Ever wondered what it takes to turn a simple set of clippers into a sprawling business empire? That's exactly what Godwin Tetteh, our master barber guest, has done. His story is a vivid illustration of transforming a deep-seated passion into a lucrative venture and then pushing the envelope by reinvesting a staggering 100,000 Ghanaian cedis into his own business. We journey with Godwin as he recounts the strategies and philosophies that enabled him to not just survive but thrive in a competitive industry, proving that sheer perseverance and a dedication to quality service can indeed carve a pathway to success.
Godwin's narrative, though, goes beyond just the cut and thrust of the barbershop. It's a tale steeped in emotional resilience, adaptability, and the entrepreneurial spirit. He shares with us the raw and real side of his journey, from the challenges of leaving a stable job to the self-taught business acumen that saw him wearing every hat imaginable. If you're looking for a story that embodies the heart and soul of entrepreneurship, the kind that inspires you to invest in your dreams and the people who help build them, then this conversation is one you won't want to miss.
BarberWithDegree, as he's affectionately known, doesn't stop there. In a candid discussion, he dives into the importance of leadership, the value of investing in human resources, and the symbiotic relationship between a business and its team. Godwin reveals why he dedicates a significant portion of his resources to ensuring his staff's well-being, recognizing that they are the backbone of his success. Join us for an enlightening episode on Konnected Minds, where the power of investing in people and systems takes center stage, and walk away with a new perspective on what it truly means to drive your business to new heights.
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):
Before you see a beautiful house.
Okay, there's been a lot ofwork that went into it.
But you know, the sad part isthat many people don't see that.
They always see that themarketing you do today okay, you
tend to reap it in the nextfour or five years.
I don't give up.
I always like to bring out thatkind of zeal and best in me.
(00:21):
It's a surprise that I enrolledmyself into high school.
I met a school dad who was abarber.
That was where everythingchanged for me.
So anytime I was standing byhim, I was looking at him.
I was looking at him.
I started studying by brain,but he didn't know.
So I realized the part of methat could cut hair instantly.
(00:41):
You know what I did with myself.
I'm going to develop this andbecome the next barber if my
school father graduates.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
If you've never heard an episode from Connected Minds
, well, today is your first time, and I know you're going to
enjoy this conversation.
Most of the time you see peoplecome on this show speak about
their tech businesses.
They are fintech businesses,technology-based businesses that
(01:18):
are changing the world in itsown way.
Today we have somethingdifferent, in fact, the service
he provides.
As a businessman, you wouldexpect he may want to do it a
little bit differently, but he'staking the approach that we've
always known over the years.
A few months ago, he made100,000 Ghana cities in one
(01:42):
month and decided to reinvestall of that money into the same
business.
Now, today's conversation isgoing to enlighten you on his
path and how he began to makethose decisions that will
eventually change his life.
My man, how you doing.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
I'm good, derek, I'm very good and I'm super excited
to be here.
Thank you, my name is Godwin,just like you mentioned, godwin
Gofitete.
But then, before we delve intome and all, I just want to speak
about how excited I am to behere, because throughout my life
(02:22):
, I've always been looking foropportunities like this to
empower, inspire others.
There are so many people outthere who have not seen excuse
me, to see the light.
When I see the light decisionsin life, that's going to make
life very easy.
That's going to help you make alot of money.
(02:43):
There are so many hardworkingpeople out there, like I always
say, who are doing the wrongjobs Exactly because you have
somebody investing so much oftheir time into something that I
may think that it's not goingto work, it's not going to make
you the money you want to make,you get it.
So the moment you spoke to meand was like, oh, godwin, we
(03:08):
have to do this.
Let's speak to the people,let's make the people understand
that it is possible, regardlessof where you find yourself,
regardless of how hard theeconomy is and all that.
So I'm very excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Well, you know, thank you so much when I saw your
post.
I saw your post on Twitter andthen I was like many people
would do completely differentthings to what you did.
Exactly, you made 100,000 in amonth All the busy times where
(03:43):
the aspirants and the visitorswere in the country and you
decided to reinvest all thatmoney into your business.
Now, I'm sure many people wouldhave done that.
You know they've made even moreright within that time, but for
me, the beautiful thing aboutthis is the fact that you
decided to post it to empowersomeone.
(04:05):
Now that's what people don'tunderstand.
That's the step you took to sayI'm going to post this
regardless of what people aregoing to think.
Somebody may think it's toosmall, somebody may think it's
too much, but I want to make animpact in somebody else's life.
And then I saw it and I waslike forget all the comments
that are coming in.
I want to speak to this guy.
I want to be in the mind spaceof this young man who decided to
(04:32):
do this to empower, becausethat's what I'm about Empowering
people.
That's true.
What was happening in your mind?
Speaker 1 (04:39):
There are a lot of things going through my mind
right now Because, you know,even before we get to the
100,000 cities in a month, youknow, before you see a beautiful
house, okay, there's been a lotof work that went into it, from
foundation, from electrical,from diggings.
You know sleepless nights.
(04:59):
But you know the sad part isthat many people don't see that
when they're working in a verynice neighborhood, what they see
is the beautiful house.
But the point is that before Igo to that 100,000, I didn't
even believe I was going to dothat myself, because when you
watch the progress of mybusiness, it's been very slow
(05:19):
and I'm highly, I'm so much moreof a marketing person.
I like to promote my business,I like to, I believe in quality
and I like to always make surethat everything I give out is
the quality, is the best.
So they always say that themarketing you do today, okay,
you tend to repeat in the nextfour or five years.
(05:39):
So if I'm telling you that, oh,if I'm investing like a 50,000
cities into creating brandawareness for people to know my
brand, maybe, probably I'm notgoing to reap that today in the
near future.
There's been so many thingsthat I've done so many years ago
consistency, discipline, makingsure that everything is in
(06:00):
place.
When people come around,they're happy.
Even times where you make, youdo promotions, you promote your
business, it's not working.
You are still there, you stillkeep showing up for people.
Okay, so even before December, Igave about 150,000 cities into
(06:22):
promotion.
I invested 15,000 cities intopromotion and when I was doing
that, I told my employees that,yes, what it is, we are going to
do this.
The big snapshot promo.
That's what we called it.
In November, I told my peoplethat we are going to do a promo
called the big snapshot promo.
We are going to give like 20%off our services Anybody who
(06:45):
comes in.
They're giving them money out.
These times are not normal timeswhen businesses are driving so
hard to make more money fromtheir customers.
We tend to be giving back andwe've been running the business
for like almost two yearswithout raising prices, even
when prices kept going up.
So when I do my cost-benefitanalysis and I see how much I
(07:09):
invest into the business, howmuch I'm getting as profit, if
it is not harming me, if it'sgoing to help me break even, I
don't mind.
So I invested that money.
I told them that that's whatthis is going to do for us.
It's going to give us exposure,it's going to sell our
objective and the kind ofservices we provide to our
audience, and then we are goingto get potential clients.
(07:31):
In December they were like, ah,degree, this is crazy, we need
more money.
Things are not going to be like, let's just hold on.
When we did that in November,to our surprise November, when
we thought we were giving outmore money out to people, we
actually made the best salesever in the history of Reflex.
(07:51):
Wow.
Then the next month, gettinginto December, everything went
wildfire.
It was like, wow, it is verypossible.
So, yes, a lot of work wentinto it.
So when you make a post likethat, there is a burning desire
in you to let others know,because naturally, that's me.
(08:12):
I like people around me to seewhatever light that I've seen.
If today I see something thatis going to help me and I have
brothers, I have friends in mycircle why not share it with
them?
So, basically, with regards tothat post, that is just the
degree of doing what the degreeof dust always Sharing
(08:35):
inspiration, motivating peopleto do more, and it's going to
work.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
This is the source that we probably should have
left at the end of theconversation, but it's so good
that we've started with that,because there's a lot more that
is coming.
I want to understand your appbring a little bit, because I
know your name on there is what?
(09:03):
Degree Baba, yeah, right, andthen I know you went to UPSA as
well.
Exactly, but what was your appbring like?
Speaker 1 (09:09):
OK, so I grew up in a very small town in this room
called Asasawa.
I never leave that out of mystory.
Everywhere I go, I talk aboutit because I see so many people
like Messi.
They come from a very smalltown and they always speak about
it.
Ok, so anywhere I go, I talkabout my small town.
(09:31):
So my app bring in.
I grew up in a family of fivechildren who were all taken care
of by just a single dad.
So my mom eventually and my daddivorced and my dad was just
taking care of all of us, sofinancial difficulties became
like a serious thing in myfamily.
(09:52):
I come from a family whereeducation is intense.
So unless it's your 10,regardless of your grades,
somebody else has to go beforeyou.
So, yeah, right after highschool, after GHS, had this kind
of not giving up spirit in mewhen my daddy said there is no
money for you to continue, Iwant to go out of my all my four
(10:16):
siblings.
I am always out there lookingout to find money.
So right after GHS, I startedSpace to Space 10 in 2009.
You see this Ariba, space Phone, ariba, when mobile
telecommunication came, whereyou have those small kiosks,
people.
Yeah, yeah, we'll go and makesome phone calls.
Yeah, I had credit and all that.
I had to plead with my dad tojust invest some money, some
(10:39):
small money, into that businessfor me.
And I started and it's asurprise that I enrolled myself
into high school.
When my results came, my dadwas like, oh no, I have to
attend the nearby high school inmy time.
Like, no, I want to go outthere, explore, meet people,
build my networks.
So I left home and went to aKaua Mai Senior High School.
(11:00):
It will shock you when I go toa Kaua Mai Senior High School.
This is a very beautiful story.
I don't live out of my story.
When I go to a Kaua Mai SeniorHigh School, you have a queue, a
queue of a lot of people withyour words rich people, a pack
nice cars.
So I was in a queue.
I was next to a lady calledPortia.
I was right.
(11:21):
After that process we met backin school and then I got to know
her better.
She went in and we have likeSenior House Mistress, we have
the headmaster, we have twoassistant headmasters sitting
there.
Then she had a session.
She came out.
Could you imagine that Ientered the room and nobody
(11:42):
noticed I entered the room.
It was like next, the SeniorHouse Mistress kept calling next
, next, next.
I was standing there because Iwas so short, so the almost like
next next.
Then I stood up.
I stood up, so I was in a queue.
I stood up and she was likewhere's your mom, where's your
dad?
I'm like I'm here alone, really, and I had this burning desire
(12:07):
to attend the boarding house.
My dad didn't support that idea, so I knew it was going to pop
up, because they kept on tellingme oh, you are too stubborn,
you bring problems when you goto the boarding house Because of
my life in high school.
I don't give up.
I always like to bring out thatkind of zeal and best in me.
So I enrolled myself and startedschool at Aquaman Senior High
(12:30):
School.
