"Entrepreneurship is next to Godliness."

"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep the streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare composed poetry. He should sweep the streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.'"

-Martin Luther King Jr.

Participating in any G-Youth event will always increase your all-round personal value. You leave challenged and infused with divine energy to fulfil God's purpose on earth.

On the 10th of June, 2017, scores of G-Youth flocked to the Phenomenal Faith Cathedral, defying the rainy day in order to participate in the epochal G-Youth Leadership Empowerment Summit with Dr. Kofi Osei-Kusi. It was a time of elevation and enlightenment as the seasoned author and accomplished orator spoke on "Building your Entrepreneurial Skills."

The summit began at approximately 9:00 am with a glorious prayer session led by the G-Youth Prayer Directorate. Minister Bernard Sackey, a G-Youth National Deputy Programmes Director, had an informal session with participants in which he shared an interesting story with the audience:

A young guy in the university decided to dump his coins into one of his Timberland boots as savings. He felt that what he was doing was insignificant so he kept tossing in the coins when he came back to the room from town or lectures. In his mind, he was simply dumping change without wasting it. 

One day, his laptop's hard disk crashed and he was 'hot'. He needed money to get a new hard disk. As he thought about who to borrow from and how to raise the money for the hard disk, he remembered the coins in his Timberland boots. "Well, I might as well check out how much these coins are worth," he thought to himself.


He went to the bank and asked them to count the coins for him. The coins amounted to a whopping GHS 600.00. That was more than enough to settle the matter of getting a new hard disk.



A culture of savings will always yield beneficial results, especially in moments that you are financially pressed.

Asked about their expectations, one of the participants expressed her longing, saying, "I am here to acquire skills to develop my own business."

Minister Francisca Quansah, a G-Youth National Prayer Director, shared a great testimony on the impact of last year's summit. She indicated that having received inspiration from Dr. Van's session at Camp 2014 on the OTI (Offerings, Tithes and Investments), she got even more inspired to put what she learned to work when Dr. Van shared the same thing at last year's summit. She thus went ahead to do some insurance, which truly helped her when her father passed away and she had to organize the funeral. She indicated that when preparation meets opportunity, success is inevitable. She testified that as a result of the teaching she received she is never short of offerings when going to Church.

She encouraged participants to implement what they learn.

Apostle Albert Bartlett-Mingle exposed the purpose of the gathering. "We did not get opportunities like this when we were growing up," he began. He urged participants to determine to leave the summit empowered. He challenged, "It doesn't matter what you're doing now; you can pick an idea and work alongside the talent given you." He also entreated G-Youth present to focus and not to allow anything to distract them. Adding, he encouraged them to be ambassadors when they return after the summit.

The Executive President of the Osei Kusi Foundation, Dr. Kofi Osei Kusi, received the microphone and started his presentation, saying, "My name is Kofi Osei Kusi and I live to die for the youth."

He hinted that as an author he does a lot of research. He indicated that you don't write from your own intelligence but you must do a lot of studies. He pointed out that ordinary people speak their own thoughts but wise people speak the thoughts of many. He also noted that it is one thing to teach something but it's a completely different thing to be the thing you're teaching.

He shared that in the Church we have been taught that sowing and reaping are the keys to prosperity. However, sowing and reaping alone will not create wealth.

He noted that money is powerful and very important. He went on to talk about the power of entrepreneurship, saying that entrepreneurs are the most influential people on the face of the earth. They are more powerful than politicians, they create jobs and they are movers and shakers of the world. In addition, they have economic and financial power.

Dr. Osei Kusi emphasized, "It's not cleanliness that is next to godliness. Entrepreneurship is next to godliness." He said that entrepreneurs are like God because they create. He indicated that successful entrepreneurs impact and transform the world.

He asked a very thought-provoking question to the youth gathered: do you think you are busy? He disabused their minds of some people's wrong perception of "busyness" by sharing some facts and figures:

# Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom owns 50 companies.

# Trump has more than 400 companies.

# Richard Branson has more than 800 companies.

Next time you think you're busy, rethink your "busyness".

Dr. Osei Kusi defined entrepreneurship as "the willingness to take risks and develop, organize and manage a business venture in a competitive global marketplace that is constantly evolving."

He outlined certain key characteristics of entrepreneurs as being pioneers, innovators, leaders and inventors.

He further adumbrated different types of entrepreneurs viz.:

# Business Entrepreneurs

# Serial Entrepreneurs

# Lifestyle Entrepreneurs

# Social Entrepreneurs

# Spiritpreneurs

# Intrapreneurs

He noted that lifestyle entrepreneurs create a business around their hobby, spiritpreneurs are business entrepreneurs that have a big heart for giving and intrapreneurs turn ideas into profitable products and services as employees of a company.

He explained to attendees that to be a millionaire you must have a net worth of $ 1, 000, 000. He taught that one's net worth equals assets minus liabilities (net worth= assets - liabilities). Adding, he said that cars and primary residence should be taken out.

