Employee vs Entrepreneur: Which is better suited for Nigerians?

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Being an entrepreneur isn’t for everyone, neither is being an employee. In Nigeria, people often argue which is better, an employee’s life, or an entrepreneur’s life. Entrepreneurs are seen as hustlers, free, risk-takers that have control over how much they earn and how their time is being spent.

They can engage in multiple businesses that act as the source of income increasing they are potential earning drastically. With experience and knowledge, they acquire developing businesses, achieving success which is their ultimate goal.

Read Now: How to be a successful entrepreneur in Nigeria.

In Nigeria’s reality, many entrepreneurs fail. There are lots of factors to consider as an entrepreneur in Nigeria. An entrepreneur in Nigeria doesn’t have a guaranteed salary or work security an employee has.

Most times, entrepreneurs don’t have a team of colleagues to fail back on or depend on, an alert to receive at the end of the month, allowance, office car, and career progression due to years of service.

The process of registering a company in Nigeria, the tax return, the failure, and business mishaps. The life of an entrepreneur isn’t as shinny as most motivational speakers in Nigeria make it seem.

There is a popular Igbo saying “If you tell a poor man what it takes to be rich, he would reply let him remain poor”. With proper planning and madcap ideas led by confidence and ambition, being a successful entrepreneur in Nigeria can be achieved.

Read Now: How to use digital marketing to improve your business.

With technology moving at a rapid pace, more opportunities are been presented to succeed in Nigeria as an entrepreneur.

Merits of being an entrepreneur in Nigeria

No salary cap

That’s what’s good about being an entrepreneur, your earning don’t have any salary cap. From my own personal perspective, I know a friend that’s a graphics designer that works as a freelancer and walks home with ₦10,000 on a bad day and ₦17,000 on a good day, do the maths with a calculator and it’s jaw-dropping.

Flexible Schedule

Part of the perks of being an entrepreneur is the flexibility of your time. When the business grows, you can equally employ people, sit back and observe.


You are the boss. Free to make professional decisions, direct employees on how they can help the company achieve more.

Demerits of being an entrepreneur in Nigeria


Being the boss is cool and all but with no guaranteed income, no colleague for support. It can quickly turn into a lonely and stressful place. Mishaps are banned to happen and not all entrepreneurs have a business safety plan.

Startup time

Most businesses in Nigeria need a lot of hours at the being of the startup, due to different factors. If you are starting a business that has lots of competitors, lots of working time is the only way of building a solid reputation and customer base.


The best factor in Nigeria for entrepreneurs. The government doesn’t provide or aid small businesses trying to create empowerment. No available loan that’s below 10% interest for small business in Nigeria.

The risk of debt, the risk of failing, the risk of others witnessing your failure and risk of mental health, being an entrepreneur in Nigeria isn’t for the light-hearted.

Merits of being an employee in Nigeria


It comes always at the exact time, it’s needed the most. It’s financial security for most Nigerians. It even gets better when you are working for the state or federal government due to petition.

Most Nigerian banks are more engage to award loans to salary earners than entrepreneurs to the financial security monthly salary comes within Nigeria.

Less Responsibility

You are often assigned a particular role to perform a specific task. No need to be considered with mother tasks that weren’t assigned to you. You would receive your salary for completing only the task given to you.

Career Progression

Over years of services to a particular company, promotions are banned to occur, so does salary increase. It’s a system that awards employees for their years of services.

Demerits of being an employee in Nigeria

Limited income

Limited income puts a constraint on your life. Bonuses and allowances can only do some much but even those are capped.

No passion

Over the years of working as an employee, you are banned to lose your passion, the spark in you. It naturally occurs that you won’t know at what point you lost your passion.

Job Security

Once every year, we get the news of an outrageous number of people in Nigeria that lost their jobs at the banks. Jobs are never guaranteed for life and employers can often sack employees without giving a solid reason.


Nigeria is a country where nothing is a given, not your job, not your housing, not your welfare absolutely nothing.

If you are an entrepreneur, have a safety plan in place for an emergency and invest wisely, if you are an employee try to open a small business, look for means to earn additional income each money.


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