Aquaman Senior High School.
I met a school that was a Baba.
See, that was where everythingchanged for me.
My school dad was a Baba and hewas literally taking care of us
through the barbing he wasdoing Because I would go to
school Then in 2009, I completedhigh school, so 2010, 2011, he
(12:57):
was.
I was being given like 15 CDsto school for the whole term.
I always had Gary and Sugar inmy job post, nothing else.
The provisions were not anythingto write to my boss.
So my school dad was takingcare of us and I was doing those
errands for him.
He'd be like, oh Godwin, go andbuy a blade, sweep the place,
call the next client, blah, blah, blah.
(13:18):
I was doing that, then realizedthat this guy was making so
much money from Baba.
Then I'm like Godwin, you needto do something.
So I started studying him.
He didn't know.
So anytime I was standing byhim, I was looking at him, I was
looking at him.
I started studying Baba, but hedidn't know.
So there was a time he neededto give a haircut to one guy.
(13:38):
He was in a queue.
There were a lot of people.
That guy needed the haircut soquick for an SU meeting.
Then I offered to give the guya haircut and I was like aha,
can you cut?
I think, yes, I could cut yourhair.
So he was then clipper of ablade technique.
Then I did the haircut, but Icouldn't do the hairline.
That's good.
That came to finish thehairline and then boom, it's
(14:00):
like how Godwin really.
So I realized the part of methat could cut her instantly.
You know what I did with myself.
I'm going to develop this andbecome the next Baba if my
school father graduates, wow.
So anytime I'm on vacation, Igo home.
My stepmom had a nanny that Iwas using as a canvas to get
(14:24):
better on the job.
My school dad left and fastforward.
I became a household name oncampus.
I was cutting people forsardine butter trade.
I was cutting people for 50pesos.
I was cutting people's hair forfavors.
I was cutting my senior housemasters.
I was cutting my teachers.
I was cutting my headmasters.
Like I had this name close up.
(14:46):
That was my nickname.
It was everywhere I went, fromthat boy who could not afford
provisions to the guy who couldtake his friends to the
cafeteria, spread them and buyfood for them.
Wow.
Then the very important part ofit came financial prudence
reinvesting back into yourbusiness.
(15:06):
That's when financial prudencestarted.
I realized that God win degree.
This thing was doing more thansurvival for you.
It's now touching other lives.
What can you do to them?
The moment I mix more money frommy brain.
I called a friend.
I've never been to a craft.
Then I called a friend.
(15:27):
I was like, bro, I want to buya smartphone.
That was when Nokia, asha, kim,asha 30, whatever.
We came to circle and we boughtthe phone With all the money I
had.
We're not allowed to use phonein school.
I see this kind of rich kidscome from Accra.
They're kind of lifestyleYou're in school, you want to be
(15:47):
texting your girlfriend inanother school and all that.
So I'll be using the phone.
Then Somebody will come aroundoh Charlie, this phone is nice,
I could sell it for you.
I sell the phone Mix more money, go back to Accra again.
So it was like me using thephone, hoping that somebody will
buy it, and it was alwaysworking for me.
(16:10):
Can you imagine if I was yourson and I graduated from high
school?
You gave me 15 cities for aterm and after graduating from
high school I came home, yougave me a room and the TV I buy
for my room is bigger than theTV I offer.
That was a shock my daddy hadwhen I go back from high school.
(16:35):
And then my stepmom was soenvious to the point that she
was like, no, not in a bad way,this guy, we need to take his TV
and exchange it with ours.
Ours is too small, it's goingto be a bad boy.
They don't know.
You've worked for it.
I actually worked too hard forit.
Then you know, I wasn't a badstudent.
(16:58):
I was a very good student inclass.
I made good grades and the sadpart was that I was watching my
friends move straight to theuniversity, where I had to wait
for my big sister to finish hernursing school before I can
continue.
You went back into the queue ofthe family Exactly Before I
could continue.
(17:19):
I was like no way.
Then again, I had to go out,started working at a barbershop
and you know how.
I had the ticket to work there.
The same spirit of not givingup when there is no money.
You have to find ways, you haveto find means, because if you
(17:41):
want to follow the norm, okay,the norm is my staff definitely
go.
I said no, I'm not going tofollow that, because you know
education in the same way thatyou go to school within the heat
of the moment.
It doesn't mean that when youwait for some time you cannot
continue, but you go within theheat of the moment.
I started cutting my friendshouse to house.
(18:01):
Then there was a guy I gave ahaircut.
He was so happy about thehaircut he went to me and his
brother was like who did thishaircut?
It's like, oh, one of myfriends in this town, assisawa.
He actually traveled fromAssisawa to Kufuwuiu, the
original capital, to get ahaircut every two weeks, right.
And he's like if there is abarber in this town who can give
(18:22):
me this haircut, he's going tosee a lot of transportation cost
.
Far from that.
He wanted to open a barber shopfor me.
Wow, fast forward.
He called me.
He said if I was able to givehim a good haircut, he's going
to do that for me.
I prayed, gave him a goodhaircut.
I've never used the clipperbefore.
I was using blade over comb.
(18:43):
So you know what I did.
I just watched and studied theclipper the very day he opened
the fresh new clippers.
I look at the clipper andrealized that no, the technology
behind the clipper, it's justan advancement on the clipper
over comb.
I had to study it for like 10minutes and prayed.
You know what I did?
I did the haircut, used my comb, probably to finish, and the
(19:07):
guy was like let's open a barbershop for you.
I worked for a year, built thebarber shop.
It became the number one barbershop in town Before I left.
You know what I did with themoney when my daddy said I was
not going to school.
To school and to my sisterfinish, I bought forms at UPSA.
Wow, yes, I went to UPSA.
Financing my education was acontract between my dad and I.
(19:29):
My dad's contract, yes, it wasa contract.
He was going to help me pay myadmission fees and you are going
to take yourself in, take offyourself.
In school I came to a class notknowing where I was.
So mostly when you're going tothe university, probably your
parents are going to pay foryour hostel fees, they're going
to buy your books, health,clothes and all that.
Mind that, and it's not hisfault.
(19:49):
It's not his fault because thepressure coming from whom?
My kid's sister was in the highschool, my big brother just
completed his university, my bigsister was in the nursing
school and all that.
Then I started to UPSA.
So this is just a small storyof how I went from where I'm
coming from as a sour, throughhigh school, university and I
(20:13):
know, as the conversation keepsgoing on, we are going to get to
where business started for meand all that.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Wow.
So you, first of all, you gotyourself admission Exactly and
then, secondly, you went on toyou had a contract with your dad
to get into UPSA.
That's crazy.
That's crazy.
You've really hit the nail onthe spirit of not giving up, and
(20:45):
that's very important in anyperson who wants to make a
change in their life to not giveup.
There was a story I was sharingon this program with someone I
was speaking with about abusiness partner who I was
supposed to do some businesswith regarding our
pharmaceutical services in theUS and I'd never met him.
(21:08):
And then I sent him severalmessages on Skype for about five
years he didn't respond.
On the fifth year he respondedand most people would have given
up Exactly Right, but thatconversation that I kept
emailing him, skyping him,what's happening in the end?
My goodness, you don'tunderstand the path it created
(21:30):
for us.
Now, you as an individual,these things you're saying is
amazing.
Look, a lot of people have allof this inside of them, but they
decide to use the energy forthe opposite things either to
dupe people, steal, lie topeople and all sorts of things.
(21:53):
And for me, I say that thepower that God has given us
whenever we direct that powerinto positive things, it becomes
bigger and larger, but once weuse it for negative things, then
we lose it, very true, and allthings go bad.
I want to hear about thiscontract, that conversation.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
How did it go on with it?
Mind out and deny the contract.
Okay, so when I finished thehigh school, when I was at home
working at the barber shop Ialways come back from work and I
locked myself up in the room.
I wouldn't eat.
I'll be crying.
Every time I'll be crying.
I cried almost every nightbecause I loved school,
(22:42):
regardless of my hardship.
I loved school.
I loved to be in class andthere was one thing about me
even in high school and GHS, theday I'm sick and I'm not
present in class and the teacherteaches something, I come back
the next day and they are movingforward.
They are progressing on myabsence, the lessons they
learned in my absence.
(23:02):
I don't allow the class tocontinue.
I'll keep crying, keep crying,keep crying.
Sometimes my teacher instructssomebody to help me on the past
lesson so we can move on.
Sometimes he revises theprevious lesson, so that should
tell you how much I love to bein school.
So I kept crying.
My dad knew that and you see,you have that son Assuming I was
(23:25):
a bad student.
I wasn't having a good grade.
If you were a dad, you feellike you would forget him.
He would cry.
I would now have to go and paysome money to get him admission.
But this guy has good grades,Right.
I had a great 10 for my GHS,Same for my high school.
So my dad was always worried.
(23:45):
So you know what he did.
He borrowed some money and Imade 1200 seats, but then my
admission fees and everythingfor year one was 2400 for UPSA.
So he was like my son, you arereally pressuring, you want to
go to school and I knew if I hadthe means I was going to help
(24:08):
you, but this is how far I canhelp you, so I'm going to pay
part of that fees.
So he paid 1200 and he was likethe rest I don't know how you
are going to survive this, Don'tworry.
Then I had a friend who knowsmy story.
He comes to the Baba shop allthe time.
He bought me a clipper.
(24:28):
I left my hometown after I hadadmissions and everything and I
came to a crowd.
The very first day I stepped ina crowd.
I didn't know anything aboutmarketing and promoting yourself
, but you see, naturally whenyou are doing something, you
would want people to patronizeyou.
You don't need to go to classand learn about it, no, but fear
(24:49):
OK, and the thought of what arepeople going to see, the
thought of rejection, thethought of no.
I always had this spirit in methat tells me that if I'm
looking for a yes, right, andyou tell me no, it means that I
should keep pursuing.
I've not found what I'm lookingfor.
Galam say if you are diggingfor good and you keep digging,
(25:13):
you keep digging.
You're not finding the good.
You have to keep going.
You are looking for good.
Until you find the good, youdon't stop.
So I didn't have any fear in me.
I had that courage to be ableto speak to anyone, regardless
of what response you are goingto give me.
So I came to stay with my uncleat Ashi.
I run around the entire area.
(25:33):
The first weekend I took myclipper, started moving from
house to house.
I would knock on their doors.
Oh, my name is Godwin, I livearound.
I'm a barber.
In case you need a barber,please call me.
That's my number.
I did for like three to fivehouses.
Then I came back home the nextthree days.
(25:55):
There was a guy.
I never forget that guy becausethat was the guy who gave me
the opportunity to make somemoney in a crowd the very first
day I stepped in, his name wasKelvin.
He called me and he was likebro, I like what you did.
I have a barber, but I wouldlike to try you.
