Segment: From $30,000 to $30 Million: Building an Educational Legacy in Ghana

What transforms a small $30,000 investment into a thriving $30 million educational institution? The answer lies in an unwavering commitment to continuous improvement.

The journey of building one of Ghana's premier educational institutions reveals powerful lessons about leadership, succession planning, and creating sustainable organizations in Africa. With 2,400 students across multiple campuses in Kumasi and Accra, this school's growth exemplifies how the right mindset creates lasting impact.

"Success is a journey, not a destination" serves as the guiding philosophy that prevents complacency. Rather than celebrating arrival, the leadership team regularly seeks out gaps in their programs and addresses weaknesses before others notice them. This proactive approach ensures they consistently exceed expectations rather than merely meeting them.

One fascinating revelation involves the challenges of succession planning in African institutions. Initially focused on recruiting leadership from outside, they've now implemented robust internal advancement pathways, allowing loyal staff who've been with the school for 10-20 years to rise through the ranks. This shift has improved morale while preserving valuable institutional knowledge.

Beyond family business considerations, they're building structures to ensure sustainability regardless of who leads in the future. While their Cambridge-educated daughter may eventually join the leadership team, the founders are clear that family members must earn positions through merit and institutional understanding, not merely through lineage – a refreshing approach in the African business landscape.

Looking for more insights on building lasting institutions and navigating succession challenges? Subscribe to Konnected Minds and join our live event at the British Council on August 29th to continue learning from visionary leaders transforming Africa's future.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
always people come in there because you think you've
arrived.
You know, take it or leave it.
If you won't come, you'realready full anyway.
No, that is not the attitudeyou have, and so I called my
leadership together and I saidnow let's open our eyes wide and
see what are all the gaps thatwe see in our school.

(00:21):
And we just had a retreat, youknow, two weeks ago, and we
could see quite a bit of gapsOurselves, and I know when
people come very close, I see us, as you know, celebrated.
But we'll see gaps too.
So let's see them first andaddress them, so that we are
doing our best to not just evenmeet people's expectations but

(00:44):
actually exceed them.
So that should be the way youthink, and I think that is what
is helping us.
Remember, I have said, successis a journey, not a destination.
So if you know you're on ajourney, it means there are
always more you can do toimprove on what you do, but if

(01:09):
you think you've arrived,there's nothing more to do yeah,
guys, I see, is what it is.
We've already done what wecould do.
Uh, and that's why you'recoming here anyway.
If it wasn't good, why wouldyou have come?
No, no, no, no, no, no, it's ajourney.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
Look, I want to test your knowledge very quickly.
How much you know your schoolPretty?

Speaker 1 (01:36):
well, but not that well.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
So if I ask you how many students do you have?

Speaker 1 (01:42):
in total, I have that I have, that I have.
So I have about 2 400 so thatboth kumasi and akra, both
kumasi and akra okay and totalvalue of investment so far well
we have done over in terms offunds that I've raised and
invested and and reinvested fromthe school.

(02:05):
We've done over $30 million.
You've done incredible.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
Yeah, Now you've decided that.
Well, not, you've decided.
It's come to the point whereyou are celebrating your 25th
anniversary.
What's one big mistake thatyou've learned from?

Speaker 1 (02:23):
From.
Well, I think, let me see, Iwill say that my mistake.
I'm sure there are several ofthem, not just one.
So, I'm trying to think.
I think one of the things thatI could have done better in the

(02:51):
past is how to strengthensuccession, because one of the
things that happens in aninstitution is people help build
you up, and you have to thinkabout how do you make sure

(03:15):
people feel they can grow inthis business with you Now there
are a lot of people that havestayed in the school with us for
20 more than 20 years, 15 morethan 15 years, 10 more than 10
years, five more than five years, and on and on.
And it just recently that webegan to put in vice principals

(03:41):
uh, you know, assistant head andall of that drawing from within
, because we used to recruitfrom outside.
And when we did that and peoplesaw that they have been here,
and they have helped create youknow the success.
But others are coming in um andwhen others in there could have

(04:08):
risen, that did create a bit ofuneasiness on the part of some.
Not a lot Now.
That didn't mean we didn't takecare of our staff very well.
So we realized quickly that weneed to do a lot of in-house

(04:28):
Recruitment.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
Training as well.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
Training Well, we do a lot of training, but create
opportunity for people to feelthat.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
Career ladder.
Basically, yes, there's a path.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
Yeah, I can grow, I can go all the way up, I can
become the director of theschool and then I don't have to
wait and see somebody comes fromoutside.
But that can be a motivationbecause we have some very strong
talents in the school and I cansee some people that can easily
walk into my role in the future, Others that can become
principals and assistantprincipals.

