The Agormanya Area of The Church of Pentecost organised an entrepreneurship workshop for members in the Area on Saturday, November 25, 2023.
The day’s seminar, held under the theme “Wealth Creation through Agribusiness,” recorded about 179 participants drawn from the 24 districts across the Area.
Opening the workshop, the Area Head, Apostle Samuel Kojo Gakpetor, informed the gathering that the purpose of the workshop was to boost the entrepreneurial skills of church members towards achieving financial independence and economic stability.
He explained that financial literacy is key to successful living. According to him, one can be a salaried worker and still be an entrepreneur.
He, therefore, urged attendees to take the workshop very seriously and pay critical attention in order to draw inspiration and lessons from the success stories of the speakers.
Presenting on the topic “Becoming a Successful Entrepreneur,” the Deputy PEMEM Director, Elder Ebenezer Acheampong, defined an entrepreneur as someone who undertakes risk in doing business.
He observed that a key element to being successful as an entrepreneur is to ensure that the market is readily available for your product; otherwise, the entrepreneur may incur a loss leading to the collapse of the business.
He cautioned that measures should be put in place to reduce production costs such that the cost of doing business will be less than profit in order to prevent running at a loss.
He further encouraged entrepreneurs to “cultivate the habit of saving,” emphasising that savings serve as the entrepreneurs’ backbone in times of difficulties.
Elder Anthony Blay, the CEO of Volta Banana Farms, in his presentation, underscored the relevance of passion and innovativeness in entrepreneurship. “You need to be passionate and innovative and create new businesses,” he said.
He outlined discipline, curiosity, creativity, a willingness to try new things, honesty, and good planning, among others, as key virtues relevant for business success.
He observed that not every business will start reaping profits overnight, but when these virtues are applied, the business will ultimately become successful.
Elder Blay cautioned against indecision, ill-advised decisions, not sticking to one’s budget, setting unrealistic goals, and fear as some factors leading to the collapse of businesses.
Practical sessions on cultivating Mushroom and Catfish farming were facilitated by Mr. Obed Asamoah and Elder Benson Mensah in groups of two.
As a follow-up to the workshop, members involved in Agribusiness were to be grouped into cooperatives so they can encourage each other to keep to best practices as well as attract incentives from Government and organisations.
The participants were grateful to God and the Area for organising such a workshop and pledged to put into practice what they have learned.
Report by Agormanya Area Media Team