Segment: Integrity: The Foundation of Business Success - Dr Charles Yeboah

Trust isn't just a moral virtue—it's capital. When an entrepreneur needed to raise $400,000 from American investors for a school in Ghana, they secured the funding based solely on reputation, even from those who had never visited the country. "People give you money even though they have not been here?" government representatives asked in disbelief. The answer was simple: "It is trust, it is integrity."

The secret to sustainable business growth lies in what this educational leader calls the "three H's"—humility, honesty, and hard work. Humility keeps you learning and adapting. Honesty builds the foundation of trust that attracts both customers and investors. Hard work, manifested not just in long hours but in strategic thinking and leading by example, inspires your entire team. "If you want quick gains like some young people are doing, you will get it, but it won't last," they caution. True success isn't about cutting corners; it's about building something that endures.

After establishing the most respected educational institution in Kumasi, the entrepreneur made what they called "an audacious move" to expand to Accra following their participation in Stanford's SEED program. Despite financial concerns about the expensive East Legon location, they moved forward strategically, bringing their best teachers to ensure quality from day one. The gamble paid off spectacularly—the Accra campus quickly attracted students and now generates more revenue than the original location. But what's most revealing is how they approached this success. When enrollment boomed, instead of celebrating, they became more vigilant: "How about if we fail to meet people's expectations?" This mindset reveals perhaps the most profound lesson of all: genuine success requires remaining humble even when you're in highest demand.

Ready to build a business foundation that truly lasts? Listen now to discover how integrity and calculated risk-taking can transform your enterprise—and how the right mindset can turn even your most audacious goals into reality.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
you know, if I said I'll call you Derek, unless for
some reason I didn't write itdown and forgot or didn't put in
my calendar and then didn'tcall you, then that is it right.
But if I said I will call you,I will do this, I have to keep

(00:23):
my word.
My word must be my bond.
I can't just say it and sayingit really mean I don't really
mean it.
So I think when people begin toknow, as for Charles, as for
Derek, you can trust him.
That is bankable, that isbusiness in itself, business

(00:48):
success in this form.
People believe that, as forderek, as for charles, I can
trust him with this.
I remember I was trying to raisesome funds from the states and
from a us government entity andI needed to raise money, you
know, from some americanpartners, because the us
government entity required thatsome American invested in the

(01:08):
school.
And I was wondering who am Igoing to ask?
And I needed to raise almost$400,000.
Thus 2006,.
Who is going to give me$400,000?
I just approached a few people,some American friends, and some
of them had not even been toGhana before.

(01:29):
But because of what they knewand who they knew, I was and my
wife and I were.
They trusted us and gave us themoney.
And when this US governmententity people came they couldn't
believe it.
People give you the money eventhough they have not been here.

(01:49):
It is trust, it is integrity.
So I think it is important forall of us to understand that
Again.
If you want quick, you know,like some of what some other
young people are doing um, youwill get it, but it won't last.

(02:13):
Then you have to be running.
You know, hiding what, what,what, why, why would you want to
do that?
You want to be able to walkfree, free conscience.
Um, you're not afraid of thebanks.
You don't have to stop, youknow, put your phones off.
I mean, it's not even good foryour heart and health.
Live free by being such a manand woman of integrity, and that

(02:35):
will take you very, very far.
It gives you mileage.
And then, of course, the thirdH is hard work.
It is important to work hard.
Now, I know Ghanaians work hard.
I mean, as for that, you cangrant it to most Ghanaian
business people.
But hard work is not just beingbusy, it's also thinking smart.

(02:58):
It's also being aware of trendsin whatever industry that you
find yourself in, and especiallyas a business leader.
It's also not just folding yourarms and checking to see
whether everybody else is doingthe work, but you are just
collecting the money, right?

(03:20):
I think if the people that youwork with find out that you are
equally hardworking, it servesas an inspiration for the people
.
So my staff know and sometimesthey don't know.
You know where I get my energyfrom.
You know and they know.
Whatever I tell them to do, Iwill go the same extra length

(03:45):
with them, if not more.
So you have to set an exampleof hard work with the people
that you work with.
I think if we do that, if wepractice integrity, if we work
hard, if we think smart and sofor ICS, for example, one of the
things I'm'm always thinkingabout what else can we do for

(04:06):
young people?
You know I'm traveling aroundthe world, I'm looking for
opportunities.
Is it design for change that weshould join?
Is it round square?
Is it this?
Is it that for our youngchildren, you know, so they can
stand out, so that they can, youknow, have a future, that is

(04:28):
really great, you know, for them.
So humility, honesty, hard work, all three are important.
You can't just do and leave theother one.
You have to go with all three,that was loaded.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
That was loaded yeah.

Speaker 1 (04:45):
That was loaded.
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (04:47):
The time has come where you've become essentially
the best school in Kumasi.
And then you are thinking toyourself wait, I want to expand
and then take this school toAccra.
Talk me through that decisionand actually the scare you had
as well.

