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Conversation with Myself
104 Plays4 years ago
In this special episode, Kofi Anyemedu, host of "The Entrepreneur Speaks" podcast talks about the reason for the setup of the podcast, the journey so far as well as talks about the future of the podcast.
This special episode features the key messages from the first 10 episodes.
Recommended
Transcript
Aspirations and Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
Like any other person, I've always had a long list of things I wanted to learn or do. Hey, who says we are forbidden to have a wish list? Learn how to play an instrument, play tennis, launch or start a podcast, learn animation or documentary production. Have I succeeded in achieving all? No, but I know with time my gazers will be
00:00:47
Speaker
Hello, friends. Happy New Year. Welcome to the special episode of the Entrepreneur Speaks podcast. My name is Kufi Animidu, and I've been privileged to bring to you amazing conversations with entrepreneurs doing amazing things globally. In this special edition, I'll talk about the journey so far, the results, and the direction of plans for 2021.
00:01:16
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Enjoy this edition and dance to the Bella Bella beats produced by Nanakobna. Aqaba, welcome. So why this podcast?
Inspiration and the Podcast Journey
00:01:44
Speaker
As Elia stated,
00:01:46
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This has been on my list for some time. The challenge was the how. How was I going to do this? In 2019, while working with an international organization, I got the opportunity to interact with a lot of Kanye entrepreneurs. Boy, how has left them so inspired? These were people with amazing stories. But one way or the other,
00:02:11
Speaker
Few people were hearing their stories. I picked up so much knowledge from these people. These knowledge or experiences from these people are usually not things you learn from school. And you can also not find these in textbooks. Then comes COVID-19 and it's attendance lockdown. Hmm, I said to myself, this is the best time to acquire a new skill. A lot fell from podcasting.
00:02:45
Speaker
So I enrolled on an online course on podcasting. My tutor, Indian. Later, I enrolled on another with an American tutor. I remained committed to their teachings. I kept postponing my lunch date because I was scared and thought to be criticized and not welcome. But one of my tutors kept on saying, enjoy the process. Don't be too hard on yourself.
00:03:14
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How has the journey been so far? Wow. It's been a journey of continuous improvement. I've been amazed at the things I've learned and put into practice. From coming up with a name for the show, buying microphones, and setting up a small studio, to editing and recording guests, and of course releasing episodes. It's been amazing. So many episodes have been recorded. I've had
00:03:44
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I also had the privilege to attend conferences and master classes. What turns out is my participation in Portfest Blue Bar Summit, where a Guinness World Record was set. It was a record for the largest virtual podcasting event.
00:04:17
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our first 10 episodes and enjoy the key messages from our amazing guest. Let's go!
Hosting Entrepreneurs and Diverse Stories
00:04:30
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We hosted Steven Wilson's Skylink Agrippo session, then came on Neek Papu Sylvester, a Ghanaian based in
00:04:39
Speaker
South Africa, who owns the Ankara Textiles Company. We also hosted Marian Oforichimisi of Marisette Farms. Then came the Mushroom Queen of E90 Camping, Pafapi Amafui. We got to hear of the Yesli Ice experience, Akushikadiaba of Yesli Ice featured on the show.
00:05:05
Speaker
a lady who's grooming two enterprising children, also featured on this show. S&S legacy company's founder and CEO, Fafali Amengo, had her 10 on the Entrepreneur Speaks podcast. Then we took a trip to India, where we interacted with Vavana Issei, CEO of the social enterprise, Caregiver Sati. And you recall her saying that we are all caregivers. Another trip
00:05:34
Speaker
this time around was to the U.S. and we interacted with the Paris-born celebrated stylist Patrice Bisio. We were also privileged to have hosted Dancho Demkov, the Chief Executive B of Bisbee Solutions. It's been an amazing time interacting with these wonderful people from these wonderful companies.
00:06:23
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can listen to some of the key messages. Okay, Kofi, thank you so much. Thank you for the opportunity. My company is Skylink Agro Solutions Limited. Skylink Agro Solutions Limited is engaged in the production of high-quality organic powder like you rightly said. The company was set up originally to process high-quality cassava flour bed with dust and diversify into other products.
00:06:52
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The reason I gave birth to this company was because I grew up in the farming community in Kiri in the Konta South district of the OT region. And growing up,
00:07:08
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I saw how my parents went through the process of going to Paris and all those things and the market was very minimal. So I saw how the pain they went through to get our fees paid and to feed us and all that.
00:07:25
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going up I said no let me do something find a way to turn this cassava into something else that may create a market first of all for the farmer and then also to actually take this cassava thing to the next level so that's what took me to do research and for
00:07:45
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Since 2008, I've been researching till 2016, when we actually launched Calengago Solutions. So this is a very brief background of how the company came into being. With these challenges, can you share some of the lessons you've picked from these challenges? Oh, yes. First of all, the lesson is that you will not feel if people say so. You can only feel if you believe that you will.
00:08:14
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If I had listened to people at that time, I may not have been where I am. And then again, if they're frustrated with funding, definitely, definitely share your ideas with people. And I forgot to say that there was one missing, Simone Ohini from WHO.
00:08:33
Speaker
first angel I met in my life. When I was frustrated and was looking for funding, he didn't know me in a way, but I just pitched to him. And I made my first seed capital key for him, $30,000. Somebody I don't know could just give me that amount of money. And that is what actually brought the breakthrough. So my starting point was from somebody I never knew I have never met.
Challenges and Societal Impact
00:09:00
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Anyway, but he listened to me and then decided to put his money into my game. So when you are faced with this kind of things, maybe God will use other people to come here only, so don't be fat. So that's why I come an entrepreneur. Look, don't just be happy going to business or becoming an entrepreneur because of the money transfer of it.
00:09:25
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It must first of all be that you also solve a problem, a societal problem, or a challenge in your area. And that's how you will get the funding. The money is coming in. So first of all, look at solving a problem before the money. Because if money is your reason for going into business or becoming an entrepreneur, you will not be able to do it.
00:10:10
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And listeners, Ni is a very good friend of mine, so some of the questions I'll ask will be because I know him and know what he was doing here in Ghana. Ni, I know you were doing very well in Ghana. At which stage of your journey did you decide to relocate? And in making that decision, was there choice South Africa?
