University degree not needed to create business; ideas needed – LEC Group

Albert Prempeh Kusi (Founder, LEC Group)

The founder of the LEC Group, Mr Albert Prempeh Kusi has challenged university students and young people to create businesses while in school and not wait to graduate before thinking of what business to establish.

He said one does not need a university degree to start and run a business but needs to have an idea, and put it into action.

Mr Kusi said this at the Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (SDD UBIDS), Wa during the National Youth Mentorship Summit held over the weekend.

He said there was a need for university students and young people to have a positive shift of mindset towards setting up businesses that solve the problems of their immediate environments and not waiting to acquire a degree.

“All you need is a mindset; all you need is to identify a problem. I walk here; I am seeing so many problems around me. It is all about solving problems; you don’t need a degree to solve a problem. You may need the resources,” he said.

He urged the students and young people to think beyond acquiring university degrees into leveraging their education to identify and proffer solutions to society's problems.

“If someone can start a business without a university degree, then you, with the degree, should be doing much more because you are learning a lot. So university and degree must only help you achieve more than those without the degree,” he intimated.

Mr Kusi, who is also a business and investment consultant, told the young people to master the three M’s of money which he described as making, managing, and multiplication of money.

He said one could only be said to be creating wealth if one can honestly make money, prudently manage it, and wisely invest it, to enable it to grow, and multiply.

“We need to train young people to understand how to make the money, we need to also equip them with the skills of managing the money, but even more importantly, they must move from managing to multiplying, the money,” he said.

Also, a conference host and life coach, Mr Kusi encouraged the young people to build partnerships and relationships that would last the test of time and not just for a fleeting moment.

He said young people should not be interested in immediate returns when engaging with people, but that they should always look into the future of greater possibilities and benefits and also consider what they equally have to offer in the relationship.

“This is just to say that we met today and if you are interested in a 200 Ghana cedis support, you might have missed the opportunity, but maybe this relationship you might have started now, may grow to where the person has even become your business partner, the person is giving you a job, recommending you for a scholarship,” he said.

The National Youth Mentorship Summit, according to the LEC Group founder, was aimed at opening and inspiring young people to begin, sustain, and grow their businesses in the face of growing concerns of graduate unemployment and youth poverty.

Some participants at the summit who spoke to Info Radio indicated that they were motivated to bring out their entrepreneurial potential and begin their businesses.

“I came purposely for this program because I am an aspiring entrepreneur. So when I came, I was motivated and inspired by the speakers, taken through how to start a business, how to run it, and how to manage your team members, employees, and other people you are working with and I believe that with all these things, if I put it into practice, I will become the entrepreneur I have always dreamt of being,” Bushiran Ibrahim Witol, a participant, said.

“In today’s summit, I learnt about building relationships, and that we shouldn’t be interested in the short-term benefits but we should look ahead and with that, we can prolong the relationships that we make,” Francisca Dassah, another participant, remarked.

The summit was led by the LEC Group with support from Eco Bank Ghana, Malta Guinness, African Skills Hub, and Bel Aqua under the theme, “Fostering Entrepreneurial Mindset.”