The Volta Regional Directorate of the Local Enterprises and Skills Development Programme (LESDEP), has begun a series of youth targeted-interactions to get young people out of their fixation for formal sector jobs.
As part of the Global Entrepreneurship week 2012 activities, the LESDEP team went with an entrepreneur, who recounted the journey from idea conception through implementation to the present status.
Mr Emmanuel Darlinton Drayi, LESDEP Volta Regional Coordinator speaking at an encounter with students of the Ve-Senior High School (SHS) at Ve-Kolenu in the newly created Afadjato District on Thursday said the programme was aimed at providing the youth with skills of entrepreneurship.
Mr Drayi said it was important that young people learnt not to "despise little beginnings" and that it was ideas, seeking good counselling, good planning and passion for the chosen field, rather than "big money" that created businesses.
Mr Wisdom Kudzo Deku, Managing Director of Sanja Ghana Limited based in Ho told the students; he dropped out of school at Junior High School (JHS) Form 2, roamed Accra for jobs, never passed any job interview and failed to get help from supplications through pastors.
Mr Deku said, however, hard thinking got him into a specialized distribution business, which had sustained him to the admiration of relatives who gave up on him.
He said integrity was important in all business transactions and that while an entrepreneur must be smart "he must not outsmart his clients".
Mr Deku said pricing was another important thing in business, "just the right price for the right market no over pricing".
Mr Alhassan Osman, Headmaster of Ve-SHS, said the 500-student school owned a 15-acre oil-palm plantation, which made it a business-conscious corporate body.