00:10:30
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Well, you see, the other thing, Kofi, like I said, I've traveled probably to all the continents of this world, with the exception of Australia. But I've traveled to all the continents of this world.
00:10:50
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Personally, I believe in the concept of Africa. Africa as a brand. I want my identity to be tied with Africa as a brand. And I have personally had a lot of hope in Ghana as a country. Because my mother comes from Ghana. So I've had a lot of hope in Ghana as a country.
00:11:11
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You see, but I mean, here's the thing. For me, it's about and everybody is really fighting for what sort of environment can springboard them further in life, you know, or in accomplishing their life goals much further. And I don't mean to say this in a bad way, but it's the truth. Ghana presents a lot of challenges, you know, a lot of challenges in relation to the environment, the environmental factors more particularly.
00:11:41
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So I have known that I always wanted to be an African entrepreneur because I did try some entrepreneurial endeavors in the UK and I just felt that this is not the environment for me. And with Ghana more particularly, I really believed in Ghana. I pushed, did all that I had to do, run the businesses that I have to run.
00:12:06
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you know but you always keep hitting bottlenecks you know and you always also have that financial constraint and you also have some of the societal elements of corruption bribery you know because sometimes to even get a job you have to bribe people you know or you have to push money under the table to get a job which for me does not really sit very well in terms of my ethics
00:12:31
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you know so yes and then there's also a cap I mean the type of money you'll be talking about in Ghana that which is literally your entire business 10 over you know that is literally in America someone who's working it's their salary you know what I mean so even yes the exchange currency exchanges and all of that so I knew for certain that
00:12:56
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and I've always said something and if you find this very interesting I've always said that I've never called myself a CEO until very recent you know because I find the word CEO very very intimidating you know I mean those are three powerful words in there
00:13:17
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You are cheap, you are an executive, you are an officer, all combat people.
Entrepreneurial Environment in Africa
00:13:23
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I tell people that you cannot start a company in your bedroom or in the garage and you are calling yourself a sea eagle. Because it's a very egoistic, egocentric type of technology. And I feel like anybody that calls themselves a sea eagle should have ended that status of being sea eagle.
00:13:46
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So I put myself on a mark where I said, if you haven't earned, your company is not a million dollar company, which means that you need to pass the one million dollar mark. Then you have gained the status and title of CEO. You have ended by the virtue of your earnings or your financial record or leading the company to profit.
00:14:07
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I knew that Ghana presented a much bigger challenge because if you looked at the look at the city to the dollar ratio you know you can easily be a city milone but to be a dollar milone it's a different discussion altogether you know exactly so I mean for me I did my research I've never been to South Africa prior to coming to South Africa in in in 2006 so I did my research and I knew that South Africa is a is a device still in Africa
00:14:36
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but it's a divide between the West and Africa, you know what I mean? I mean, it's got the infrastructure, it's got the systems, and oh boy, I thought I knew South Africa based on what I had seen on TV.
00:14:53
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you know or i've seen on the news but you get to south africa and for me it's really no different from being in london or being in maybe america is a bit far too stretched but some cities in america you know what i mean you know south africa has really got everything that you need and and the way they are socio-economic systems work from transportation from from
00:15:17
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credit, banking, you know, it's literally like the West, you know. So I knew that South Africa was really the place to, and all the big companies, all the multinational companies from Alexander Forbes, Ennest and Young, KPMG, you know, the big fashion brands, like everything is over here, you know. So I knew that to be able to build myself as an African entrepreneur,
00:15:43
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I could certainly not do so without getting the South African experience. So for me it was crucial to explore South Africa and I came to South Africa very blinded. I did not know anybody. I had no network whatsoever. I had the idea of what business I want to do and funnily enough that's not even the business that I'm doing right now.
00:16:07
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I've always been an entrepreneur. When I got here, I saw an opportunity, I saw a gap in the market, and I took advantage of that gap that was in the market. It's been challenging years, and even worse, COVID-19 has also presented me with a whole new different learning experience when it comes to business.
00:16:29
Speaker
you know because a lot of the times we feel we are under the assumption that we know you know until we are faced with a different set of challenges you know and then we realize that there's always every day is an opportunity to learn every day is an opportunity to grow oneself you know that the journey of learning you know learning is a journey you know it's not an end it's not an end in itself it's a journey
00:16:55
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you're continuously learning every single time. And that's where I find myself right now. Okay, so basically with starting a business, I feel like they're very crucial ingredients. And one of the most important ingredients is the idea. So what it is exactly that you want to do.
00:17:22
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You know, and one of the big myths of the about entrepreneurship, and I say this confidently that it is a mix, you know, that people say, do what you love, you know, money will come later. And this is an unfortunate myth because, and we related to people like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates and all of that.
00:17:45
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But you know the reality of it is these Zookabec scenarios and Jeff Bezos and all of them, they form a very small part of the population. I think, yes, it's important to do something that you love, but most importantly, there must be a profit module behind it.
00:18:04
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you know so there must be a profit module behind it because more particularly in environments like Ghana and Africa you know you can't start a business without having a profit module behind it so it's very important to ask yourself the most important question yes I have this great idea but how am I going to make money off this great idea you know and is it sustainable is it scalable
00:18:28
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you know and based on those answers you make a decision of whether you want to really go for it or not because there are some ideas that are meant for later and there are ideas that are meant for now and so it's very important to also prioritize you might have a whole lot of ideas but you're more passionate about some than others but however the ones that you're not passionate about are the ones that have an almost immediate chance of bringing in revenue
00:18:55
Speaker
So you have to think as a businessman and a businessman is a profit-minded person. Except you are a social entrepreneur. Coffee might be the best tutor if you want to be a social entrepreneur. But if you want to be an entrepreneur that generates profit, it's very important that
00:19:17
Speaker
your foremost concept of running a business is to make revenue, you know, at least to sustain the business's operation. And so, yes, and then you also the next thing you need to look at is what is the most
00:19:33
Speaker
Minimal way in which you can start this idea. So you might have a big idea, but it's very important to break that idea into into Achievable milestones, you know, so what can you do now to make that idea a reality? You know or to get yourself closer to making that idea a reality or what is the most cost effective? What is it that you you know and most of times even this is
00:20:00
Speaker
If you do management studies, this is basically piped into a model some will call the minimum viable product or the minimum viable approach. So what can you do immediately to make this a realisation and at very, very little cost as much as possible. And even in some cases, some will call it the proof of concept.
