Ever found yourself lost in a sea of restaurant choices, yearning for a trustworthy guide to the culinary landscape of Africa? Meet Alex Darko, the mastermind behind Menufinder Africa, whose eureka moment—stemming from a Mother's Day meal hunt—ushered in a revolution of how we dine out on the continent. Join our enlightening sit-down with Alex as we navigate the fusion of his love for food, photography, and technology, and how this synergy is setting new gastronomic standards in Ghana.
Entrepreneurship is no walk in the park, and this episode peels back the curtain on the thrills and spills of growing a startup. From the teething phase of marketing missteps to the make-or-break importance of customer delight, our candid conversation with Alex offers a front-row seat to real-world battles and breakthroughs. We don't shy away from the gritty details—unpacking the employment landscape's harsh realities, the prodigious impact of visionary team members, and the unwavering commitment to core values that steer us toward becoming Africa's premier food delivery service.
Rounding off our journey, we delve into the meticulous art of partnering with the right restaurants and the personal hurdles that come with business management. With a nod to our favorite reads and life-changing advice, this episode isn't just about the trials of entrepreneurship; it's a testament to the resilience and ingenuity required to thrive amidst constant challenges. So, plug in those earphones, and let's set off on a voyage that promises to enrich your mind and perhaps, your palate too. Join the conversation on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and become part of a community that's ever-hungry for growth and excellence.
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):
I mean when I use the app myself and then you know
you order food, payment goesthrough and then you get
notification and track on themap and all that right it comes
to the doorstep.
I get even amazed.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I'm just thinking how did we do this?
Everyone needs thatrecommendation and
recommendation is so powerful.
You know it's probably the mostpowerful marketing ever.
It is.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
But the recommendation is based on trust
.
Even recently we did someemployment and then we had about
450 CVs in like two weeks.
But on the flip side it wasquite distressing Because it
means that that's how manypeople are out of work and
looking for work and they can'tfind work and so the same things
that you go through now.
That can't put me on the floor.
It is as big a frisk to fright.
(00:40):
Now I've understood the game.
Yeah, the game is that theproblems will keep coming.
They'll never stop coming.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Welcome once again Connected Minds Podcast and I've
got a big smile on my facetoday because there's a service
that I use a lot in Ghana, right, and I use this service majorly
to order my food because of thequality it represents for me
and my family.
Now, the man behind thatservice I've got him here today,
(01:19):
alex Dago.
This man I have here, alex, andhis company, menu Finder.
Africa has so much to share andif you're on the journey of
personal development, stick withus and thank you for being one
of us on our podcast.
Bro, you're welcome.
Thank you so much for having meHow's it going?
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Good, good, Can't complain.
You know you have a very unique, beautiful face.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
So whenever I see you on a flyer say you're going to
talk at an event, I'm like yeah,that's the guy Like if there
are like 10 people on the flyer.
I recognize you.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
I don't even need any hype man.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, you don't Just call me
man, but I'm glad we get to sitdown and have a chat today.
A few years ago at a dinnertable was when one of your
cousins discussed with me thatthere's something that is
(02:19):
happening and you go around, youknow, taste food, take pictures
and things like that and put iton Instagram, and my wife was
hooked to it.
She actually signed up straightto your Instagram and was
following it, so a lot of thedinners we had after that was
based on your recommendation.
Nice, how did it all start, bro?
Look?
(02:40):
First of all, thanks again forhaving me.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
It was 2017 and it was Mother's Day, and I said to
my wife you know, let's go getsomething to eat.
And so I said, thinking thatshe'll look online and find what
she wants and then we'll go tothat place.
So she went online to look forsomething at a restaurant called
(03:04):
Citrus, which was down the roadfrom us in East Lagoon, but
there was nothing online.
But I said, oh, it's just twominutes down the road, we'll go
there.
We went there and it was closed.
And then I suggested I think itwas Vida.
There was no menu at that time.
(03:24):
And then I suggested CocoaLounge, and that was a partial
menu.
And then she was just like oh,for goodness sake, somebody
should just, you know, kind ofsort this out.
And I was just thinking, well,we're somebody.
If we're having this problem,chances are other people are
having this problem.
So I decided to kind of putthings together and get a guide,
(03:48):
to build a website and startcentralizing the information
that I wanted to find.
I just wanted to know where arethe restaurants, how do I
contact them, what does the foodlook like, what's the menu like
, what's the pricing, what timedo they open and close?
I thought let me put thatinformation there.
So I started doing that,putting a website together.
(04:09):
At that time it was MenufandaGhana.
It was Menufanda Africa now,for reasons that we'll go into.
So I started putting thattogether and then realized that
most people were notrepresenting their food well.
So you had nice restaurantswith really amazing food and
then really dark and dingypictures Burger looks like it's
(04:34):
been left in the dungeon andthings like that but meanwhile
when you go to the restaurantit's really nice.
It was a case of I have apassion for food, obviously, and
then photography and technology, so I was always taking
pictures.
I use Google Pixel, always thephone of choice, no sponsorship,
no advertisement, it's justwhat I feel works best.
(04:54):
But I started taking picturesmyself at the restaurants in
order to make the website lookgood, because now, with the
pictures looking clean, then thewebsite looks really clean.
And then, because it waspicture-based, there was a
natural progression from that toInstagram.
Anyway, we started Instagramfeaturing saying this food from
(05:17):
this restaurant, this food, thisrestaurant, pictures and stuff,
and I think there was oneparticular point where I was
trying to explain something tothe audience.
It was easier to show throughstories and then say something
to the people.
And then obviously the food waslooking too nice.
I had to take a bite and thenthe engagement just shot up and
(05:37):
then I was thinking, well, soyou guys just want to see me,
see me just actually just bitinginto food and all that stuff.
They voted yes and stuff likethat.
And I thought back and Ithought I actually enjoyed that.
I think it was diners, drivesand something A US show that I
always used to watch and Ithought no one's really doing
that here.
So literally just used to goaround the restaurants and just
(05:59):
say, look, there's this coolplace here, let's try and let's
see what they've got to eat,blah, blah, blah.
I used to put it on theirstories and all of that stuff.
So no one was doing it.
So it was a very new way ofdoing it.
The reviews people are writingreviews very static at that time
and even if there were videoreviews, it wasn't really like
it didn't feel like real time.
(06:20):
It was just showing people thefood, like take a look at this
burger and see the beef here,then the lettuce they added a
bit of cheddar, whatever secretsauce and then showing them,
taking the bite, showing thereaction and then making people
feel you know what I need to getthat thing, but then also
giving them an honest opinion ofwhether we thought it was good
(06:41):
or not.
And I think that was probablythe key thing that stood out,
because, I mean, that's justmore of a function of how I am.
I like to just be straight.
If something's not nice, I'llhave to find a way to tell you.
So it evolved into like actuallybeing commissioned into doing
reviews for restaurants anddoing food photography and doing
(07:03):
videographies.
It became like a food marketingplatform and a directory, if
you like, but it was always keyand important.
That number one everything getsdone with quality.
Everything looks good.
So not hyper edited and stufflike that.
Yeah, a bit of editing, but notit should look.
If I'm saying, look, there's acrazy new pizza at this place,
(07:29):
when you go there, you shouldget something that looks the
same as what.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
I'm sure Get the same experience as well.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
So it kind of started off like that and then evolved
into now fully fledged deliveryservices, because we spent years
telling people, look, these arethe best places to get good
food, and even a year onebecause we've done six years now
.
Thank you very much.
It's year one that people werestill asking, oh, can you do
(07:57):
delivery, can you get it to us?
And stuff like that.
But it wasn't feasible for usto look at that at that time.
Again, because of the qualityaspect, we needed to make sure
we can do it and pull it off ina way that makes sense and you
know, you get quality food withthe quality service.
But now Manufanda Africa is afood delivery app that
(08:17):
specializes in getting highquality food to its customers
from a selection of handpickedrestaurants.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Oh, that I can testify, that's good.
Wow, I can't ask this nextquestion without playing my
sound.
How are you feeling now?
Speaker 1 (08:50):
I don't know.
I think I feel hopeful, though.
Doing a startup in Africa,anywhere in the world, actually
is hard, but doing it in Africais particularly hard.
It's very difficult to dosomething like this and be able
to do something that has a highstandard and maintain a high
(09:14):
standard of quality in terms ofthe visuals, the experience, the
app, all of the things that wework on.
We've done it more or lessbootstrapped.
It was very difficult.
We were busy trying to raisefunds at the moment and all of
that, but at the same time, whenyou go out there probably
(09:35):
because I was showing my face alot when I was doing the reviews
more obviously, I haven't beenable to do as much now because
now it's a different operation,so there's a lot of focus on the
operational side.
That demands attention.
But people will be there saying, oh, when you find out, it's
like and it's good.
Because when you say, when youfind out, well done,
(09:57):
congratulations, love what youdo it means so much more because
it's not just me.
I was just 13 people in thecompany.
Riders are doing their thing,the operational staff are doing
their thing, the co-founders aredoing their thing.
So if anybody gives anyaccolades to me personally
because they happen to see me.
(10:17):
It has to extend to all thepeople behind the scenes who are
making this thing work.
Absolutely.
I feel quite humble actually.
I mean when I use the appmyself.
I use the app myself and thenyou order food.
Payment goes through, pay byMomo and card, so payment goes
(10:38):
through, and then you get anotification you can track on
the map and all that Rider comesto the doorstep.
I get even amazed.
I'm just thinking how did we dothis?
If you can see it and you stickat it, you can actually make
that thing happen.
Because look, when you find out, no one used to say that it
wasn't a word in Ghana In thehistory.
(10:58):
That's how I say it to myself.
It might seem over-ground andstuff, but in the history of
Ghana no one knew Men you Finder.