You know, when the guy calledme, I was like, oh my God, this
is an opportunity to make somemoney to compliment whatever
(26:19):
money my uncle gives me everyday to school.
We can.
I went to cut his hair.
He liked it and he was like, oh, he kept calling me.
Every two weeks he calls me tocome.
Then he introduced anotherfriend.
Then the very first day Istepped into class.
One thing about me that keptgoing.
I always talk about what I do,and that is also a point to
(26:43):
address the fact that that's it.
People are just too shy to getthe tea.
Because my story speaks aboutthe guy who doesn't care what
you say, who doesn't care whatyou feel.
He's just thinking about waysto survive, and if there is
something called shyness toprevent it from making it in
life, he has nothing to do withthat.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
You know that's something we share in common,
which is knocking at doors.
So this is what I say If youknock at one door and it gets
shut in front of you, well, trythe next door.
Now, if they close that door infront of you, you only have one
option Get a carpenter andcreate your door and hold the
(27:30):
key.
Nobody can take that key awayfrom you.
True facts, and that's whatyou're doing Exactly.
You've watched someone cut hairand you've internalized.
That process is almost becomingyours now.
Now you've set up a business inthat same field.
(27:52):
Now, all the people that giveyou opportunity in your way of
becoming an entrepreneur todayhave done amazing.
However, you're holding a keyso many people who don't have
any belief at all in themselveswhen it comes to starting a
(28:16):
business or charting a path ofindividual development.
What do you tell?
Speaker 1 (28:21):
them Never give up.
So you see, the fear of failurewhich is no two is about it.
It is just.
But the point is that youactually feel, when you fall and
don't rise up, that is a truefailure and most of the times we
may we may construe it to belike oh, if I'm doing something
(28:44):
that doesn't work, it means itwill never work.
I had a lot of comments afterthat post, people saying that
there are a lot of people tryingso hard on the street.
There are a lot of people doingthat to work.
It's not working.
Yeah, but the point is that yousee, when you try something and
it is not working, it meansyou're not doing something right
, exactly Because there are somepeople who have tried and it's
(29:08):
working.
The point is that you startasking questions, start looking
for people who have done it andit's working for them and learn
from them.
For God's grace, you havesomebody who has done that
before and you feel like, oh,I'm doing the same thing.
It's not working.
The very best thing you couldhave done was like, oh, hi, bro,
I saw this post.
How did you do it?
You know?
Speaker 2 (29:28):
what.
That's why we are sitting heretoday.
Right, Because I know somebodyout there needs to hear this
conversation.
Somebody is amazing.
Right now.
He's been able to save up,let's say, 10,000 cities to
start his own small company tobuild for people and they don't
(29:49):
know how to go about it.
Or, you know, they'recompletely confused.
They don't know the path theyshould take and by listening to
you today, hopefully they willget that fame Exactly Now.
Many people.
I think you've seen what'shappening in a country where a
lot of people are moving out.
I slept in another country,True, In that conversation we
can have.
(30:09):
No, when I saw the post whatcame on my mind is that this guy
could easily give this money tosomeone and he would travel out
of the country.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
What the hell is he doing here?
What is he doing here?
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Why didn't you take that approach?
It's easier, isn't it?
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (30:21):
It's a very good question.
You know, I also have this.
I say that success and makingit in life, it is not assured.
Okay, you have to work for it.
And if you are not hardworking,excuse me to say, if you are
(30:45):
lazy, if you are reserved, ifyou don't want to push hard in
Ghana, okay, there's no way amagic will happen for you in the
UK.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
It's true.
Yes, it's true.
Wherever you go.
Wherever you go, you need topush limits.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Look the individual is more important than the
surroundings.
The surroundings is okay, itplays a little part, but the
individual?
Because I say, when I wastraveling abroad, there were
three of us that were going.
I had a backpack, a backpack, Itook a backpack and I was
wearing a tie and that was myjourney.
(31:23):
Okay, the people I was with,they all had their suitcases,
massive suitcases full ofclothes.
I had one jeans and onetrousers.
Okay, now, I was an individualand there were other individuals
.
Today, by the grace of God, ourpaths have become clear.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
He didn't sleep in London or UK.
No, no, the thing is that Iwant to ask you a question.
I don't know, maybe you canshare an opinion about it, but
you have had a travel experiencebefore.
You've been to probably two orthree countries.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
More than that, more than that.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Don't you think that people suffer in the UK or in
America, plenty, or in Germany,plenty, yes, why?
Speaker 2 (32:09):
The individual, the system.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
There's a system that is very good for them to make
it, yes, but it is not workingfor them.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Look the individual must be built.
Mindset, yes.
So if right now, I've gotsomething, though I've got
something.
You see the individual, if youget the same opportunity as I
did, you probably do better thanI have, or do equally well, or
(32:38):
maybe worse, or maybe worse,Depending on who.
However, the difference, though, between you and most people
I've met in the UK and otherparts of the world, especially
Netherlands, is that you have adifferent mindset the mindset of
growth, discipline,independence, self-reliance.
Now, that's unique in anyenvironment.
(32:59):
To succeed.
To succeed, yes, true, you knowwhat.
I've got the post and I want usto go through it very quickly.
So, you said, before you thinkof quitting your job and
starting your own thing, bearthese in mind.
The first one you had was noteasy from the start.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Yes, it's not easy from the start.
Right, you don't think maybequitting your job and starting a
new thing is going to solveyour problems?
Okay, honestly,entrepreneurship comes with
certain skills andcharacteristics of an individual
.
Not everybody can become anentrepreneur.
Okay, you get it.
So the point is thatentrepreneurship alone is not
(33:42):
the way to making it in life.
It's not only the way to makingit in life.
If you don't have the qualities,all you can do is make money
from your nine to five job.
Find a way to invest in anentrepreneur who knows the way,
who can guide you.
To that way, you'll be makingsome money elsewhere and making
(34:03):
some money on your investment.
That knowledge that took fromthe financial quadrat I don't
like to read, but I like to readhighly recommended books.
Reach that board, that right,that books divides assets and
liabilities On the left side andright side, and you also have
(34:24):
the self-employed, theentrepreneur, the businessman
and then the investor.
You get it.
So that's the sole proprietor,the businessman and then the
investor, so you can make somemoney.
Invest in somebody who knowswho it is Like they always say.
So it's not going to be easyfrom the start.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
And then you have your second point, which is
friends will see you as afailure, but when you win, they
tag along and sing your praises.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
Yeah, You're working with a friend in, let's say,
ghana ports, in Harbour.
Yeah, they're a limitedcookbook probably.
They are giving you 15,000 CDsa month at your level.
Whatever level you findyourself.
I'm like, no, charlie, I'mquitting this job.
I want to go and start my ownthing.
(35:15):
And you start and it's notworking.
Well, you are failing.
They are seeing you as afailure, right, yeah, but you
don't have to give up.
But when you win.
I know this guy Because workingwith him at Ghana port in
Harbour, we went to the samehigh school.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Because now it makes sense, yes, it makes sense to
associate with him.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
So you have to bear this in mind.
Don't be surprised when youmeet them, because I've gone
through all these things.
When I started, friends weremaking fun of you, like who that
Baba forget them?
I wasn't, I wasn't even having.
I could even have like maybe aGood relationship, because girls
are too shy to be around theBaba on campus.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
So right.
So now you've changed the termfrom a Baba to a business man.
Yes, adley, you were once aBaba, but now you are business
man.
Yes, you created business outof it.
That's beautiful man.
Now, the third point you hadwas you regret quitting your job
, but remember winners nevergive up.
Yes, Winners.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
They never give up.
You keep trying, keep tryinguntil you win.
You have to have that spirit asan entrepreneur.
You need that spirit becausethere was a time where all my
Babes left except one and theworkload was more than just two
people we had.
(36:43):
We had to work overnight.
There were times where we hadto close the shop because power
was not working.
For like two, three, four days,everything was crashing.
But I sit back and tell myselfthat if I look at what people
say about me, no, I don't wantto be a failure, and failure is
(37:04):
actually when you fall and youdon't get up again.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
Otherwise then you know all the times that you fail
.
There's a lesson in there foryou.
That's why this journey is.
It's an individual journey.
It's a lonely road.
It's a road that sometimes,when you don't have money, you
don't have any help from anyone.
You need to make it work.
(37:29):
But those of us that have afamily, you need to make it work
to be able to feed your family.
Exactly Now, your fourth oneyou have is you may fail, but
you have to bounce back.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
Find the strength pretty much.
We spoke about it.
Yeah, don't don't lie there.
Yeah, don't stay with Ali, formy leg break.
Speaker 2 (37:53):
No, keep going, yeah.
And then the fifth one wasyou'll be a CEO, accountant, hr,
pr, procurement, Marketing,sanitation, business development
, customer relations, etc.
Manager, literally, you'll bedoing everything.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
No, no, no lies.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
No, lies Okay.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
I've done.
You played a role, everythingwhen we started, when we started
, the one day one when westarted.
Reflect.
I'll come to the barbershopearly in the morning, sweep, cut
people's hair, take money's,keep accounts, go back home, put
(38:33):
all the videos together,advertise them, go for meetings,
go for interviews.
Bro, if you don't have thatenergy, you don't have that.
You should be able to multitaskas a startup entrepreneur.
It is, it is, it is highlyrequired.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
One of the things, though, is that people also need
to be ready to make a change,because we started our first
pharmacy in the UK was a carehomes pharmacy, so we're
dispensing for care homes, IThink a year after we realized
that, no, that market wasn'tworking as well.
We had a business plan, we hadall the plans together, so we
(39:13):
changed to private services ofthe government system, and that
worked.
You need to be flexible enough.
Yes, ali, you know to realizethat you know this may not be
working, so let's try somethingelse as long as you have it
within you, you know, becausethere are certain people who
just they just want to do itbecause everybody else is doing
it, true, right, and then youhave, when you grow bigger, the
(39:38):
government will come for you.
In fact, it's not just thegovernment, everybody, everybody
comes from, from competition Tomaybe this part of the world,
maybe your landlord weaving or alandlady waving comfy, because
now they're seeing thatsomething is working in the game
and then they may want to, youknow, capitalize on that, yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
That's, you have actually explained that, so we
can.
We can still keep, keep, keepgoing.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
And then you have the survival of every business is
partly dependent on ideas.
Yes, you must not like that.
You must not like ideas.
Yeah, I think that's what wejust said.
You need to be able to switch asquick as you can, because
sometimes, you know, people holdon to you long.
You know, even if you have anapple which is not heavy and you
(40:34):
hold it for too long, your armis gonna hurt.
True, and sometimes that's whathappens in business you are
holding on to something that isnot working.
You hold on for so long that itbegins to hurt, you know.
And then you said don't forgetto nourish your business as you
(40:54):
keep milking it.