00:20:27
Speaker
Also your proof of concept phase. You know because I also believe that once you are past the proof of concept phase and proof of concept don't go to people or investors asking them to fund your proof of concept.
Funding and Proof of Concept
00:20:40
Speaker
Find money and fund your own proof of concept because this proof of concept in itself is case for funding. You know what I mean. I mean if you have been able to do it and you have been able to succeed at a smaller scale it means that you can prove
00:20:55
Speaker
that this can be done at a much bigger scale so if on a smaller scale you got a profit of let's say 10 dollars it means that with a capital of let's say a capital of a hundred dollars you got a profit of 10 dollars you know it proves an percentage which is 10 percent what your your profit margins would be
00:21:16
Speaker
So if it's a scalable concept, it means that if you have an investment of $1,000 or you have an investment of $2,000, then it means that you'll be getting $200 in profit or even much more because scale does not always necessarily mean at the same rate. You know what I mean? Scale could obviously grow much more marginally.
00:21:39
Speaker
than it was previously. So it's very important to look within yourself. It's very important to minimum viable approach, minimum viable product. Very, very important because that even allows you to make a quick exit with no shame because if it doesn't succeed, you
00:22:00
Speaker
You put little resources in there, you put little energy in there, and you cannot afford to be emotional about business. I tell a lot of people, and I explained to you, Kofi, just quickly. I mean, a lot of people are passionate about what they are doing. They are over passionate that they cannot even see their own flaws.
00:22:20
Speaker
You know, and it's very important to sometimes take emotion out of it. And which is why I say look at it from a profit and loss mentality. If that business is not making you profit, does not have the potential to make you profit, like you're not seeing it anywhere in the foreseeable future, it's time to pack up.
00:22:39
Speaker
and focus on something that will make you profit because you see you can build emotion and love for anything you see as an entrepreneur me personally like i said i've been through several sectors several industries and you'll find this about many other entrepreneurs they've been through several industries and these industries sometimes i just teach you the core principles you know what i mean you know because as an entrepreneur
00:23:05
Speaker
if your bank balance or your balance sheet or your profit and loss accounts look good you will be a happy entrepreneur you know but if you have a product that you are passionate about and the balance sheet and the profit and loss accounts don't look good you will be a very miserable entrepreneur and then you begin to suffer depression you begin to suffer all these other
00:23:28
Speaker
social ailments that may exist. So it's very important that your focus is on profitability.
00:23:45
Speaker
I know every business is difficult. It's happening. Let alone every business. But one time I know it. The most difficult part is maintaining and growing food.
00:24:09
Speaker
is difficult. It is starting it is difficult. I wouldn't want to talk about financial aspects. That one is there. It is a general rule only. But other side of it is starting a business in Ghana. It just features
00:24:31
Speaker
It's very stressful and I would want to use one example. I have a friend, I met a friend this morning. He was very happy. He wants to go into the processing of the pumpkin or whatever. And then he is ready to do something like that. That I'm thinking about four months or two.
00:25:02
Speaker
Yes, sir. That is my challenge. And how many of you have been here? Besides me asking you this, we talked about mine. Everybody at their own. You know, it's easier for a trader or somebody who goes to buy a comeback and tells you that I got it.
00:25:31
Speaker
But it is more the same with farmers. Because with me, the risk of growth is too high. And I have not found them. But I think something to be done about it. For the trader, or outright for them, yes, for the trader, the person don't buy their life.
00:26:05
Speaker
you are going to get something into your account for them to take whatever I want to do.
00:26:14
Speaker
Look at my products for you guys, my products. Poker and oil pump. It takes about four times this for an oil to go to the oil pump company to give you things to yield for you to get something into your account. So it goes to your bank.
00:26:37
Speaker
with this kind of business and you have all these things and we are thinking how is she going to pay and what have I said so it's difficult because I haven't had a role so far from bank
00:26:57
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It's only my husband and my family. And then some other things I do like this one. So with a few short aspects, I think it's going to be very good. And then we come to really maintaining and growing it. And that is my goal for my day.
00:27:21
Speaker
But you don't have the right attitude. You need to be disciplined. You need to be disciplined. So you have the right attitude in doing or maintaining your business. Loads of businesses that started in Ghana that are no more. They all comfortable. What happened?
00:27:50
Speaker
Me, what else does I always see? You have the gratitude, the discipline, and then I will show you how to describe your customers, their people, and what with them. It comes first.
00:28:34
Speaker
Interesting. The Entrepreneur Speaks podcast is meant to encourage people to live the life of passionate people. What would be your advice on how you get this going to farming to start an ugly business?
00:28:52
Speaker
and easy maintaining and doing it. It's not easy. It's not easy.
00:29:10
Speaker
When I see the crown I had, I'm the only person who is picturing it. Also, I tell you this is where I want to get to. You need to move. So if you know where you want to get to,
00:29:27
Speaker
I think that's the rule. It's a good rule. It's not just about going to my home. I want to do my work and I want to get to my house and fix all your faces.
00:29:50
Speaker
That's one. And it was good. It was like, it was that much and everything is good as well. There are things.
00:30:09
Speaker
You don't have the love, you don't have the love for it. What do you think you got? What do you think you got? So, one, let us understand your question. Two, you don't have the life of it. And it's just a thing. It's just a thing. Especially, you will know, when you get money small, you want to buy, you want to buy all the hair extensions, you want to buy other things.
00:31:07
Speaker
and get the right situation somehow.
00:31:24
Speaker
What are the health benefits of mushroom, if you can share that with us?
00:31:29
Speaker
That part is one of the things that made me so much glue to mushroom production. Generating mushrooms is an amazing fungi that nature can give mankind. Mushrooms are rich in the B vitamins.