It wasn't there before.
If you Google Men you Findernow, it will come up.
Before we created it it wasjust something in the head, in
the mind.
We brought it into reality andthen every year we're growing
(11:21):
and growing and growing andAfrica-wide is our target, hence
the name, the change from Menyou Finder Ghana to Men you
Finder Africa.
I can feel the passion in yourvoice.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Anytime we speak, I feel the passion for the
business and the fact thatyou're taking it chunk by chunk,
bit by bit.
I can definitely see it, and Iknow exactly how startups are
like.
We are one ourselves.
You go through so manystruggles, and sometimes you
(11:55):
need people to talk to you toactually realize that all the
other people in the same circleare all going through the same
problems, whether it's staffing,funding, infrastructure,
whatever it is.
I think you've done great.
What was your background like,though?
Because food and I say thatbecause I'm not very the people
(12:21):
I work with my wife willactually tell you that Derek
eats once a day, when we wentout, you asked me if I was going
to have anything, and I wasn'tgoing to have anything because I
usually eat once a day.
So me eating at that time it'slike that's my daily meal gone
already and I've still got therest of the day.
So I'm not a food kind ofperson.
So you and this industry what'sthe connect?
(12:44):
I love food.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Because I mean you were tasting the food.
That's the thing, every singlething on the page on Instagram.
I've eaten it, at least tastedit.
I wouldn't say it.
I think that's the.
Some people say, oh, how comeyou're not super big and all
this stuff?
I used to also be selective.
I'll try and eat more balancedat home and then obviously, just
(13:09):
because you see it on Instagramdoesn't mean I'm eating like
that every day.
I mean that's crazy.
And even then, so every foodthat we have we have 65
restaurants on the platform.
I've tasted food from everyrestaurant, because I have to
make sure that the food has tomeet a certain standard.
It must be quality.
So our objective is to have allthe options as quality, and
(13:32):
then it's up to you what youdecide whether you want Chinese,
you want Italian street food,you want local Ghanaian food,
whatever it is, but it's finest.
But yeah, it's just balance.
I mean, I've always loved foodand, as I said, I've loved food,
I've loved photography and I'veloved technology.
(13:52):
You've combined the whole thingseamlessly and it's just made
sense to what we're doing now.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
So as a business owner, co-founder of your
company, many find Africa.
How do you define the rolesthat you are supposed to do and
the roles that other peoplewithin the company are supposed
to do?
I'm talking the higher level.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I think when you start a company like that, in
the earlier stages everybodywould do a bit of everything.
And it's still like that.
I mean, we're still a youngercompany.
But I think as you grow andthen the need, when you start to
make more progress, you realizethe need to actually define the
(14:44):
roles even better, because yourealize that certain things
aren't getting done unless youdelegate and do it properly.
So you have to be like whereasin the beginning maybe like, oh,
kind of everyone will pick upthings as and when it's like no,
you need to handle this, I needto handle this, I'm good at
this stuff, I'm not so good atthis.
(15:04):
Can you do this?
And then you start defining theroles based on people's skill
and you know amplitude forcertain things and then see how
it can synergize for the desiredoutput.
My job is to steer.
My job is to define the visionand steer and make sure that
(15:28):
everyone is aligned and that isequipped to make sure that they
can do what they need to doeffectively.
So I see you're serving.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, You're serving.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
When we started, I remember Iquickly had to train myself when
we are lent to the hardware, soum.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Just reordered.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
So.
So one of my friends decided togive me give me 2000 pounds and
support our business, and I wasso excited that night so I said
what can I do with the money?
I need customers, so I'm goingto go straight to marketing.
I didn't know how to use Googleads At that time YouTube video
ads were quite new so I justwent straight on Fiverr, paid
(16:10):
someone to do a small video forus, then I put it on to you In
about three hours.
I had to spend the 2000 pounds,good man, because I very
quickly thought that I need tobecome the marketer for the
company because I didn't havethe money to pay marketer.
Yeah.
So as a startup and as an earlybusiness owner, you get to do
(16:35):
like.
You start doing all sorts ofthings, but I lent it the
hardware there.
It's not always right, but youhave to do that anyway.
You know what I mean.
And then when you get to acertain level, then of course
you can delegate and get to dothe product.
Yeah, and I wasted the money,that's understandable.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
I think we've all done that in the earlier stages.
I mean, if you look back,there's things that you would
have done even a year ago, twoyears ago, three years ago,
every interval.
If the same opportunities hadcome then it would be very
different to how you treat itnow, like how you get the most
out of it would be verydifferent.
(17:11):
You have a very clearer, muchclearer path or understanding of
how to make the best use ofwhatever it is than you would
have in the beginning.
Because at the beginning it'sthe same thing.
You're thinking you have tolook good, it's the product.
All you need is customers.
Yeah, when you have customers,customers will get you other
customers.
If you treat them well and youput them first, they will get
(17:32):
you other customers.
It's quite basic.
But as you start up, same here.
As you start up, you'rethinking about you have to cover
all the bases.
How does it look, does all thisstuff concentrate on?
I remember listening to BrianChesky, the Airbnb CEO's,
address to Stanford University.
He said that just find 100people that love your business.
(17:58):
It's better to have 100 peoplethat love your business than a
million people that kind of likeyour business, because for
every person that loves yourbusiness.
They're going to evangelize.
You build it for them that theylove what you're doing.
If they request something, theyneed something.
You keep building for the nextperson, then the next person,
then all of a sudden it willtrickle through to then a
(18:18):
million people that actuallylove your business.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
That's very powerful.
Even Jesus Christ was baptizedby John the Baptist.
Everyone needs thatrecommendation and
recommendation is so powerful.
It's probably the most powerfulmarketing ever.
If you go, this is Kwame.
Kwame is so good at photoediting.
(18:42):
I tell you that this guy hasdone some great job for me.
Use him.
You may not even check his work.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Just go straight.
The recommendation is based ontrust.
If we, as the business men, youfind that can convince you to
trust us, all I need to do isget Derek to trust us.
Then Derek's family is likelyto trust us.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
All my employees, all of them.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
That's how it works.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
It's great when you run business in Africa and I say
well, let me narrow it down toGod.
There's one big challenge thatwe usually have employees.
You know it's a big problem.
I've discussed this over andover again.
(19:32):
We have big issue how do youmanage the problems that arise
every day from your 13 to 16staff members?
Speaker 1 (19:45):
I think the first thing starts with understanding,
because the thing is, ifsomebody does something, then
there's a reason why they do it.
Even if the reason is ignoranceor the reason is deliberate,
there's a reason why they'redoing something a certain way
every time.
My approach is really to tryand just get to the root of why
(20:09):
that's happening so that I cansee am I able to influence you
to take a different approach orhave a different perspective,
see a different way of doingthings and explain why the
change is needed for us toachieve a certain thing.
Because maybe they haven'tconsidered it or they can't see
it, they don't understand it,they don't think it affects.
That's for me it's just me inmy corner, I'm just doing this.
(20:31):
Maybe they honestly don't thinkthey affects, because I've seen
that with some of the writersas well.
There's certain things thatwe've had to explain to them and
now they see the bigger picture.
They see it, they understand it, they understand the trajectory
we're on.
They understand the impact andthe importance of what they do
(20:52):
and how it has an effect on theentire business.
It starts with understanding.
It's difficult, not everyonewill get it.
You won't get through toabsolutely everybody, but I
think that's where you have toalso try to exercise your
discretion as to who to employand who not to, and who maybe to
(21:14):
pass on to somewhere else thatyou think would be a better fit.
It's difficult because evenrecently we did some employment
for two roles a partner managerand a dispatch supervisor.
An additional one, I think Iput it on my WhatsApp status and
(21:37):
I think we put it on ourInstagram.
Then we had about 450 CVs intwo weeks.
It's crazy.
So on one side, it could besome kind of validation to maybe
(21:58):
do it somewhere that peoplewant to work, but on the flip
side it was quite distressingbecause it means that that's how
many people are out of work,looking for work and they can't
find work.
So it was difficult Evencombing through the CVs and even
some of the quality of thecandidates.
It's difficult.
But then you think to yourselfwhat's happening with our
(22:21):
education system?
Like not to get toophilosophical and political
about the whole thing, but ifthat's what is being produced
out of tertiary educationsystems, what chance do they
have?
Because people like me I'mlooking for people that think
differently, think outside thebox, and you can't know
(22:42):
everything from a CV, but youcan get a sense by the way
someone writes it's language.
It says something about theperson in the way they think,
the way they see things, viewthings, how they position things
, all in just how you write Afew sentences.
So it was eye-opener.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
But I've had some really bad employees.
I've had some really bademployees from theft to insult.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
I've had a couple of them go because doing things
that are just detrimental tothem is disappointing.
When you find out some of thesethings because you're generally
trying to grow something, Iwant to make everyone millionth.
I want to make all of them.
We should all do that.
This thing should be when youfind a piece, should be
something that came into theirlives and absolutely changed
(23:34):
their lives for generations.
That should be the impact.
But so you're doing it andbuilding and sharing and going
above and beyond on that premisethat we're all going there
together and then people aredoing funny things.
It's disheartening, but it'snot the majority.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Do you really feel that sometimes some of the
employees they understand ourvision enough to be happy to
come on that journey with us?
Speaker 1 (24:02):
I think some do.
I think you'll never geteverybody, but I'll give you an
example with some of the writers.
For instance, one of thewriters even secured some
investment for us.
He got a $10,000 investment forus because he spoke to a random
customer next to a place thathe was picking up and said chief
, you need to download Men, youFind I.
(24:24):
Have you downloaded Men, youFind I.
This is this.
This.
With the greatest food deliverybusiness, we do things, quality
, it's not any old thing.
There's investment opportunity.
And he spoke to some who'sbecome an investor and a friend,
william.
He's an American softwareengineer.
He's moved to Ghana and he wastotally blown away by this
(24:47):
writer, lucky, and as a resultof that.
So he caught the vision.
You know it was clear.
So I think that's whatintrigued him.
He's like how on earth is awriter in the middle of a crowd
telling me this with suchconviction?
Who is this person?
Who are these people?
Who does he work for?
That's powerful.
Yeah, it was deep, it taught mesome things.
(25:09):
So sometimes you think you knowyou're going over things.
And so, for Men, you Find I tobe clear, for the vision for us
is to become the best fooddelivery app in Africa, best
food delivery business in Africa, but the mission is to build
and improve lives and it'sunderpinned by respects,
(25:30):
excellence and quality.
Yeah, so that's.
So to be saying those thingsand see that getting grained in
one of these guys was was reallyemotional.
Actually, I just thought wow soit's like and I remember, even
as I like to stick to time andif I know I'm going to be late
or something that I'll try andcall and things like that and it
(25:53):
got to a point where now thewriters even today, we had a
meeting this morning, nine amnine on the dot.
I came out, Everyone was there.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
That's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Okay, this is different, for Ghana is very
different, because some arecoming from East Lagoon, yeah,
some are coming from Osu, youknow, depending, but it was.
The commitment is there, theyunderstand it, and so it's my
job and duty to make sure that,as we grow, that we reward them
and we all grow relatively aswell.
That's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
That's nice.
That's nice, that's a good plan.
That's a good thing to do.
That's a very good thing.
Maybe, maybe I should, I should, I should add that to my, my,
my company as well.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Why not?
Speaker 2 (26:34):
But I think it's collective.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Yeah, that's how we have to do.
I mean, it's just harder, yeah,you know it's harder.
You people are to be able tomove them from a place of
survivability, where they'rescrambling to just make ends
meet, to a place of progress,dignity, improvement.
(26:56):
You know place?
I want the riders to tell mechat, we do go to Nigeria and
come for the weekend.
I'm like, okay, cool, so we'vegot enough riders to cover.
You guys are going there to goand chill in Lagos for a weekend
and come back because you gotthe money to do that.
That's what I want to hear.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
I want to get to that stage.
So you know, it's justimportant.
Other countries have somebaseline where the state can
feed you a certain thing whileyou're in between.
Yeah, there's nothing.
I think they do have somegovernment grants somewhere, but
I don't know who sees them orwho receives them.
That's a whole otherconversation.
(27:33):
But you do, you know.
I mean, it falls on us, as youknow, private sector business
owners and all of that to tryand help lift people's quality
of life.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
So I dropped this question in the middle right and
then I pick another one uplater where we're going to get
more into the mental stuff thatyou do to bring your business to
where it is today.
Where you're going to take it,which is, I know, as part of
your business model, you have tobasically certify the
(28:05):
restaurants that you put on yourapp.
Now, how do you make sure thatit's the level of quality that
you first experienced?
Is carrying on six months downthe line, two years down the
line, three years down the line?
Speaker 1 (28:18):
That's a good question, I think.
I think just by continuallytasting, I mean you have to, you
have to try the food once awhile.
You have to stay close toeither trying yourself or around
people who are trying.
So get feedback from people whoare actually ordering and then
you'll see.
If you if the you getoverwhelming number of negative
(28:40):
reviews from a certainrestaurant, then you know that
there's something wrong.
It will be for me to go andtaste yourself.
So, for instance, when we were adirectory, we had an app with
about 200 and somethingrestaurants listed and that was
before delivery, was justshowing you location, all of the
things I mentioned beforelocation, pricing, reviews, and
(29:02):
so some of the people who wereon the app as a directory
listing have now wanted to comeon for delivery and so if
they're in an area where we can,we can service them.
Then we look at it.
But the first primary thing istaste.
So if we haven't tasted yourfood for years, we need to taste
it again.
So, unfortunately, someone whowe were happy to list on it as a
(29:26):
directory, we had to turn themdown when it came to food
delivery because didn't cut it.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
It's very good question.
It's difficult, it's difficult.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
I mean it's difficult .
We're in a part of the worldwhere people take offense quite
easily, but at the end of theday, if it's not the first thing
when we're tasting food is likeis it nice, number one, would
you order it?
If you start saying all that,it's likely if you, if you need
(29:55):
to be able to order, if you wantto order it, how are we going
to put it on there for people toorder?
So it's not like I or my teamhave the overwhelming, you know,
of a reaching ability to telleverybody in the world what's
nice and what's not, but becauseobviously there's something in
the way we assess food thatresonates with people and has
(30:17):
done over the years that theytrust.
So we're using that same thingprinciple to determine who comes
on the platform.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
But that's only one side of it.
Right, there's only one part ofthe selection process, but then
there's also the other side,which is the location of the
fast food joint or therestaurant and the surrounding
environment.
(30:46):
I guess this is more of like anFDA kind of job.
But then for your business, howimportant is it that you just
went into a corner and my mucciais, you know, doing some funny
thing, and then you knowbringing it on your app.
How are you?
Speaker 1 (31:02):
going to.
So we look at that as well.
We vet every look.
Even I remember conversationvividly with one of the riders
some time back, I think, the onethey were working for Glovo
before.
They mentioned that you know,there are some places where they
wouldn't even want to give thefood to the customer, imagine,
(31:22):
because you say, oh boss, you gothere and then you know it's
right by the gutter, the pot isblack, like you don't want to
give it to the customer but youalso need to get paid, so you
just give it quietly and thenyou go walk away.
So because you know, I askedthem.
You know we get feedback fromthem about how they feel about
MENU FANDA, and can they evendescribe what MENU FANDA is and
(31:43):
all of those things.
So these are the things thatcame up.
So it's important for us to seethat you're prepared.
It doesn't necessarily have tobe a restaurant, it can be a
food vendor Some of the mostamazing food here does come from
some food vendors anyway butit's important that it's
prepared in a place that'sdecent.
I even heard a story of onerider who had listed his own
(32:05):
restaurant on Bolt.
He ride for Bolt.
You list the restaurant, getthe order quickly, make the food
and go and deliver so theydoesn't pay.
So you can earn on the basketvalue commission as well as
money on the delivery.
Can you imagine?
I mean that's wacky, but that'sthe truth of what's out there.
So we're trying to avoid all ofthat.
(32:26):
Do it nice and tidy, make itnice, clean, clear and make it
reputable to people can trust,trust us, trust the partners and
trust the experience.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Yeah, and I think that's what it should be.
That's why people like us, youknow, still use it.
That's why I say people don't.
But you know, if you are fullquality and you know for black
owned, then hey, it's going tobe many finder.
Oh, nice you know now, you as aperson.
You know, sometimes, when westart a business or when we get
(33:04):
ourselves involved in such anoverwhelming task like this
managing people, managing thebusiness and things like that
you can go through a lot ofmental challenges, and one of
those ones always comes in everyday, which is should I carry on
?
Should I carry on?
Should I carry on?
I like the size.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
The size is big because it's real.
Yeah, life of an entrepreneuris nine in the morning.
This thing makes sense by 11o'clock.
Tell me, why am I doing this by2 pm?
Okay, I see it, we just do this, we just do that.
(33:46):
By 4 pm, some disaster happens.
You think, oh my God, how arewe going to do now?
Exhausted by the end of thenight, you're thinking I'm
really not sure about this thing.
You know why am I even doing it.
Well, my God, how am I supposedto grow?
How am I?
Before you close your eyes andgo to bed, you're like you know
(34:08):
what I can do this.
So you go through that all thetime constant.
So you have to keep.
Honestly, sometimes I'llliterally be I don't know
whether it's the shower orwhatever like come on, alex,
come on, I'll be saying it.
My son will see me and say thatthey know.
But you have to say these things.
(34:29):
You have to talk to yourselfand ginger up your spirit.
You can make it.
Even on my phone there's alittle kind of inscription you
can have on the lock screen.
It just says keep pushing,you'll make it.
I've had that there for thelast four or five years.
It has to be that.
You have to keep tellingyourself because it can make you
worry.
It's not easy at all.
You have to handle everythingand you have to be able to.
(34:52):
How you respond to problems Isgoing to determine our people
also respond to problems.
If a disaster happens and youlook completely knocked for six,
you're scrambling, you'restressed, you're shouting at
people.
Who's going to want to bearound that?
(35:13):
So, even if you don't know whatthe heck to do, you stay calm
as possible.
They're cool, I mean.
I'll give you an example.
We were very early in thejourney I think this must have
been 20, 22 sometime I got acall that one of the riders had
(35:41):
an accident.
I said, okay, is he fine?
First of all, okay, can thebike ride?
Is it damaged?
Was he carrying food or was heon the way, so that one of the
people working went to go andsought them out and go to police
and all that stuff.
(36:03):
Then, 10 minutes later, we hada knock on the door again.
Another one, daniels, also hadan accident.
It was a busy day and we werelimited.
I think we had six riders thenand I was just thinking okay.
So I just said, okay, that'sfine.
I asked the same questionsagain.
I just put my hand on my head.
(36:23):
I was just thinking, okay, thisis the time we're building,
we're trying to establish,trying to make sure food is
delivered on time, all of thesethings.
Luckily, we had a good system,a good app that would keep
people abreast with what's goingon.
But now you have to plan for.
So what do I do now?
What's the plan?
I'm two riders down.
What do we need to do?
(36:45):
We need to fix this.
One of them was one bike wasrideable, one wasn't.
One guy was injured a bit, onewasn't so bad.
But what do we do?
So it's a whole thing and youthink to yourself God, this mess
, what do I do?
But you stay calm so that youcan try and figure yourself out
(37:06):
of the situation.
Any situation we've ever beenin in life, think about it.
It hasn't lasted forever, eventhe most dire thing that you've
ever been through.
You think, oh my God, thiscan't be happening.
It's already happened and we'rehere today doing podcasts.
It's happened.
So you will always find a waythrough the time.
From point A to point B willalways happen.
(37:28):
How we go through it is up to us.
We can go through it with fear,with anxiety, with this, with
that, and then, when we get tothe end, we'll say, oh, I should
have done this, I should havedone that.
So why not calm yourself downin the moment and try and figure
it out so you can put your bestfoot forward?
So some of these things happenand they come to test you, but
(37:52):
they actually come to build you.
Because it's tough, because Iremember I think it was around
that time a few other thingswere happening.
There was a day that, I'll behonest, I sat on the floor in
the office and I was sheddingtears because I was just like
this can't be happening.
We're running out of money.
We're doing this, things arejust going wrong.
Who are we anyway?
Why do we think we can come anddo this and change?
(38:16):
Even though we're not goingdirectly up against Bolton
Global, because it's a differentniche, it is up against them by
virtue of the fact it's fooddelivery and these are big
companies with billion-dollarreserves.
We have no money to advertise.
What are we thinking?
And so the same things that yougo through now.
(38:37):
That can't put me on the floor.
It is Because I've grown pastthat point.
There's bigger threats tofright.
Now I've understood the game.
The game is that the problemswill keep coming.
They'll never stop coming, sodon't expect them to stop.
Just enjoy the moments where itdoesn't.
Use it to recoup, strategize,focus, whatever it is, but
(38:58):
understand that they will comeand plan, learn your business,
learn the environment, learn forthe unexpected, and then you
just get better at dealing withproblems, because the problems
are going to come.
There will probably be anotherproblem that will come and that
will put me completely out of mydepth, but how I respond to it
(39:20):
is what's key and I think that'sone thing.
I've learned that how torespond to problems that has
happened, it's accepted, figure,a way out.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
For us it's always been one struggle after the
other.
I mean, we can't even starttalking about the legal battles,
the messages that come throughfrom the law firms.
It's like you've got to takethis down, you've got to do it
and this is your business.
Now, the lesson I learned fromhaving one right.
So after all of that happened,then we started thinking
(39:57):
properly and we're like OK, theonly way to safeguard ourselves
is to go into differentindustries.
If there's a regulatory changein the pharmaceutical sector
that will affect us, it's OK.
But we might be in the realestate, or we might be in the
nursing business, or we might bein the beauty business, so all
(40:19):
the other businesses will be OK.
And that's how we startedputting other things together.
You know, invest here, do that,do that.
So it's not going to stop theproblem from coming, but at
least a chair with one leg isnot as strong as 104.
So that's how we sort of wentthrough that.
(40:44):
It's been crazy, yeah, it'scrazy.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
Everyone has a story to share and I think back to
that thing about other foundersand people that started their
own businesses and things.
You need to have thoseconversations with people
because you connect withsomething, either something
you've been through, you'regoing through or you're about to
go through.
You just don't know it yet.
Speaker 2 (41:09):
Yeah, and that's one of the reasons why we started
this podcast.
Yeah which I think is great.
Speaking to people likeyourself was like wow, I thought
I was alone.
Speaker 1 (41:17):
No, because you've got to tell it as it is.
It would be real.
Speaker 2 (41:21):
And sometimes there are people on the other side
that think this guy, you do that, do that, do that, and you
don't understand.
It's basically to buy thatfreedom, but what is beauty
about it is the person youbecome.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:36):
You know this guy.
He said Alex Homozi, this guy,one of these Instagram kind of
financial wealth building gurus.
He was talking about how hebuilt up some fortune and then
he lost it.
And then he was just sayingthat, look, you know, basically
you're trying to convinceyourself that whatever it is
(41:58):
you're working on will pay offone day.
Sometimes you can't see thevalue of it, blah, blah, blah,
blah.
But he's saying that in allyour failures and things you are
building yourself up, the samepoint you're making that you,
that cannot be taken away.
So everything you go throughthat builds you to a certain
point, that is, no one can takethat.
No one.
Because you've lived it, you'veingested it, you've become all
(42:21):
of it you've been through,you've become that, you evolved
from that to then becomewhatever it is you want to
become, but it's all there.
So at some point all of thatcomes to bear and then that's if
you stick.
That's where you make it.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
Because you've been in sales, you've been in markets
and you've worked in companiesin South Africa and things like
that, and it's all thoseexperiences that you went
through.
All of it ties together.
You know your time in the UK,you know your time at the banks
here.
You've taken all of that.
Yeah, all that experience, allthe skills, all of it, all of it
all comes together, yeah.
So yeah, none of them is awaste.
Speaker 1 (42:55):
None of them is a waste.
Speaker 2 (42:57):
None of them is a waste.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
None of them is a waste.
I mean back to that when I wasin the bank here.
I was in the bank here for twoyears and I hated it really,
Because I'm not a corporate guy.
I just I don't.
I don't fit with that.
That's the structure.
I always like to do things and,you know, to test the limit.
If I can see that there's a waythat something can be done and
(43:18):
it's clever, it's smart and itwill work, then why should I go
this way?
As long as it's not outside thelaw and it's not harming people
, then I should be able to finda more innovative way of doing
something.
So the love, bureaucracy andred tape and all that it was.
At the time it felt really likea punishment, but it was
(43:40):
actually a blessing because itallowed me to understand how
money flows in Ghana, how bankssee things, where people are
spending their money, how muchare they spending on in
restaurants, in differentsectors, in, you know, p2p
payments, bill payments,whatever it is.
(44:01):
So just understanding the flowof money and how much money is
actually moving.
You know the growth of it.
You know I was there for acouple of years but the growth
month or month and all of that.
So it was.
It was actually beneficial, butyou couldn't see it at the time
.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
Yeah, yeah, you couldn't see it at the time.
You couldn't see it at the time, yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:19):
Yeah, and that's the thing we go through.
So many different things.
You think it so, whatever it is, just immerse yourself in it.
It doesn't matter.
Yeah, you get something out ofit.
Speaker 2 (44:28):
Yeah, I think it's a real bro, because I think two
weeks ago I was in this houseand I was like, oh no, there's
something happening in my mind,like there's something,
something's happening.
I just wasn't myself, I wasn'tfeeling it.
And then I was.
I was asking me are you goingto record another podcast?
You know, because it washappening every like almost
(44:51):
every day, and all of a suddenit didn't happen again.
But then in my mind I'mthinking we're trying to do that
, we're trying to do that, we'retrying to do that, we're trying
to figure out what's going tohappen.
Like there's so many things Iwas thinking about.
So I just almost got into adark place, but I wanted to stay
there for a bit.
(45:11):
Then the following week Istarted speaking to her.
I was like no, I think, I thinkit's all right, I think I'm
okay, and it's all because ofthis journey of personal
development and entrepreneurship.
I mean trying, you got a youknow you got a.
Speaker 1 (45:26):
You know you got a.
You know you got to listen topeople.
You got a.
I mean things like thisconnected minds, whatever books,
audio books, people, andthere's nothing new under the
sun.
That doesn't matter.
Technology moves and this andthat, but principles remain.
People are people.
We're not going to change ourphysiology in the sense that
(45:50):
we're not going to stop eatingone day and then everyone will
survive.
Speaker 2 (45:52):
We need to eat, drink .
Speaker 1 (45:53):
There's certain things that just are.
So there's certain principlesand things that also just are,
and you listen to people youknow Simon, sinek, peter Thiel.
You know different people.
They'll give you certainperspectives that you hadn't
considered and if you are ableto take these things, you can
digest it and then translate itinto whatever it is that you're
(46:17):
doing your business or yourservice and improve yourself,
improve your, the way you work.
Yeah, it will help.
You see things, because we haveto.
We have to take all thesethings and apply them in a
different way, because this isAfrica, it's different from the
West.
We have to think about how wetranslate those things and what
will work here.
How does it work here, how do Iensure it works here?
(46:38):
And the thing just by listeningand exposing yourself to more
of these things.
This is so important.
You learn so much.
Speaker 2 (46:47):
Oh, I'm going to ask you a question.
Before I ask this question, Ineed to play my sound, so you
are going to be the secondperson I'm going to ask this
question, and it's discipline ormotivation.
Speaker 1 (47:09):
You see, if you're determined to get there, it has
to be discipline, becauseeveryone needs motivation, yeah.
But motivation comes and goes.
It can come from yourself selfmotivate, or someone can
motivate you.
Come on, charlie, let's do this, let's do that.
(47:30):
We can read something and feelreally inspired and motivated.
But discipline, whether youfeel like it or not, you'll get
the thing done.
And so if you, if you only dotake the steps forward when
you're motivated, you might dosomething, whatever it is,
whether it's work, training,whatever 37 days out of 60.
(47:52):
But if it's discipline, you doit 60 out of 60.
I'll take discipline.
Speaker 2 (47:59):
What's your top?
Personal development book orbusiness book?
Speaker 1 (48:10):
I think one of the most effective ones that's
helped me.
Probably there's so many ofthem, probably Simon Sinek, find
your why.
Speaker 2 (48:18):
My top book is thinking and growing.
Speaker 1 (48:22):
I was torn between that as well.
Speaker 2 (48:26):
That's my favorite book.
Yeah, it's done one.
This it was in betweenspirituality and personal
development Is that book that asyou progress it gets a bit more
spiritual.
Why it talks about imagination,you know.
It talks about sexualtransmutation.
(48:47):
It talks about several thingsin the book in the end, so it's
my favorite book.
Yeah, yeah, I loved it.
I loved it.
I loved it, yeah.
The next one is what's the bestadvice you've ever received?
Speaker 1 (49:04):
From my dad.
Okay, They'll fast learn quick.
It's always there.
I even gave someone that advicelast night.
Actually, you're going to messup in life with things you just
will.
I think goes right for everyoneall the time.
Speaker 2 (49:22):
But hey, nice one man .
This has been beautiful.
Thank you so much Thank you somuch for coming.
Thank you and you guys outthere share this content, tell
someone and, to those of youthat are listening to the audio
on Apple podcast or Spotify,subscribe.
Thank you, thanks.
I mean when I use the app myself and then you know
you order food, payment goesthrough and then you get
notification and track on themap and all that right it comes
to the doorstep.
I get even amazed.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I'm just thinking how did we do this?
Everyone needs thatrecommendation and
recommendation is so powerful.
You know it's probably the mostpowerful marketing ever.
It is.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
But the recommendation is based on trust
.
Even recently we did someemployment and then we had about
450 CVs in like two weeks.
But on the flip side it wasquite distressing Because it
means that that's how manypeople are out of work and
looking for work and they can'tfind work and so the same things
that you go through now.
That can't put me on the floor.
It is as big a frisk to fright.
(00:40):
Now I've understood the game.
Yeah, the game is that theproblems will keep coming.
They'll never stop coming.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Welcome once again Connected Minds Podcast and I've
got a big smile on my facetoday because there's a service
that I use a lot in Ghana, right, and I use this service majorly
to order my food because of thequality it represents for me
and my family.
Now, the man behind thatservice I've got him here today,
(01:19):
alex Dago.
This man I have here, alex, andhis company, menu Finder.
Africa has so much to share andif you're on the journey of
personal development, stick withus and thank you for being one
of us on our podcast.
Bro, you're welcome.
Thank you so much for having meHow's it going?
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Good, good, Can't complain.
You know you have a very unique, beautiful face.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
So whenever I see you on a flyer say you're going to
talk at an event, I'm like yeah,that's the guy Like if there
are like 10 people on the flyer.
I recognize you.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
I don't even need any hype man.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, you don't Just call me
man, but I'm glad we get to sitdown and have a chat today.
A few years ago at a dinnertable was when one of your
cousins discussed with me thatthere's something that is
(02:19):
happening and you go around, youknow, taste food, take pictures
and things like that and put iton Instagram, and my wife was
hooked to it.
She actually signed up straightto your Instagram and was
following it, so a lot of thedinners we had after that was
based on your recommendation.
Nice, how did it all start, bro?
Look?
(02:40):
First of all, thanks again forhaving me.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
It was 2017 and it was Mother's Day, and I said to
my wife you know, let's go getsomething to eat.
And so I said, thinking thatshe'll look online and find what
she wants and then we'll go tothat place.
So she went online to look forsomething at a restaurant called
(03:04):
Citrus, which was down the roadfrom us in East Lagoon, but
there was nothing online.
But I said, oh, it's just twominutes down the road, we'll go
there.
We went there and it was closed.
And then I suggested I think itwas Vida.
There was no menu at that time.
(03:24):
And then I suggested CocoaLounge, and that was a partial
menu.
And then she was just like oh,for goodness sake, somebody
should just, you know, kind ofsort this out.
And I was just thinking, well,we're somebody.
If we're having this problem,chances are other people are
having this problem.
So I decided to kind of putthings together and get a guide,
(03:48):
to build a website and startcentralizing the information
that I wanted to find.
I just wanted to know where arethe restaurants, how do I
contact them, what does the foodlook like, what's the menu like
, what's the pricing, what timedo they open and close?
I thought let me put thatinformation there.
So I started doing that,putting a website together.
(04:09):
At that time it was MenufandaGhana.
It was Menufanda Africa now,for reasons that we'll go into.
So I started putting thattogether and then realized that
most people were notrepresenting their food well.
So you had nice restaurantswith really amazing food and
then really dark and dingypictures Burger looks like it's
(04:34):
been left in the dungeon andthings like that but meanwhile
when you go to the restaurantit's really nice.
It was a case of I have apassion for food, obviously, and
then photography and technology, so I was always taking
pictures.
I use Google Pixel, always thephone of choice, no sponsorship,
no advertisement, it's justwhat I feel works best.
(04:54):
But I started taking picturesmyself at the restaurants in
order to make the website lookgood, because now, with the
pictures looking clean, then thewebsite looks really clean.
And then, because it waspicture-based, there was a
natural progression from that toInstagram.
Anyway, we started Instagramfeaturing saying this food from
(05:17):
this restaurant, this food, thisrestaurant, pictures and stuff,
and I think there was oneparticular point where I was
trying to explain something tothe audience.
It was easier to show throughstories and then say something
to the people.
And then obviously the food waslooking too nice.
I had to take a bite and thenthe engagement just shot up and
(05:37):
then I was thinking, well, soyou guys just want to see me,
see me just actually just bitinginto food and all that stuff.
They voted yes and stuff likethat.
And I thought back and Ithought I actually enjoyed that.
I think it was diners, drivesand something A US show that I
always used to watch and Ithought no one's really doing
that here.
So literally just used to goaround the restaurants and just
(05:59):
say, look, there's this coolplace here, let's try and let's
see what they've got to eat,blah, blah, blah.
I used to put it on theirstories and all of that stuff.
So no one was doing it.
So it was a very new way ofdoing it.
The reviews people are writingreviews very static at that time
and even if there were videoreviews, it wasn't really like
it didn't feel like real time.
(06:20):
It was just showing people thefood, like take a look at this
burger and see the beef here,then the lettuce they added a
bit of cheddar, whatever secretsauce and then showing them,
taking the bite, showing thereaction and then making people
feel you know what I need to getthat thing, but then also
giving them an honest opinion ofwhether we thought it was good
(06:41):
or not.
And I think that was probablythe key thing that stood out,
because, I mean, that's justmore of a function of how I am.
I like to just be straight.
If something's not nice, I'llhave to find a way to tell you.
So it evolved into like actuallybeing commissioned into doing
reviews for restaurants anddoing food photography and doing
(07:03):
videographies.
It became like a food marketingplatform and a directory, if
you like, but it was always keyand important.
That number one everything getsdone with quality.
Everything looks good.
So not hyper edited and stufflike that.
Yeah, a bit of editing, but notit should look.
If I'm saying, look, there's acrazy new pizza at this place,
(07:29):
when you go there, you shouldget something that looks the
same as what.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
I'm sure Get the same experience as well.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
So it kind of started off like that and then evolved
into now fully fledged deliveryservices, because we spent years
telling people, look, these arethe best places to get good
food, and even a year onebecause we've done six years now
.
Thank you very much.
It's year one that people werestill asking, oh, can you do
(07:57):
delivery, can you get it to us?
And stuff like that.
But it wasn't feasible for usto look at that at that time.
Again, because of the qualityaspect, we needed to make sure
we can do it and pull it off ina way that makes sense and you
know, you get quality food withthe quality service.
But now Manufanda Africa is afood delivery app that
(08:17):
specializes in getting highquality food to its customers
from a selection of handpickedrestaurants.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Oh, that I can testify, that's good.
Wow, I can't ask this nextquestion without playing my
sound.
How are you feeling now?
Speaker 1 (08:50):
I don't know.
I think I feel hopeful, though.
Doing a startup in Africa,anywhere in the world, actually
is hard, but doing it in Africais particularly hard.
It's very difficult to dosomething like this and be able
to do something that has a highstandard and maintain a high
(09:14):
standard of quality in terms ofthe visuals, the experience, the
app, all of the things that wework on.
We've done it more or lessbootstrapped.
It was very difficult.
We were busy trying to raisefunds at the moment and all of
that, but at the same time, whenyou go out there probably
(09:35):
because I was showing my face alot when I was doing the reviews
more obviously, I haven't beenable to do as much now because
now it's a different operation,so there's a lot of focus on the
operational side.
That demands attention.
But people will be there saying, oh, when you find out, it's
like and it's good.
Because when you say, when youfind out, well done,
(09:57):
congratulations, love what youdo it means so much more because
it's not just me.
I was just 13 people in thecompany.
Riders are doing their thing,the operational staff are doing
their thing, the co-founders aredoing their thing.
So if anybody gives anyaccolades to me personally
because they happen to see me.
(10:17):
It has to extend to all thepeople behind the scenes who are
making this thing work.
Absolutely.
I feel quite humble actually.
I mean when I use the appmyself.
I use the app myself and thenyou order food.
Payment goes through, pay byMomo and card, so payment goes
(10:38):
through, and then you get anotification you can track on
the map and all that Rider comesto the doorstep.
I get even amazed.
I'm just thinking how did we dothis?
If you can see it and you stickat it, you can actually make
that thing happen.
Because look, when you find out, no one used to say that it
wasn't a word in Ghana In thehistory.
(10:58):
That's how I say it to myself.
It might seem over-ground andstuff, but in the history of
Ghana no one knew Men you Finder.
It wasn't there before.
If you Google Men you Findernow, it will come up.
Before we created it it wasjust something in the head, in
the mind.
We brought it into reality andthen every year we're growing
(11:21):
and growing and growing andAfrica-wide is our target, hence
the name, the change from Menyou Finder Ghana to Men you
Finder Africa.
I can feel the passion in yourvoice.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Anytime we speak, I feel the passion for the
business and the fact thatyou're taking it chunk by chunk,
bit by bit.
I can definitely see it, and Iknow exactly how startups are
like.
We are one ourselves.
You go through so manystruggles, and sometimes you
(11:55):
need people to talk to you toactually realize that all the
other people in the same circleare all going through the same
problems, whether it's staffing,funding, infrastructure,
whatever it is.
