoghurt, a skill she learned from her mother.

“I started a yoghurt business, and that was it. I didn’t go anywhere. I learnt it from my mother. I would make mistakes and correct them. From there, I was able to diversify into different things,” she said.

She urged the trainees not to be discouraged by mistakes, stressing that setbacks were part of the entrepreneurial journey.

“When you make one mistake, that’s not the end of life. Every day, keep showing up. Every day, keep trying it,” she said.

Emodi also challenged the beneficiaries to abandon the belief that they needed millions of naira before starting a business.

Another entrepreneur, Mrs Margaret Abekoy, urged the trainees to start from wherever they found themselves and continuously improve their skills through further training.

She advised the beneficiaries against waiting indefinitely for large capital before starting their businesses. “You cannot just sit one day and say, ‘I am waiting for big money to come before I start.’ It is not possible. You must start from somewhere,” Abekoy said.

She further urged the trainees to embrace continuous learning and mentorship, stressing that acquiring one set of skills should not mark the end of their development.