Speaker 1 (05:08):
Yes.
So before we made that decision, I had taken a course, and so I
give a lot of credit toStanford SEED.
It's a program that StanfordUniversity started running in
2013.
And I enrolled in 2014 and oneof the cohort two and in that

(05:29):
program you were told to writeyour transformation plan and you
were told to believe or to sayto yourself that I can scale, I
can grow, I can expand.
So I wrote all those thingsdown.
I can scale, I can grow, I canexpand.
So I wrote all those thingsdown.

(05:49):
And then you assign a coach tohelp you really work, I mean,
walk the journey that you haveput on paper.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
So this was 2014.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
And so I wrote to my transformational plan that, next
year being 2015, we will be inAccra.
Now, that was an audacious move.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
Did you just think about it when you were in the
program, or it was already?

Speaker 1 (06:17):
preconceived.
No, this was actually cameabout because of the program.
While you were there, yeah, sothe program is more like an MBA
program.
So after you've gone through it, you have to talk about what's
next of ICS.
What are you going to do Afteryou've gone through this program
?
And now you know that you havethe potential you can grow, your

(06:38):
mind has been psyched.
You believe that it is possiblefor ICS to grow.
We said we'll grow.
Now.
I didn't say I'll go to thenearby town in kumasi.
We said we'll go to accra.
And I cry because we know interms of disposable income, in
terms of people that can reallyaccept what we are trying to do,

(06:59):
because even in kumasi early on, people said, oh, what you are
trying to do, dr Ebora, dr andMrs Ebora, I think Accra people
appreciate this better.
And people were saying whydon't you take it to Accra
instead of Kumasi?
We said, no, kumasi, peopleneed this too.
Right.
But then in 2014, the time hadcome for us to now start
thinking about maybe Accra isready for us now.

(07:22):
So we did it.
But it was an audacious movebecause when we came to Accra to
survey the place, the bestplace we also wanted to start
was expensive East Lagoon andfound a place on Lagos Avenue,
the former Men's Vic building.
It was an expensive lease butwe had made a decision, we were

(07:48):
going to do it.
My wife said come on, can weafford this?
And I said, well, if we thinkabout it, we won't do it.
Business success requires sometactical moves and it does
require, you know, sometimesfacing your fears, you know.

(08:09):
So what are we going to do now?
I mean, we had Kumasi to backus up, but we started in Kumasi.
The rent was so outrageous.
We knew the first two years wewere going to run at a loss in
Accra.
But we had made a decision, wewere going to be in Accra and we
stuck to it.
We started with the summerschool.

(08:30):
Twenty-six people came for thesummer from different schools
around East Ligon.
By the end of the summer 23 outof the 26 decided they would
stay with us.
Wow, and that was incredible.
And how did we do it?
Well, prior to coming to Accra,the strategy was that we're

(08:53):
going to bring to Accra thenursery, kg, year one and two
classes that we're starting atthe best of our teachers in
Kumasi.
So we recruited some teachersand put them to follow these

(09:14):
best teachers in Kumasi, so theywould then be supported by the
rest of the teachers.
If we removed, you know thosebest teachers or moved them, you
know those best teachers ormove them, you know, to Accra,
and that's what we did.
So already, from day one,parents that brought their kids
to the Accra campus on LagosAvenue saw good practices.

Speaker 2 (09:38):
At this point did you have mentorship, so through the
seed program.

Speaker 1 (09:45):
I had a coach, right, okay, a business coach, okay.
So I had Hansen.
I had Terry from both from thestate.
Hansen was actually from UK.
UK and Terry Duye fromCalifornia in the in the US, and
they were a great guy.
These are people that have runsuccessful businesses in the US
and they were a great guy.
These are people that have runsuccessful businesses in the

(10:07):
States and the key thing islistening and wanting to apply,
because they were not Africansand they understand the contest.
It was kind of havingconversation with you about how
we're going to do this and allof that and you making the move
with you about how we're goingto do this and all of that and
you making the move, but thosementoring and mentorship was

(10:29):
very helpful.
Okay, yeah, yeah.
So that was how ICS Accra cameabout.
It was an audacious move, butit was one that we did and did
right.
The whole ICS group, if I maycall it that way, is today

(10:52):
better because of that audaciousmove.
Accra has changed the ICS story.
Right now, we have morechildren in Accra than we do in
Kumasi.
Accra gives us far more revenue, not because of numbers,

(11:12):
because the numbers is justabout maybe five or ten more,
but it's also because of thefees and all of that, and, as I
speak, we get more demand.
We've become, in recent times,the fastest growing school in
Accra and we've again appliedthe same model of
differentiation trying to makesure that you know you set

(11:39):
yourself apart, and we do thatin ICS through strong
professional development, youknow of our teachers, and
through listening, empathy andhumility.

(12:01):
Don't think that even when youare growing and everybody said
my managers and I said wheneverybody's wanting to come to
ICS, what should happen to us?
Should we stand up and jubilateand let the whole world know we
have arrived becauseeverybody's coming to us?
No, we should actually bescared that everybody is coming

(12:25):
to us.
How about if we fail to meetpeople's expectations?
Wow, so when your business isgrowing, when your business is
getting all the attention, thatis not when you put up attitudes
.