You mentioned that yes sameprinciple applied in Breeding a
dairy cattle.
You mentioned that, yes, andthen you said a business is a
system that operates in yourabsence.
Find a way to build that systemNow.
(41:17):
This is so key and that's whatI was trying to do.
Yeah, with you know, coming inwith my friend, to be able to
build a business that can workwithout me.
Yeah, I mean, it's alreadyworking in the.
UK, where my business partner isdoing also exactly, but I was
trying to do the same thing hereand then he decided to
disappoint me.
Most of the time, we build oneman businesses and we call it
(41:39):
business.
We call it a business.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
It's not.
It's a form of business, butjust Proper system.
Look if you drop dead.
Speaker 2 (41:47):
Today.
That business is over.
It's good, it's over, and andI'm not cutting- you shots.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
That's actually works In the bar brain industry.
Most barbers feel like, oh, I'm, that's the Baba, I'm cutting
all the celebrities we findpleasure in Doing home calls.
Oh, I want to be like afreelance Baba, moving from one
space to the other.
There was one Baba who came tome sometime and he was like, oh,
I've stopped working at theshop, I want to be going around
(42:16):
and cutting people, say.
Then I asked him one questionbro, if today and you're sick,
you don't have any business, youcould have saved a lot of money
for yourself, right, but thatmoney cannot Survive you for the
rest of your life.
But if you are able to create asystem where you are sick and
people are still working on yourmaking money, your system is
(42:38):
working.
That's what you call business.
Yes, that's a business and it'svery difficult to create that
and it's expensive to create asystem that works in your
absence.
Don't think it is cheap.
Same as building a brand.
It is very expensive.
That is why you have to keepplowing back your profit into
the business.
Create the business the way youwant it to look.
(43:01):
Until you are satisfied, don'tstop investing in it.
Wow, I bought an accountingsystem.
Probably I would have beenhiring an accountant to be
taking off my records.
I bought an accounting systemwith 12,000 ganas in this.
It does everything for mePayroll, income and expenditure,
(43:24):
profit and love, cash flow,everything it balances for you.
Yes, that is an investment, butNot everybody wants to put that
money in there.
If somebody will feel like youare crazy, how can you be doing
all this?
But it is a system you aretrying to create.
You don't need an accountant tobe there.
(43:48):
Right, business is growing.
Yes, you are being innovative.
Speaker 2 (43:51):
All this is part of the system you need to build for
us.
Speaker 1 (43:54):
So find a way to build that system.
It's very important in business, last but not least, in
business.
Speaker 2 (44:01):
Lastly, there is competition everywhere.
Make sure you look differentInto bracket branding.
I think he spoke of that aswell, yeah, which is why I'm
saying that I'm going to rebrandsome of the Businesses we have.
If, if, that amazing.
Now I've got a question, okay,which is Motivation or
(44:26):
discipline.
I've kind of deduced it fromthe conversation we've had, okay
, but I would want to hear youranswer on that.
Speaker 1 (44:32):
Discipline, discipline for me, because you
Not everybody would want to Showup every day, regardless of all
the odds.
So for me I've been very, verydisciplined, very, very
disciplined.
I got my work.
(44:54):
I come to work in the morning,make sure I show up for every
customer.
There are times where I wouldeven be tired from work, but I
feel like there is no one dayyet To make that customer
satisfied, so I have to comeback and finish it.
(45:15):
If work is not done, I'm notgoing home.
I close Later than my employees, at nine o'clock when we are
supposed to close 9 pm.
We are supposed to close.
Everybody place like, oh,degree, I'm off.
Like I'm off, I'm off, I'm off,everybody goes.
Then I would have one lastperson working on that, that
person's hair and somebody elseworks in.
(45:36):
Oh, bro, tell you, I have thiswedding I need to attend
tomorrow morning.
Please, I need you to clean meup.
Then I'll be like in my headI'm so tired.
But you know what comes into mymind.
When I started the work, when Istarted that business, there
were times where I needed peopleto be coming in.
Now I have these people.
They are begging me to cuttheir hair.
(45:57):
If not for discipline, I'llpush the customer away.
You know what happens whenpeople are in tight corners like
that, and because you aredisciplined and you save them,
they tend to become a lawyercustomer.
They feel like they owe you.
If, taking them out of a tightcondition, tight situation, you
save them from something andthey build a lawyer to feel you.
(46:19):
So for me, discipline Inasmuchas motivation is also important.
You need something to motivateyou regardless, but if you are
not, if you are motivated, youare not disciplined.
Speaker 2 (46:31):
You know, jim Rohn said the motivated idiot.
You know, yeah um.
What's your favorite personaldevelopment book?
Speaker 1 (46:45):
two, no, two ways.
Rich, that poor dad.
Yeah, the financial quadrants.
It made me see life and successin a different way.
It advices you to move awayfrom being employed or
self-employed to creating asystem that works in your
absence.
And when you make that money,invest that money and talk.
(47:09):
Most, it tells you that realestate investment is the end
goal, and that's exactly what mylife has been.
You know the post on Twittersomebody came was like eh, this
is the same story.
People tell you, eh, despite tocome and tell you I sold
cassette and today I'm a richcleaner.
They will never show you theway, but trust me, bro, that is
(47:31):
the true way.
Why am I saying that?
Yes, if I make money frombabbling and tomorrow I invest
my babbling money into amicrofinance, I invest that
money into real estate.
And you ask me to tell you mystory.
You want me to tell you that Imake money from real estate.
No, you don't just jump frombeing a barber to real estate.
(47:54):
You don't just get up and say Iwant to do real estate.
It involves a lot of money.
You get it.
So I'm going to tell you that Istarted as a barber.
I did ABCD.
Abcd got me this.
I took this and invested it inreal estate.
You get it.
That was the book that saved mylife not only my life.
(48:14):
I never stopped recommendingthat book.
I gave it to my sister.
My sister owns a home salonright now.
I gave it to my friend who wassupposed to move out of Ghana
into UK.
Right after our service I methim at National Service.
He has his own brand, noweveryday items.
That book changed so manypeople's life in my circle and I
(48:34):
know there are so many peopleout there who share the same
story.
Speaker 2 (48:37):
I've been working to stay months out of that book as
well.
Speaker 1 (48:39):
That book is going to change your life.
It's going to make youunderstand that, bro, the day I
read that book I was like Iwasted all my life.
But I didn't feel so bad aboutit because I'm like, oh, it was
a journey for me.
It only came into enlighteningme.
Speaker 2 (48:55):
I think people should get it.
People should get that book.
We spoke about it in.
They think Kiyosaki orsomething, robert Kiyosaki I've
mentioned it in one of thesegments, segment number one on
our podcast, so please go andlisten to the segment.
That book also has a game.
It's called the Cash FlowQuadrant.
(49:16):
I have it, I play it every nowand then, where it shows you how
to invest.
It's monopoly, however, ininvestments.
So, again, this is why thispodcast, this show, is on to let
people know what the way is.
Many people ask what's the wayNow?
(49:37):
What's the best advice you evergot?
Best advice I ever got.
Speaker 1 (49:42):
Who advised me?
My friend, okay, the CEO ofEveryday Items.
Speaker 2 (49:47):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (49:49):
He tells me that degree don't let anybody change
you because of their personalreasons or personal
understandings of life.
Yep, okay, that advice camewhen I keep doing so much for
people and all I get is let mesee disappointments.
(50:10):
Okay, so I'm that type whowants everybody around me to
grow.
So I go the extra map becauseI've been through the hardship.
When I see somebody goingthrough hardship like I feel it
and I want to help, and you dothat and trust me, human nature,
people take advantage of that.
So my friend Mills tells methat degree.
(50:31):
I know sometimes you feel likeno, I want to stop helping
people.
But he keeps telling me thatdon't ever stop.
And you know what that bringsto me.
It always brings blessings.
Anytime I give a hand tosomebody, right that day I never
go home sad.
It's like my degree works,works.
(50:54):
For instance, I'm coming towork and maybe I'm buying, let's
say, coconut by the roadsideand I give somebody something
small.
I come and somebody dashes memoney that is way, way, way
bigger than what I've given out.
So he keeps telling me that donot let people's attitude change
you, and I'd always live bythat.
Speaker 2 (51:18):
What you've just said is beginning to change my mind
on three things.
I've been disappointed by it,friends, twice, one in the UK,
one in Ghana, and there'sseveral people that we've given
a hand to who've just squeezedus really hard.
But some of the things you'vejust said.
Now I may have to go back,because this year I was
(51:39):
activating the wicked mode, yes,but maybe I shouldn't.
Speaker 1 (51:44):
You have to be wicked , but principled.
Right, you have to have a wayof dealing with people, and that
shouldn't also take the factthat you are a human, are we?
Speaker 2 (51:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (51:57):
You understand, there are some people who are
supposed to be dealt with Like.
I'm someone who always like togive out, but excuse me to say
I'm not a fool.
I know when somebody is tryingto play a fool out of me.
You would have to be smart atit.
There are some people you caneven be having a conversation
with and the way they aretalking can infer that now this
guy is just.
(52:17):
Maybe probably somebody hastold him oh, go to the degree he
will give you, he will give you, he will come and tell you some
story.
Try and investigate andunderstand.
That's what makes you smart.
Yeah, and as a leader?
Okay, as a leader of a business, you should be able to one
perform.
Yes, right, I started as abarber.
(52:38):
Today, I'm able to do a pexycut, I'm able to do certain
calls and all those.
I never knew all those things,but because I always perform in
the shop okay, productive beingproductive, my employees look up
to me.
They feel like there's so muchto learn from this guy.
And motivation is not alwaysabout money, okay, it's about
(53:00):
making people understand and seethe future Like ah, being with
this guy can change my life.
I can, there's a lot to learnfrom this guy.
So even when he gives me money,there's still something more to
learn.
Right, you get it, advisingthem, making their problems your
problem.
There was a part I think youomitted it in the point.
(53:20):
You hire people right,especially in Ghana, but
unfortunately you're going tohire their problems too.
That's true.
You get it For a youngentrepreneur in Ghana who needs
somebody to work with me.
This person comes.
The first thing he tells you isthat accommodation.
Yes, I rent for almost 70% ofpeople I work with.
(53:41):
Wow, exactly, that's how yourbusiness will thrive.
Is it somebody who see the nicebuilding out there and come
like I want to do the samebusiness, but you don't see any
reasoning in it to rent for anemployee?
You get it.
That is investing in my humanresource.
Same way you invest into costprice minus selling prices, you
(54:05):
go to profit.
You need to also invest, okay,in building your system.
The backbone of every businessis your customers, your
employees, your suppliers, thisstory, all the other ones who
come ask what supplementary andpush your business forward, but
this story, especially yourcustomers and your employees
(54:28):
without one, one doesn't work.
And if A, b works and there'sno supplier to keep the business
running.
You have no business, funnily.
Speaker 2 (54:43):
We've just enjoyed an awesome conversation on
connected minds with Godwin Tete.
People call him Baba.
Speaker 1 (54:52):
Tete.
Speaker 2 (54:52):
Green, tete Green.
Speaker 1 (54:54):
Tete.
Speaker 2 (54:55):
Green.
Now, what an awesomeconversation.
Now, if you haven't subscribedto any of our networks, please
do become part of the family,because connected minds is on a
journey to change lives andpower lives.
Be connected.
Have a Thanks for watching,guys.
Before you see a beautiful house.
Okay, there's been a lot ofwork that went into it.
But you know, the sad part isthat many people don't see that.
They always see that themarketing you do today okay, you
tend to reap it in the nextfour or five years.
I don't give up.
I always like to bring out thatkind of zeal and best in me.
(00:21):
It's a surprise that I enrolledmyself into high school.
I met a school dad who was abarber.
That was where everythingchanged for me.
So anytime I was standing byhim, I was looking at him.
I was looking at him.
I started studying by brain,but he didn't know.
So I realized the part of methat could cut hair instantly.
(00:41):
You know what I did with myself.
I'm going to develop this andbecome the next barber if my
school father graduates.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
If you've never heard an episode from Connected Minds
, well, today is your first time, and I know you're going to
enjoy this conversation.
Most of the time you see peoplecome on this show speak about
their tech businesses.
They are fintech businesses,technology-based businesses that
(01:18):
are changing the world in itsown way.
Today we have somethingdifferent, in fact, the service
he provides.
As a businessman, you wouldexpect he may want to do it a
little bit differently, but he'staking the approach that we've
always known over the years.
A few months ago, he made100,000 Ghana cities in one
(01:42):
month and decided to reinvestall of that money into the same
business.
Now, today's conversation isgoing to enlighten you on his
path and how he began to makethose decisions that will
eventually change his life.
My man, how you doing.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
I'm good, derek, I'm very good and I'm super excited
to be here.
Thank you, my name is Godwin,just like you mentioned, godwin
Gofitete.
But then, before we delve intome and all, I just want to speak
about how excited I am to behere, because throughout my life
(02:22):
, I've always been looking foropportunities like this to
empower, inspire others.
There are so many people outthere who have not seen excuse
me, to see the light.
When I see the light decisionsin life, that's going to make
life very easy.
That's going to help you make alot of money.
(02:43):
There are so many hardworkingpeople out there, like I always
say, who are doing the wrongjobs Exactly because you have
somebody investing so much oftheir time into something that I
may think that it's not goingto work, it's not going to make
you the money you want to make,you get it.
So the moment you spoke to meand was like, oh, godwin, we
(03:08):
have to do this.
Let's speak to the people,let's make the people understand
that it is possible, regardlessof where you find yourself,
regardless of how hard theeconomy is and all that.
So I'm very excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Well, you know, thank you so much when I saw your
post.
I saw your post on Twitter andthen I was like many people
would do completely differentthings to what you did.
Exactly, you made 100,000 in amonth All the busy times where
(03:43):
the aspirants and the visitorswere in the country and you
decided to reinvest all thatmoney into your business.
Now, I'm sure many people wouldhave done that.
You know they've made even moreright within that time, but for
me, the beautiful thing aboutthis is the fact that you
decided to post it to empowersomeone.
(04:05):
Now that's what people don'tunderstand.
That's the step you took to sayI'm going to post this
regardless of what people aregoing to think.
Somebody may think it's toosmall, somebody may think it's
too much, but I want to make animpact in somebody else's life.
And then I saw it and I waslike forget all the comments
that are coming in.
I want to speak to this guy.
I want to be in the mind spaceof this young man who decided to
(04:32):
do this to empower, becausethat's what I'm about Empowering
people.
That's true.
What was happening in your mind?
Speaker 1 (04:39):
There are a lot of things going through my mind
right now Because, you know,even before we get to the
100,000 cities in a month, youknow, before you see a beautiful
house, okay, there's been a lotof work that went into it, from
foundation, from electrical,from diggings.
You know sleepless nights.
(04:59):
But you know the sad part isthat many people don't see that
when they're working in a verynice neighborhood, what they see
is the beautiful house.
But the point is that before Igo to that 100,000, I didn't
even believe I was going to dothat myself, because when you
watch the progress of mybusiness, it's been very slow
(05:19):
and I'm highly, I'm so much moreof a marketing person.
I like to promote my business,I like to, I believe in quality
and I like to always make surethat everything I give out is
the quality, is the best.
So they always say that themarketing you do today, okay,
you tend to repeat in the nextfour or five years.
(05:39):
So if I'm telling you that, oh,if I'm investing like a 50,000
cities into creating brandawareness for people to know my
brand, maybe, probably I'm notgoing to reap that today in the
near future.
There's been so many thingsthat I've done so many years ago
consistency, discipline, makingsure that everything is in
(06:00):
place.
When people come around,they're happy.
Even times where you make, youdo promotions, you promote your
business, it's not working.
You are still there, you stillkeep showing up for people.
Okay, so even before December, Igave about 150,000 cities into
(06:22):
promotion.
I invested 15,000 cities intopromotion and when I was doing
that, I told my employees that,yes, what it is, we are going to
do this.
The big snapshot promo.
That's what we called it.
In November, I told my peoplethat we are going to do a promo
called the big snapshot promo.
We are going to give like 20%off our services Anybody who
(06:45):
comes in.
They're giving them money out.
These times are not normal timeswhen businesses are driving so
hard to make more money fromtheir customers.
We tend to be giving back andwe've been running the business
for like almost two yearswithout raising prices, even
when prices kept going up.
So when I do my cost-benefitanalysis and I see how much I
(07:09):
invest into the business, howmuch I'm getting as profit, if
it is not harming me, if it'sgoing to help me break even, I
don't mind.
So I invested that money.
I told them that that's whatthis is going to do for us.
It's going to give us exposure,it's going to sell our
objective and the kind ofservices we provide to our
audience, and then we are goingto get potential clients.
(07:31):
In December they were like, ah,degree, this is crazy, we need
more money.
Things are not going to be like, let's just hold on.
When we did that in November,to our surprise November, when
we thought we were giving outmore money out to people, we
actually made the best salesever in the history of Reflex.
(07:51):
Wow.
Then the next month, gettinginto December, everything went
wildfire.
It was like, wow, it is verypossible.
So, yes, a lot of work wentinto it.
So when you make a post likethat, there is a burning desire
in you to let others know,because naturally, that's me.
(08:12):
I like people around me to seewhatever light that I've seen.
If today I see something thatis going to help me and I have
brothers, I have friends in mycircle why not share it with
them?
So, basically, with regards tothat post, that is just the
degree of doing what the degreeof dust always Sharing
(08:35):
inspiration, motivating peopleto do more, and it's going to
work.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
This is the source that we probably should have
left at the end of theconversation, but it's so good
that we've started with that,because there's a lot more that
is coming.
I want to understand your appbring a little bit, because I
know your name on there is what?
(09:03):
Degree Baba, yeah, right, andthen I know you went to UPSA as
well.
Exactly, but what was your appbring like?
Speaker 1 (09:09):
OK, so I grew up in a very small town in this room
called Asasawa.
I never leave that out of mystory.
Everywhere I go, I talk aboutit because I see so many people
like Messi.
They come from a very smalltown and they always speak about
it.
Ok, so anywhere I go, I talkabout my small town.
(09:31):
So my app bring in.
I grew up in a family of fivechildren who were all taken care
of by just a single dad.
So my mom eventually and my daddivorced and my dad was just
taking care of all of us, sofinancial difficulties became
like a serious thing in myfamily.
(09:52):
I come from a family whereeducation is intense.
So unless it's your 10,regardless of your grades,
somebody else has to go beforeyou.
So, yeah, right after highschool, after GHS, had this kind
of not giving up spirit in mewhen my daddy said there is no
money for you to continue, Iwant to go out of my all my four
(10:16):
siblings.
I am always out there lookingout to find money.
So right after GHS, I startedSpace to Space 10 in 2009.
You see this Ariba, space Phone, ariba, when mobile
telecommunication came, whereyou have those small kiosks,
people.
Yeah, yeah, we'll go and makesome phone calls.
Yeah, I had credit and all that.
I had to plead with my dad tojust invest some money, some
(10:39):
small money, into that businessfor me.
And I started and it's asurprise that I enrolled myself
into high school.
When my results came, my dadwas like, oh no, I have to
attend the nearby high school inmy time.
Like, no, I want to go outthere, explore, meet people,
build my networks.
So I left home and went to aKaua Mai Senior High School.
(11:00):
It will shock you when I go toa Kaua Mai Senior High School.
This is a very beautiful story.
I don't live out of my story.
When I go to a Kaua Mai SeniorHigh School, you have a queue, a
queue of a lot of people withyour words rich people, a pack
nice cars.
So I was in a queue.
I was next to a lady calledPortia.
I was right.
(11:21):
After that process we met backin school and then I got to know
her better.
She went in and we have likeSenior House Mistress, we have
the headmaster, we have twoassistant headmasters sitting
there.
Then she had a session.
She came out.
Could you imagine that Ientered the room and nobody
(11:42):
noticed I entered the room.
It was like next, the SeniorHouse Mistress kept calling next
, next, next.
I was standing there because Iwas so short, so the almost like
next next.
Then I stood up.
I stood up, so I was in a queue.
I stood up and she was likewhere's your mom, where's your
dad?
I'm like I'm here alone, really, and I had this burning desire
(12:07):
to attend the boarding house.
My dad didn't support that idea, so I knew it was going to pop
up, because they kept on tellingme oh, you are too stubborn,
you bring problems when you goto the boarding house Because of
my life in high school.
I don't give up.
I always like to bring out thatkind of zeal and best in me.
So I enrolled myself and startedschool at Aquaman Senior High
(12:30):
School.
Aquaman Senior High School.
I met a school that was a Baba.
See, that was where everythingchanged for me.
My school dad was a Baba and hewas literally taking care of us
through the barbing he wasdoing Because I would go to
school Then in 2009, I completedhigh school, so 2010, 2011, he
(12:57):
was.
I was being given like 15 CDsto school for the whole term.
I always had Gary and Sugar inmy job post, nothing else.
The provisions were not anythingto write to my boss.
So my school dad was takingcare of us and I was doing those
errands for him.
He'd be like, oh Godwin, go andbuy a blade, sweep the place,
call the next client, blah, blah, blah.
(13:18):
I was doing that, then realizedthat this guy was making so
much money from Baba.
Then I'm like Godwin, you needto do something.
So I started studying him.
He didn't know.