00:31:52
Speaker
such as the pantothenic acid and the combination helps protect a heart health. Riboflavin is good for red blood cells. It also have another B vitamin called the neosin, which is good for the digestive system and for maintaining healthy skin.
00:32:17
Speaker
Also, there is another antioxidant called selenium, which is only found in mushrooms. And this particular antioxidant helps to build and repair tissues and cells in the human body whilst boasting our immune system. So in this era of the COVID-19, it is very, very important for each and every one of us to make mushrooms part of our diet because
00:32:46
Speaker
It's not only you know help to reduce diabetes, hypertension or high cholesterol in our system but also it helps to boost our immune system against infections such as the COVID-19. So these are some of the wonderful health benefits of mushroom. Coming from an experienced person.
00:33:08
Speaker
It sounds easy, but I'm sure with hard work and determination you can make it. Definitely, sure. It's all not very rosy, I must say. You know, starting my business, when I started my first production, I had everything gone bad. Everything went bad, actually. And I have to start again because I'm seeing the end from the beginning. You must have that bigger picture.
00:33:36
Speaker
So challenges from the beginning will not deter you from achieving your aim or your purpose. So you need to create that vision. You need to have that picture in mind. Some of us will start something without knowing where we want to go to. So people can discourage you. Challenges can discourage you.
00:33:57
Speaker
make all these challenges and the naysayers part of your learning curve so that when you know where you want to get to somebody cannot or nobody can tell you that this is not achievable because you have put your plants on paper and that is one thing that we'll be going to you must put a plant on paper where do you want to see yourself in the next five years or where do I want to see myself in the next 10 years
00:34:27
Speaker
So when challenges hit me in the first year, I know these are my plans. This is my plan A, my plan B to get to where I want to get to. So definitely it's not going to be very rosy and you need to embrace challenges. You need to come up with innovative ways.
Starting Small and Taking Action
00:35:01
Speaker
It is said a journey of a thousand miles begins with a step. What would be your advice for someone with that desire to take that first step in starting a business?
00:35:14
Speaker
Thank you. Advising someone, as a young person, since I'm also a young person, I always say that do not let that dream be in your head. Put an action to it. No matter how small it is or no matter how crazy that idea is, if you have a clear picture of what it is and where you want to go start, for instance,
00:35:44
Speaker
When I, you know, after my Enfield, I said I want to do mushrooms. There are quite a number of people that feel like, really? You want to go and be picking or collecting sawdust to do mushrooms? You know, that's the other thing. But I know what I want to achieve. I know that in part of my business that I'll have one, the environment. So these are
00:36:09
Speaker
This became my inspiration to do what I have to do. So my advice is you have a clear picture. If you know what you want, go for it. Take an action today. You do not need to have all the resources you need at hand before you start. As you rightly said, a journey of thousand miles starts with a step. So start. Wake up. Put an action today. A step today.
00:36:38
Speaker
Will you continue so in a nutshell? I'll just tell you to start start whatever Whatever you dream of begin it. Let's let's let's start it. We have quite a number of people that Keep on dreaming dreaming dreaming every single day and when you see another person doing what they have been dreaming about I should have started this I
00:37:07
Speaker
But you haven't started. And you know, when an idea comes to you, remember that it comes to almost 100 people at the same time. So if you don't take the action today, another person will. So there is the need for us to take the step.
00:37:28
Speaker
You have all the resources on our stats and God will help you to complete it. Before we wrap up, I'm sure a lot of our listeners have this desire to start their own type of business. But in most cases, they are confronted with negative thoughts and also with fear.
00:37:48
Speaker
Having gone through this process of setting up a successful business as you have it in ESDI, what would be your advice to someone with the desire to start a business? Yeah, running your own business comes with different challenges. And I always say that if you are telling them you want to be a business person should be prepared to do business. Sitting now,
00:38:24
Speaker
If I go out and bring something in there or go hang with another, I'll be comfortable. Why don't take that risk and then bring something down to sitting at home.
00:38:41
Speaker
You have to decide what to do if you should move forward and be comfortable or get the ends. Not going anywhere or not getting even if we are taking our own ends. I always say we want them.
00:38:58
Speaker
Once you have the idea, once you have the new business, you try to start a new entertainment as I always do. You have to do this. You don't think about copying and you have your own business.
00:39:16
Speaker
You try to shine, try to brighten your imagination and guide you. So not trying to copy something, but trying to be you and to shine. And if you are doing a bit personally about it, do it or consistent about whatever you are doing or whatever you set out to be. And then most importantly, try to make it look like you're going to try
00:39:43
Speaker
Let's make it look beautiful. And this is what we're looking for. That's not at all. That is nothing.
00:39:59
Speaker
People patronize my product and come back to tell me that the product has really helped me solve this problem of that today, especially when it comes to the baby babies.
00:40:21
Speaker
I don't think we have anything natural or healthy for our family. Tell us about their enterprises. Because as we are away, we are looking at growing young entrepreneurs. Tell us about their enterprises.
00:40:38
Speaker
Okay, so Prince has a little business called Plush Play Soap by Prince. We make hard hand washing hand soap and so it's a nice sort of liquid hand soap. This is
00:40:56
Speaker
heart soap with a dinosaur and unicorn toys inside them and so the whole purpose of it is to encourage children to wash their hands because as you know children love toys and when they see a dinosaur in the toy they are more likely to want to wash their hands and keep a great hand hygiene.
00:41:22
Speaker
The idea came about because one day we decided to spend time together and Prince and I were trying to figure out something we could do, you know, to try and spend quality time together because, well, I'll backtrack a little bit actually. So tell us, where do you draw your inspiration to do this? Well, that's a really good question. I talked about
00:41:50
Speaker
purposeful parenting paradigm and that for me is the blueprint if you want to develop your child's entrepreneurial capabilities. I did mention about conscious parenting as well which was the journey I went on in terms of introspection and trying to figure out what parenting meant to me. My
00:42:09
Speaker
My inspiration is basically in my quest to raise them in a way for them to know that they can indeed have a joyful life, make a living and make a living based on what they love to do while making a difference to the lives of others.