I think you've done great.
What was your background like,though?
Because food and I say thatbecause I'm not very the people
(12:21):
I work with my wife willactually tell you that Derek
eats once a day, when we wentout, you asked me if I was going
to have anything, and I wasn'tgoing to have anything because I
usually eat once a day.
So me eating at that time it'slike that's my daily meal gone
already and I've still got therest of the day.
So I'm not a food kind ofperson.
So you and this industry what'sthe connect?
(12:44):
I love food.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Because I mean you were tasting the food.
That's the thing, every singlething on the page on Instagram.
I've eaten it, at least tastedit.
I wouldn't say it.
I think that's the.
Some people say, oh, how comeyou're not super big and all
this stuff?
I used to also be selective.
I'll try and eat more balancedat home and then obviously, just
(13:09):
because you see it on Instagramdoesn't mean I'm eating like
that every day.
I mean that's crazy.
And even then, so every foodthat we have we have 65
restaurants on the platform.
I've tasted food from everyrestaurant, because I have to
make sure that the food has tomeet a certain standard.
It must be quality.
So our objective is to have allthe options as quality, and
(13:32):
then it's up to you what youdecide whether you want Chinese,
you want Italian street food,you want local Ghanaian food,
whatever it is, but it's finest.
But yeah, it's just balance.
I mean, I've always loved foodand, as I said, I've loved food,
I've loved photography and I'veloved technology.
(13:52):
You've combined the whole thingseamlessly and it's just made
sense to what we're doing now.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
So as a business owner, co-founder of your
company, many find Africa.
How do you define the rolesthat you are supposed to do and
the roles that other peoplewithin the company are supposed
to do?
I'm talking the higher level.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I think when you start a company like that, in
the earlier stages everybodywould do a bit of everything.
And it's still like that.
I mean, we're still a youngercompany.
But I think as you grow andthen the need, when you start to
make more progress, you realizethe need to actually define the
(14:44):
roles even better, because yourealize that certain things
aren't getting done unless youdelegate and do it properly.
So you have to be like whereasin the beginning maybe like, oh,
kind of everyone will pick upthings as and when it's like no,
you need to handle this, I needto handle this, I'm good at
this stuff, I'm not so good atthis.
(15:04):
Can you do this?
And then you start defining theroles based on people's skill
and you know amplitude forcertain things and then see how
it can synergize for the desiredoutput.
My job is to steer.
My job is to define the visionand steer and make sure that
(15:28):
everyone is aligned and that isequipped to make sure that they
can do what they need to doeffectively.
So I see you're serving.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, You're serving.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
When we started, I remember Iquickly had to train myself when
we are lent to the hardware, soum.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Just reordered.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
So.
So one of my friends decided togive me give me 2000 pounds and
support our business, and I wasso excited that night so I said
what can I do with the money?
I need customers, so I'm goingto go straight to marketing.
I didn't know how to use Googleads At that time YouTube video
ads were quite new so I justwent straight on Fiverr, paid
(16:10):
someone to do a small video forus, then I put it on to you In
about three hours.
I had to spend the 2000 pounds,good man, because I very
quickly thought that I need tobecome the marketer for the
company because I didn't havethe money to pay marketer.
Yeah.
So as a startup and as an earlybusiness owner, you get to do
(16:35):
like.
You start doing all sorts ofthings, but I lent it the
hardware there.
It's not always right, but youhave to do that anyway.
You know what I mean.
And then when you get to acertain level, then of course
you can delegate and get to dothe product.
Yeah, and I wasted the money,that's understandable.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
I think we've all done that in the earlier stages.
I mean, if you look back,there's things that you would
have done even a year ago, twoyears ago, three years ago,
every interval.
If the same opportunities hadcome then it would be very
different to how you treat itnow, like how you get the most
out of it would be verydifferent.
(17:11):
You have a very clearer, muchclearer path or understanding of
how to make the best use ofwhatever it is than you would
have in the beginning.
Because at the beginning it'sthe same thing.
You're thinking you have tolook good, it's the product.
All you need is customers.
Yeah, when you have customers,customers will get you other
customers.
If you treat them well and youput them first, they will get
(17:32):
you other customers.
It's quite basic.
But as you start up, same here.
As you start up, you'rethinking about you have to cover
all the bases.
How does it look, does all thisstuff concentrate on?
I remember listening to BrianChesky, the Airbnb CEO's,
address to Stanford University.
He said that just find 100people that love your business.
(17:58):
It's better to have 100 peoplethat love your business than a
million people that kind of likeyour business, because for
every person that loves yourbusiness.
They're going to evangelize.
You build it for them that theylove what you're doing.
If they request something, theyneed something.
You keep building for the nextperson, then the next person,
then all of a sudden it willtrickle through to then a
(18:18):
million people that actuallylove your business.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
That's very powerful.
Even Jesus Christ was baptizedby John the Baptist.
Everyone needs thatrecommendation and
recommendation is so powerful.
It's probably the most powerfulmarketing ever.
If you go, this is Kwame.
Kwame is so good at photoediting.
(18:42):
I tell you that this guy hasdone some great job for me.
Use him.
You may not even check his work.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Just go straight.
The recommendation is based ontrust.
If we, as the business men, youfind that can convince you to
trust us, all I need to do isget Derek to trust us.
Then Derek's family is likelyto trust us.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
All my employees, all of them.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
That's how it works.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
It's great when you run business in Africa and I say
well, let me narrow it down toGod.
There's one big challenge thatwe usually have employees.
You know it's a big problem.
I've discussed this over andover again.
(19:32):
We have big issue how do youmanage the problems that arise
every day from your 13 to 16staff members?
Speaker 1 (19:45):
I think the first thing starts with understanding,
because the thing is, ifsomebody does something, then
there's a reason why they do it.
Even if the reason is ignoranceor the reason is deliberate,
there's a reason why they'redoing something a certain way
every time.
My approach is really to tryand just get to the root of why
(20:09):
that's happening so that I cansee am I able to influence you
to take a different approach orhave a different perspective,
see a different way of doingthings and explain why the
change is needed for us toachieve a certain thing.
Because maybe they haven'tconsidered it or they can't see
it, they don't understand it,they don't think it affects.
That's for me it's just me inmy corner, I'm just doing this.
(20:31):
Maybe they honestly don't thinkthey affects, because I've seen
that with some of the writersas well.
There's certain things thatwe've had to explain to them and
now they see the bigger picture.
They see it, they understand it, they understand the trajectory
we're on.
They understand the impact andthe importance of what they do
(20:52):
and how it has an effect on theentire business.
It starts with understanding.
It's difficult, not everyonewill get it.
You won't get through toabsolutely everybody, but I
think that's where you have toalso try to exercise your
discretion as to who to employand who not to, and who maybe to
(21:14):
pass on to somewhere else thatyou think would be a better fit.
It's difficult because evenrecently we did some employment
for two roles a partner managerand a dispatch supervisor.
An additional one, I think Iput it on my WhatsApp status and
(21:37):
I think we put it on ourInstagram.
Then we had about 450 CVs intwo weeks.
It's crazy.
So on one side, it could besome kind of validation to maybe
(21:58):
do it somewhere that peoplewant to work, but on the flip
side it was quite distressingbecause it means that that's how
many people are out of work,looking for work and they can't
find work.
So it was difficult Evencombing through the CVs and even
some of the quality of thecandidates.
It's difficult.
But then you think to yourselfwhat's happening with our
(22:21):
education system?
Like not to get toophilosophical and political
about the whole thing, but ifthat's what is being produced
out of tertiary educationsystems, what chance do they
have?
Because people like me I'mlooking for people that think
differently, think outside thebox, and you can't know
(22:42):
everything from a CV, but youcan get a sense by the way
someone writes it's language.
It says something about theperson in the way they think,
the way they see things, viewthings, how they position things
, all in just how you write Afew sentences.
So it was eye-opener.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
But I've had some really bad employees.
I've had some really bademployees from theft to insult.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
I've had a couple of them go because doing things
that are just detrimental tothem is disappointing.
When you find out some of thesethings because you're generally
trying to grow something, Iwant to make everyone millionth.
I want to make all of them.
We should all do that.
This thing should be when youfind a piece, should be
something that came into theirlives and absolutely changed
(23:34):
their lives for generations.
That should be the impact.
But so you're doing it andbuilding and sharing and going
above and beyond on that premisethat we're all going there
together and then people aredoing funny things.
It's disheartening, but it'snot the majority.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
Do you really feel that sometimes some of the
employees they understand ourvision enough to be happy to
come on that journey with us?
Speaker 1 (24:02):
I think some do.
I think you'll never geteverybody, but I'll give you an
example with some of the writers.
For instance, one of thewriters even secured some
investment for us.
He got a $10,000 investment forus because he spoke to a random
customer next to a place thathe was picking up and said chief
, you need to download Men, youFind I.
(24:24):
Have you downloaded Men, youFind I.
This is this.
This.
With the greatest food deliverybusiness, we do things, quality
, it's not any old thing.
There's investment opportunity.
And he spoke to some who'sbecome an investor and a friend,
william.
He's an American softwareengineer.
He's moved to Ghana and he wastotally blown away by this
(24:47):
writer, lucky, and as a resultof that.
So he caught the vision.
You know it was clear.
So I think that's whatintrigued him.
He's like how on earth is awriter in the middle of a crowd
telling me this with suchconviction?
Who is this person?
Who are these people?
Who does he work for?
That's powerful.
Yeah, it was deep, it taught mesome things.
(25:09):
So sometimes you think you knowyou're going over things.
And so, for Men, you Find I tobe clear, for the vision for us
is to become the best fooddelivery app in Africa, best
food delivery business in Africa, but the mission is to build
and improve lives and it'sunderpinned by respects,
(25:30):
excellence and quality.
