STARTING A BUSINESS IS A RISK - Olukotun Gideon Olusola

Starting a business, especially in Nigeria takes a lot of courage, sacrifices and most especially, calculated risks.In fact, someone said, if you don't have a backup sustainability plan, don't quit your job to start a business.

I was an undergraduate in the university the first time I heard "it is risky not to take risk", but I didn't have a full grasp of the statement until I was appointed to a leadership position where I had to make some important and quick decisions.
A couple of years ago, Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg was noted to have said that "the biggest risk is not taking any risk... In a world that's changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks." How profound that is even today.

Nothing guarantees failure than the fear of failure and at the root of not taking risk is the fear of failure. Anyone too afraid to take risk is just afraid to succeed. Success is for the courageous and failure is for the timid. You have to consciously decide in your mind to take risks. Even if you fail, you learn from the experience. But what if
you succeed? Stop being a pessimist. Learn to take calculated risks.

If you are really passionate about anything, you will be willing to take risks. You learn almost nothing from inaction. Don't allow fear to keep you idle or inactive. To a great deal, failure is an achievement; you triedsomething but in doing nothing, you get nothing.
In conclusion, it is important to note that not everyone has the will, strength and personality to start a business, although everyone can do business. But whatever position you find yourself in any business, your success rate is determined by your ability to take calculated risks. Mohammad Ali once said, "He who is not courageous to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."

What will you do now? Better to risk it than to regret it.