00:42:28
Speaker
I do recognise that although they came through me, you know, as our children do, they do not belong to me. We're just, as parents, we're custodians of their little lives.
00:42:40
Speaker
And they come onto this earth to fulfill their own purpose. And our role is to help them to fulfill that purpose. Our role is to nurture them, nurture their unique gifts and their true essence. So when I look back at my childhood and how, you know, I explained about some of the challenges that I faced and all of that, I wouldn't want them to
00:43:07
Speaker
to struggle unnecessarily. That doesn't mean that I will wrap them in cotton wool and shield them from the challenges that they will face. Challenges in life are inevitable. Is it difficult starting to maintain their business in Ghana? What has been your experience so far? Oh, well, it's difficult. I mean, we all have our stories of, oh, I accepted with 300, 150, whatever. I, as Malika, set with 200 Ghana citizens.
00:43:36
Speaker
But the fact is, sometimes you need some form of support. Sometimes you need money to come into your business.
00:43:45
Speaker
unless of course maybe you learned some contracts which is pre-financed then that means you can have money to carry on the contracts and also have some surplus as profit to invest back into the business. So I believe the most difficult thing about starting a business isn't the starting itself but it's getting the needed support. You know in Ghana, people want, not just in Ghana, I mean it's human nature, people want to
00:44:15
Speaker
see your portfolio, who have you designed for. If you approach a corporate institution, you need to give them a portfolio who have you worked with.
00:44:23
Speaker
So as a beginner, if we do not have a portfolio, it becomes very difficult to get a big contract. You just have to use your family and your friends. And the question then becomes, how many items can your family and friends buy for you to set you up? For instance, buying an industrial machine, which is well over a thousand cities. You know, hiring an office space, hiring a shop is a lot of money. And another downside is, you know,
00:44:53
Speaker
You're not eligible to get funds from financial institutions because at this point of starting, you don't have any assets. Probably you have only one machine.
00:45:07
Speaker
Probably you don't even have a shop. You get it. So starting is the easiest part. Scaling is what is most difficult. If you don't have the right connections, if you don't have the right people around you, if you're not lucky enough to get a big contract or funding or investment, that's what the problem is now. Well be advised to someone, someone who wants to start something like you've done. But it's good.
00:45:36
Speaker
What would be your advice to such a person? Well, it's good you said that we're scared. I was just writing something about fear, you know. Fear is very important. Fear is good to feel fear, you know. Because fear is... I mean, it depends on how you use it, you know. You can use it to your advantage or your disadvantage. It's good to fear, you know.
00:46:03
Speaker
You know, there's a saying that your dreams should be big enough to scare you and to excite you at the same time, right? So let's do it. The sign of, I mean, the presence of fear is a sign that, you know, it's something you need to go in and conquer. It shouldn't overtake you, but then it should be a fool to push you.
00:46:23
Speaker
and go in knowing that it's not all rosy, you know, entrepreneurship, everybody has this fantastic idea that entrepreneurship is all rosy, you know, to be a CEO, but no. Entrepreneurship isn't for everybody. Entrepreneurship is sacrifice.
00:46:43
Speaker
entrepreneurship is ups and downs and it takes a great deal of a long time to make it in your prospective field so if you don't have the tenacity
00:46:54
Speaker
If you don't have the zeal, the desire, you know, to sacrifice your salary, sacrifice your profits, you know, have the patience to build a business. If you do not have it, probably the else is to just get a regular job. But if you do have it and you're ready for all these opportunities, then you're definitely going for it.
00:47:15
Speaker
It's going to be one day at the end of the day. So you indicate you've discovered yourself through writing. Tell us about this experience.
00:47:25
Speaker
So I think getting into motorcycle riding in my 40s was quite an incredible experience. By this time, motorcycle riding had become very popular or was becoming popular in India. And a lot of people were taking it up like a sport, like a hobby, like a fashion. When I was younger, we used to ride the motorcycle or the two-wheeler to just get from one place to another.
00:47:52
Speaker
Now I found that there were many groups. I joined a group of women motorcyclists and we'd go out for rides occasionally and meet other women who were fond of motorcycle riding and exchange ideas. And I think in going for long rides, I found my confidence back in myself.
00:48:17
Speaker
the joy that I experienced of being on a motorcycle and the fact that I could do anything. Like I told you, with a motorcycle you can actually go to a terrain that is not really chartered. So you could get into off-road and really create a new road and it's so exciting for me that you don't have to go on the beaten track. You can chart a new road
00:48:42
Speaker
And there are so many incidents that I have of being able to, and my body was giving up, but my bike would remind me that I can go. My mind would tell me that I could go. And sometimes my mind would get tired and my body would tell my mind that this was possible.
00:49:04
Speaker
So I think that, you know, I was able to claim myself for who I am because I'm a motorcycle rider.
00:49:22
Speaker
Under two can motorcycle expedition to Manapas. And I discovered it's the highest mutra bull pass along the India-China border. Tell us about this expedition and also share some of the experiences with us.
00:49:37
Speaker
Yes. I think this was like an expedition that a friend of mine, one of the motorcycle rider women, contacted me and said, would you be interested? And we are planning to go here. And I don't think I got the full input of the idea that what would this really mean? And I just signed up and I said, yes, I'd be interested.
00:50:03
Speaker
And I'm not a seasoned rider, but I just want to be adventurous. Because it's quite an immense learning for seven of us to ride together to that ride. We learned so much along the way. Of course, we also had our challenges, not just with each other, but with the environment.
00:50:33
Speaker
and so many other challenges along the way that we learned to navigate our way through that. And we learned to stay committed to our goal. And I remember that at one point the Charin we were in was a politically sensitive Charin.
00:50:54
Speaker
and it was really cold and you know we needed to leave it to ride back and it started to snow and we were riding in the snow
00:51:12
Speaker
It was a huge challenge and of course while we were also going up the mountains, there were many times that one fell down. So you cannot be afraid of falling down. You will fall down and you will get up again and you will hurt yourself and you will carry on.
00:51:36
Speaker
and I think in many ways in that experience I learned that it is okay to fall down from the bike, it is okay to fall down in life, it is okay to take a pause and you can still find the energy and the conviction and you can get up and go again.
