Konnected Minds Podcast

From pricing for approval to pricing for sustainability and why the brutal truth about why small businesses stay small is that they price so low trying to make everyone their customer when the reality is not everyone is your customer and if you're scared to tell people your prices are expensive then go where it's cheap you will keep your business stagnant, the young woman who built an international feminine hygiene brand shipping to the US, Canada, UK, Germany, and Nigeria by refusing to pity herself and make people believe they are buying even when no one is buying because people don't want to buy from struggling businesses, the trip to China to create custom packaging that required buying 5,000 to 10,000 pieces across five different sizes proving that if you price too low and don't make good money you can never push your business to the next level, the competitor selling a similar product for 70 cedis after buying it for 50 cedis and wondering why the business isn't working when packaging costs, delivery fees, and operational expenses eat up that tiny 20 cedi margin, the wisdom that when you price something at 100 cedis and people say it's too expensive that's because you're trying to make everyone your customer instead of being selective about your customer base, the revolutionary approach of making products fun and making people believe they need it instead of sitting down pitying yourself posting that no one is buying when people don't want to know why no one is buying from you, the same product launched in June or July selling above 500 to 600 pieces because of knowing how to market it and push it and make it attractive instead of pricing it cheap out of fear, the realization that people are curious to know why others are buying from a business and will push towards you but if you sit down unmotivated showing the world no one is buying you send people away, the critical instruction to think about the future of your business and price for sustainability unless you're just looking for quick money and any margin will do, the discipline that pushes every single day more than motivation because discipline keeps you going when motivation fades, the motivation that comes from the smiles on customers' faces and solving their problems even when most of the time it's not about selling but just giving tips and teaching them, the best advice ever received being don't price for approval price for sustainability which changed the entire trajectory of the business, the book recommendation of Famio Tidal's story that motivated even though people said he had a head start because it's not about getting a head start it's about knowing what you are doing and being consistent, the wisdom that if he didn't continue and wasn't consistent and didn't know what he was doing he wouldn't have gotten to that point proving it's not about coming from money it's about execution and persistence, the refusal to pity small business owners who like to pity themselves posting that no one has bought today when you should never let the world see you struggling because perception drives purchasing decisions and people buy from businesses that look successful not desperate.

Guest: Charity Boateng (Femlas Founder)

Host: Derrick Abaitey

From making 800K on TikTok and not caring what anyone thinks to building an international feminine hygiene brand that ships across continents, and why the brutal truth about starting a business when you have nothing is that you don't need someone to sit you down and teach you because the same internet people use for gossip has everything you need to learn on YouTube and TikTok, the young woman who learned everything from YouTube and started with dropshipping before building her own brand that solves problems doctors recommend to their patients, the wisdom that if you're going to be on the internet promoting your business you cannot care about what people say because when she posted she made 800K on TikTok people didn't believe her but she didn't care because the money was in her account not theirs, the reality that TikTok and social media work when you give value and show people the importance of what you're selling instead of just posting products because no one cares about a camera until you show them the difference between phone quality and camera quality, the revolutionary approach of not just selling products but teaching ladies how to take care of themselves and solving feminine hygiene problems that Africans are never taught at home, the first supplier who said it was too stressful after just one day when over 100 orders came in from just posting on Snapchat and paying influencers, the realization that she was even the first person to sell such products and while others were just posting without explanation she came in teaching and giving value because she went through those problems in university and wished someone was there to help her understand how to take care of herself better, the wisdom that you have to scout for products and think about what problem it can solve because if you are selling anything you must know who your audience is and what problem your product solves for them, the step by step breakdown of going to Alibaba and learning how to order from China by watching one or two YouTube videos in 2021 even before setting up the business and just playing on the apps until it became easy, the advice that people want to be taught before they take a step when sometimes you just need to start and get the idea and play on the apps because right now we have YouTube and TikTok where people teach these things for free, the critical instruction to make sure you're buying from verified suppliers on Alibaba and comparing prices from different suppliers especially when you're a beginner, the process of sending products for lab analysis first which costs between 1000 to 3000 cedis before sending to FDA for registration which charges about 500 dollars for imported products, the smartest way to start being dropshipping where you sell somebody's products online but you must make sure you know a lot about what you are selling and have knowledge about it because if you don't know you must learn, the reality that there are people who swallow products when they're supposed to be inserted and insert when they're supposed to be swallowed proving you should know what you're doing enough that when they come to you you should know the solution, the biggest challenge being FDA approval because sometimes a product comes and they want to change the name after she's already marketed it with that name creating a whole lot of back and forth, the wisdom that people are usually more focused on the money than the value they give to people which is where she picked her form by actually teaching instead of just assuming everyone knew what the products do, the use of shipping companies like AKT for years because they are reliable and the advice to go on the internet to learn instead of looking for gossip because anything you want is on the internet and people make it available for free.

Guest: Charity Boateng (Femlas Founder)

Host: Derrick Abaitey

From lying his way into an internship at Nigeria's biggest TV station to building Glitch Africa and the Honest Bunch podcast that millions watch across the continent, and why the brutal truth about escaping poverty and creating success in Africa is that audacity matters more than credentials because when you come from nothing you either take bold action or stay stuck in the loop of waiting for someone to hand you opportunities that will never come.

