When Cecilia Afutu, the mastermind behind Konzoom, began peddling plantain chips at the tender age of 13, little did she know that her entrepreneurial spirit would lead to the birth of an online hair store revolutionizing the German market. In a heart-to-heart on the latest episode of Konnected Minds Podcast, we uncover the essence of her journey, marked by the highs of triumph and the lows of adversity. Through her narrative, Cecilia paints a vivid picture of what it takes to maintain the relentless energy and motivation necessary for entrepreneurial success, while also highlighting the non-negotiable role of a positive mindset and a robust business plan.
The dance of partnership in business is one where balance is not just desired—it's essential. We delve into how Cecilia and her counterpart choreographed their roles to cover the vast spectrum of technical, operational, and customer relations, forming a symphony of productivity. I share pearls of wisdom on how business partners can become pillars for each other amid the tumultuous journey, celebrating the shared currency of motivation and energy. Drawing from my own trove of experiences, the conversation veers into the art of personal time management and the significance of shielding oneself from negativity, all to sustain a nurturing environment for the business to flourish.
Finally, the episode crescendoes into an exploration of company culture, where mentorship and goal-setting are the keystones. Personal stories of empowerment and the occasional sting of employee turnover unravel, exposing the delicate interplay between trust and the quest for growth. Cecilia and I stitch together the narrative threads of these experiences to offer a tapestry of insights on navigating the entrepreneurial maze—where even in the face of failure, opportunity knocks and resilience reigns supreme. Join us as we journey through this entrepreneurial saga, rich with lessons for anyone looking to carve their path in the world of business.
Watch the video episode of this on YouTube - https://linktr.ee/konnectedminds
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Business for me is challenging, but I like the
challenge it comes with.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
The problem with a lot of people is that they start
a business and they just don'tcarry the same energy that they
started with.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Business is never guaranteed.
You can feel at any point intime, because of external
factors, Doing business is hard.
I'm not even going to lie.
But if you have someone on yourteam who motivates you just as
much as you motivate them, andif you have a blueprint, you
have a template you're following, it makes it easy.
If you start a business and youdon't have a plan, you don't
(00:36):
have a vision, you really don'tknow what you're doing, you're
just trying it out.
You realize real quick it'sgoing to fail.
In business you need positivemindset, you need positive
energy.
So if you don't have that kindof positive mindset or positive
energy around you, it's going todrain you.
So you need to find the peoplewho can really bring out the
best in you.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
That positivity is going to drain you.
Welcome to Connected MindsPodcast Now.
Today we have another episodeof an awesome conversation that
is going to happen On thisepisode.
(01:17):
Like we always say, one goodconversation can change a
million lives.
We have seasoned entrepreneurswho would come here discuss
their journey, the things theyhave been through and what you
can learn from it at home.
So if you haven't subscribed onour episodes, please do check
the channels on YouTube as well.
(01:37):
Today I have Cecilia Afoutou,who is the CEO of Konizum
platform, and I welcome you toConnected Minds.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Podcast Hello, hi, hi , dary, so nice to see you.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
It's amazing to see you.
Yeah, when I saw you, I saidwow, I feel like I'm back in
Kent you know, it's been so manyyears.
Many, many years, many, manyyears, and we've just been
seeing each other's pictures onthe internet.
Yes, you know, there hasn'treally been any conversation,
but then when I send you amessage it takes a while for you
(02:17):
to reply.
I guess you are so busy.
Business is doing well.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
I mean it depends on the platform you used to contact
me.
Okay.
If it's.
I think I'm very active onLinkedIn If you want to get me
to respond to your LinkedIn asthe place.
If you write to me on Instagramor Facebook, then it takes like
weeks because I'm not reallyactive on there.
But yeah, business is good, I'mhappy.
(02:41):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Yeah, and thank you for coming.
This means a lot to me for youto be here today, because I have
seen a lot of things that youhave done, you know, since you
left uni up until now.
But one of the things I wantedto tell us today, to start with,
is how did you start gettingyourself involved in business?
(03:03):
And why business is crazy.
Man, this people go crazytrying to do business.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Yeah, that's a good question.
Yeah, so I've always been inbusiness, always.
I mean, before we even started,I was studying about this
business I had been doing when Iwas 13.
So at 13 already I was likeselling plantain chips in my
school, in my primary school,and I've always, one way or the
other, been involved in business.
(03:29):
So after I finished high school, I started a shoe business with
a friend of mine who wasselling.
We were ordering shoes fromChina and then selling at our
university.
So people would order onFacebook and then we ship it to
them.
I did that for a while and then,after university, a friend of
mine and myself we did we cameup with a show called Africa in
(03:50):
Vogue and basically what wewanted to do was we wanted to
create a platform where Africancreatives in fashion, art and
music can interact andcollaborate with each other.
So we did a whole season ofabout 12 episodes.
It's still on YouTube and we'vetraveled through Togo, benin,
ghana interviewing people likedesigners, musicians, you name
(04:15):
it, and it was so beautifullydone.
But there was no sponsorship.
So, and all the TV stationswere pitched to, you were like,
okay, you need to pay us to putit on air, and we felt like at
the time people would havelearned a lot from you know,
africa in Vogue, because wewould have seen the incredible
things African creatives weredoing across the continent, but
it didn't happen.
(04:36):
And then, after I started abusiness with my sister to at
CNT here in beauty and basicallywe saw a gap in Germany where I
grew up in, because therewasn't.
It wasn't easy for us to getaccess to hair products and hair
tools and accessories.
So every time we watchedYouTube videos, we'd see people
(04:58):
in the UK, us, canada.
They would be using new hairtools, new hair accessories, new
hair products.
We didn't get that in Germany.
So my sister in Nigerian, likeCOVID I guess I think it was
right before COVID in 2019.
Business that are on likeonline hair store where we'd
sell these things to peopleblack people or people of color
living in Germany.
(05:19):
And we did that and it reallytook off and, yes, now she fully
manages that.
So I've always been involved inbusiness one way or the other.
Yeah, I see.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
And what is it about business that?
What do you get from it?
I ask that question because forme it's like after I've taken
one challenge, let's say, todayI want to.
I feel like I want to start anew website where people can
order clothes, right, thethought comes in and as soon as
(05:52):
I get it done, I get a burst ofsome sort of like euphoria.
You know, I get a certain levelof fulfillment about it.
What is it about you that keepsyou going?
Speaker 1 (06:05):
I think it's the same for me when it comes to
business.
I've never been the one, thekind of person, to want to work
for someone.
I've worked in the corporateworld.
Every time I work in like anoffice setting, even though I'm
providing value, I'm addingvalue to the company or the
organization, I just was neverfulfilled.
(06:26):
I felt like I wasn't living mypurpose.
I was doing things to please,you know, my parents, because
they wanted me to be in a 205,because it's secure, you earn
your checks at the end of themonth.
But for me personally, I feltlike, you know, there's nothing,
there's no value.
I do the same when it's in us.
Every day I go to the office.
You know we sit in meetings, Iinterview people because I was
(06:47):
part of the HR team at somepoint.
I interview people, then I dothe whole, you know initiation,
I introduce them to the company,I do the training.
I do this.
But I was never like exciting,but every time I did business I
found myself wanting to do more.
So business for me ischallenging, but I like the
(07:09):
challenge it comes with.
I've always been the kind ofperson to take risks and my
parents are like that'sdangerous.
Yeah, you know, wouldn't yourather have a full-time job?
You know, business is neverguaranteed.
You can feel at any point intime because of external factors
.
But for me, that kind offulfilment, every time I get
into a business that I reallywant to, I push myself to the
(07:30):
limits, I go above and beyondand I enjoy the hard work seeing
the end results yes, I mean.
I mean I consume.
For instance, has been twoyears we've been operating, but
the research and the work behindthe scenes happened a year
before we launched.
So seeing that whole year ofplanning playing out according
(07:53):
to what the plan was back then,it excites me.
I'm like, okay, it's going,it's rolling out Like I can see
it's unfolding every single day,the plan, the vision, you know,
and it's exciting.
It just gives me this thrill,this adrenaline to just keep
wanting more.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Yeah, but yeah, talk about your existing business
consume.
You know how did it all start?
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Yes, so consume started during lockdown.
We were in Berlin duringlockdown.
Unfortunately, we couldn't cometo Ghana at the time we planned
to come and there were allthese rapid grocery delivery
services that started.
I think even in the UK theyhave some, so they have like
gorillas, get here flink andwould place an order.
(08:37):
Because at the time my daughterwas very young, she was like
what a year and a half and Icouldn't go to the supermarkets,
couldn't do anything.
So I'd order online and withinlike 20 minutes the groceries
would come to me.
We just like at the time, wejust leave you at the door,
doesn't take the bag andeverything and then take it to
the kitchen.
And we were seriouslyconsidering moving back to Ghana
after the lockdown.
(08:58):
We were actually like havingthe conversation we need to move
back.
You know we want to start abusiness and I had been talking
to my supervisor at work.
Okay, I think I want to do myown thing.
I think you know my partner andI with considering moving back
to Ghana, so she was aware of it.
So the only thing that was leftwas okay, what business are we
doing?
Ghana is huge.
What are we going to do when wego back and for us.
(09:22):
We try the services of theserapid grocery deliveries and we
realized that, you know, thequality of products they brought
was the same as the ones in thesupermarkets and also it was
just.
It was convenient for us everytime we ordered on a platform.
So why don't we take the sameidea, a replicator in Ghana?
(09:42):
Well, for us, the vision goesbeyond Ghana.
It's one replicator acrossAfrica, but we're starting with
Ghana because it's home, ofcourse, but you know Ghana.
There's urbanization, a lot ofpeople live in the cities, we
have a huge middle-classpopulation and it's growing
every single day.
You have people who have highpurchasing power.
You have people who are techsavvy.
(10:04):
The average Ghanaian ordersthings, a lot of things, online.
If you think about it, likewe're on global, we're on menu
finder we're on boats, we're onUber Jumia yeah.
You name it Even like onWhatsApp.
You have all these ladies likeordering clothes from boutiques
online on WhatsApp and Facebook.
That's every.
The average Ghanaian is buyingthings online.
(10:24):
So why don't we take this ideathere and provide this kind of
service to the people who arebusy?
They, you know, they have thepurchase and power, but then
they enjoy, you know,convenience as well.
So that's where the whole ideacame from.
Wow, yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
And you know, I know your other half is the CTO as
well.
So because, obviously, for us,when we started doing business,
my wife was never involved untilafter some time, you know.
So how did the two of you, youknow, get that synergy together
to run a business?
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Well, as I think it came naturally because he's the
tech person, he's a softwareengineer, so this is all he's
done, you know, since hegraduated from uni, and I've
always been into some onebusiness or the other Since he's
met me, like, I've always beendoing something business related
.
Oh, I'm starting this businesswith this person, I'm doing this
business, I'm doing that, I'mselling this, I'm selling that.
(11:23):
So when the idea came about, itwas just, we fell into the
roles.
Naturally, he was going to bethe technical person who was
going to.
Initially, we started with awebsite, so we had a website
where people would go browse thecategories and place the order.
But now, recently, we have theapp, which is live.
So he actually builds the appfrom scratch.
(11:45):
And for us it's like okay, youtake that technical role because
that's what you enjoy doing,and then I will do the business
side of things.
So I do everything fromoperations, admin, logistics,
all the business things that hefinds boring, I do.
So it's just.
I don't think we even had aconversation per se.
It was just like, okay, I'mgoing to be doing the tech stuff
(12:06):
, you deal with other things.
And I was like I'll gladly doit, because I was also looking
for a way out of this corporateworld I was in.
So it was like, okay, I think Ican do this.
I think we bring.
We bring a lot to the table.
The technical side of things isas important as the
non-technical side of things,and it's 50-50 really when you
(12:27):
look at it, because his work ishard.
He has to sit behind thecomputer for hours trying to
build an app and it takes months.
It took him about seven, eightmonths working on it every
single day for hours.
And for me it's also a lot onthe other side, because you're
dealing with distributors,you're dealing with supplies,
you're dealing with customers,you're dealing with employees,
you're dealing with regulations,you're dealing with everything.
(12:50):
So we really balance each otherout.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Oh, that's amazing.
You know a lot of the time whenpeople get an idea right and you
know they may get the idea andthen they start, because I can't
tell you how many businessesthat I've started and about 80%
of those businesses built Nowthe problem with a lot of people
(13:14):
is that they start a businessand they just don't carry the
same energy that they startedwith.
You know how do you manage thatpersonally.
You know, and how do you guyspick it up, you know, to make
sure that the ideas you havecomes into fruition.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
I mean, doing business is hard.
I'm not even going to lie.
But if you have someone on yourteam who motivates you just as
much as you motivate them, andif you have a blueprint, you
have like you know, a templateyou're following, it makes it
easy.
If you start a business and youdon't have a plan, you don't
have a vision, you really don'tknow what you're doing, you're
(13:52):
just trying it out.
You realize real quick it'sgoing to fail.
But when you have like there'sa solid plan in place In the
first year, we're going to dothis.
In the second year we're goingto do that.
In the third year we're goingto experiment with this.
That concrete plan is thevision for the business.
So it helps you always stay onyour toes because you know what
to do next.
(14:13):
You're not confused, there's nochaos, you know, and you bounce
energy off each other.
So every time I'm down, heknows exactly how to, you know,
get me motivated.
It's like oh, you know what.
There's this event happeninghere and I think, because I'm
also a very sociable person, Ialways want to go to events,
network, meet people.
There's an event I think youshould go to.
(14:34):
You know you can go, grab, youknow, grab a few drinks with
people but then also pick theirbrains on a few things.
And once I do that, I'm like,oh okay, I went to this you know
group of.
I met this group of women atthis you know event and we
bounced ideas off each other andI think I have another you know
idea for what we're trying todo.
Every time with us a hurdle ora challenge, I think I've gotten
(14:54):
you know the solution to thatproblem and then we just, you
know, we move on and then we doit and then same with him.
If there's ever something likeyou know what, let's take a
break, go watch your PremierLeague Chelsea games and then,
when you're done, you knowthat's because it's business.
You need to have a personaltime.
You know you need to carve timeout for yourself when you're in
(15:17):
business.
If not, you're going to goinsane.
You're not going to do 24 seven.
There are days in the week thatyou should take a bit of like
an hour for yourself.
Go sit somewhere, have a drink,have lunch, read a book, do
something for yourself.
That is not business relatedand we try to do that as much as
possible.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
So there's, there are some things that happen in my
mind that I usually call thedevil right, and then there are
some things that happen that Iusually call them God.
So anytime I get a positiveidea, I say God.
And anytime I get a negativeidea I say, oh, the devil is
trying to set in, that's a goodone.
One of the things that usuallyhappens is, for example I woke
up today this morning.
I was supposed to do three setsof pull-ups and I only did two.
(15:59):
And there was a point where,just when I was about to do the
next one, something came in andsaid oh man, don't do it.
This happens in business a lot.
How do you get over that?
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Positive energy, positive vibes.
When you're in business, youalso need to stay away from the
people who are constantly, youknow the negative energy and the
negative aura.
It sucks out the energy in you.
If you're constantly withpeople who are always like, oh
my God, this is not going towork, oh my God, I feel like you
shouldn't try it, you shouldn'tdo this, or they're constantly
(16:38):
talking about all the negativethings happening in this world,
but never the positives.
It drains you really quickly.
So over the years I've realizedthat the people in my circle now
are people that we we're like.
We support each other, so wehave this positive energy.
I have friends that I call andI know if I call this person
(17:00):
right now, no matter how I'mfeeling at this point in time,
that person is going to say theright things to make me want to
not give up, because that personhas known about the journey of
consumption since day one.
Even my parents like that daysI'm down and I'm like okay,
today I need mommy talk, becauseour mothers just have a way of
(17:20):
you know, they know us so wellthat when I call my mom and I'm
done, I'm like this is what'shappening, you know, and I'm so
down.
She knows exactly what to say.
You see that you've been doingthis for two years and she said,
like in the most loving I seefrom a baby, and she's just
trying to console me and she'slike you can do it, Don't give
up, Don't let them get yourknees weak.
That's how she says it, Likeliteral translation don't your
(17:43):
knees shouldn't get weak becauseof this.
You know you can do it.
You can do anything.
You've been doing this for twoyears.
This is nothing.
And then I've said theconversation.
She's like wow, this isactually nothing.
Why am I even bothered about it?
And then you just pick yourselfup, you move on, because that's
it In business.
You need positive mindset, youneed positive energy.
So if you're not, you don'thave that kind of positive
mindset, or positive energyaround you is going to drain you
(18:06):
.
So you need to find the peoplewho can really bring out the
best in you and that positivemindset in you.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Wow, that's amazing.
I guess for me.
You know, I've got two peoplelike that in my life and they've
been amazing throughout thejourney.
But you see, there is, as youalready know, there is
motivation and there'sself-discipline.
Now, which one do you think isvery important when you're doing
(18:34):
business?
Speaker 1 (18:36):
That's a good question.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
And how do you as an entrepreneur?
Where do you play?
Which one do you tend to usethe most?
But obviously we need both.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
The typical Sicilian answer would be 50-50.
Typical.
So you need to be verydisciplined in business as much
as you need motivation.
I say the go hand in hand,because you can't be disciplined
without motivation and youcan't be motivated if you're not
disciplined, if you're notself-disciplined.
(19:09):
What do I mean by this?
So in business, you need tohave a plan of what you want to
achieve.
You know, you prioritize things.
Today.
What am I going to do?
Okay, I'm going to go for it.
I'm going to record a podcastwith Derek and then, after the
podcast, I'm going to rush tothe facility center see how
things are happening there, andthen I'm going to call this
(19:33):
person or send an email or senda presentation.
So you need to be disciplinedenough to block time out of your
busy schedule to do things.
If not, then it's just chaosall over the place.
But then how are you going toget through the day if you're
not motivated?
You need to have some sort ofmotivation.
So for me, motivation is verylittle things that motivate me,
(19:54):
as little as just listening tomusic when I'm driving, just
listening to a podcast on myphone when I'm driving.
Just those little things.
So they go hand in hand.
You can't be disciplinedwithout motivation.
You can't be motivated ifyou're not disciplined.
Really, in business it goeshand in hand.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Yes, I definitely think so.
You know this part of the worldwhere you are.
We have a lot of challengeright Now.
There are people who exploitthose challenges and they use it
against other people.
There are businesses who'vestruggled a lot.
(20:36):
Entrepreneurs have faced a lotof issues here Getting through
the government policies you knowlaws and things like that and
then also government departmentsand processing documents and
it's just chaos.
It's endless.
How did?
(20:57):
You overcome that.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
So for us in the beginning my brother-in-law.
When we started he was part ofthe team, but now he's doing his
own thing.
He was the one who was dealingwith all those, those like going
to all the government agenciesthe Registrar General for
Business Registration, the GREfor our taxate, our tax ten
(21:21):
number, and all of that.
He did that part of the work.
I think we let him do itbecause he understands the
system from that angle betterthan we do.
You know, when you've grown upabroad I'd say you tend to think
things should be a certain wayand you're not flexible in your
thinking.
You're like, okay, if I go tothis office, I present my
(21:43):
documents and they say withinone week my registration
document should be ready.
It should be ready within oneweek You're expecting to come
back to have your documents,whereas in this part of the
world that's not the case.
You might go and the person'slike oh, unfortunately the
person who's supposed to signthe document for you is not
around, so you need to come backthe following week and then the
(22:03):
following week and then laterdown the line you realize no,
it's not about that.
It's about them indirectlytrying to tell you you know what
.
You need to part with a bit ofmoney so that we can sign the
paper for you.
But if you don't understand it,you know you'll always be going
back, you know, trying to getthat document.
So for us, he had lived here, heknew the system and he knew how
(22:24):
to you know if they say it'sgoing to be ready in a month.
He knew, I think also becausehe had friends who had, you know
, worked in these places or hadgone through these processes.
So it's easier for him to callon people like hey, I want, you
know, to support my brother andhis wife register a business.
How do I go about it?
So it was easier that way,because if I had done it, oh my
(22:45):
goodness, I don't think we wouldhave registered the time we did
.
I'd still be going back to theoffice because I wouldn't
understand that they're tryingto get me.
You know, maybe they want me todo something, but I wouldn't
get it because I can't readbetween the lines.
You know, I'll just be wastingmy time and wasting their time.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
Wow, you know, I I.
I was speaking to one of myfriends who wanted to start a
business and then he said one ofhis biggest problems is the
fear of failure.
And then I said I've probablyfailed more times than I've won,
and anytime I fail before youused to pay me a lot, but now I
(23:29):
almost get the same level ofeuphoria as a win, because I'm
now in the process of learning.
So I get people like yourselfcome on this podcast.
It's not because the onlypeople I need to learn from you
are the viewers or the listeners, because I want to learn as
well.
So for me, failure is alearning process.
(23:51):
But how do you overcome thatfear as a business lady?
Speaker 1 (23:59):
You can't get into business if you're afraid to
fail.
You've already failed bythinking you're going to fail
Really and truly.
You need to take that big leapof faith if you want to start
something, Anything in thisworld.
If you're going to do it,there's always that huge
possibility that is going tofail.
(24:19):
But then, if you don't do it,how are you even going to know
that it's going to succeed?
The only way we're in thisbusiness is because we tried in
the first place.
If we had listened to all thepeople said oh, Consume is not
going to work.
Grassy delivery, but there's somany grocery deliveries in
there we're like no, but webring something different to the
table.
We're not the average grocerydelivery.
(24:40):
We're not just bringing freshproduce or going to the market
to buy your things for you.
Ours is different.
The offerings are different,Unique selling points are
different.
But if we had never embarked onthis journey, would I have
known whether Consume willsucceed or not?
Never.
So if you're afraid to fail,you've already failed by
thinking that you're going tofail in the first place.
(25:03):
You always have to just do whatyou have to do.
If there's a strong urge to dosomething and that's one thing
with me.
I'm like, if there's a strongsense of something is like do it
, do it, do it, Don't ignore it,because your instincts is
telling you that there'ssomething there.
If you do it and you fail, it'sa good learning experience for
(25:25):
you.
If you do it and you succeed,then wow, you clap for yourself.
But if you fail, it's just oneof those things.
If you fail, people like BillGates will tell you, or Mark
Zuckerberg the number of timesthey failed, or even Jeff Bezos,
or even let's bring it down tolike Ghana, I'm sure if you
speak to Amy of the Ghanian, bigin quotes, big men and women
(25:49):
that's all you're seeing, justthe end results.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
But even to get to this level, they must have
failed so many times I think Iwas telling you that when we
first started at Pharmacy inGhana the pharmacy was initially
gone.
We had been in the business, wehad paid all the rent and done
all those things.
We spent a lot of money to putit up and do all the fancy,
(26:16):
launch and things like that.
Two years down the line thecompletely bad idea it failed.
Now I had sleepless nights overit but I had to close it down
and then move on.
Find something else, findanother location that works.
Now, when we had our firstpharmacy in the UK, the NHS
services was just not workingfor the online platform that
(26:38):
we're on.
We had to move on from there.
So you see, I think for mostpeople it's just a blow to their
ego.
I made it work, so people holdon for too long.
That's a good one, yeah, theyhold on for too long and I think
you were saying something aboutideas and people need to think
of new ideas.
I was reading something in thebook that talks about creative
(27:01):
ideas and synthetic ideas andthat most of the ideas come from
synthetic ideas, which areideas that already exist to just
improve upon it like you guyshave done.
You've just improved upon anexisting system within the
country, improved on your ownUSB store and now, look, it's
working.
So I definitely just tobacktrace what you're saying
(27:24):
people really need to thinkabout what they need to do and
get it done and forget thinkingabout failure.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, that's a good one.
Yeah, that's a good one.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
And I mean business is hard.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
But if you're holding onto something that is not, you
can't even hold onto it, it'sjust slipping through your
fingers and you should know it'stime to let go.
Yeah, that's not the end of theworld.
I think I've taken aconversation with a woman
recently, a fantasticbusinesswoman, who's been in
business in Ghana for about 20years.
She makes some of the mostbeautiful packaging or packaged
(28:01):
like black soap, shampoo lotions.
She learns.
I think she learns a broaderbit.
And then she, she mixes her ownthings and she's figured it out
.
And she had a business at MarinaMall and she was paying in
dollars like 10, 11 years ago,and this was going so well.
But then the economy is notthriving.
(28:22):
So she had to shut down herbusiness at the Marina Mall and
she was like she was had broken.
But then at that point she knewthe rent and what she was
making and revenue and profits.
It wasn't adding up.
So she had to let go.
But then, surprisingly, whenshe let go of that opportunity,
another opportunity came up inanother location and also
actually two opportunities cameup, one in Osu and one in the
(28:43):
Chado area.
And then she was like see whatGod has done.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
I shut down one business and I've been able to
open two.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
So basically, what she was trying to tell me is, in
business, never like you know,never look, use your one eye to
look into the bottle, thinking,oh my God.
You know this is the only wayand this is the highway.
You should always be open toopportunities.
You should be open to.
You know the different thingsthat come your way.
If the universe is telling youto shut down a business, there's
(29:13):
nothing you can do about it.
You know it's not goingdownhill.
It will go downhill real fastand maybe when that door shuts,
another will be open somewhere.
Yeah, I admire, like, the familybehind Malcolm.
They've done incredibly well inGhana and every time I look at
like the new mall they've builtbecause I go there, you know to,
(29:35):
you know my, you know they havea play area so my daughter goes
to play.
I'm like this is incredible andthe car park and everything.
I don't know if you've beenthere.
Yeah, it's beautiful, it's agreat accomplishment.
But if they are doing all ofthis in an economy that
fluctuates, there's a secret.
They know that we don't Meaningit's.
It never lasts forever.
(29:56):
You know the positive, theeconomic downturn will, you know
will turn around and it willstabilize at some point it's
not.
The economy is not always goingto go downhill or dwindle.
It will at some point stabilize.
And if they've been doing thisfor I don't know, 20 something
years, 30 something years, gosh,what do I have to complain
(30:16):
about?
I've been in business for twoyears.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
But shut up and just you know, yeah, yeah, yeah,
thanks for your time.
You get an idea, you're crazyenough to even think of starting
a business right, and then allof a sudden get a shop or you
build a website and you put abunch of people together to come
and manage it for you, dothings for you.
(30:39):
There's always a certain levelof micromanaging in Ghana.
How do you guys do all of that?
Speaker 1 (30:48):
That's a good one.
In the beginning I wasmicromanaging a lot, also
because I felt like my workethic and that of my employees
were very different, so it tooka lot of training.
I can't even tell you how manyemployees we've gone through to
get to this point With higher.
They don't come back, no reason.
(31:10):
When you meet, you have aconversation, you're like okay,
you have to give me notice ifyou want to leave.
Sure, madam sure, I'll give youa notice, I'll do this.
And they just don't come, theydon't show up for work, they
don't call, they don't text.
I can't even count how manyemployees we've gone through.
But now we have a stable groupof employees and we have a
(31:31):
manager, a solid manager, inplace and they do a good job in
my absence.
So today I haven't even checkedmy phone and everything will go
according to plan.
It's like an autopilot.
So if orders come in, they knowwhat to do.
They package it, they send it,the writer's taken, they deliver
, they come back.
(31:51):
They'll do everything.
At the end of the day, they'lldo the accounting.
I'll just check to make sureall the orders tally with
whatever it is that needs to betallyed with.
But in the initial stages itwas a lot of micromanaging, but
we're training and I constantlytrain in them and also that days
I used to go to the shop myself.
You know the facility centerand I'm like today, I'm working
(32:14):
with you the whole of today.
So when orders come, I takelike baskets, I go around and
like see how we do it.
You take the tablets, you walkaround, you look at the items.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
That's true leadership.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Yeah, you know.
So they see how it's done.
And once they, I think whenthey can see you from that level
, then it also changes things abit, because if they see you
from up there sometimes theydon't really understand what you
expect of them.
But when you get down therewith them you're just like, okay
, let's do this together today.
Whatever phone calls come in,I'm answering it, you know.
Whatever orders come in, I'mpacking it, and you have to just
(32:46):
assist me.
You know, and then you build arapport with them.
You get to know them on apersonal level too.
My leadership style is verydifferent.
I have a very personablerelationship with my employees.
Like they can call me when theyhave issues, and that's the
level we've gotten into.
Like if they have issues athome, they'll call me and they
(33:08):
can call me at any time of theday.
Madam, this is the difficultyI'm facing today.
I just wanted to inform youbecause tomorrow it looks like I
can't come to work.
It's totally fine.
Sort out your personal problems, because if you don't sort it
out, you won't be able to giveme 100%.
So take a day off, sort it outand come back when you feel like
you're at your 100% and itworks for me and for the
(33:31):
business we're in, the businesswe run, because then they do it
happily and they do it withoutyou know, a lot of people do it
for the paycheck, but they don'tdo it for the paycheck only.
They do it because they see thevision, because you've spoken
to them about the vision overand over again, you've told them
what you expect of them andthey see how you go about doing
things and they just replicatewhat they see.
(33:52):
So now when I see the ladiesdoing the customer service, I'm
so impressed because they pickthe phone with confidence and
usually they used to like it waslike they were whispering on
the phone, they were timid a bit, but now they pick the phone,
they're very confident.
Hello, madam, this is thisperson from Consume who've
received your order and therider is about to set off.
You know, once he gets to yourlocation he'll call you.
So please keep your phone nextto you.
(34:13):
And it's like I know I'm doingsomething right If now they can
confidently pick the phone, callcustomers and if there's any
issues they don't even call meBack in the day in the first
year, when there are issues likemaybe the police stops one of
the riders or something, they'llhave to call me.
Madam, please, the police hasstopped one of the riders, can
you please call the rider?
But now they don't even call me, they're just like at the end
(34:33):
of the day.
I was like, oh yeah, the policestopped one of the riders, or
maybe one of the riders and, youknow, a car nearly hit him, you
know, but they're fine.
So, micromanaging the beginning, yes, but you need to train
them and also make them feel aspart of the company.
You're building it together.
They're not building it for you, but you're all building it
together, you know, and haveincentives in place, like with
(34:56):
other incentives.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
I'm definitely learning.
I'm making notes mentally andon the book as well.
You know talk aboutrelationship with employees and
making them understand the goaland the vision.
I have a bad experience.
I am gonna learn based on someof the things you said, but you
(35:18):
know, there was one guy reallytrusted back in the UK when we
started.
He was with us, I think halfwaythrough, because we've been
doing this since 2014.
That's a long time yeah so Ithink he joined us 2017.
He understood exactly what wewere doing, the vision.
You know we took care of him.
(35:39):
You know, a couple of monthsdown the line, he realized
exactly where we were going andcreated competition for it.
So I appreciate all of that and, you know, getting close to the
employees and making themunderstand things.
But it wasn't just aboutcreating competition.
(36:03):
It's about the fact that yourpolicies were taken.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
Your customers were taken.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
Your doctors were taken.
Speaker 3 (36:11):
Whoever distributed to you, everything was taken,
you know, and sometimes it canbe painful it is I'm not gonna
lie, it is.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
And throughout the business I've done.
It's probably one of the mostpainful experiences I've had
it's things.
Speaker 1 (36:25):
When that happens.
I mean, I've had employees.
When we started, we had a younglady work with us.
I showed her the business, Itrusted her, and then she just
out of nowhere, was like, oh,she's got a job offer somewhere
else and that was it.
And it broke my heart.
I think that was the firstpainful lesson for me, because
she had been with us for a yearand she was doing so well, I
(36:48):
could see her even getting to amanagerial position because she
was that good, she knew theintern outs of the job.
And she was like, oh, I know,for some reason and the offer
was not even that great and Iwas like, why do you want to
leave?
She was like, well, because youknow, my mom said her friend is
her friend's business and this.
And I was like, okay, it hurtsme so much I think I'd draw done
(37:10):
it for a while, like, oh, Icould see like the future with
you in it.
I could see you like in anotherbranch as the manager of the
place, right.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
But yeah, it really hurts, especially when employees
that you trust and really showeverything do that I think it
was only this year, that noteven this year, maybe the past
three months, that I decided toget back to it again.
Get a bit closer to my plateand, you know, take them out for
(37:41):
lunch you know, and all thosesort of things.
But I'm still very careful andI mean there are still some
employees that I have that ifthey decided to leave, today
yeah, I'm happy to let them goback for the time and the effort
that I've invested in them, thetraining, the resources.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
I get you.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
Even now we have a solid group of like employees
working for us and there's nowthere's like a dynamic in the
workplace.
So if any of them say they'releaving, it's going to that's
going to be a bit of a crack.
But then I keep saying tomyself you know, nobody's tied
to my business, their destiny isnot tied to my business.
So if they want to feel freeand go, they need to go and fly
(38:26):
and I need to be accepting ofthe fact that they want to go
elsewhere and explore and I needto be okay with hiring someone
else and training them to bethat good to come and fill in
that position.
You know I can't.
I mean, I don't know what'sgoing to happen, but if they
come to me and so you know I'mleaving, there's nothing I can
do about it.
I just have to employ someoneelse and train the person so
(38:49):
they can be as good, and that'sall we can do really.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Every entrepreneur that I've spoken to.
Anytime I speak to them, one ofthe things that's very
important to them is mentorship.
Have you had any level ofmentorship?
Do you plan on, you know,getting yourself involved in
things like that.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
I mean, I don't have a direct mentor, I'd say.
But then I have people that areolder than me, who have been in
business way longer than me.
So occasionally when I need tochat with someone, I know who to
call.
You know, I say for instance,one of my uncle's friends in his
sixties he's been doingbusiness, he's in the logistics
(39:31):
space, he's been doing businessin Ghana for about 30 years.
Every time I feel like you knowwhat I need some talking to
when it comes to business inGhana.
I just give him a call Hi,uncle.
So today this is the topic fordiscussion and he is always
willing to listen, even like,even though we haven't said like
, oh, you're my mentor, it'sjust that conversation.
(39:53):
Oh, okay, have you tried doingit this way?
Have you tried doing that?
And it helps.
I don't have a direct mentor tosay oh, I have a woman in my
corner or a man in my corner.
I have people that, when pushcomes to show, I can call and
get some advice, because they'vebeen doing business for eight
years in Ghana.
So they know exactly what I'mgoing through, they feel the
(40:15):
pain and they can give me one ortwo tips on how to navigate the
situation.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
Yeah, so do you think that it is important for
someone who may have certainideas on burning desire, you
know, to create a business orstart one, to have mentorship?
Speaker 1 (40:32):
Yeah, you need someone you can always reach out
to.
You need, you always needsomeone, and mentorship is very,
very important.
You know, mentorship isimportant.
My former supervisor she wasabsolutely brilliant.
I think that's where I takemost of my leadership skills
from.
She was the head of thedepartment and she was fantastic
(40:53):
.
I used to love her leadershipstyle.
You know, when it came to doingthe work, she'll get you to do
the work and you do itdiligently and you do it.
You do it all.
Your like your eyes and how doyou say?
You know what's the word.
Speaker 3 (41:09):
Dot your eyes and cross your teeth, cross all your
teeth, you would do that.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
But then, when it came to actually downtime, oh
the company.
We're having drinks but we'rehaving games night.
She knew about me, she knewabout everybody and what they
were going through.
She knew about their challenges, their family life, but when it
came to doing the work, werespected her so much.
So we do the work and she isone of the people I meet up with
(41:33):
her when I'm in Berlin, everytime for like lunch, and it's
always nice, just as refreshing,to know that I know someone
like that, and her leadershipstyle is what I want to emulate.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
Yeah, At this point in consume, what do you need to
be able to take you guys to thenext level?
Speaker 1 (41:54):
That's a really deep question.
So what we need to take us tothe next level is finance.
We've been applying for a fewgrants here and there, I also
think, because we haven't beentaken as seriously.
We're just like, okay, let's dowhat we can do now and they'll
see the hard way.
But it's a bootstrapped company, so no investors whatsoever, no
(42:19):
money from anyone except familyand friends.
So with the little money thatwe've gotten and put together
and the savings we've made itthis far.
So imagine if an investoractually truly believes in the
consume idea and they're likehere, take this money and run
with it, we'll just, we'll takeoff.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
So I definitely think your company right Could be a
game changer, because I'm seeingyou guys having several
warehouses district warehouseswithin the country that does the
(43:02):
deliveries from the districtwarehouses.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
That's the goal.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
Yes, and being able to manage the fleet of bikes and
also, most importantly, eitherelectric bikes or bicycle.
Speaker 1 (43:21):
It's like you know what our vision is, because we
want to.
We keep saying one of ourvision plan is to transition
from diesel powered vehicles toelectric by 2024.
We don't know how we're goingto get there in 2024, but we
know, we are really optimisticthat we're going in 2024, we're
(43:42):
going to transition from dieselpowered to electric fully.
So yeah, that's amazing, yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:49):
So, guys, thank you so much for listening.
Once again, share thisconversation to all your friends
and family.
Let people understand what weare here to do connected minds
and on the next episode, weshall see you.
Business for me is challenging, but I like the
challenge it comes with.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
The problem with a lot of people is that they start
a business and they just don'tcarry the same energy that they
started with.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Business is never guaranteed.
You can feel at any point intime, because of external
factors, Doing business is hard.
I'm not even going to lie.
But if you have someone on yourteam who motivates you just as
much as you motivate them, andif you have a blueprint, you
have a template you're following, it makes it easy.
If you start a business and youdon't have a plan, you don't
(00:36):
have a vision, you really don'tknow what you're doing, you're
just trying it out.
You realize real quick it'sgoing to fail.
In business you need positivemindset, you need positive
energy.
So if you don't have that kindof positive mindset or positive
energy around you, it's going todrain you.
So you need to find the peoplewho can really bring out the
best in you.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
That positivity is going to drain you.
Welcome to Connected MindsPodcast Now.
Today we have another episodeof an awesome conversation that
is going to happen On thisepisode.
(01:17):
Like we always say, one goodconversation can change a
million lives.
We have seasoned entrepreneurswho would come here discuss
their journey, the things theyhave been through and what you
can learn from it at home.
So if you haven't subscribed onour episodes, please do check
the channels on YouTube as well.
(01:37):
Today I have Cecilia Afoutou,who is the CEO of Konizum
platform, and I welcome you toConnected Minds.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Podcast Hello, hi, hi , dary, so nice to see you.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
It's amazing to see you.
Yeah, when I saw you, I saidwow, I feel like I'm back in
Kent you know, it's been so manyyears.
Many, many years, many, manyyears, and we've just been
seeing each other's pictures onthe internet.
Yes, you know, there hasn'treally been any conversation,
but then when I send you amessage it takes a while for you
(02:17):
to reply.
I guess you are so busy.
Business is doing well.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
I mean it depends on the platform you used to contact
me.
Okay.
If it's.
I think I'm very active onLinkedIn If you want to get me
to respond to your LinkedIn asthe place.
If you write to me on Instagramor Facebook, then it takes like
weeks because I'm not reallyactive on there.
But yeah, business is good, I'mhappy.
(02:41):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Yeah, and thank you for coming.
This means a lot to me for youto be here today, because I have
seen a lot of things that youhave done, you know, since you
left uni up until now.
But one of the things I wantedto tell us today, to start with,
is how did you start gettingyourself involved in business?
(03:03):
And why business is crazy.
Man, this people go crazytrying to do business.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Yeah, that's a good question.
Yeah, so I've always been inbusiness, always.
I mean, before we even started,I was studying about this
business I had been doing when Iwas 13.
So at 13 already I was likeselling plantain chips in my
school, in my primary school,and I've always, one way or the
other, been involved in business.
(03:29):
So after I finished high school, I started a shoe business with
a friend of mine who wasselling.
We were ordering shoes fromChina and then selling at our
university.
So people would order onFacebook and then we ship it to
them.
I did that for a while and then,after university, a friend of
mine and myself we did we cameup with a show called Africa in
(03:50):
Vogue and basically what wewanted to do was we wanted to
create a platform where Africancreatives in fashion, art and
music can interact andcollaborate with each other.
So we did a whole season ofabout 12 episodes.
It's still on YouTube and we'vetraveled through Togo, benin,
ghana interviewing people likedesigners, musicians, you name
(04:15):
it, and it was so beautifullydone.
But there was no sponsorship.
So, and all the TV stationswere pitched to, you were like,
okay, you need to pay us to putit on air, and we felt like at
the time people would havelearned a lot from you know,
africa in Vogue, because wewould have seen the incredible
things African creatives weredoing across the continent, but
it didn't happen.
(04:36):
And then, after I started abusiness with my sister to at
CNT here in beauty and basicallywe saw a gap in Germany where I
grew up in, because therewasn't.
It wasn't easy for us to getaccess to hair products and hair
tools and accessories.
So every time we watchedYouTube videos, we'd see people
(04:58):
in the UK, us, canada.
They would be using new hairtools, new hair accessories, new
hair products.
We didn't get that in Germany.
So my sister in Nigerian, likeCOVID I guess I think it was
right before COVID in 2019.
Business that are on likeonline hair store where we'd
sell these things to peopleblack people or people of color
living in Germany.
(05:19):
And we did that and it reallytook off and, yes, now she fully
manages that.
So I've always been involved inbusiness one way or the other.
Yeah, I see.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
And what is it about business that?
What do you get from it?
I ask that question because forme it's like after I've taken
one challenge, let's say, todayI want to.
I feel like I want to start anew website where people can
order clothes, right, thethought comes in and as soon as
(05:52):
I get it done, I get a burst ofsome sort of like euphoria.
You know, I get a certain levelof fulfillment about it.
What is it about you that keepsyou going?
Speaker 1 (06:05):
I think it's the same for me when it comes to
business.
I've never been the one, thekind of person, to want to work
for someone.
I've worked in the corporateworld.
Every time I work in like anoffice setting, even though I'm
providing value, I'm addingvalue to the company or the
organization, I just was neverfulfilled.
(06:26):
I felt like I wasn't living mypurpose.
I was doing things to please,you know, my parents, because
they wanted me to be in a 205,because it's secure, you earn
your checks at the end of themonth.
But for me personally, I feltlike, you know, there's nothing,
there's no value.
I do the same when it's in us.
Every day I go to the office.
You know we sit in meetings, Iinterview people because I was
(06:47):
part of the HR team at somepoint.
I interview people, then I dothe whole, you know initiation,
I introduce them to the company,I do the training.
I do this.
But I was never like exciting,but every time I did business I
found myself wanting to do more.
So business for me ischallenging, but I like the
(07:09):
challenge it comes with.
I've always been the kind ofperson to take risks and my
parents are like that'sdangerous.
Yeah, you know, wouldn't yourather have a full-time job?
You know, business is neverguaranteed.
You can feel at any point intime because of external factors
.
But for me, that kind offulfilment, every time I get
into a business that I reallywant to, I push myself to the
(07:30):
limits, I go above and beyondand I enjoy the hard work seeing
the end results yes, I mean.
I mean I consume.
For instance, has been twoyears we've been operating, but
the research and the work behindthe scenes happened a year
before we launched.
So seeing that whole year ofplanning playing out according
(07:53):
to what the plan was back then,it excites me.
I'm like, okay, it's going,it's rolling out Like I can see
it's unfolding every single day,the plan, the vision, you know,
and it's exciting.
It just gives me this thrill,this adrenaline to just keep
wanting more.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Yeah, but yeah, talk about your existing business
consume.
You know how did it all start?
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Yes, so consume started during lockdown.
We were in Berlin duringlockdown.
Unfortunately, we couldn't cometo Ghana at the time we planned
to come and there were allthese rapid grocery delivery
services that started.
I think even in the UK theyhave some, so they have like
gorillas, get here flink andwould place an order.
(08:37):
Because at the time my daughterwas very young, she was like
what a year and a half and Icouldn't go to the supermarkets,
couldn't do anything.
So I'd order online and withinlike 20 minutes the groceries
would come to me.
We just like at the time, wejust leave you at the door,
doesn't take the bag andeverything and then take it to
the kitchen.
And we were seriouslyconsidering moving back to Ghana
after the lockdown.
(08:58):
We were actually like havingthe conversation we need to move
back.
You know we want to start abusiness and I had been talking
to my supervisor at work.
Okay, I think I want to do myown thing.
I think you know my partner andI with considering moving back
to Ghana, so she was aware of it.
So the only thing that was leftwas okay, what business are we
doing?
Ghana is huge.
What are we going to do when wego back and for us.
(09:22):
We try the services of theserapid grocery deliveries and we
realized that, you know, thequality of products they brought
was the same as the ones in thesupermarkets and also it was
just.
It was convenient for us everytime we ordered on a platform.
So why don't we take the sameidea, a replicator in Ghana?
(09:42):
Well, for us, the vision goesbeyond Ghana.
It's one replicator acrossAfrica, but we're starting with
Ghana because it's home, ofcourse, but you know Ghana.
There's urbanization, a lot ofpeople live in the cities, we
have a huge middle-classpopulation and it's growing
every single day.
You have people who have highpurchasing power.
You have people who are techsavvy.
(10:04):
The average Ghanaian ordersthings, a lot of things, online.
If you think about it, likewe're on global, we're on menu
finder we're on boats, we're onUber Jumia yeah.
You name it Even like onWhatsApp.
You have all these ladies likeordering clothes from boutiques
online on WhatsApp and Facebook.
That's every.
The average Ghanaian is buyingthings online.
(10:24):
So why don't we take this ideathere and provide this kind of
service to the people who arebusy?
They, you know, they have thepurchase and power, but then
they enjoy, you know,convenience as well.
So that's where the whole ideacame from.
Wow, yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
And you know, I know your other half is the CTO as
well.
So because, obviously, for us,when we started doing business,
my wife was never involved untilafter some time, you know.
So how did the two of you, youknow, get that synergy together
to run a business?
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Well, as I think it came naturally because he's the
tech person, he's a softwareengineer, so this is all he's
done, you know, since hegraduated from uni, and I've
always been into some onebusiness or the other Since he's
met me, like, I've always beendoing something business related
.
Oh, I'm starting this businesswith this person, I'm doing this
business, I'm doing that, I'mselling this, I'm selling that.
(11:23):
So when the idea came about, itwas just, we fell into the
roles.
Naturally, he was going to bethe technical person who was
going to.
Initially, we started with awebsite, so we had a website
where people would go browse thecategories and place the order.
But now, recently, we have theapp, which is live.
So he actually builds the appfrom scratch.
(11:45):
And for us it's like okay, youtake that technical role because
that's what you enjoy doing,and then I will do the business
side of things.
So I do everything fromoperations, admin, logistics,
all the business things that hefinds boring, I do.
So it's just.
I don't think we even had aconversation per se.
It was just like, okay, I'mgoing to be doing the tech stuff
(12:06):
, you deal with other things.
And I was like I'll gladly doit, because I was also looking
for a way out of this corporateworld I was in.
So it was like, okay, I think Ican do this.
I think we bring.
We bring a lot to the table.
The technical side of things isas important as the
non-technical side of things,and it's 50-50 really when you
(12:27):
look at it, because his work ishard.
He has to sit behind thecomputer for hours trying to
build an app and it takes months.
It took him about seven, eightmonths working on it every
single day for hours.
And for me it's also a lot onthe other side, because you're
dealing with distributors,you're dealing with supplies,
you're dealing with customers,you're dealing with employees,
you're dealing with regulations,you're dealing with everything.
(12:50):
So we really balance each otherout.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Oh, that's amazing.
You know a lot of the time whenpeople get an idea right and you
know they may get the idea andthen they start, because I can't
tell you how many businessesthat I've started and about 80%
of those businesses built Nowthe problem with a lot of people
(13:14):
is that they start a businessand they just don't carry the
same energy that they startedwith.
You know how do you manage thatpersonally.
You know, and how do you guyspick it up, you know, to make
sure that the ideas you havecomes into fruition.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
I mean, doing business is hard.
I'm not even going to lie.
But if you have someone on yourteam who motivates you just as
much as you motivate them, andif you have a blueprint, you
have like you know, a templateyou're following, it makes it
easy.
If you start a business and youdon't have a plan, you don't
have a vision, you really don'tknow what you're doing, you're
(13:52):
just trying it out.
You realize real quick it'sgoing to fail.
But when you have like there'sa solid plan in place In the
first year, we're going to dothis.
In the second year we're goingto do that.
In the third year we're goingto experiment with this.
That concrete plan is thevision for the business.
So it helps you always stay onyour toes because you know what
to do next.
(14:13):
You're not confused, there's nochaos, you know, and you bounce
energy off each other.
So every time I'm down, heknows exactly how to, you know,
get me motivated.
It's like oh, you know what.
There's this event happeninghere and I think, because I'm
also a very sociable person, Ialways want to go to events,
network, meet people.
There's an event I think youshould go to.
(14:34):
You know you can go, grab, youknow, grab a few drinks with
people but then also pick theirbrains on a few things.
And once I do that, I'm like,oh okay, I went to this you know
group of.
I met this group of women atthis you know event and we
bounced ideas off each other andI think I have another you know
idea for what we're trying todo.
Every time with us a hurdle ora challenge, I think I've gotten
(14:54):
you know the solution to thatproblem and then we just, you
know, we move on and then we doit and then same with him.
If there's ever something likeyou know what, let's take a
break, go watch your PremierLeague Chelsea games and then,
when you're done, you knowthat's because it's business.
You need to have a personaltime.
You know you need to carve timeout for yourself when you're in
(15:17):
business.
If not, you're going to goinsane.
You're not going to do 24 seven.
There are days in the week thatyou should take a bit of like
an hour for yourself.
Go sit somewhere, have a drink,have lunch, read a book, do
something for yourself.
That is not business relatedand we try to do that as much as
possible.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
So there's, there are some things that happen in my
mind that I usually call thedevil right, and then there are
some things that happen that Iusually call them God.
So anytime I get a positiveidea, I say God.
And anytime I get a negativeidea I say, oh, the devil is
trying to set in, that's a goodone.
One of the things that usuallyhappens is, for example I woke
up today this morning.
I was supposed to do three setsof pull-ups and I only did two.
(15:59):
And there was a point where,just when I was about to do the
next one, something came in andsaid oh man, don't do it.
This happens in business a lot.
How do you get over that?
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Positive energy, positive vibes.
When you're in business, youalso need to stay away from the
people who are constantly, youknow the negative energy and the
negative aura.
It sucks out the energy in you.
If you're constantly withpeople who are always like, oh
my God, this is not going towork, oh my God, I feel like you
shouldn't try it, you shouldn'tdo this, or they're constantly
(16:38):
talking about all the negativethings happening in this world,
but never the positives.
It drains you really quickly.
So over the years I've realizedthat the people in my circle now
are people that we we're like.
We support each other, so wehave this positive energy.
I have friends that I call andI know if I call this person
(17:00):
right now, no matter how I'mfeeling at this point in time,
that person is going to say theright things to make me want to
not give up, because that personhas known about the journey of
consumption since day one.
Even my parents like that daysI'm down and I'm like okay,
today I need mommy talk, becauseour mothers just have a way of
(17:20):
you know, they know us so wellthat when I call my mom and I'm
done, I'm like this is what'shappening, you know, and I'm so
down.
She knows exactly what to say.
You see that you've been doingthis for two years and she said,
like in the most loving I seefrom a baby, and she's just
trying to console me and she'slike you can do it, Don't give
up, Don't let them get yourknees weak.
That's how she says it, Likeliteral translation don't your
(17:43):
knees shouldn't get weak becauseof this.
You know you can do it.
You can do anything.
You've been doing this for twoyears.
This is nothing.
And then I've said theconversation.
She's like wow, this isactually nothing.
Why am I even bothered about it?
And then you just pick yourselfup, you move on, because that's
it In business.
You need positive mindset, youneed positive energy.
So if you're not, you don'thave that kind of positive
mindset, or positive energyaround you is going to drain you
(18:06):
.
So you need to find the peoplewho can really bring out the
best in you and that positivemindset in you.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Wow, that's amazing.
I guess for me.
You know, I've got two peoplelike that in my life and they've
been amazing throughout thejourney.
But you see, there is, as youalready know, there is
motivation and there'sself-discipline.
Now, which one do you think isvery important when you're doing
(18:34):
business?
Speaker 1 (18:36):
That's a good question.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
And how do you as an entrepreneur?
Where do you play?
Which one do you tend to usethe most?
But obviously we need both.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
The typical Sicilian answer would be 50-50.
Typical.
So you need to be verydisciplined in business as much
as you need motivation.
I say the go hand in hand,because you can't be disciplined
without motivation and youcan't be motivated if you're not
disciplined, if you're notself-disciplined.
(19:09):
What do I mean by this?
So in business, you need tohave a plan of what you want to
achieve.
You know, you prioritize things.
Today.
What am I going to do?
Okay, I'm going to go for it.
I'm going to record a podcastwith Derek and then, after the
podcast, I'm going to rush tothe facility center see how
things are happening there, andthen I'm going to call this
(19:33):
person or send an email or senda presentation.
So you need to be disciplinedenough to block time out of your
busy schedule to do things.
If not, then it's just chaosall over the place.
But then how are you going toget through the day if you're
not motivated?
You need to have some sort ofmotivation.
So for me, motivation is verylittle things that motivate me,
(19:54):
as little as just listening tomusic when I'm driving, just
listening to a podcast on myphone when I'm driving.
Just those little things.
So they go hand in hand.
You can't be disciplinedwithout motivation.
You can't be motivated ifyou're not disciplined.
Really, in business it goeshand in hand.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
Yes, I definitely think so.
You know this part of the worldwhere you are.
We have a lot of challengeright Now.
There are people who exploitthose challenges and they use it
against other people.
There are businesses who'vestruggled a lot.
(20:36):
Entrepreneurs have faced a lotof issues here Getting through
the government policies you knowlaws and things like that and
then also government departmentsand processing documents and
it's just chaos.
It's endless.
How did?
(20:57):
You overcome that.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
So for us in the beginning my brother-in-law.
When we started he was part ofthe team, but now he's doing his
own thing.
He was the one who was dealingwith all those, those like going
to all the government agenciesthe Registrar General for
Business Registration, the GREfor our taxate, our tax ten
(21:21):
number, and all of that.
He did that part of the work.
I think we let him do itbecause he understands the
system from that angle betterthan we do.
You know, when you've grown upabroad I'd say you tend to think
things should be a certain wayand you're not flexible in your
thinking.
You're like, okay, if I go tothis office, I present my
(21:43):
documents and they say withinone week my registration
document should be ready.
It should be ready within oneweek You're expecting to come
back to have your documents,whereas in this part of the
world that's not the case.
You might go and the person'slike oh, unfortunately the
person who's supposed to signthe document for you is not
around, so you need to come backthe following week and then the
(22:03):
following week and then laterdown the line you realize no,
it's not about that.
It's about them indirectlytrying to tell you you know what
.
You need to part with a bit ofmoney so that we can sign the
paper for you.
But if you don't understand it,you know you'll always be going
back, you know, trying to getthat document.
So for us, he had lived here, heknew the system and he knew how
(22:24):
to you know if they say it'sgoing to be ready in a month.
He knew, I think also becausehe had friends who had, you know
, worked in these places or hadgone through these processes.
So it's easier for him to callon people like hey, I want, you
know, to support my brother andhis wife register a business.
How do I go about it?
So it was easier that way,because if I had done it, oh my
(22:45):
goodness, I don't think we wouldhave registered the time we did
.
I'd still be going back to theoffice because I wouldn't
understand that they're tryingto get me.
You know, maybe they want me todo something, but I wouldn't
get it because I can't readbetween the lines.
You know, I'll just be wastingmy time and wasting their time.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
Wow, you know, I I.
I was speaking to one of myfriends who wanted to start a
business and then he said one ofhis biggest problems is the
fear of failure.
And then I said I've probablyfailed more times than I've won,
and anytime I fail before youused to pay me a lot, but now I
(23:29):
almost get the same level ofeuphoria as a win, because I'm
now in the process of learning.
So I get people like yourselfcome on this podcast.
It's not because the onlypeople I need to learn from you
are the viewers or the listeners, because I want to learn as
well.
So for me, failure is alearning process.
(23:51):
But how do you overcome thatfear as a business lady?
Speaker 1 (23:59):
You can't get into business if you're afraid to
fail.
You've already failed bythinking you're going to fail
Really and truly.
You need to take that big leapof faith if you want to start
something, Anything in thisworld.
If you're going to do it,there's always that huge
possibility that is going tofail.
(24:19):
But then, if you don't do it,how are you even going to know
that it's going to succeed?
The only way we're in thisbusiness is because we tried in
the first place.
If we had listened to all thepeople said oh, Consume is not
going to work.
Grassy delivery, but there's somany grocery deliveries in
there we're like no, but webring something different to the
table.
We're not the average grocerydelivery.
(24:40):
We're not just bringing freshproduce or going to the market
to buy your things for you.
Ours is different.
The offerings are different,Unique selling points are
different.
But if we had never embarked onthis journey, would I have
known whether Consume willsucceed or not?
Never.
So if you're afraid to fail,you've already failed by
thinking that you're going tofail in the first place.
(25:03):
You always have to just do whatyou have to do.
If there's a strong urge to dosomething and that's one thing
with me.
I'm like, if there's a strongsense of something is like do it
, do it, do it, Don't ignore it,because your instincts is
telling you that there'ssomething there.
If you do it and you fail, it'sa good learning experience for
(25:25):
you.
If you do it and you succeed,then wow, you clap for yourself.
But if you fail, it's just oneof those things.
If you fail, people like BillGates will tell you, or Mark
Zuckerberg the number of timesthey failed, or even Jeff Bezos,
or even let's bring it down tolike Ghana, I'm sure if you
speak to Amy of the Ghanian, bigin quotes, big men and women
(25:49):
that's all you're seeing, justthe end results.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
But even to get to this level, they must have
failed so many times I think Iwas telling you that when we
first started at Pharmacy inGhana the pharmacy was initially
gone.
We had been in the business, wehad paid all the rent and done
all those things.
We spent a lot of money to putit up and do all the fancy,
(26:16):
launch and things like that.
Two years down the line thecompletely bad idea it failed.
Now I had sleepless nights overit but I had to close it down
and then move on.
Find something else, findanother location that works.
Now, when we had our firstpharmacy in the UK, the NHS
services was just not workingfor the online platform that
(26:38):
we're on.
We had to move on from there.
So you see, I think for mostpeople it's just a blow to their
ego.
I made it work, so people holdon for too long.
That's a good one, yeah, theyhold on for too long and I think
you were saying something aboutideas and people need to think
of new ideas.
I was reading something in thebook that talks about creative
(27:01):
ideas and synthetic ideas andthat most of the ideas come from
synthetic ideas, which areideas that already exist to just
improve upon it like you guyshave done.
You've just improved upon anexisting system within the
country, improved on your ownUSB store and now, look, it's
working.
So I definitely just tobacktrace what you're saying
(27:24):
people really need to thinkabout what they need to do and
get it done and forget thinkingabout failure.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, that's a good one.
Yeah, that's a good one.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
And I mean business is hard.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
But if you're holding onto something that is not, you
can't even hold onto it, it'sjust slipping through your
fingers and you should know it'stime to let go.
Yeah, that's not the end of theworld.
I think I've taken aconversation with a woman
recently, a fantasticbusinesswoman, who's been in
business in Ghana for about 20years.
She makes some of the mostbeautiful packaging or packaged
(28:01):
like black soap, shampoo lotions.
She learns.
I think she learns a broaderbit.
And then she, she mixes her ownthings and she's figured it out
.
And she had a business at MarinaMall and she was paying in
dollars like 10, 11 years ago,and this was going so well.
But then the economy is notthriving.
(28:22):
So she had to shut down herbusiness at the Marina Mall and
she was like she was had broken.
But then at that point she knewthe rent and what she was
making and revenue and profits.
It wasn't adding up.
So she had to let go.
But then, surprisingly, whenshe let go of that opportunity,
another opportunity came up inanother location and also
actually two opportunities cameup, one in Osu and one in the
(28:43):
Chado area.
And then she was like see whatGod has done.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
I shut down one business and I've been able to
open two.
Speaker 1 (28:52):
So basically, what she was trying to tell me is, in
business, never like you know,never look, use your one eye to
look into the bottle, thinking,oh my God.
You know this is the only wayand this is the highway.
You should always be open toopportunities.
You should be open to.
You know the different thingsthat come your way.
If the universe is telling youto shut down a business, there's
(29:13):
nothing you can do about it.
You know it's not goingdownhill.
It will go downhill real fastand maybe when that door shuts,
another will be open somewhere.
Yeah, I admire, like, the familybehind Malcolm.
They've done incredibly well inGhana and every time I look at
like the new mall they've builtbecause I go there, you know to,
(29:35):
you know my, you know they havea play area so my daughter goes
to play.
I'm like this is incredible andthe car park and everything.
I don't know if you've beenthere.
Yeah, it's beautiful, it's agreat accomplishment.
But if they are doing all ofthis in an economy that
fluctuates, there's a secret.
They know that we don't Meaningit's.
It never lasts forever.
(29:56):
You know the positive, theeconomic downturn will, you know
will turn around and it willstabilize at some point it's
not.
The economy is not always goingto go downhill or dwindle.
It will at some point stabilize.
And if they've been doing thisfor I don't know, 20 something
years, 30 something years, gosh,what do I have to complain
(30:16):
about?
I've been in business for twoyears.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
But shut up and just you know, yeah, yeah, yeah,
thanks for your time.
You get an idea, you're crazyenough to even think of starting
a business right, and then allof a sudden get a shop or you
build a website and you put abunch of people together to come
and manage it for you, dothings for you.
(30:39):
There's always a certain levelof micromanaging in Ghana.
How do you guys do all of that?
Speaker 1 (30:48):
That's a good one.
In the beginning I wasmicromanaging a lot, also
because I felt like my workethic and that of my employees
were very different, so it tooka lot of training.
I can't even tell you how manyemployees we've gone through to
get to this point With higher.
They don't come back, no reason.
(31:10):
When you meet, you have aconversation, you're like okay,
you have to give me notice ifyou want to leave.
Sure, madam sure, I'll give youa notice, I'll do this.
And they just don't come, theydon't show up for work, they
don't call, they don't text.
I can't even count how manyemployees we've gone through.
But now we have a stable groupof employees and we have a
(31:31):
manager, a solid manager, inplace and they do a good job in
my absence.
So today I haven't even checkedmy phone and everything will go
according to plan.
It's like an autopilot.
So if orders come in, they knowwhat to do.
They package it, they send it,the writer's taken, they deliver
, they come back.
(31:51):
They'll do everything.
At the end of the day, they'lldo the accounting.
I'll just check to make sureall the orders tally with
whatever it is that needs to betallyed with.
But in the initial stages itwas a lot of micromanaging, but
we're training and I constantlytrain in them and also that days
I used to go to the shop myself.
You know the facility centerand I'm like today, I'm working
(32:14):
with you the whole of today.
So when orders come, I takelike baskets, I go around and
like see how we do it.
You take the tablets, you walkaround, you look at the items.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
That's true leadership.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Yeah, you know.
So they see how it's done.
And once they, I think whenthey can see you from that level
, then it also changes things abit, because if they see you
from up there sometimes theydon't really understand what you
expect of them.
But when you get down therewith them you're just like, okay
, let's do this together today.
Whatever phone calls come in,I'm answering it, you know.
Whatever orders come in, I'mpacking it, and you have to just
(32:46):
assist me.
You know, and then you build arapport with them.
You get to know them on apersonal level too.
My leadership style is verydifferent.
I have a very personablerelationship with my employees.
Like they can call me when theyhave issues, and that's the
level we've gotten into.
Like if they have issues athome, they'll call me and they
(33:08):
can call me at any time of theday.
Madam, this is the difficultyI'm facing today.
I just wanted to inform youbecause tomorrow it looks like I
can't come to work.
It's totally fine.
Sort out your personal problems, because if you don't sort it
out, you won't be able to giveme 100%.
So take a day off, sort it outand come back when you feel like
you're at your 100% and itworks for me and for the
(33:31):
business we're in, the businesswe run, because then they do it
happily and they do it withoutyou know, a lot of people do it
for the paycheck, but they don'tdo it for the paycheck only.
They do it because they see thevision, because you've spoken
to them about the vision overand over again, you've told them
what you expect of them andthey see how you go about doing
things and they just replicatewhat they see.
(33:52):
So now when I see the ladiesdoing the customer service, I'm
so impressed because they pickthe phone with confidence and
usually they used to like it waslike they were whispering on
the phone, they were timid a bit, but now they pick the phone,
they're very confident.
Hello, madam, this is thisperson from Consume who've
received your order and therider is about to set off.
You know, once he gets to yourlocation he'll call you.
So please keep your phone nextto you.
(34:13):
And it's like I know I'm doingsomething right If now they can
confidently pick the phone, callcustomers and if there's any
issues they don't even call meBack in the day in the first
year, when there are issues likemaybe the police stops one of
the riders or something, they'llhave to call me.
Madam, please, the police hasstopped one of the riders, can
you please call the rider?
But now they don't even call me, they're just like at the end
(34:33):
of the day.
I was like, oh yeah, the policestopped one of the riders, or
maybe one of the riders and, youknow, a car nearly hit him, you
know, but they're fine.
So, micromanaging the beginning, yes, but you need to train
them and also make them feel aspart of the company.
You're building it together.
They're not building it for you, but you're all building it
together, you know, and haveincentives in place, like with
(34:56):
other incentives.
Speaker 2 (34:57):
I'm definitely learning.
I'm making notes mentally andon the book as well.
You know talk aboutrelationship with employees and
making them understand the goaland the vision.
I have a bad experience.
I am gonna learn based on someof the things you said, but you
(35:18):
know, there was one guy reallytrusted back in the UK when we
started.
He was with us, I think halfwaythrough, because we've been
doing this since 2014.
That's a long time yeah so Ithink he joined us 2017.
He understood exactly what wewere doing, the vision.
You know we took care of him.
(35:39):
You know, a couple of monthsdown the line, he realized
exactly where we were going andcreated competition for it.
So I appreciate all of that and, you know, getting close to the
employees and making themunderstand things.
But it wasn't just aboutcreating competition.
(36:03):
It's about the fact that yourpolicies were taken.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
Your customers were taken.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
Your doctors were taken.
Speaker 3 (36:11):
Whoever distributed to you, everything was taken,
you know, and sometimes it canbe painful it is I'm not gonna
lie, it is.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
And throughout the business I've done.
It's probably one of the mostpainful experiences I've had
it's things.
Speaker 1 (36:25):
When that happens.
I mean, I've had employees.
When we started, we had a younglady work with us.
I showed her the business, Itrusted her, and then she just
out of nowhere, was like, oh,she's got a job offer somewhere
else and that was it.
And it broke my heart.
I think that was the firstpainful lesson for me, because
she had been with us for a yearand she was doing so well, I
(36:48):
could see her even getting to amanagerial position because she
was that good, she knew theintern outs of the job.
And she was like, oh, I know,for some reason and the offer
was not even that great and Iwas like, why do you want to
leave?
She was like, well, because youknow, my mom said her friend is
her friend's business and this.
And I was like, okay, it hurtsme so much I think I'd draw done
(37:10):
it for a while, like, oh, Icould see like the future with
you in it.
I could see you like in anotherbranch as the manager of the
place, right.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
But yeah, it really hurts, especially when employees
that you trust and really showeverything do that I think it
was only this year, that noteven this year, maybe the past
three months, that I decided toget back to it again.
Get a bit closer to my plateand, you know, take them out for
(37:41):
lunch you know, and all thosesort of things.
But I'm still very careful andI mean there are still some
employees that I have that ifthey decided to leave, today
yeah, I'm happy to let them goback for the time and the effort
that I've invested in them, thetraining, the resources.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
I get you.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
Even now we have a solid group of like employees
working for us and there's nowthere's like a dynamic in the
workplace.
So if any of them say they'releaving, it's going to that's
going to be a bit of a crack.
But then I keep saying tomyself you know, nobody's tied
to my business, their destiny isnot tied to my business.
So if they want to feel freeand go, they need to go and fly
(38:26):
and I need to be accepting ofthe fact that they want to go
elsewhere and explore and I needto be okay with hiring someone
else and training them to bethat good to come and fill in
that position.
You know I can't.
I mean, I don't know what'sgoing to happen, but if they
come to me and so you know I'mleaving, there's nothing I can
do about it.
I just have to employ someoneelse and train the person so
(38:49):
they can be as good, and that'sall we can do really.
Speaker 2 (38:53):
Every entrepreneur that I've spoken to.
Anytime I speak to them, one ofthe things that's very
important to them is mentorship.
Have you had any level ofmentorship?
Do you plan on, you know,getting yourself involved in
things like that.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
I mean, I don't have a direct mentor, I'd say.
But then I have people that areolder than me, who have been in
business way longer than me.
So occasionally when I need tochat with someone, I know who to
call.
You know, I say for instance,one of my uncle's friends in his
sixties he's been doingbusiness, he's in the logistics
(39:31):
space, he's been doing businessin Ghana for about 30 years.
Every time I feel like you knowwhat I need some talking to
when it comes to business inGhana.
I just give him a call Hi,uncle.
So today this is the topic fordiscussion and he is always
willing to listen, even like,even though we haven't said like
, oh, you're my mentor, it'sjust that conversation.
(39:53):
Oh, okay, have you tried doingit this way?
Have you tried doing that?
And it helps.
I don't have a direct mentor tosay oh, I have a woman in my
corner or a man in my corner.
I have people that, when pushcomes to show, I can call and
get some advice, because they'vebeen doing business for eight
years in Ghana.
So they know exactly what I'mgoing through, they feel the
(40:15):
pain and they can give me one ortwo tips on how to navigate the
situation.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
Yeah, so do you think that it is important for
someone who may have certainideas on burning desire, you
know, to create a business orstart one, to have mentorship?
Speaker 1 (40:32):
Yeah, you need someone you can always reach out
to.
You need, you always needsomeone, and mentorship is very,
very important.
You know, mentorship isimportant.
My former supervisor she wasabsolutely brilliant.
I think that's where I takemost of my leadership skills
from.
She was the head of thedepartment and she was fantastic
(40:53):
.
I used to love her leadershipstyle.
You know, when it came to doingthe work, she'll get you to do
the work and you do itdiligently and you do it.
You do it all.
Your like your eyes and how doyou say?
You know what's the word.
Speaker 3 (41:09):
Dot your eyes and cross your teeth, cross all your
teeth, you would do that.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
But then, when it came to actually downtime, oh
the company.
We're having drinks but we'rehaving games night.
She knew about me, she knewabout everybody and what they
were going through.
She knew about their challenges, their family life, but when it
came to doing the work, werespected her so much.
So we do the work and she isone of the people I meet up with
(41:33):
her when I'm in Berlin, everytime for like lunch, and it's
always nice, just as refreshing,to know that I know someone
like that, and her leadershipstyle is what I want to emulate.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
Yeah, At this point in consume, what do you need to
be able to take you guys to thenext level?
Speaker 1 (41:54):
That's a really deep question.
So what we need to take us tothe next level is finance.
We've been applying for a fewgrants here and there, I also
think, because we haven't beentaken as seriously.
We're just like, okay, let's dowhat we can do now and they'll
see the hard way.
But it's a bootstrapped company, so no investors whatsoever, no
(42:19):
money from anyone except familyand friends.
So with the little money thatwe've gotten and put together
and the savings we've made itthis far.
So imagine if an investoractually truly believes in the
consume idea and they're likehere, take this money and run
with it, we'll just, we'll takeoff.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
So I definitely think your company right Could be a
game changer, because I'm seeingyou guys having several
warehouses district warehouseswithin the country that does the
(43:02):
deliveries from the districtwarehouses.
Speaker 1 (43:06):
That's the goal.
Speaker 2 (43:07):
Yes, and being able to manage the fleet of bikes and
also, most importantly, eitherelectric bikes or bicycle.
Speaker 1 (43:21):
It's like you know what our vision is, because we
want to.
We keep saying one of ourvision plan is to transition
from diesel powered vehicles toelectric by 2024.
We don't know how we're goingto get there in 2024, but we
know, we are really optimisticthat we're going in 2024, we're
(43:42):
going to transition from dieselpowered to electric fully.
So yeah, that's amazing, yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:49):
So, guys, thank you so much for listening.
Once again, share thisconversation to all your friends
and family.
Let people understand what weare here to do connected minds
and on the next episode, weshall see you.
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