00:52:02
Speaker
So there are so many, many stories from that ride. I can go on and on. But this would be a nice summer day. Wonderful. You've had a remarkable career. Can you please share some of the challenges you've encountered in your entrepreneurial journey with us?
00:52:22
Speaker
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. So from the outside, you see it all looks so good. You know, everything, I mean, it looks like it's, you know, larger than life. Everything is great. I trouble the world. It's first class. It's private jet. And then you see in the entrepreneurial spirit, there is also the lows. And the lows, of course, you know, nobody really talks about it because it's like, well, who wants to hear low?
00:52:44
Speaker
But that's when in 2009, when the market crashed, and at the time I was extremely successful, four businesses, I was running around like a crazy person, obsessed with the deal, obsessed with money, obsessed with making anything and everything. And then 2009 came around and the market crashed. So stock market, real estate market, and I had a fair amount of properties that I lost completely in no time.
00:53:14
Speaker
And it happened it in three weeks. So that was in 2010. Uh, you know, I was holding onto it, holding onto it because my ego was bigger than anyone's ego. And I'm young and I'm successful. And I was driving my Jag by the time I had the Jaguar by the time I was 20. So of course I thought I had it all figured out until that happened. And what happened in three weeks of time in 2010, February, 2010.
00:53:41
Speaker
major major event happened is i lost all the properties i had to let go of all the properties go to my lawyer give him the keys dealing with the bank all right that was for one my enormous salon producing all that money suddenly my landlord decided to shut down the building
00:53:59
Speaker
okay and then for three I was at the time in partnership with who I called my best friend who was actually the biggest crook and thief and he took me for the last loop so he stole from me all along those businesses that I had I had it I had them in partnership with him so he kept stealing until he really took me for the last round of it because I was I borrowed a lot of money from a friend of mine in Paris
00:54:26
Speaker
and at the time the euro was double the dollar so it was it was just a nightmare and I had to file for personal bankruptcy and this was to me the crushing point of my ego like it was a nightmare and that night three weeks later I slept in my car
00:54:45
Speaker
And this is how I realized, wow, this is what they talk about. But you see, I thought that being an entrepreneur was just a legend. You go high, you go low. I heard stories of guys that are, you know, major millionaires now, but they're like, oh yeah, I crashed on my friend's couch in the middle. I lost everything twice. And I was always wondering, how can you lose everything twice? If you're so smart, you're not going to lose anything. You're going to be so good at it.
00:55:12
Speaker
Well, actually I didn't realize that in it, there is the excitement, but there is the ego. And ego is the root of all evil because the problem with ego, it could be great when you create. Ego is great because it comes forward, it's creative. But when it comes to just pushing, pushing, pushing, that's not good. So here I am in my car watching everything from the world, from my lane on my backseat of my SUV.
00:55:42
Speaker
And that's when I realized, wow, this is when I need to know, what is my mission? What is my vision? What is my purpose? Why am I here? And this is when I say, you know what? Hair is still something I love doing. I don't know why I think this is almost shameful now because I'm so entrepreneurial. I make all that money saying I'm a hairstylist. It's like, eh, not so great.
00:56:06
Speaker
And that's when I moved to Beverly Hills and I really sat down with my PR and said, listen, this is time of now. This is, I owe a major loan. I'm broke, totally broke, but I need to make it happen. So work with me. Let's make it together. And she was totally on board with it.
00:56:28
Speaker
And that's when we got together. And from that, we realized, all right, you know, you can totally do it. And I crushed it more than ever because now I was concentrated in one thing. And one thing only, my art, my craft, my passion. And that's also when I started gathering information and I started putting together Mind Your Hair.
00:56:52
Speaker
because again I started feeling yeah but you see all that Hollywood it looks good from the outside what is really going on in backstage and that's really my entrepreneurial moment came from it too because I realized yes I want still to be rich and famous and I want to have all those things
00:57:15
Speaker
But now, knowing the low and having been so low that I've learned about me, I've learned about what I wanted, I've learned about purpose, I've learned also to be of service, helping for free without having to expect something back from what I was giving. And that's really part of my entrepreneurial experience.
00:57:37
Speaker
thank you so much for sharing this with us so just as you've highlighted and talked about your your challenges I believe in all this there's been useful lessons you've picked up can you share some of these lessons with us
00:57:53
Speaker
Yes, of course, you see, this is the thing.
Learning from Failures and Collaboration
00:57:55
Speaker
We think when we lose it all, and often, and it's a male thing, which I've discovered with coaching clients, it's more of a male thing than anything else, is we put the definition of us from what we own, our possession, our bank account, the balance of our bank account, the higher it is, the bigger you feel in life. And the challenges are really knowing balance, knowing that
00:58:21
Speaker
There is nothing shameful, like you see, for instance, it took me so long to be able to tell the world, yeah, I filed for bankruptcy. Yeah, personal bankruptcy is not a crime. But you see, ego is often really what blocks people to grow, to learn, and to be able to say it as it is. It allows, I mean, it actually blocks from authenticity, doesn't allow you to be who you are.
00:58:50
Speaker
and that's what it is those challenges let them come to you and when you see a challenge coming at you instead of looking at it like oh my god this is a problem no that's not a problem that is something i'm not liking but it's all right it needs to go it's like a bill when you receive your bill well you don't like your bill i mean whether it's online or in your mailbox
00:59:11
Speaker
Well, that bill is not going anywhere until you pay it. But it's the same thing with challenges. Challenges, they come to you to grow. They're here to just show you who you are. Nobody's doing something to you, and that's often also what it is, you know? Of course, humankind loves to point a finger because it's always easier. If I put someone responsible for my problems,
00:59:34
Speaker
suddenly I feel better for three seconds and that's it because the problem is not going away and I'm still gonna have to face it that's what it is about being an entrepreneur and just life in general no one is doing anything to you it's not somebody mean up there that wants to for you to suffer it's just saying oh wow all right so how do I react to this challenge because to an action there is a reaction
01:00:03
Speaker
and you choose that reaction because you see also over time, I realized by meditating, by learning yoga, by learning all of those elements that I was able to look at it more calmly. And instead of thinking, oh my God, I don't have that much on my bank account, so I'm a loser, which I used to think, well, it was about saying, all right, how do I go through it? How do I make it happen? How do I find a solution to this problem?
