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The enemy of humans is not failure, the real foe is fear.

Failure could be described as a gross and dreadful stage but the fear of being a failure is beyond a stage in life. Could the fear of becoming a perpetual failure be the reason why a large number of Ghanaian graduates are fleeing from the concept of entrepreneurship?

Creating a new enterprise and bearing all of its risks, with the view of making a profit is a simple definition of entrepreneurship. The phenomenon involves arranging inputs like; land, capital, labour, and materials, and introducing new techniques, among others, to develop products that meet the needs of prospective clients to create new profitable ventures according to businessjargons.com.

Currently, the unemployment rate in Ghana is expected to reach 4.7% by the end of 2021, according to the Trade Economics Global Macro Models and analysts’ Expectations, as against 6.9% in October 2020.

It is heartbreaking to know that Ghana’s energetic youth who make up about 57% of its over 31 million population, are not spared from the unemployment rate in the nation. Shall I say it is unfortunate?

Christy Raedeke once said, “...if there is no risk, there is no reward.”

An entrepreneur is a person who bears the risk and takes all the major decisions regarding production and coordinates the manufacturing process to earn its rewards - profits. I dare to quiz. Is the Ghanaian youth not daring enough to engage in entrepreneurship?

The answer is not the unavailability of resources but the fear of failure.

I side with Danny Wallace, “the fear of taking risks is why our Motherland is still in distress.” I would not say that governments over the years have not performed their function of creating jobs or creating an enabling environment for startups to thrive in this unpredictable economy. They may have done their utmost best. Nonetheless, we all believe a lot more could be done if they willed it.

Away from the government and its business. My piece is for the young ones who are sparing their zeal to dare to make a difference to wither.

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all,” once said, Helen Keller. Just imagine if a large percentage of the youth of our beloved nation is willing to face the challenges of entrepreneurship with passion and determination. Instead of everyone depending on non-existent white-collar jobs after graduation, what if we set out to create enterprises that solved society's ills while creating profitable business opportunities?

Our nation's employment story will surely be rewritten and possibly become one of the most loved tales from mother Africa. Instead of being an employee, you become the employer who contributes to reducing the social vices, and financial insecurities among other undesirable situations that characterize a country that records high unemployment rates.

Let me applaud the effort of young Ghanaians like Beryl Agyekum of Echo House Ghana, Tonyi Senaya of Horseman Shoes, Selorm Betepe of Selo Art, Awura Abena Agyeman and Nai-Kwade of Wear Ghana, Kevin Okyere of the Springfield Group among many others whose excellence in walking the path of entrepreneurship verify, without a dent of doubt, that the Ghanaian youth can make it if they put their hearts and minds to it.

 Let's rise, create and build! With good planning, organization, consistency and hard work, we can win the game of entrepreneurship. Youth, “if you dare nothing, then when the day is over, nothing is all you will have gained,” says Neil Gaiman. Let us take heed of Aaron Lauristsen's “the struggles we endure today will be, the good old days we laugh about tomorrow” and start something today. The opportunities to make it abound and stare beamingly in our faces only if as Archbishop Benson Andrew Idahosa advises we begin to “talk about the answer, not the problem.”