Ghanaian entrepreneur and business mogul, Dr. Daniel McKorley, popularly known as McDan, has challenged aspiring entrepreneurs to stop treating employment as merely a temporary inconvenience on the way to owning a business.
According to him, the habits people develop as employees often follow them into entrepreneurship. This means that poor work ethic does not disappear simply because there is no longer a boss standing over them.
“Your habits won’t magically change just because you become your own boss,” Dr. McKorley cautioned, noting that things could even become worse when an individual has “no one to answer to but yourself.”
His caution is particularly for young people who dream of becoming employers but are frustrated by their current jobs.
The entrepreneur rejects the myth held by many aspiring entrepreneurs that “When I start my own business, I will work harder.” Dr. McKorley believes that assumption misses the point. He argues that the workplace is already a training ground for entrepreneurship.
“How you do other people’s jobs is how you’ll do your own job too,” he said.
In practical terms, an employee who routinely arrives late, misses deadlines, cuts corners or requires constant supervision may struggle to suddenly become disciplined when running a company.
The difference is that, as an employee, a poor work ethic may cost one a salary or promotion. As a business owner, it could cost customers, revenue, employees and ultimately the survival of the business.
Dr. McKorley therefore encourages workers to take their present responsibilities seriously, even when the job is neither glamorous nor their ultimate career destination.
The current job, he suggests, should be viewed as part of the journey rather than an obstacle to it.
“Yes, your current job might not be glamorous or the ideal one for you,” he acknowledged. “But, on the road to where we are going or where we want to be, we have to do things that we’d rather not do.”
For aspiring employers, he stresses that it is about developing the discipline, reliability, responsibility, and work ethic that will eventually be required to lead others. Because when the boss disappears, your habits remain.