01:00:30
Speaker
And then little by little, it just became a second nature to be able to look at everything and some of the things I do not like at all. And it can include, you know, losing people, you know, one way or the other in your life. And it's the same thing of learning to deal with that. And that's really what it is. The challenges are coming to you. They're not coming at you. So that's really my takeaway.
01:00:57
Speaker
Thank you so much Patrice. We are just about wrapping up. Any last words or advice for my listeners? Yeah, it'll be simple. It's about enjoy the journey. Stop overthinking. Just, you know, we were given an amazing gift. It's one life. I mean, at least this life. This life of today right here, right now. Embrace it. You see, we spend too much time wandering.
01:01:24
Speaker
what are people gonna think are being judged, being critical. You see a wise guy told me I belong to this mastermind and the guy who owns it says something so good to me that I needed to hear because at the time I was so worried about what people were gonna say about me and I wanted everyone to love me. Oh my god I had to have a hundred percent of people thinking Patrice is amazing.
01:01:47
Speaker
And then he said to me, well, you know, you're getting bigger and bigger in the digital world and whatever it is. So you better be ready because you're gonna have half of the world who's gonna love everything you do and the other half who's gonna hate you. And the haters? Oh, they hate you. And they will say the meanest thing to you. So be prepared. It's okay. It doesn't make you less of anything. It's only becoming something stronger about you that you're gonna learn that. So that's my advice. It's really about
01:02:18
Speaker
reading I have learned instead of thinking of the deal I was gonna kill and this and more and this it's just about hey I woke up this morning this is already a miracle within itself I'm alive I'm healthy and I do well enough I can eat what I want I can travel where I want I take my car to go where I want
01:02:37
Speaker
So the simple things of life, enjoy them. And I don't care how many millions you're making, you still remember the foundation of life. And that's why, you know, in Buddhism, it's the breath, it's the gift. But it really means you're alive.
01:02:52
Speaker
So make it count. This is why we are here. To learn, to share, and to build a community. Enough with people thinking they can succeed on their own. You can't. I used to be this guy. Community is the only way to build. That's why today I'm with you. I can share my message with the other part of the world. Right now I'm in Africa. How amazing is that? And I'm not even like a great technology guy.
01:03:15
Speaker
But to me, I feel like, wow, this is amazing. I'm amazed by it. And that's what it is. Be amazed by the most simple thing, by nature around you. That's what it is about. Just enjoy each day like it was the last one. And I'm not saying be reckless, but be appreciative, be grateful for what you're doing. Just as you talked about challenges, I believe there's also been a lot of lessons you've picked up along the line. Can you share some of these lessons with us?
01:03:45
Speaker
People with every challenge there are mistakes and after every mistake you need to upgrade your logic and try to do things differently. My first lesson is that you really cannot wait for the clients to come knocking.
01:04:01
Speaker
I said it many times, it's like build it and they will come. Well, nobody comes. Especially if you're an entrepreneur, if you're just starting your business, you need to be very agile and proactive. You need to get your phone up, start calling people, start reaching out to prospect. I mean, it doesn't need to be phone if you're not comfortable in talking, if you're not comfortable in discussing in real time.
01:04:26
Speaker
There are written communication and outreach capabilities. You can start sending emails in terms of, hi, my name is Kofi. I would really believe that I can help you. Or here is LinkedIn, which is a very good B2B platform that you can just start reaching out to people, connecting with them and start seeing if there is an opportunity for them. So the lesson one is that you cannot really wait for clients to come because if you wait, if they don't come, then you have a really big problem.
01:04:56
Speaker
that the second one is that you really need to start taking chances. This B, although is now a bit more mature company, we still take some high risk chances. I mean, there was a project back when we started when we were just seven people as a company and the project required 10 people full time for two months. And that was a very risky move. But what I did is actually I just hired 10 new people because I had existing commitment with the existing clients.
01:05:22
Speaker
And then within seven days we find offices, we bought computers, we bought desks, we bought chairs, we interviewed people, we recruited 10 people all within seven days. And instead of that should be my biggest success. Then the biggest problem was that now, okay, now I have two months to find work for those people because the project was only for two months.
01:05:43
Speaker
And after that I would either need to leave them or, which is a challenge I accepted, I have 2 months to actually find enough work to keep them up. And we did it! Within 2 months we found enough work for 10 more people, which was, you know, we were 7 people, 10 new is really exponential work.
01:06:01
Speaker
and the third lesson that I saw is that people are capable of great things you just need to put some time and effort in them I've realized from the mistakes you need to see what people are happy doing it what inspires them and just give them that work I mean we've made mistakes we found a person that is not really good in sales and we said okay you know what you're gonna be sales
01:06:23
Speaker
They were doing great job, but since it's not their core, it's not their inspiration, it never went to the next level. On the other hand, now, when we recruit people, we're saying, okay, start doing some general things. Let's see what you enjoy doing, what inspires you, and let put you in that position. Because I know that if you're interested, it's no longer a boring job, time stop being counted. You start even learning after work, during work, because that's really excite for you and that's your passion. And if you know your passion,
01:06:51
Speaker
Then our job is just to give you a direction and then we see some very great results coming. I want to spend my time now talking about issues that you deal with on a daily basis. You spend your time helping businesses and companies. So I want you to advise people and businesses on several fronts. So let's start off with what would be your advice for someone who is desirous on starting a business?