Dr. Osei Kusi went on to discuss the capacities individuals must develop including leadership, wealth and entrepreneurship. He hinted that the bigger your capacity, the more you can do. He admonished attendees to develop their capacity through observation, mentoring, reading, practising and risk taking.

The passionate entrepreneur delineated the dichotomy between creativity and innovation. Whereas creativity is the use of one's imagination to generate ideas, innovation is the implementation of ideas you generate. To be innovative, think outside the box as if there's no box, focus on education not schooling and break the rules but not the law.

He further indicated that everybody is creative but not everybody is innovative. He challenged the youth present to be innovative by putting those ideas into practice.

Dr. Osei Kusi gave some alarming statistics concerning the state of affairs in Ghana, especially when it comes to issues concerning employment. He thus charged attendees to focus on being entrepreneurs. Furthermore, he said that governments do not create jobs; they only create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

The youthful and passionate life coach shared invaluable lessons on beginning your entrepreneurial journey.

 

The first important thing in your entrepreneurial journey is for you to know who you are. He said, "If your life is not aligned, you cannot flow." He taught the PVC Principle in which you discover your purpose, create your vision and work out your career. He cautioned that one's purpose is not decided; it is discovered. If you don't know your purpose you will be confused.

Talking about the 80/20 rule, he urged attendees to spend 80% of their time on their purpose.

He further elucidated that God does not decide your vision. You are the one to decide the kind of person you want to be. So, for example, if your purpose is to be a teacher, after discovering that, you will have to decide what kind of teacher you will be. Are you going to be a primary school teacher, a university professor or the chancellor of a university? You have to decide that vision. 

He earnestly taught that your PVC must be in line.

Your career is what you're currently doing. If, for example, you're currently working in a financial institution, and your purpose is to be a medical doctor, then your career (your current position) is not aligned with your purpose (God's plan for you).

The following are a few ways to know who you are:

# Mentoring

# Coaching

# Internships

# Volunteerism

# Identify problems and tackle them

# Take up leadership positions and stretch your leadership skills

# Network with entrepreneurs

# Take a personality test (visit www.16personalities.com to take the test for free- you'll be amazed at the outcome)

# Read about the most successful entrepreneurs.

Secondly, he spoke about personal development. Entrepreneurs are by average more knowledgeable than others. They are very smart. Dr. Osei Kusi warned, "You can never be a successful entrepreneur if you don't like Maths." He hinted that to control money you need to know more than the Bible. He urged attendees to study the book of Numbers.

He also noted that you can't be a successful entrepreneur if you're easily discouraged. Take risks. Don't fear! Focus on your strength. Do something about your ideas. 

He said that entrepreneurship is about service not just money. It is service first. Make sure customer service is ultimate. 

Dr. Osei Kusi also disclosed that a common trait in successful entrepreneurs is that they start early in life. Others are that they have little sleep and they read a lot (because their humility quotient is high).

Dr. Kofi Osei Kusi went further to share 11 tips to be a successful entrepreneur;

# Find a problem you want to solve.

# Make a commitment.

Successful entrepreneurs sleep an average of 4 hours. If you don't believe in it, don't go for it.

# Think big, think new, think again.

Think outside the box. Remember that God gave us a brain so that he can take some rest.

# Find a Team

# Take and manage risks

# Decide with a calculator

Don't get too emotional; capture all the components of an issue before making decisions. Every decision can use Maths.

# Be a learning machine; have inward humility.

Successful entrepreneurs have knowledge. Warren Buffett spends 6-8 hours learning every day. It is learning that helps you to increase your capacity.

# Learn to lead and motivate people.

# Learn to sell

# Persist, persevere, prevail

# Make a Dent in the world.

Dr. Osei Kusi went on to share on 5 Ps of becoming an influential entrepreneur viz.:

# Pitching

Know how to sell and communicate your product or service.

# Publishing

Publishing books and articles in your field to be an authority will make you influential.

# Profile (Google)

You are who Google says you are. What you put on social media is forever there.

# Products

# Partnerships

As he concluded, he shared on how to craft a business so as to move from idea to reality. The following are the points he touched on:

# The vision/ problem you want to solve

# Have a mission statement

This will detail how you'll go about solving the problem. It is your vehicle.

# Choose your values

 These are what you believe in.

# Choose a name for your business

The name should be catchy. If your name is on a company, even if it dies you will resurrect it.

# Registration and legal protocols

Many businesses fail partly due to weak legal protocols. Get legal advice. Learn about corporate governance.

# Choose your team

Look out for loyalty. Three things are essential: chemistry, competence and character.

# Raise capital

Startups today are failing due to lack of consideration of legal implications, corporate governance issues, not reinvesting into the business, weak leadership, wrong motives, among many others.

The 2017 G-Youth Leadership Empowerment Summit was greatly impactful.