He’s only 21 years old but Emmanuel Boateng, a final year economics student at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), has a thriving established shoe business.

Speaking on Joy News Market Place, Emmanuel said his decision of going into shoe making business is not just to be economically independent, but also to exercise his talent as a young entrepreneur.

“I feel this is a calling for me. This venture of shoe-making has been rewarding and testament of how far entrepreneurship can take me,” he told Market Place Host Charles Ayitey.

Combining lectures with business can be a challenge for Emmanuel, but proper planning, effective time management, and discipline are the tools keeping him in a healthy balance.

“It’s all about how best I balance business and school. It gets a bit easier when my business taps from the knowledge I gain from my economics classes. It’s like putting to practice the theory learned in school,” he narrated.

As the pandemic creates new demand for digital communication, Emmanuel says he has employed strategic social media tools to reach a wider clientele.

“Sometimes I get sales and good referrals. My shoes are quality and affordable, so I get friends recommending me to others through retweets and quotes – this has given me a good market, especially on Twitter,” he narrated.

Importantly, Emmanuel wants to be in the position of up scaling to employ people, including his colleagues at KNUST.

“I want to give it till like five years to have the capacity to employ people. At the moment, digital marketing is the main tool of third-source employment,” he stated.

Emmanuel is part of a few university students in Ghana living the dream of self-employment.

The government already says there are no more jobs in the public sector and that university graduates must explore avenues of becoming entrepreneurs.

Meanwhile, Emmanuel is confident of what the future holds for young entrepreneurs like him; “with determination and hard work, I believe I will make an impact,” he concludes.