The Victory Business Summit and Fair, organized by the Presbyterian Church of Ghana – Victory Congregation, was held on Tuesday, Republic Day (1st July), at Adenta-Fafraha.
The summit, the fourth of its kind, is held on Repulic day every year, with the aim of providing entrepreneurial skills to those wishing to branch out and create their own businesses.
This year, the summit featured three eminent Ghanaian professionals, who spoke under the theme ‘Stepping Out on Your Own: Pitfalls and Opportunities.’
Dr. Kwasi Kodua Addai-Mensah, the former Director of World Vision International, spoke first and took participants through ‘Building Blocks for Setting up a Business.’
He shared skills on how to assess one’s readiness for setting out in business, and also gave the ‘5 C’s of Business’ which would require attention and consideration before setting out in business: Concept, Capacity, Customers, Competition and Cash flow.
He encouraged participants to keep God at the forefront of all their business planning and activities and to have “Positive Mental Attitude” (PMA), which would indicate that they have faith in their ability to succeed in their business venture.
The second speaker, Ms. Abena Amoah, the CEO of Baobab Advisors, spoke on the topic ‘Accessing and Managing Start-up Capital.’
She gave various means of sourcing funds for a business venture, including loans from banks, family and friends and introduced participants to ‘bootstrapping’, which is the term for ploughing profits back into the business to aid growth.
She also encouraged participants to expand their networks because, contrary to the old adage that says it is all about ‘who you know’, it is rather ‘who knows you’ that will invest in your business.
She further advised any person who started a business but failed, to not ‘drag out your failure, but fail and fail quickly so that you will rise up and try again’.
She asked participants to enter into business not only to create capital for themselves, but aim to create sustainable businesses to help their communities and thus “do God’s work.”
The third and final speaker, Prof. Samuel Kofi Sefa-Dedeh, who is the Chairman of the Millennium Development Authority and is also with the Department of Food Process Engineering at the University of Ghana, spoke on his ‘Life Experiences and Integrity’.
He warned participants against having a sole aim, when starting a business, of wanting to get rich, saying that such people tend to fall into temptation that takes them to ruin and destruction.
He added that it was therefore important for them to act with integrity in all their dealings.
Prof. Sefa-Dedeh used various Bible passages and actual events he had experienced to drum home his point and stated that in order to, honourably, stay away from being susceptible to bribery and corruption, they must follow laid-down processes which are transparent to all.
The Business Summit was followed up by the ‘Victory Business Fair,’ which showcased, close to forty entrepreneurs exhibiting goods and services.
Items for sale ranged from locally-made bead jewelry to locally processed foods, honey and sachet water. Clothing, a wide range of books and health services were also available.
Financial and Insurance service providers were also available at the summit for consultation.
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana