Segment:- Business Secrets: I’d Bet on Service and Sales Before Capital.

What if wealth doesn’t “arrive early” and instead compounds late—after years of risk, clean execution, and unglamorous service? That’s the premise we test as we talk through bold bets, the patience to endure cycles, and the real moment when money starts working for you instead of the other way around.

We dig into the anatomy of risk: how one audacious salt venture challenged a market no one had cracked, why 99% of voices will tell you not to try, and how the line between “biggest mistake” and “making history” often runs straight through purpose. From there, we step back to the system level. Indigenous ownership in sectors like telecoms, mining, construction, and retail remains thin; without clear, fair policy and consistent regulation, local founders can’t scale into national assets. Government doesn’t need to hand out cash—it needs to build guardrails, enforce standards, and create predictable rules that attract capital and reward execution.

For builders looking for practical plays, we map capital-light paths in the service economy. Logistics remains a powerful entry point, from parcel delivery to last-mile orchestration, where reliability beats deep pockets. We also spotlight trading staples like maize—where price spreads, timing, and knowledge can outrun capital—and a simple, overlooked model for starting with no money: sell value as a broker. Source demand, find suppliers, add a transparent margin, and deliver with integrity. Along the way, we share hard-won lessons on insurance, time discipline, and choosing your inner circle so your name remains your best asset.

If you’re weighing when to let money work for you, how much risk to take, or which sector to enter next, this conversation offers a grounded playbook: be fearless but principled, serve first, and aim to build more than a balance sheet—build capacity the country can stand on. If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s building, and leave a review to help more people find conversations that move them forward.

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Host: https://www.instagram.com/derrick.abaitey/

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
And then the last level?

(00:01):
You have to let your money workfor you.
Your money must work for you.

SPEAKER_01 (00:05):
At which level?
Let's say you start off at 17,hustling.
At which level, if everythingworks out, which age do you
think it's good to start lettingmoney work for us?
It varies.

SPEAKER_00 (00:18):
You know, in our continent, we don't become rich
very early.
You know?
We don't become rich very early.
Why?
It's hard.
And we don't have access to somany things.
You know, it's hard.
We don't have access to so manythings.

(00:39):
There's no real defined way ofhaving steps to Christ.
Like having those steps up.
It's you you go, you fall, youyou rise, you clean yourself,
you move in there.
The odds are always against you.
So we don't become rich thatearly.

(01:00):
So you're looking at your late50s from 48 into your 50s, 60s,
that is where your money canstart or will start working for
you.
If you are lucky and it hit youat your doorsteps, because you
see, you have it have to beembedded in you some level of

(01:20):
risk, right?
If you have that rich element inyou, it could be good, it could
be bad.
If you are satisfied with thelittle that you have, fine.
Your money can work for you.
But if you get to that levelwhere your appetite for risk,
like I woke up one day and saidI want to do salt, that's that's
that's a huge appetite for risk,you know.
So it depends on how you yourappetite.

(01:41):
Then at the level, you know,look, I have a couple of million
dollars that it works for me.
You're a very fearless man.

SPEAKER_01 (01:49):
Because even that salt project, yeah, I was just
looking at it and I I watched avideo from Maya and watched
several interviews that we did.
I'm just doing this man saysnobody had tried and succeeded.
Yeah, but he did it.
Yeah, it's that we challenges,but yet.
If a gun was to put to your faceright now, yeah, on that land,
how would you feel inside?

SPEAKER_00 (02:10):
Well, I have done something.
I mean, you have, you see,whatever you're gonna do in
life, 99% of the people will saydon't do it.
Yeah, it's risky, it'sdangerous, right?
Listen to them, it's okay,right?
If you are able to do it, or ifyou are not able to do it, it's

(02:32):
either you are making thegreatest mistakes of your life,
or you are making history.
A history that changes people'slives.
And whatever step you take isnot your steps.
It's not for you alone.
Certain businesses you do in acountry like Ghana is go beyond
just you.
So you you you get to a level,you become a national asset.

(02:55):
A national asset like you changein your country.

SPEAKER_01 (02:58):
Aliko Dangoti has done it.
Yeah.
Mike I didn't, and two otherpeople, Femi and Otidola.
And I have had conversations andhave said that a small country
like Ghana, for us to have a lotof billionaires like the way
Nigerians have, we needgovernment support.

SPEAKER_00 (03:15):
Do you agree?
Well, I agree.
I mean, government is thebiggest stakeholder in whatever
business we do.
It is very, very important.
And you see, businessmen, all weneed is regulations and the
policies, the right policies,framework.
You can't, government can giveyou money.
You'll say we know how to raiseour money no matter how

(03:36):
difficult it is, we know how toraise our money.
But we need a right businessenvironment to succeed.
We come from a country where wedon't own anything.
If you go to the telecom sector,it's owned by British and South
African.
If you go to the mining sector,it's owned by South Africans and

(03:56):
Australians.
You go to the constructionsector, it's owned by Chinese
and Italians, not the Turkish.
If you go to manufacturing inGhana, it's owned by Indians and
Lebanese.
If you go to retail, evenretail, it's owned by the
Malcolm, the Indians, thepolicies, the Liban.

(04:18):
It's okay.
But why do we stand as anindigenous businessman?

SPEAKER_01 (04:22):
And for me, I think if there's a deliberate action
from government to supportcertain entrepreneurs to get on
the Forbes list as billionairesfrom Ghana, it also makes the
country look attractive toforeign investors.
Well, we have to understand thatas a country, and we have to be
intentional about that.
But then the problem is thatwhen I get a contract, people

(04:43):
will be sitting there sayingthat I was favored to get a
contract.
Because they don't understandthat at a level, yeah, those
contracts are needed to be ableto claim the position of
entrepreneurship in the countryand allow foreign investors to
also bring money into thecountry.

SPEAKER_00 (04:57):
Well, that is that is the country we live in.
But that shouldn't discourageanybody.
Don't forget that Ozeana wassung for Jesus Christ.
The same people who sang theOzeana, less than 24 hours is a
crucified.

SPEAKER_01 (05:12):
How do you navigate that though?
You yourself, how do younavigate?
You just don't.

SPEAKER_00 (05:16):
You see, you have to be a bit resilient.
You have to be what do you callfavor?
Ghana is our country.
We we have nowhere to go.
You have to be focused as abusinessman.
You have to, the most importantthing you do as a businessman is
your integrity.
Work with a high level ofintegrity.
Be very purposeful about that.
Be honest to your dealings.

(05:37):
We rise and fall.
We can rise and fall.
We can give and take, but youhave to be focused.
You have to fight on.

unknown (05:44):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (05:45):
You are 20 years old again.
Yeah.
And you're about to start life.
What decisions would you make?

SPEAKER_00 (05:50):
Well, I have to check my time very carefully.
I have to check my circles offriends.
I have to be able to be moredisciplined for what I have
seen.
And I have to be able to seeright from wrong.
It's okay to make mistakes.
But at this level, 20-year-old,I wouldn't want to repeat some

(06:11):
of them.

SPEAKER_01 (06:12):
What's one mistake you can remember in your years
of doing business that we canlearn from?

SPEAKER_00 (06:16):
One of them is what I told you.
I mean, not ensuring my wholelistening it wiped off.
We have to be able to have thatlevel of security.
I've been millions because of,let's say, 10,000.

SPEAKER_01 (06:32):
This path that you've chosen to become who you
are, would you have chosen thesame path?
I will never change for anyother path.
I will never change.
You understand Ghana very much,more than a lot of young
Ghanaians, and especially peoplewith you from the diaspora.
If I asked you today to give mefive businesses that you think I
can do today, or anybody elsewatching us can do it today,

(06:55):
what would it be?

SPEAKER_00 (06:56):
I would divide the business into two.
Okay.
Right.
The service industry from theearly 90s speaked up.
The service industry.
I would want young people toalso look into the service
industry.

SPEAKER_01 (07:12):
What sort of services are we talking about?

SPEAKER_00 (07:14):
If you look at logistics, for instance, it's
service.
It's totally service.
Some of my business, you look atit, they're totally service.

SPEAKER_01 (07:23):
What's the lowest scale of logistics that a young
person can do?
Which say 20,000 CDs?
Package.
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (07:29):
You can do package.
You can also uh help help thebigger wholesalers or the shops
for deliveries.
Don't forget that the richestcompany in the world, one of the
richest companies, is intologistics.
It's a logistic company.
Amazon.
Amazon is basically a logisticcompany.

(07:50):
What other service can you thinkof?
I on top of my head, you canstart from buying a selling.
You can go into maize.
I was there before, and thatbusiness would never collapse.
It would never die.
Just that young people are nottaking it seriously.
What is the bug of maize on themarkets today?

SPEAKER_01 (08:07):
I have no idea.

SPEAKER_00 (08:08):
I think that was 600.

SPEAKER_01 (08:10):
Okay.

SPEAKER_00 (08:10):
Is it 600 or 700?
I'm not so sure.
I'm not sure.
And in the Interlands, when youget to a crowd, the prices
double.
And the other businesses, too,you can start without money.

SPEAKER_01 (08:21):
Okay, talk to me.
What business can I do withoutmoney?
This is such a big question.
I'm sure you've been askedbefore.
It's such a big question.

SPEAKER_00 (08:28):
You can start without money, see.
But you have to be honest.

SPEAKER_01 (08:32):
All right.

SPEAKER_00 (08:32):
See, my only problem in this day, many of the younger
young guys now, they don't wantto serve.
There's a lot of honor inservice.
Look around you.
There's a lot of buildings goingon around you.
Where do you think they buytheir produce from?
They're contractors all aroundthe place.
Can you tell me that a hungryboy or a hungry girl can't sell

(08:56):
a square meter of towers to acontractor, a good salesperson,
without money?
You can.

unknown (09:02):
You can.

SPEAKER_00 (09:03):
I think you heard it.

SPEAKER_01 (09:05):
Essentially, build value in sales, sales and
marketing.
Find the products you want tosell, and then look for a
supplier in the market.
You just go because there's nocompany in the market that will
reject a sale.
That's it.
And then just put yours on it.
That's it.
That's it.
If you repeat that so manytimes, that's casual.
Go fly.
Serious casual.
Because this question keepscoming.

(09:25):
How do I set a business withoutmoney?
Maybe now I'm beginning to getit that the people that ask the
question are not willing todevelop themselves as well.
Yes, yes, yes.
Yeah.
Any more business that I can do?

SPEAKER_00 (09:38):
Connected Minds Podcast.