So anytime I was standing byhim, I was looking at him, I was
looking at him.
I started studying Baba, but hedidn't know.
So there was a time he neededto give a haircut to one guy.
(13:38):
He was in a queue.
There were a lot of people.
That guy needed the haircut soquick for an SU meeting.
Then I offered to give the guya haircut and I was like aha,
can you cut?
I think, yes, I could cut yourhair.
So he was then clipper of ablade technique.
Then I did the haircut, but Icouldn't do the hairline.
That's good.
That came to finish thehairline and then boom, it's
(14:00):
like how Godwin really.
So I realized the part of methat could cut her instantly.
You know what I did with myself.
I'm going to develop this andbecome the next Baba if my
school father graduates, wow.
So anytime I'm on vacation, Igo home.
My stepmom had a nanny that Iwas using as a canvas to get
(14:24):
better on the job.
My school dad left and fastforward.
I became a household name oncampus.
I was cutting people forsardine butter trade.
I was cutting people for 50pesos.
I was cutting people's hair forfavors.
I was cutting my senior housemasters.
I was cutting my teachers.
I was cutting my headmasters.
Like I had this name close up.
(14:46):
That was my nickname.
It was everywhere I went, fromthat boy who could not afford
provisions to the guy who couldtake his friends to the
cafeteria, spread them and buyfood for them.
Wow.
Then the very important part ofit came financial prudence
reinvesting back into yourbusiness.
(15:06):
That's when financial prudencestarted.
I realized that God win degree.
This thing was doing more thansurvival for you.
It's now touching other lives.
What can you do to them?
The moment I mix more money frommy brain.
I called a friend.
I've never been to a craft.
Then I called a friend.
(15:27):
I was like, bro, I want to buya smartphone.
That was when Nokia, asha, kim,asha 30, whatever.
We came to circle and we boughtthe phone With all the money I
had.
We're not allowed to use phonein school.
I see this kind of rich kidscome from Accra.
They're kind of lifestyleYou're in school, you want to be
(15:47):
texting your girlfriend inanother school and all that.
So I'll be using the phone.
Then Somebody will come aroundoh Charlie, this phone is nice,
I could sell it for you.
I sell the phone Mix more money, go back to Accra again.
So it was like me using thephone, hoping that somebody will
buy it, and it was alwaysworking for me.
(16:10):
Can you imagine if I was yourson and I graduated from high
school?
You gave me 15 cities for aterm and after graduating from
high school I came home, yougave me a room and the TV I buy
for my room is bigger than theTV I offer.
That was a shock my daddy hadwhen I go back from high school.
(16:35):
And then my stepmom was soenvious to the point that she
was like, no, not in a bad way,this guy, we need to take his TV
and exchange it with ours.
Ours is too small, it's goingto be a bad boy.
They don't know.
You've worked for it.
I actually worked too hard forit.
Then you know, I wasn't a badstudent.
(16:58):
I was a very good student inclass.
I made good grades and the sadpart was that I was watching my
friends move straight to theuniversity, where I had to wait
for my big sister to finish hernursing school before I can
continue.
You went back into the queue ofthe family Exactly Before I
could continue.
(17:19):
I was like no way.
Then again, I had to go out,started working at a barbershop
and you know how.
I had the ticket to work there.
The same spirit of not givingup when there is no money.
You have to find ways, you haveto find means, because if you
(17:41):
want to follow the norm, okay,the norm is my staff definitely
go.
I said no, I'm not going tofollow that, because you know
education in the same way thatyou go to school within the heat
of the moment.
It doesn't mean that when youwait for some time you cannot
continue, but you go within theheat of the moment.
I started cutting my friendshouse to house.
(18:01):
Then there was a guy I gave ahaircut.
He was so happy about thehaircut he went to me and his
brother was like who did thishaircut?
It's like, oh, one of myfriends in this town, assisawa.
He actually traveled fromAssisawa to Kufuwuiu, the
original capital, to get ahaircut every two weeks, right.
And he's like if there is abarber in this town who can give
(18:22):
me this haircut, he's going tosee a lot of transportation cost
.
Far from that.
He wanted to open a barber shopfor me.
Wow, fast forward.
He called me.
He said if I was able to givehim a good haircut, he's going
to do that for me.
I prayed, gave him a goodhaircut.
I've never used the clipperbefore.
I was using blade over comb.
(18:43):
So you know what I did.
I just watched and studied theclipper the very day he opened
the fresh new clippers.
I look at the clipper andrealized that no, the technology
behind the clipper, it's justan advancement on the clipper
over comb.
I had to study it for like 10minutes and prayed.
You know what I did?
I did the haircut, used my comb, probably to finish, and the
(19:07):
guy was like let's open a barbershop for you.
I worked for a year, built thebarber shop.
It became the number one barbershop in town Before I left.
You know what I did with themoney when my daddy said I was
not going to school.
To school and to my sisterfinish, I bought forms at UPSA.
Wow, yes, I went to UPSA.
Financing my education was acontract between my dad and I.
(19:29):
My dad's contract, yes, it wasa contract.
He was going to help me pay myadmission fees and you are going
to take yourself in, take offyourself.
In school I came to a class notknowing where I was.
So mostly when you're going tothe university, probably your
parents are going to pay foryour hostel fees, they're going
to buy your books, health,clothes and all that.
Mind that, and it's not hisfault.
(19:49):
It's not his fault because thepressure coming from whom?
My kid's sister was in the highschool, my big brother just
completed his university, my bigsister was in the nursing
school and all that.
Then I started to UPSA.
So this is just a small storyof how I went from where I'm
coming from as a sour, throughhigh school, university and I
(20:13):
know, as the conversation keepsgoing on, we are going to get to
where business started for meand all that.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
Wow.
So you, first of all, you gotyourself admission Exactly and
then, secondly, you went on toyou had a contract with your dad
to get into UPSA.
That's crazy.
That's crazy.
You've really hit the nail onthe spirit of not giving up, and
(20:45):
that's very important in anyperson who wants to make a
change in their life to not giveup.
There was a story I was sharingon this program with someone I
was speaking with about abusiness partner who I was
supposed to do some businesswith regarding our
pharmaceutical services in theUS and I'd never met him.
(21:08):
And then I sent him severalmessages on Skype for about five
years he didn't respond.
On the fifth year he respondedand most people would have given
up Exactly Right, but thatconversation that I kept
emailing him, skyping him,what's happening in the end?
My goodness, you don'tunderstand the path it created
(21:30):
for us.
Now, you as an individual,these things you're saying is
amazing.
Look, a lot of people have allof this inside of them, but they
decide to use the energy forthe opposite things either to
dupe people, steal, lie topeople and all sorts of things.
(21:53):
And for me, I say that thepower that God has given us
whenever we direct that powerinto positive things, it becomes
bigger and larger, but once weuse it for negative things, then
we lose it, very true, and allthings go bad.
I want to hear about thiscontract, that conversation.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
How did it go on with it?
Mind out and deny the contract.
Okay, so when I finished thehigh school, when I was at home
working at the barber shop Ialways come back from work and I
locked myself up in the room.
I wouldn't eat.
I'll be crying.
Every time I'll be crying.
I cried almost every nightbecause I loved school,
(22:42):
regardless of my hardship.
I loved school.
I loved to be in class andthere was one thing about me
even in high school and GHS, theday I'm sick and I'm not
present in class and the teacherteaches something, I come back
the next day and they are movingforward.
They are progressing on myabsence, the lessons they
learned in my absence.
(23:02):
I don't allow the class tocontinue.
I'll keep crying, keep crying,keep crying.
Sometimes my teacher instructssomebody to help me on the past
lesson so we can move on.
Sometimes he revises theprevious lesson, so that should
tell you how much I love to bein school.
So I kept crying.
My dad knew that and you see,you have that son Assuming I was
(23:25):
a bad student.
I wasn't having a good grade.
If you were a dad, you feellike you would forget him.
He would cry.
I would now have to go and paysome money to get him admission.
But this guy has good grades,Right.
I had a great 10 for my GHS,Same for my high school.
So my dad was always worried.
(23:45):
So you know what he did.
He borrowed some money and Imade 1200 seats, but then my
admission fees and everythingfor year one was 2400 for UPSA.
So he was like my son, you arereally pressuring, you want to
go to school and I knew if I hadthe means I was going to help
(24:08):
you, but this is how far I canhelp you, so I'm going to pay
part of that fees.
So he paid 1200 and he was likethe rest I don't know how you
are going to survive this, Don'tworry.
Then I had a friend who knowsmy story.
He comes to the Baba shop allthe time.
He bought me a clipper.
(24:28):
I left my hometown after I hadadmissions and everything and I
came to a crowd.
The very first day I stepped ina crowd.
I didn't know anything aboutmarketing and promoting yourself
, but you see, naturally whenyou are doing something, you
would want people to patronizeyou.
You don't need to go to classand learn about it, no, but fear
(24:49):
OK, and the thought of what arepeople going to see, the
thought of rejection, thethought of no.
I always had this spirit in methat tells me that if I'm
looking for a yes, right, andyou tell me no, it means that I
should keep pursuing.
I've not found what I'm lookingfor.
Galam say if you are diggingfor good and you keep digging,
(25:13):
you keep digging.
You're not finding the good.
You have to keep going.
You are looking for good.
Until you find the good, youdon't stop.
So I didn't have any fear in me.
I had that courage to be ableto speak to anyone, regardless
of what response you are goingto give me.
So I came to stay with my uncleat Ashi.
I run around the entire area.
(25:33):
The first weekend I took myclipper, started moving from
house to house.
I would knock on their doors.
Oh, my name is Godwin, I livearound.
I'm a barber.
In case you need a barber,please call me.
That's my number.
I did for like three to fivehouses.
Then I came back home the nextthree days.
(25:55):
There was a guy.
I never forget that guy becausethat was the guy who gave me
the opportunity to make somemoney in a crowd the very first
day I stepped in, his name wasKelvin.
He called me and he was likebro, I like what you did.
I have a barber, but I wouldlike to try you.
You know, when the guy calledme, I was like, oh my God, this
is an opportunity to make somemoney to compliment whatever
(26:19):
money my uncle gives me everyday to school.
We can.
I went to cut his hair.
He liked it and he was like, oh, he kept calling me.
Every two weeks he calls me tocome.
Then he introduced anotherfriend.
Then the very first day Istepped into class.
One thing about me that keptgoing.
I always talk about what I do,and that is also a point to
(26:43):
address the fact that that's it.
People are just too shy to getthe tea.
Because my story speaks aboutthe guy who doesn't care what
you say, who doesn't care whatyou feel.
He's just thinking about waysto survive, and if there is
something called shyness toprevent it from making it in
life, he has nothing to do withthat.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
You know that's something we share in common,
which is knocking at doors.
So this is what I say If youknock at one door and it gets
shut in front of you, well, trythe next door.
Now, if they close that door infront of you, you only have one
option Get a carpenter andcreate your door and hold the
(27:30):
key.
Nobody can take that key awayfrom you.
True facts, and that's whatyou're doing Exactly.
You've watched someone cut hairand you've internalized.
That process is almost becomingyours now.
Now you've set up a business inthat same field.
(27:52):
Now, all the people that giveyou opportunity in your way of
becoming an entrepreneur todayhave done amazing.
However, you're holding a keyso many people who don't have
any belief at all in themselveswhen it comes to starting a
(28:16):
business or charting a path ofindividual development.
What do you tell?
Speaker 1 (28:21):
them Never give up.
So you see, the fear of failurewhich is no two is about it.
It is just.
But the point is that youactually feel, when you fall and
don't rise up, that is a truefailure and most of the times we
may we may construe it to belike oh, if I'm doing something
(28:44):
that doesn't work, it means itwill never work.
I had a lot of comments afterthat post, people saying that
there are a lot of people tryingso hard on the street.
There are a lot of people doingthat to work.
It's not working.
Yeah, but the point is that yousee, when you try something and
it is not working, it meansyou're not doing something right
, exactly Because there are somepeople who have tried and it's
(29:08):
working.
The point is that you startasking questions, start looking
for people who have done it andit's working for them and learn
from them.
For God's grace, you havesomebody who has done that
before and you feel like, oh,I'm doing the same thing.
It's not working.
The very best thing you couldhave done was like, oh, hi, bro,
I saw this post.
How did you do it?
You know?
Speaker 2 (29:28):
what.
That's why we are sitting heretoday.
Right, Because I know somebodyout there needs to hear this
conversation.
Somebody is amazing.
Right now.
He's been able to save up,let's say, 10,000 cities to
start his own small company tobuild for people and they don't
(29:49):
know how to go about it.
Or, you know, they'recompletely confused.
They don't know the path theyshould take and by listening to
you today, hopefully they willget that fame Exactly Now.
Many people.
I think you've seen what'shappening in a country where a
lot of people are moving out.
I slept in another country,True, In that conversation we
can have.
(30:09):
No, when I saw the post whatcame on my mind is that this guy
could easily give this money tosomeone and he would travel out
of the country.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
What the hell is he doing here?
What is he doing here?
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Why didn't you take that approach?
It's easier, isn't it?
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (30:21):
It's a very good question.
You know, I also have this.
I say that success and makingit in life, it is not assured.
Okay, you have to work for it.
And if you are not hardworking,excuse me to say, if you are
(30:45):
lazy, if you are reserved, ifyou don't want to push hard in
Ghana, okay, there's no way amagic will happen for you in the
UK.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
It's true.
Yes, it's true.
Wherever you go.
Wherever you go, you need topush limits.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Look the individual is more important than the
surroundings.
The surroundings is okay, itplays a little part, but the
individual?
Because I say, when I wastraveling abroad, there were
three of us that were going.
I had a backpack, a backpack, Itook a backpack and I was
wearing a tie and that was myjourney.
(31:23):
Okay, the people I was with,they all had their suitcases,
massive suitcases full ofclothes.
I had one jeans and onetrousers.
Okay, now, I was an individualand there were other individuals
.
Today, by the grace of God, ourpaths have become clear.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
He didn't sleep in London or UK.
No, no, the thing is that Iwant to ask you a question.
I don't know, maybe you canshare an opinion about it, but
you have had a travel experiencebefore.
You've been to probably two orthree countries.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
More than that, more than that.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
Don't you think that people suffer in the UK or in
America, plenty, or in Germany,plenty, yes, why?
Speaker 2 (32:09):
The individual, the system.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
There's a system that is very good for them to make
it, yes, but it is not workingfor them.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Look the individual must be built.
Mindset, yes.
So if right now, I've gotsomething, though I've got
something.
You see the individual, if youget the same opportunity as I
did, you probably do better thanI have, or do equally well, or
(32:38):
maybe worse, or maybe worse,Depending on who.
However, the difference, though, between you and most people
I've met in the UK and otherparts of the world, especially
Netherlands, is that you have adifferent mindset the mindset of
growth, discipline,independence, self-reliance.
Now, that's unique in anyenvironment.
(32:59):
To succeed.
To succeed, yes, true, you knowwhat.
I've got the post and I want usto go through it very quickly.
So, you said, before you thinkof quitting your job and
starting your own thing, bearthese in mind.
The first one you had was noteasy from the start.
Speaker 1 (33:20):
Yes, it's not easy from the start.
Right, you don't think maybequitting your job and starting a
new thing is going to solveyour problems?
Okay, honestly,entrepreneurship comes with
certain skills andcharacteristics of an individual
.
Not everybody can become anentrepreneur.
Okay, you get it.
So the point is thatentrepreneurship alone is not
(33:42):
the way to making it in life.
It's not only the way to makingit in life.
If you don't have the qualities,all you can do is make money
from your nine to five job.
Find a way to invest in anentrepreneur who knows the way,
who can guide you.
To that way, you'll be makingsome money elsewhere and making
(34:03):
some money on your investment.
That knowledge that took fromthe financial quadrat I don't
like to read, but I like to readhighly recommended books.
Reach that board, that right,that books divides assets and
liabilities On the left side andright side, and you also have
(34:24):
the self-employed, theentrepreneur, the businessman
and then the investor.
You get it.
So that's the sole proprietor,the businessman and then the
investor, so you can make somemoney.
Invest in somebody who knowswho it is Like they always say.
So it's not going to be easyfrom the start.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
And then you have your second point, which is
friends will see you as afailure, but when you win, they
tag along and sing your praises.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
Yeah, You're working with a friend in, let's say,
ghana ports, in Harbour.
Yeah, they're a limitedcookbook probably.
They are giving you 15,000 CDsa month at your level.
Whatever level you findyourself.
I'm like, no, charlie, I'mquitting this job.
I want to go and start my ownthing.
(35:15):
And you start and it's notworking.
Well, you are failing.
They are seeing you as afailure, right, yeah, but you
don't have to give up.
But when you win.
I know this guy Because workingwith him at Ghana port in
Harbour, we went to the samehigh school.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Because now it makes sense, yes, it makes sense to
associate with him.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
So you have to bear this in mind.
Don't be surprised when youmeet them, because I've gone
through all these things.
When I started, friends weremaking fun of you, like who that
Baba forget them?
I wasn't, I wasn't even having.
I could even have like maybe aGood relationship, because girls
are too shy to be around theBaba on campus.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
So right.
So now you've changed the termfrom a Baba to a business man.
Yes, adley, you were once aBaba, but now you are business
man.
Yes, you created business outof it.
That's beautiful man.
Now, the third point you hadwas you regret quitting your job
, but remember winners nevergive up.
Yes, Winners.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
They never give up.
You keep trying, keep tryinguntil you win.
You have to have that spirit asan entrepreneur.
You need that spirit becausethere was a time where all my
Babes left except one and theworkload was more than just two
people we had.
(36:43):
We had to work overnight.
There were times where we hadto close the shop because power
was not working.
For like two, three, four days,everything was crashing.
But I sit back and tell myselfthat if I look at what people
say about me, no, I don't wantto be a failure, and failure is
(37:04):
actually when you fall and youdon't get up again.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
Otherwise then you know all the times that you fail
.
There's a lesson in there foryou.
That's why this journey is.
It's an individual journey.
It's a lonely road.
It's a road that sometimes,when you don't have money, you
don't have any help from anyone.
You need to make it work.
(37:29):
But those of us that have afamily, you need to make it work
to be able to feed your family.
Exactly Now, your fourth oneyou have is you may fail, but
you have to bounce back.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
Find the strength pretty much.
We spoke about it.
Yeah, don't don't lie there.
Yeah, don't stay with Ali, formy leg break.
Speaker 2 (37:53):
No, keep going, yeah.
And then the fifth one wasyou'll be a CEO, accountant, hr,
pr, procurement, Marketing,sanitation, business development
, customer relations, etc.
Manager, literally, you'll bedoing everything.
Speaker 1 (38:10):
No, no, no lies.
Speaker 2 (38:11):
No, lies Okay.
Speaker 1 (38:13):
I've done.
You played a role, everythingwhen we started, when we started
, the one day one when westarted.
Reflect.
I'll come to the barbershopearly in the morning, sweep, cut
people's hair, take money's,keep accounts, go back home, put
(38:33):
all the videos together,advertise them, go for meetings,
go for interviews.
Bro, if you don't have thatenergy, you don't have that.
You should be able to multitaskas a startup entrepreneur.
It is, it is, it is highlyrequired.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
One of the things, though, is that people also need
to be ready to make a change,because we started our first
pharmacy in the UK was a carehomes pharmacy, so we're
dispensing for care homes, IThink a year after we realized
that, no, that market wasn'tworking as well.
We had a business plan, we hadall the plans together, so we
(39:13):
changed to private services ofthe government system, and that
worked.
You need to be flexible enough.
Yes, ali, you know to realizethat you know this may not be
working, so let's try somethingelse as long as you have it
within you, you know, becausethere are certain people who
just they just want to do itbecause everybody else is doing
it, true, right, and then youhave, when you grow bigger, the
(39:38):
government will come for you.
In fact, it's not just thegovernment, everybody, everybody
comes from, from competition Tomaybe this part of the world,
maybe your landlord weaving or alandlady waving comfy, because
now they're seeing thatsomething is working in the game
and then they may want to, youknow, capitalize on that, yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:03):
That's, you have actually explained that, so we
can.
We can still keep, keep, keepgoing.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
And then you have the survival of every business is
partly dependent on ideas.
Yes, you must not like that.
You must not like ideas.
Yeah, I think that's what wejust said.
You need to be able to switch asquick as you can, because
sometimes, you know, people holdon to you long.
You know, even if you have anapple which is not heavy and you
(40:34):
hold it for too long, your armis gonna hurt.
True, and sometimes that's whathappens in business you are
holding on to something that isnot working.
You hold on for so long that itbegins to hurt, you know.
And then you said don't forgetto nourish your business as you
(40:54):
keep milking it.
You mentioned that yes sameprinciple applied in Breeding a
dairy cattle.
You mentioned that, yes, andthen you said a business is a
system that operates in yourabsence.
Find a way to build that systemNow.
(41:17):
This is so key and that's whatI was trying to do.
Yeah, with you know, coming inwith my friend, to be able to
build a business that can workwithout me.
Yeah, I mean, it's alreadyworking in the.
UK, where my business partner isdoing also exactly, but I was
trying to do the same thing hereand then he decided to
disappoint me.
Most of the time, we build oneman businesses and we call it
(41:39):
business.
We call it a business.
Speaker 1 (41:42):
It's not.