(05:00):
So we are beginning to do that.
We could have done that a bitearlier, but we're also a
relatively young school.
So I think you know those kindof of you know walking the fine
line, but I think that's onearea that I think we could have
done a good work on.
But I think we are on the rightpath now.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
It's interesting you spoke about succession because I
don't see this happen a lot inthe school.
You know sector as much.
You see that in a lot ofAfrican businesses where the
first generation does fantasticyou and your wife, two founders
doing amazing with the school.
What's really the successionplan?

(05:42):
Family-wise to say that, okay,these were my values, these were
my ethos to myself and my wifepushing the business to this
level.
What's the carrying on plan?

Speaker 1 (05:57):
Well, I've already just mentioned about within the
school.
You should be able to identifysomebody that can walk into your
position in the future, andpeople must feel that I am
hardworking, I have theintegrity I can do this, so that
is one.
The other thing we have adaughter in for the daughter who

(06:18):
was the main reason why westarted a school bound dr DB, a
boy, because he's just finisheda PhD at University of Cambridge
.
Debbie, if you hear the podcast, I salute you.
She did an education, so we arehoping that one day she will
come and help.
You know, continue with thelegacy.

(06:41):
But we are trying to build aninstitution that is more than a
family business Wow.
That is more than a familybusiness, wow and one that in
the future, even if you're afamily member, you get to the
top by earning it, not onlythrough lineage, and that is

(07:05):
important for those that workfor the institution and even for
the person that comes to run it, because otherwise sometimes
you put wrong people into wrongpositions.
They have no institutionalknowledge or memory and that
might not go very well, you know, for the institution.
So we are trying to do that, soour daughter knows that and
other kids that we have knowthat if they're interested in an

(07:28):
opportunity, they would have tocome through through the mill,
understand the business and endtheir right into leadership.
So that's one path, with theidea that we don't want to carry

(07:48):
the full burden of running theschool today and in the future
on our shoulders, we have to getto that point in the future
where, if we are not there,somebody else, through
institutional arrangement, cantake over.
So even though, on our minds,one of our children may take

(08:09):
over, he or she will still haveto go through an institutional
process to get to that point.
So that's what we are trying todo to make sure that we don't
have the situation that a lot ofAfrican businesses go through,
that when the owners are notthere, the business disappear.
So it is an important thing uhthat we are doing and and we are

(08:34):
confident that uh, theprotocols you know uh are in
place and will be in place whenwe are no longer there fantastic
so just to remind you guys, onthe 29th of august, at the
british council, we are hostingour first connected minds live
event.

Speaker 2 (08:51):
I'm gonna put a link in the description here, if
you're listening to the audio,you should be able to see that
on spotify or apple as well, andif you want to come to that
event, show up and learnsomething from a lot of business
people.
Your mindset is not going to bethe same, doc.
Where is the next audaciousmove?

(09:12):
Going towards which region?
Where is the next big move?

Speaker 1 (09:18):
well, um, initially, our plan when I did my
transformational thinner stampfor seed was to come to acra
2015.
Uh, the plan was going totakarade in 2017 and then see
where it's next.
But I did a bit of survey in2016 in Takarada.

(09:40):
It wasn't really ready.
Yeah, there's an internationalschool there that has been
struggling.
So we realized that, no,takarada is not the next place
to go and, to be honest with you, the markets beyond Kumasi and
Accra for our kind of schools orbusinesses is very, very tight.

(10:03):
Okay, so the campus at Obojo inAccra here is full and we have
to see to where some peopleleave before we can admit.
So, yeah, we have an admissionprocess going on and we're
hoping that some people will notreturn so others can come in,

(10:25):
you know.
but the plan is, in the nextyear or two, to build another
campus in Accra.
So we are, you know, feverishly, you know, looking for a new
land to build a new campus nottoo far from where we are, and

(10:47):
it's likely to be in the highschool, so we can move the high
school.
You know students there, butthe parents will drive to the
current campus, will bus themthere and return them, so
there's not so muchinconvenience, you know created,
know, uh, uh, for parents.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
Yeah, yeah I've kind of I kind of know that the
amount invested in the earlystartup right in kumasi um,
through funding and, you know,support here and there, but what
I don't really know is yourinitial capital, from your
pocket, you and your, your wife.

Speaker 1 (11:16):
It was very small, I don't even remember what it was.
We know we had to invest insome computers.
The house rent the, you knowpaying teachers, you know from
our pocket, you know, becausethe school didn't have enough
money.
You know, probably some $20,000, $30,000 for the first two or

(11:42):
so years to what it is today andthe value is multi-million
dollars now.
Wow, small things can grow Ifwe are consistent, if we do
things right, if we are humble,if we are honest, if we work

(12:06):
hard.

Speaker 2 (12:08):
Yeah, Let me stop you here for a minute.
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(12:29):
Doc what do you want yourlegacy to be?

Speaker 1 (12:33):
Well, I don't want my legacy to be restricted.