Guest: Best Amakhian

Company - Glitch Africa Studios

Host: Derrick Abaitey

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

YT: https://www.youtube.com/@DerrickAbaitey

Join Konnected Academy: https://www.triibe.io/konnected-academy

Listen to the podcast on:

Apple Podcast - http://tinyurl.com/4ttwbdxe

Spotify - http://tinyurl.com/3he8hjfp

Join this channel: /@konnectedminds

FOLLOW ► https://linktr.ee/konnectedminds

#Podcast #businesspodcast #AfricanPodcast #honestbunchpodcast

From selling over 800K on TikTok alone to building an international feminine hygiene brand that ships across continents, and why the brutal truth about starting a business with nothing is that you don't need perfection, you don't need a physical shop, you don't need everything figured out because the young woman who started selling on Snapchat with no business name and made over 20,000 cedis in the first 24 hours now runs a brand that doctors recommend to their patients, the childhood of being sent away at age two to live with family friends and aunties because her mother was too busy farming to raise six children creating a pattern where all the kids were scattered across different homes, the reality of growing up with different people getting different types of treatment and mistreatment that made her tough but also made her crave freedom so much she started living alone at 14 years old, the parents who are commercial farmers waking up at 4am every single day to go to their farms even in their old age refusing to rest and providing loans to people while educating all six children through university without anyone seeing them struggling, the hard work ethic learned from watching parents who never stopped even when they had the option to rest because their farming business gave them that choice, the university dream of becoming a journalist that shifted to construction after a conversation with a classmate whose uncle made a lot of money in the industry because she liked money and understood that money equals freedom, the childhood restrictions on money even though her parents were doing well because her mom would not let anyone have it easy creating a burning desire to make her own money so she could enjoy it her way, the business journey that started because she always wanted to be a business person and never wanted the 9 to 5 life of being controlled and dictated to even though she tried it and realized it wasn't for her, the first 24 hours of business that brought more than 100 orders just from posting on Snapchat and paying influencers proving that social selling works when you show up consistently, the 20,000 cedis or more made in the first 24 hours just from Snapchat with no WhatsApp, no Instagram, no TikTok because people trusted her so much they were paying upfront without asking for payment on delivery, the waiting a full year into the business before even starting to use Instagram or TikTok because Snapchat alone was generating that much demand, the supplier who got overwhelmed after just one day and said it was too stressful leaving the business hanging but proving the concept worked, the 800K milestone on TikTok that made people not believe her when she posted it but she didn't care because if you're going to be on the internet promoting your business you can't care about what people say, the wisdom that TikTok and social media work when you give value and show people how to use what you're selling instead of just posting products, the reality that she wasn't ready to see success in her first year but focused on making sure people trusted her by showing up more and being consistent, the international expansion shipping to the US, Canada, UK, Germany, and Nigeria because she focused her first year not on making money but on getting her products in the minds and on the lips of people, the thousands of orders and reviews flooding in proving she's fulfilling a purpose of educating women about feminine hygiene that Africans are never taught at home, the trip to China to create the packaging she envisioned because she couldn't get what she wanted in Ghana and wanted something that would entice eyes and not be thrown away, the refusal to compare herself to competitors opening big shops because her path is different and her business can do well without a shop if she shows up consistently and authentically.

Guest: Charity Boateng (Femlas Founder)

Host: Derrick Abaitey

From leaving home at 14 and never going back to building a business that gave her the voice nobody let her have growing up, and why the brutal truth about why some entrepreneurs push harder than others is that when you grow up without attention, without anyone listening to your problems, without parents telling you they're proud of you or that you're beautiful, the hunger to be seen and heard becomes the fuel that drives you to build something that forces the world to pay attention, the young girl who went to secondary school and never returned home because she craved freedom from a family that didn't know her well enough to understand who she really was, the mother who was against her moving to Accra because she thought it meant prostitution and doing men when the real issue was she never knew her daughter at all, the childhood of being scared of a very hard mother and having a soft father who wouldn't interfere creating a home where if you had a problem you kept it to yourself because there was nobody to talk to, the university years of packing her bags alone and traveling to campus by herself while watching other students arrive with parents and grandmothers and entire families when nobody came to visit her throughout her time there, the realization that the lack of attention from parents and the people she stayed with made her want to be alone but also created a deep desire to be seen and heard which became the foundation of her business, the pattern emerging across successful entrepreneurs where neglect and feeling like their opinion didn't matter in families created a drive to make money because money became the ultimate tool through which society respects people, the moving to Accra with no plan and a friend who never picked up the phone forcing her to stay with a total stranger for months while starting national service, the Apple shop job during service that turned toxic with men and women's stuff leading her to file for early completion after just seven months, the two years at home trying different things including working under someone in construction where she was waking up, going to work, spending 20 to 30 cedis daily on transportation and food without getting paid or learning anything, the day she cried at work and called her friend to say she was coming back home and never showed up to that job again, the guy from a previous workplace who came through for her during those two years at home but the relationship that was saving her eventually stopped saving her, the childhood trauma of carrying water on her head from age eight walking from 18 in Kumasi to Amakom market back and forth, selling food by the roadside, and going through so much that now when she's spending and overspending she tells herself leave it you've been through a lot, the pride of getting to where she is because nobody got her here except her and God when she never thought she would get to this point after doing so many things in pain and being neglected, the transformation from the child whose voice didn't matter to the woman the family now calls before making any decision because no decision goes through the family without passing through her first, the networking problem created by always keeping to herself and her two friends because growing up alone made her want to keep people out of her business even though she wants people to know her, the decision that if she becomes a parent she will show her kids how to love themselves, point to them, and make them her friend instead of making them afraid the way she was afraid of her mother.

Guest: Charity

Host: Derrick Abaitey