It's a form of business, butjust Proper system.
Look if you drop dead.
Speaker 2 (41:47):
Today.
That business is over.
It's good, it's over, and andI'm not cutting- you shots.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
That's actually works In the bar brain industry.
Most barbers feel like, oh, I'm, that's the Baba, I'm cutting
all the celebrities we findpleasure in Doing home calls.
Oh, I want to be like afreelance Baba, moving from one
space to the other.
There was one Baba who came tome sometime and he was like, oh,
I've stopped working at theshop, I want to be going around
(42:16):
and cutting people, say.
Then I asked him one questionbro, if today and you're sick,
you don't have any business, youcould have saved a lot of money
for yourself, right, but thatmoney cannot Survive you for the
rest of your life.
But if you are able to create asystem where you are sick and
people are still working on yourmaking money, your system is
(42:38):
working.
That's what you call business.
Yes, that's a business and it'svery difficult to create that
and it's expensive to create asystem that works in your
absence.
Don't think it is cheap.
Same as building a brand.
It is very expensive.
That is why you have to keepplowing back your profit into
the business.
Create the business the way youwant it to look.
(43:01):
Until you are satisfied, don'tstop investing in it.
Wow, I bought an accountingsystem.
Probably I would have beenhiring an accountant to be
taking off my records.
I bought an accounting systemwith 12,000 ganas in this.
It does everything for mePayroll, income and expenditure,
(43:24):
profit and love, cash flow,everything it balances for you.
Yes, that is an investment, butNot everybody wants to put that
money in there.
If somebody will feel like youare crazy, how can you be doing
all this?
But it is a system you aretrying to create.
You don't need an accountant tobe there.
(43:48):
Right, business is growing.
Yes, you are being innovative.
Speaker 2 (43:51):
All this is part of the system you need to build for
us.
Speaker 1 (43:54):
So find a way to build that system.
It's very important in business, last but not least, in
business.
Speaker 2 (44:01):
Lastly, there is competition everywhere.
Make sure you look differentInto bracket branding.
I think he spoke of that aswell, yeah, which is why I'm
saying that I'm going to rebrandsome of the Businesses we have.
If, if, that amazing.
Now I've got a question, okay,which is Motivation or
(44:26):
discipline.
I've kind of deduced it fromthe conversation we've had, okay
, but I would want to hear youranswer on that.
Speaker 1 (44:32):
Discipline, discipline for me, because you
Not everybody would want to Showup every day, regardless of all
the odds.
So for me I've been very, verydisciplined, very, very
disciplined.
I got my work.
(44:54):
I come to work in the morning,make sure I show up for every
customer.
There are times where I wouldeven be tired from work, but I
feel like there is no one dayyet To make that customer
satisfied, so I have to comeback and finish it.
(45:15):
If work is not done, I'm notgoing home.
I close Later than my employees, at nine o'clock when we are
supposed to close 9 pm.
We are supposed to close.
Everybody place like, oh,degree, I'm off.
Like I'm off, I'm off, I'm off,everybody goes.
Then I would have one lastperson working on that, that
person's hair and somebody elseworks in.
(45:36):
Oh, bro, tell you, I have thiswedding I need to attend
tomorrow morning.
Please, I need you to clean meup.
Then I'll be like in my headI'm so tired.
But you know what comes into mymind.
When I started the work, when Istarted that business, there
were times where I needed peopleto be coming in.
Now I have these people.
They are begging me to cuttheir hair.
(45:57):
If not for discipline, I'llpush the customer away.
You know what happens whenpeople are in tight corners like
that, and because you aredisciplined and you save them,
they tend to become a lawyercustomer.
They feel like they owe you.
If, taking them out of a tightcondition, tight situation, you
save them from something andthey build a lawyer to feel you.
(46:19):
So for me, discipline Inasmuchas motivation is also important.
You need something to motivateyou regardless, but if you are
not, if you are motivated, youare not disciplined.
Speaker 2 (46:31):
You know, jim Rohn said the motivated idiot.
You know, yeah um.
What's your favorite personaldevelopment book?
Speaker 1 (46:45):
two, no, two ways.
Rich, that poor dad.
Yeah, the financial quadrants.
It made me see life and successin a different way.
It advices you to move awayfrom being employed or
self-employed to creating asystem that works in your
absence.
And when you make that money,invest that money and talk.
(47:09):
Most, it tells you that realestate investment is the end
goal, and that's exactly what mylife has been.
You know the post on Twittersomebody came was like eh, this
is the same story.
People tell you, eh, despite tocome and tell you I sold
cassette and today I'm a richcleaner.
They will never show you theway, but trust me, bro, that is
(47:31):
the true way.
Why am I saying that?
Yes, if I make money frombabbling and tomorrow I invest
my babbling money into amicrofinance, I invest that
money into real estate.
And you ask me to tell you mystory.
You want me to tell you that Imake money from real estate.
No, you don't just jump frombeing a barber to real estate.
(47:54):
You don't just get up and say Iwant to do real estate.
It involves a lot of money.
You get it.
So I'm going to tell you that Istarted as a barber.
I did ABCD.
Abcd got me this.
I took this and invested it inreal estate.
You get it.
That was the book that saved mylife not only my life.
(48:14):
I never stopped recommendingthat book.
I gave it to my sister.
My sister owns a home salonright now.
I gave it to my friend who wassupposed to move out of Ghana
into UK.
Right after our service I methim at National Service.
He has his own brand, noweveryday items.
That book changed so manypeople's life in my circle and I
(48:34):
know there are so many peopleout there who share the same
story.
Speaker 2 (48:37):
I've been working to stay months out of that book as
well.
Speaker 1 (48:39):
That book is going to change your life.
It's going to make youunderstand that, bro, the day I
read that book I was like Iwasted all my life.
But I didn't feel so bad aboutit because I'm like, oh, it was
a journey for me.
It only came into enlighteningme.
Speaker 2 (48:55):
I think people should get it.
People should get that book.
We spoke about it in.
They think Kiyosaki orsomething, robert Kiyosaki I've
mentioned it in one of thesegments, segment number one on
our podcast, so please go andlisten to the segment.
That book also has a game.
It's called the Cash FlowQuadrant.
(49:16):
I have it, I play it every nowand then, where it shows you how
to invest.
It's monopoly, however, ininvestments.
So, again, this is why thispodcast, this show, is on to let
people know what the way is.
Many people ask what's the wayNow?
(49:37):
What's the best advice you evergot?
Best advice I ever got.
Speaker 1 (49:42):
Who advised me?
My friend, okay, the CEO ofEveryday Items.
Speaker 2 (49:47):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (49:49):
He tells me that degree don't let anybody change
you because of their personalreasons or personal
understandings of life.
Yep, okay, that advice camewhen I keep doing so much for
people and all I get is let mesee disappointments.
(50:10):
Okay, so I'm that type whowants everybody around me to
grow.
So I go the extra map becauseI've been through the hardship.
When I see somebody goingthrough hardship like I feel it
and I want to help, and you dothat and trust me, human nature,
people take advantage of that.
So my friend Mills tells methat degree.
(50:31):
I know sometimes you feel likeno, I want to stop helping
people.
But he keeps telling me thatdon't ever stop.
And you know what that bringsto me.
It always brings blessings.
Anytime I give a hand tosomebody, right that day I never
go home sad.
It's like my degree works,works.
(50:54):
For instance, I'm coming towork and maybe I'm buying, let's
say, coconut by the roadsideand I give somebody something
small.
I come and somebody dashes memoney that is way, way, way
bigger than what I've given out.
So he keeps telling me that donot let people's attitude change
you, and I'd always live bythat.
Speaker 2 (51:18):
What you've just said is beginning to change my mind
on three things.
I've been disappointed by it,friends, twice, one in the UK,
one in Ghana, and there'sseveral people that we've given
a hand to who've just squeezedus really hard.
But some of the things you'vejust said.
Now I may have to go back,because this year I was
(51:39):
activating the wicked mode, yes,but maybe I shouldn't.
Speaker 1 (51:44):
You have to be wicked , but principled.
Right, you have to have a wayof dealing with people, and that
shouldn't also take the factthat you are a human, are we?
Speaker 2 (51:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (51:57):
You understand, there are some people who are
supposed to be dealt with Like.
I'm someone who always like togive out, but excuse me to say
I'm not a fool.
I know when somebody is tryingto play a fool out of me.
You would have to be smart atit.
There are some people you caneven be having a conversation
with and the way they aretalking can infer that now this
guy is just.
(52:17):
Maybe probably somebody hastold him oh, go to the degree he
will give you, he will give you, he will come and tell you some
story.
Try and investigate andunderstand.
That's what makes you smart.
Yeah, and as a leader?
Okay, as a leader of a business, you should be able to one
perform.
Yes, right, I started as abarber.
(52:38):
Today, I'm able to do a pexycut, I'm able to do certain
calls and all those.
I never knew all those things,but because I always perform in
the shop okay, productive beingproductive, my employees look up
to me.
They feel like there's so muchto learn from this guy.
And motivation is not alwaysabout money, okay, it's about
(53:00):
making people understand and seethe future Like ah, being with
this guy can change my life.
I can, there's a lot to learnfrom this guy.
So even when he gives me money,there's still something more to
learn.
Right, you get it, advisingthem, making their problems your
problem.
There was a part I think youomitted it in the point.
(53:20):
You hire people right,especially in Ghana, but
unfortunately you're going tohire their problems too.
That's true.
You get it For a youngentrepreneur in Ghana who needs
somebody to work with me.
This person comes.
The first thing he tells you isthat accommodation.
Yes, I rent for almost 70% ofpeople I work with.
(53:41):
Wow, exactly, that's how yourbusiness will thrive.
Is it somebody who see the nicebuilding out there and come
like I want to do the samebusiness, but you don't see any
reasoning in it to rent for anemployee?
You get it.
That is investing in my humanresource.
Same way you invest into costprice minus selling prices, you
(54:05):
go to profit.
You need to also invest, okay,in building your system.
The backbone of every businessis your customers, your
employees, your suppliers, thisstory, all the other ones who
come ask what supplementary andpush your business forward, but
this story, especially yourcustomers and your employees
(54:28):
without one, one doesn't work.
And if A, b works and there'sno supplier to keep the business
running.
You have no business, funnily.
Speaker 2 (54:43):
We've just enjoyed an awesome conversation on
connected minds with Godwin Tete.
People call him Baba.
Speaker 1 (54:52):
Tete.
Speaker 2 (54:52):
Green, tete Green.
Speaker 1 (54:54):
Tete.
Speaker 2 (54:55):
Green.
Now, what an awesomeconversation.
Now, if you haven't subscribedto any of our networks, please
do become part of the family,because connected minds is on a
journey to change lives andpower lives.
Be connected.
Have a Thanks for watching,guys.
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