01:07:18
Speaker
Yeah, honestly, I've talked with so many entrepreneurs that I've started finding patterns. There are a lot of people that like, I'm an entrepreneur, you know, they get together, have few drinks, I have an idea, let's do a business on this. And they come to us and say, I have an idea, I'll become a millionaire in six months or less. And for me, it's like, good luck, that's not gonna work. On the other hand, I have people that actually spend some time as an employees working that particular thing,
01:07:46
Speaker
and they become expert in that field and then they're saying you know what I have the expertise I think I want to start my own business and those entrepreneurs are highly more likely to succeed than the people that were just got an idea and on the other hand as I said previously coffee is the passion if the goal of the business is to make money it will fade away you're gonna lose the ambition you're gonna lose the desire
01:08:12
Speaker
However, if you're driven by passion and you actually want to do what you really love to do, then things change. Then time stops being counted and you lose yourself in the thing that you want to do. So we have a saying here in Bisbee and I really enforce it with every employee and with everybody. And there is a quote, I really don't know who said it, but I live by it every day. And it is saying, if you want to do something, you'll find a way to do it.
01:08:39
Speaker
if you don't you will find an excuse why not to do it and that really resonated with me i mean uh so many times it's like oh but i cannot do that because of this this this this and that's a lot of excuses on why you shouldn't do something on the other hand i know people with far less opportunities and they're like okay this problem came in i found a way to
01:09:02
Speaker
Then another problem came in, I found another way overcoming it. And I think that business is that just overcoming problems. I don't know a company that doesn't have a problem. As an entrepreneur you have one complexity, as a startup you have different complexity and different problems, as a corporation with the billions in revenues you still have problems, it's just different level.
01:09:24
Speaker
So, if you start with excuses why not to do something, you will never be able to grow. And this is also on a personal level, it's not just for a company. You need to start running to lose weight. Yeah, but I don't have sneakers, I don't have music, the weather is cold, it's hot, it's too many excuses. On the other hand, if you really want to do it, you just do it. It will be harder because of the problems, but you overcome that.
01:09:50
Speaker
So it's a really nice quote, I don't know who said it, I'll actually google it to see. But it's thick in my head and it's always like this. If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. But if you don't, you'll just start finding excuses.
01:10:10
Speaker
Well, that is a fellow because he's already started and I can just tell him the mistakes that I did because those are critical. If you have a business, start thinking about marketing. I didn't do it because I was a freelancer and it took me three years to realize that I actually need marketing in order to have a successful business. And on the other hand, you need to start building relationships with people.
01:10:35
Speaker
Networking is something that only few people talk about it and it's really like a cloudy sentence. Well, you need to network and everybody's saying, yeah, yeah, yeah, you need to network because it's important to be in a network and it's important to be part of a network. But I don't think that everybody understands the importance of network when it comes to more expensive services or solutions.
01:10:58
Speaker
Nobody is just screening on Upwork or just googling. People wanted to ask for referrals and I'll come to you and I say, Kofi, do you know anyone that is good in working with entrepreneurs? And then you need to have a go-to guy for that service. And in order to be that, you really need to specialize. And it's not just a specialization, people need to know about you.
01:11:19
Speaker
I also learned that a bit later, but the moment I did, I actually said, okay, what are the chambers, associations, organizations that I can join in? I'm not going to get a lot of clients from them. That's for sure, because it will be filled with alike people.
01:11:34
Speaker
So, I am currently a member of the Macedonian Association of Management Consultants and they are like-minded people, I can even say they are competitors to me. But when you stop looking at them as competitors, magic happens. I mean, coffee, I had more than 10 projects.
01:11:49
Speaker
where i didn't got it from them but they're saying you know what don't you you're outreach i'm a financial guy let's apply together to a project opportunity that came up and then i've realized that we're not really that competitors we are actually complementary to each other in order to together reach new markets so with the networking we've realized that you're aligning yourself to other companies another solution
01:12:13
Speaker
and together you can actually make much better result than you just fighting yourself on the market only. Very much. We are just about ending our conversation for today. Do you have any last words or advice for mindlessness? Yeah, sure. Coffee, I really hope that your entrepreneurs will be inspired and take the courage and say, okay, I'm gonna start that business.
01:12:36
Speaker
And yeah, if I wanted to have excuses, then I wouldn't be here. But since they're actually listening to your podcast, they're making the effort. They are trying to find a way to do something. And if that's the case, my recommendation is don't find excuses, but find solutions. There will be always problems just how you actually look at them. And the second biggest recommendation is people wait for an opportunity to emerge.
01:13:01
Speaker
and you shouldn't wait you need to chase an opportunity because if you just sit and waiting for someone to call you yeah someone will call you but then you're missing all the opportunities of connecting with other people of you know business is a life matter as you talk with people you reshape your service you upgrade your logic you introduce new services you as you talk with people you understand new market needs that you are not even aware before it
01:13:27
Speaker
And then you think, okay, but I can actually add a new service. So if you start talking with people and if you start getting into the networking is very promising for entrepreneurs to succeed. And if they stop finding excuse and start finding solution, then I can guarantee that they will be a very successful entrepreneurs.
01:14:03
Speaker
We also use this opportunity to thank our listeners. And as I've been saying, I've been reading your feedback, your messages to me, your comments, and your words of encouragement. Thank you so much. This journey is turning out the way it is, mainly because of your support. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
01:14:31
Speaker
What is in store for the year 2021? I've taken on board a lot of the suggestions you've always sent to me. So we're going to make it bigger and better. Your plan is to release more exciting episodes in this coming year. We're already in that year in 2021. Then also gradually groom and grow a community.
01:14:59
Speaker
a community where we can share experience. An experiential sharing platform of like-minded individuals who are willing to brainstorm and build themselves. That is one thing we are also going to do this year. We also promise to have a lot more videos because that's one suggestions we kept on receiving. So we've set up a YouTube channel
01:15:28
Speaker
to be posting these videos. Ask them when. We're also going to spend time doing live shows.
01:15:58
Speaker
where I'm going to invite our resource people to come and interact with our audience. It promises to be an exciting 2021 with God being our helper. So get on board. Join me on this journey as we all work towards living a life of passion and purpose. This year promises to be a year of good health, of success,
01:16:28
Speaker
and impact. So don't be left behind. We are leaving no one behind. We are going forward to come out to the best versions of us. Let's do this together. I remain your host, Kufi Animedu. This has been a special edition of the Entrepreneur's Peace Podcast. I'll come your way next time with
01:16:58
Speaker
another exciting episode. Let's continue to say a prayer for each other. Let's continue to support each other. Let's continue to stay safe and keep hope alive. Cheers.