Yeah, so that's.
So to be saying those thingsand see that getting grained in
one of these guys was was reallyemotional.
Actually, I just thought wow soit's like and I remember, even
as I like to stick to time andif I know I'm going to be late
or something that I'll try andcall and things like that and it
(25:53):
got to a point where now thewriters even today, we had a
meeting this morning, nine amnine on the dot.
I came out, Everyone was there.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
That's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Okay, this is different, for Ghana is very
different, because some arecoming from East Lagoon, yeah,
some are coming from Osu, youknow, depending, but it was.
The commitment is there, theyunderstand it, and so it's my
job and duty to make sure that,as we grow, that we reward them
and we all grow relatively aswell.
That's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
That's nice.
That's nice, that's a good plan.
That's a good thing to do.
That's a very good thing.
Maybe, maybe I should, I should, I should add that to my, my,
my company as well.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
Why not?
Speaker 2 (26:34):
But I think it's collective.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Yeah, that's how we have to do.
I mean, it's just harder, yeah,you know it's harder.
You people are to be able tomove them from a place of
survivability, where they'rescrambling to just make ends
meet, to a place of progress,dignity, improvement.
(26:56):
You know place?
I want the riders to tell mechat, we do go to Nigeria and
come for the weekend.
I'm like, okay, cool, so we'vegot enough riders to cover.
You guys are going there to goand chill in Lagos for a weekend
and come back because you gotthe money to do that.
That's what I want to hear.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
I want to get to that stage.
So you know, it's justimportant.
Other countries have somebaseline where the state can
feed you a certain thing whileyou're in between.
Yeah, there's nothing.
I think they do have somegovernment grants somewhere, but
I don't know who sees them orwho receives them.
That's a whole otherconversation.
(27:33):
But you do, you know.
I mean, it falls on us, as youknow, private sector business
owners and all of that to tryand help lift people's quality
of life.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
So I dropped this question in the middle right and
then I pick another one uplater where we're going to get
more into the mental stuff thatyou do to bring your business to
where it is today.
Where you're going to take it,which is, I know, as part of
your business model, you have tobasically certify the
(28:05):
restaurants that you put on yourapp.
Now, how do you make sure thatit's the level of quality that
you first experienced?
Is carrying on six months downthe line, two years down the
line, three years down the line?
Speaker 1 (28:18):
That's a good question, I think.
I think just by continuallytasting, I mean you have to, you
have to try the food once awhile.
You have to stay close toeither trying yourself or around
people who are trying.
So get feedback from people whoare actually ordering and then
you'll see.
If you if the you getoverwhelming number of negative
(28:40):
reviews from a certainrestaurant, then you know that
there's something wrong.
It will be for me to go andtaste yourself.
So, for instance, when we were adirectory, we had an app with
about 200 and somethingrestaurants listed and that was
before delivery, was justshowing you location, all of the
things I mentioned beforelocation, pricing, reviews, and
(29:02):
so some of the people who wereon the app as a directory
listing have now wanted to comeon for delivery and so if
they're in an area where we can,we can service them.
Then we look at it.
But the first primary thing istaste.
So if we haven't tasted yourfood for years, we need to taste
it again.
So, unfortunately, someone whowe were happy to list on it as a
(29:26):
directory, we had to turn themdown when it came to food
delivery because didn't cut it.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
It's very good question.
It's difficult, it's difficult.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
I mean it's difficult .
We're in a part of the worldwhere people take offense quite
easily, but at the end of theday, if it's not the first thing
when we're tasting food is likeis it nice, number one, would
you order it?
If you start saying all that,it's likely if you, if you need
(29:55):
to be able to order, if you wantto order it, how are we going
to put it on there for people toorder?
So it's not like I or my teamhave the overwhelming, you know,
of a reaching ability to telleverybody in the world what's
nice and what's not, but becauseobviously there's something in
the way we assess food thatresonates with people and has
(30:17):
done over the years that theytrust.
So we're using that same thingprinciple to determine who comes
on the platform.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
But that's only one side of it.
Right, there's only one part ofthe selection process, but then
there's also the other side,which is the location of the
fast food joint or therestaurant and the surrounding
environment.
(30:46):
I guess this is more of like anFDA kind of job.
But then for your business, howimportant is it that you just
went into a corner and my mucciais, you know, doing some funny
thing, and then you knowbringing it on your app.
How are you?
Speaker 1 (31:02):
going to.
So we look at that as well.
We vet every look.
Even I remember conversationvividly with one of the riders
some time back, I think, the onethey were working for Glovo
before.
They mentioned that you know,there are some places where they
wouldn't even want to give thefood to the customer, imagine,
(31:22):
because you say, oh boss, you gothere and then you know it's
right by the gutter, the pot isblack, like you don't want to
give it to the customer but youalso need to get paid, so you
just give it quietly and thenyou go walk away.
So because you know, I askedthem.
You know we get feedback fromthem about how they feel about
MENU FANDA, and can they evendescribe what MENU FANDA is and
(31:43):
all of those things.
So these are the things thatcame up.
So it's important for us to seethat you're prepared.
It doesn't necessarily have tobe a restaurant, it can be a
food vendor Some of the mostamazing food here does come from
some food vendors anyway butit's important that it's
prepared in a place that'sdecent.
I even heard a story of onerider who had listed his own
(32:05):
restaurant on Bolt.
He ride for Bolt.
You list the restaurant, getthe order quickly, make the food
and go and deliver so theydoesn't pay.
So you can earn on the basketvalue commission as well as
money on the delivery.
Can you imagine?
I mean that's wacky, but that'sthe truth of what's out there.
So we're trying to avoid all ofthat.
(32:26):
Do it nice and tidy, make itnice, clean, clear and make it
reputable to people can trust,trust us, trust the partners and
trust the experience.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
Yeah, and I think that's what it should be.
That's why people like us, youknow, still use it.
That's why I say people don't.
But you know, if you are fullquality and you know for black
owned, then hey, it's going tobe many finder.
Oh, nice you know now, you as aperson.
You know, sometimes, when westart a business or when we get
(33:04):
ourselves involved in such anoverwhelming task like this
managing people, managing thebusiness and things like that
you can go through a lot ofmental challenges, and one of
those ones always comes in everyday, which is should I carry on
?
Should I carry on?
Should I carry on?
I like the size.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
The size is big because it's real.
Yeah, life of an entrepreneuris nine in the morning.
This thing makes sense by 11o'clock.
Tell me, why am I doing this by2 pm?
Okay, I see it, we just do this, we just do that.
(33:46):
By 4 pm, some disaster happens.
You think, oh my God, how arewe going to do now?
Exhausted by the end of thenight, you're thinking I'm
really not sure about this thing.
You know why am I even doing it.
Well, my God, how am I supposedto grow?
How am I?
Before you close your eyes andgo to bed, you're like you know
(34:08):
what I can do this.
So you go through that all thetime constant.
So you have to keep.
Honestly, sometimes I'llliterally be I don't know
whether it's the shower orwhatever like come on, alex,
come on, I'll be saying it.
My son will see me and say thatthey know.
But you have to say these things.
(34:29):
You have to talk to yourselfand ginger up your spirit.
You can make it.
Even on my phone there's alittle kind of inscription you
can have on the lock screen.
It just says keep pushing,you'll make it.
I've had that there for thelast four or five years.
It has to be that.
You have to keep tellingyourself because it can make you
worry.
It's not easy at all.
You have to handle everythingand you have to be able to.
(34:52):
How you respond to problems Isgoing to determine our people
also respond to problems.
If a disaster happens and youlook completely knocked for six,
you're scrambling, you'restressed, you're shouting at
people.
Who's going to want to bearound that?
(35:13):
So, even if you don't know whatthe heck to do, you stay calm
as possible.
They're cool, I mean.
I'll give you an example.
We were very early in thejourney I think this must have
been 20, 22 sometime I got acall that one of the riders had
(35:41):
an accident.
I said, okay, is he fine?
First of all, okay, can thebike ride?
Is it damaged?
Was he carrying food or was heon the way, so that one of the
people working went to go andsought them out and go to police
and all that stuff.
(36:03):
Then, 10 minutes later, we hada knock on the door again.
Another one, daniels, also hadan accident.
It was a busy day and we werelimited.
I think we had six riders thenand I was just thinking okay.
So I just said, okay, that'sfine.
I asked the same questionsagain.
I just put my hand on my head.
(36:23):
I was just thinking, okay, thisis the time we're building,
we're trying to establish,trying to make sure food is
delivered on time, all of thesethings.
Luckily, we had a good system,a good app that would keep
people abreast with what's goingon.
But now you have to plan for.
So what do I do now?
What's the plan?
I'm two riders down.
What do we need to do?
(36:45):
We need to fix this.
One of them was one bike wasrideable, one wasn't.
One guy was injured a bit, onewasn't so bad.
But what do we do?
So it's a whole thing and youthink to yourself God, this mess
, what do I do?
But you stay calm so that youcan try and figure yourself out
(37:06):
of the situation.
Any situation we've ever beenin in life, think about it.
It hasn't lasted forever, eventhe most dire thing that you've
ever been through.
You think, oh my God, thiscan't be happening.
It's already happened and we'rehere today doing podcasts.
It's happened.
So you will always find a waythrough the time.
From point A to point B willalways happen.
(37:28):
How we go through it is up to us.
We can go through it with fear,with anxiety, with this, with
that, and then, when we get tothe end, we'll say, oh, I should
have done this, I should havedone that.
So why not calm yourself downin the moment and try and figure
it out so you can put your bestfoot forward?
So some of these things happenand they come to test you, but
(37:52):
they actually come to build you.
