BY
DANIEL BULUSSON, ESQ
“Entrepreneurship is not just about making money…
Think of an entrepreneur as someone who hungers to see transformation, and goes
out to do something about it in an innovative and sustainable way…” Strive Masiyiwa
The
concept of who an entrepreneur is, most often than not, is referred to a person
who owns a business. To most Nigerians, a person must have resources and established
a business/company, be the chief executive officer, the boss, the one running the
show, and all that to be an entrepreneur. While this is true to a particular
perspective of the concept, it is not the only meaning of being an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurship
when looked at in another perspective can be an attitude to work, meaning; a person
can be an employee of another and still act as an entrepreneur, running the
affairs of the business on a daily basis as if he/she owns the business. In the
words of businessdictionary.com, an entrepreneur is “someone who exercises
initiative by organizing a venture to take benefit of an opportunity and, as
the decision maker, decides what, how, and how much of a good or service will
be produced”.
An
entrepreneur under the employ of another is one who goes to work daily looking
for creative ways to grow the business, like it is his/her own, while an
employee who is only concerned with the monthly income and nothing more, is a
staff with nothing more. Which begs the question, of what benefit is it to an
employee to handle the affairs of a law firm as his personal business? In
addition, how does a young wig act as an entrepreneur to a boss or principal
partner that does not encourage such efforts?
Firstly,
an employee who acts as an entrepreneur has already begun to learn the ropes of
being a boss; he/she will understand and make better decisions about the
business, than an employee who pays no attention to the growth of the firm. In
the future, when an entrepreneur is no longer under the employ of an another
and decides to establish his/her own firm, such person would be better prepared
for the challenges, than the ordinary staff whose only interest is the monthly
salary. If one can contribute to the success of another man’s business, imagine
what he/she would do when running his/her own personal business.
To
answer the second question, this writer will borrow the words of Strive
Masiyiwa in his article ‘It’s time you become an entrepreneur’, if your boss or
principal partner in the case of a law firm, does not encourage a young wig
coming up with ideas or to express his/herself as an entrepreneur, that is the
opportunity to start thinking about how to change that. Begin to act as an
entrepreneur, and work towards changing that situation to fit your purpose in
the legal profession, every individual has his/her own peculiar challenges that
require different approaches, as such, each legal practitioner has different
entrepreneurial decisions to make things better.
In
reference to the legal profession, a young wig ought to go to work daily with
the mindset of an entrepreneur, take the job as your own, arrange appointments
and cases in your diary according to your productivity level, do research on
cases as you would do yours, arrange your time and schedule in a manner that
will provide optimal result. The idea is to work like a boss while under the
employ of another, to be a good leader in the future, one must be a good
follower today, and the best way to follow, is to be a team player that can be
depended upon for result.
Acting
as an entrepreneur does not only benefit the legal practitioner, but also the
law firm in general. A law firm that pays attention to the efforts of its staff
cannot overlook a resourceful young wig; he/she would be better placed in
affairs of the law firm than the casual worker who just warms his/her office desk
from 8am – 5pm.
In
sum, for improved personal development, and a better independent future in the
legal profession, a young wig ought to be an entrepreneur in approach and
attitude to work.
Godspeed!
Do send your comment{s}, observation{s}
and recommendation{s} to danielbulusson@gmail.com or like us on www.facebook.com/younglaywerscolumn