Because it's tough, because Iremember I think it was around
that time a few other thingswere happening.
There was a day that, I'll behonest, I sat on the floor in
the office and I was sheddingtears because I was just like
this can't be happening.
We're running out of money.
We're doing this, things arejust going wrong.
Who are we anyway?
Why do we think we can come anddo this and change?
(38:16):
Even though we're not goingdirectly up against Bolton
Global, because it's a differentniche, it is up against them by
virtue of the fact it's fooddelivery and these are big
companies with billion-dollarreserves.
We have no money to advertise.
What are we thinking?
And so the same things that yougo through now.
(38:37):
That can't put me on the floor.
It is Because I've grown pastthat point.
There's bigger threats tofright.
Now I've understood the game.
The game is that the problemswill keep coming.
They'll never stop coming, sodon't expect them to stop.
Just enjoy the moments where itdoesn't.
Use it to recoup, strategize,focus, whatever it is, but
(38:58):
understand that they will comeand plan, learn your business,
learn the environment, learn forthe unexpected, and then you
just get better at dealing withproblems, because the problems
are going to come.
There will probably be anotherproblem that will come and that
will put me completely out of mydepth, but how I respond to it
(39:20):
is what's key and I think that'sone thing.
I've learned that how torespond to problems that has
happened, it's accepted, figure,a way out.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
For us it's always been one struggle after the
other.
I mean, we can't even starttalking about the legal battles,
the messages that come throughfrom the law firms.
It's like you've got to takethis down, you've got to do it
and this is your business.
Now, the lesson I learned fromhaving one right.
So after all of that happened,then we started thinking
(39:57):
properly and we're like OK, theonly way to safeguard ourselves
is to go into differentindustries.
If there's a regulatory changein the pharmaceutical sector
that will affect us, it's OK.
But we might be in the realestate, or we might be in the
nursing business, or we might bein the beauty business, so all
(40:19):
the other businesses will be OK.
And that's how we startedputting other things together.
You know, invest here, do that,do that.
So it's not going to stop theproblem from coming, but at
least a chair with one leg isnot as strong as 104.
So that's how we sort of wentthrough that.
(40:44):
It's been crazy, yeah, it'scrazy.
Speaker 1 (40:52):
Everyone has a story to share and I think back to
that thing about other foundersand people that started their
own businesses and things.
You need to have thoseconversations with people
because you connect withsomething, either something
you've been through, you'regoing through or you're about to
go through.
You just don't know it yet.
Speaker 2 (41:09):
Yeah, and that's one of the reasons why we started
this podcast.
Yeah which I think is great.
Speaking to people likeyourself was like wow, I thought
I was alone.
Speaker 1 (41:17):
No, because you've got to tell it as it is.
It would be real.
Speaker 2 (41:21):
And sometimes there are people on the other side
that think this guy, you do that, do that, do that, and you
don't understand.
It's basically to buy thatfreedom, but what is beauty
about it is the person youbecome.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (41:36):
You know this guy.
He said Alex Homozi, this guy,one of these Instagram kind of
financial wealth building gurus.
He was talking about how hebuilt up some fortune and then
he lost it.
And then he was just sayingthat, look, you know, basically
you're trying to convinceyourself that whatever it is
(41:58):
you're working on will pay offone day.
Sometimes you can't see thevalue of it, blah, blah, blah,
blah.
But he's saying that in allyour failures and things you are
building yourself up, the samepoint you're making that you,
that cannot be taken away.
So everything you go throughthat builds you to a certain
point, that is, no one can takethat.
No one.
Because you've lived it, you'veingested it, you've become all
(42:21):
of it you've been through,you've become that, you evolved
from that to then becomewhatever it is you want to
become, but it's all there.
So at some point all of thatcomes to bear and then that's if
you stick.
That's where you make it.
Speaker 2 (42:34):
Because you've been in sales, you've been in markets
and you've worked in companiesin South Africa and things like
that, and it's all thoseexperiences that you went
through.
All of it ties together.
You know your time in the UK,you know your time at the banks
here.
You've taken all of that.
Yeah, all that experience, allthe skills, all of it, all of it
all comes together, yeah.
So yeah, none of them is awaste.
Speaker 1 (42:55):
None of them is a waste.
Speaker 2 (42:57):
None of them is a waste.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
None of them is a waste.
I mean back to that when I wasin the bank here.
I was in the bank here for twoyears and I hated it really,
Because I'm not a corporate guy.
I just I don't.
I don't fit with that.
That's the structure.
I always like to do things and,you know, to test the limit.
If I can see that there's a waythat something can be done and
(43:18):
it's clever, it's smart and itwill work, then why should I go
this way?
As long as it's not outside thelaw and it's not harming people
, then I should be able to finda more innovative way of doing
something.
So the love, bureaucracy andred tape and all that it was.
At the time it felt really likea punishment, but it was
(43:40):
actually a blessing because itallowed me to understand how
money flows in Ghana, how bankssee things, where people are
spending their money, how muchare they spending on in
restaurants, in differentsectors, in, you know, p2p
payments, bill payments,whatever it is.
(44:01):
So just understanding the flowof money and how much money is
actually moving.
You know the growth of it.
You know I was there for acouple of years but the growth
month or month and all of that.
So it was.
It was actually beneficial, butyou couldn't see it at the time
.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
Yeah, yeah, you couldn't see it at the time.
You couldn't see it at the time, yeah.
Speaker 1 (44:19):
Yeah, and that's the thing we go through.
So many different things.
You think it so, whatever it is, just immerse yourself in it.
It doesn't matter.
Yeah, you get something out ofit.
Speaker 2 (44:28):
Yeah, I think it's a real bro, because I think two
weeks ago I was in this houseand I was like, oh no, there's
something happening in my mind,like there's something,
something's happening.
I just wasn't myself, I wasn'tfeeling it.
And then I was.
I was asking me are you goingto record another podcast?
You know, because it washappening every like almost
(44:51):
every day, and all of a suddenit didn't happen again.
But then in my mind I'mthinking we're trying to do that
, we're trying to do that, we'retrying to do that, we're trying
to figure out what's going tohappen.
Like there's so many things Iwas thinking about.
So I just almost got into adark place, but I wanted to stay
there for a bit.
(45:11):
Then the following week Istarted speaking to her.
I was like no, I think, I thinkit's all right, I think I'm
okay, and it's all because ofthis journey of personal
development and entrepreneurship.
I mean trying, you got a youknow you got a.
Speaker 1 (45:26):
You know you got a.
You know you got to listen topeople.
You got a.
I mean things like thisconnected minds, whatever books,
audio books, people, andthere's nothing new under the
sun.
That doesn't matter.
Technology moves and this andthat, but principles remain.
People are people.
We're not going to change ourphysiology in the sense that
(45:50):
we're not going to stop eatingone day and then everyone will
survive.
Speaker 2 (45:52):
We need to eat, drink .
Speaker 1 (45:53):
There's certain things that just are.
So there's certain principlesand things that also just are,
and you listen to people youknow Simon, sinek, peter Thiel.
You know different people.
They'll give you certainperspectives that you hadn't
considered and if you are ableto take these things, you can
digest it and then translate itinto whatever it is that you're
(46:17):
doing your business or yourservice and improve yourself,
improve your, the way you work.
Yeah, it will help.
You see things, because we haveto.
We have to take all thesethings and apply them in a
different way, because this isAfrica, it's different from the
West.
We have to think about how wetranslate those things and what
will work here.
How does it work here, how do Iensure it works here?
(46:38):
And the thing just by listeningand exposing yourself to more
of these things.
This is so important.
You learn so much.
Speaker 2 (46:47):
Oh, I'm going to ask you a question.
Before I ask this question, Ineed to play my sound, so you
are going to be the secondperson I'm going to ask this
question, and it's discipline ormotivation.
Speaker 1 (47:09):
You see, if you're determined to get there, it has
to be discipline, becauseeveryone needs motivation, yeah.
But motivation comes and goes.
It can come from yourself selfmotivate, or someone can
motivate you.
Come on, charlie, let's do this, let's do that.
(47:30):
We can read something and feelreally inspired and motivated.
But discipline, whether youfeel like it or not, you'll get
the thing done.
And so if you, if you only dotake the steps forward when
you're motivated, you might dosomething, whatever it is,
whether it's work, training,whatever 37 days out of 60.
(47:52):
But if it's discipline, you doit 60 out of 60.
I'll take discipline.
Speaker 2 (47:59):
What's your top?
Personal development book orbusiness book?
Speaker 1 (48:10):
I think one of the most effective ones that's
helped me.
Probably there's so many ofthem, probably Simon Sinek, find
your why.
Speaker 2 (48:18):
My top book is thinking and growing.
Speaker 1 (48:22):
I was torn between that as well.
Speaker 2 (48:26):
That's my favorite book.
Yeah, it's done one.
This it was in betweenspirituality and personal
development Is that book that asyou progress it gets a bit more
spiritual.
Why it talks about imagination,you know.
It talks about sexualtransmutation.
(48:47):
It talks about several thingsin the book in the end, so it's
my favorite book.
Yeah, yeah, I loved it.
I loved it.
I loved it, yeah.
The next one is what's the bestadvice you've ever received?
Speaker 1 (49:04):
From my dad.
Okay, They'll fast learn quick.
It's always there.
I even gave someone that advicelast night.
Actually, you're going to messup in life with things you just
will.
I think goes right for everyoneall the time.
Speaker 2 (49:22):
But hey, nice one man .
This has been beautiful.
Thank you so much Thank you somuch for coming.
Thank you and you guys outthere share this content, tell
someone and, to those of youthat are listening to the audio
on Apple podcast or Spotify,subscribe.
Thank you, thanks.
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