COMMUNICATION: THE MORTAR THAT BINDS EVERY BUSINESS VENTURE

This blog was written by Samuel "Fiifi" Okore Mintah, the Vice President of BMIC. As always his article is a most inspiring and refreshing piece, I hope you really enjoy this! :)

Communication; the imparting or exchanging of information

Rarely is it such a fairy tale for somebody to finish university and almost immediately be at the helm of his own company with an estimated value of almost $100,000 and counting. Well I did it, through cold nights and lonely days at Evandy Hostel where I marshaled my thoughts to build my imaginary company in the form of a well-written business proposal. Though I wrote that proposal under compulsion, I later came to appreciate the amount and value of the work that was put into the business plan. When this plan metamorphosed into reality, I surrounded myself with a team of some of the smartest and talented minds I knew. We immediately jumped into gear, business prospects were looking good then suddenly I watched it all slip out of my hands. But as a firm optimist who believes in determination, hard work and the power of dreams no matter the problems that one encounters, I knew I had within my power the tools to create new and even better opportunities. As the great Winston Churchill said during the blitzkrieg of London, “Never, never, never give up!”

I graduated from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology a year ago, with the grade class I had always wanted. But most importantly, I left KNUST with the right frame of mind and the right kind of friends, and these factors have been crucial to enabling my ideas and plans to come to life. As soon as this great opportunity to run this firm knocked on my door I called on the battalion to come aboard because I knew they were going to propel the business to the next level. Within a month of the platoon hitting the ground, problems begun to assuage the firm, unforeseen and unpredictable problems cropped up all over the place and I watched in horror as this amazing chance disappeared almost as quickly as it came into being. It was a real nightmare especially looking at the kind of personal investment I had made within that short period of time. I had sacrificed my valuable time, every single dime, and as a man in his prime I was ready to capably run this engine and yet, here was I going home without having barely started the engine itself. When I reminisce about that shattering week, I can only grin and sigh with relief that things are back on track now.

What happened you may ask? It had nothing to do with the team I brought on board to take the business to the next level but rather myself. Several minute flaws that I had neglected in my personnel life grew into the very same abyss that derailed my entrepreneurial train.  I have always been a smooth talker brimming with eloquence but a little miscommunication between my business partner and I created an air of mistrust. After many nights of reflection as to what caused this predicament, I came to the conclusion that communication is the most vital ingredient in any and all forms of business; something like the mortar that binds all the other components of a business venture to make it one big whole. In business we may agree, we may disagree and we may even agree to disagree. However without the essential ingredient – effective communication – which builds trust among all stakeholders, no business will be successful.

Since that fateful week, I have done a lot of soul searching and reassessment; I have completely revamped my way of handling business, and to tell you the truth now, I feel like I can walk on water. I am back on my grind with a big bang; thing is this time everything is in place and nothing is bringing me down. I have been thorough in purging those minute flaws, which do not augur well for business in favor of traits that can earn me the chips that can afford me that trip to Monaco twice a year, the mansion on the hill and that McLaren MP4-12c. What did I do to come back on track and resolve all the problems with my partners?  Well I have always been consumed with a burning desire to make it happen no matter the odds against me, but besides that I read voraciously to further become knowledgeable about the efficient management skills that still eluded me. I also delved into my inner person to discover my latent abilities, which I’m developing everyday, and also took the time to unlearn the unproductive things that were part of my psyche.  So now I am back, consumed with the fire of winning and trust me, I am winning. With my formidable team we have built those efficient mechanisms to weather any storms that may blow no matter how great. KTA is back, and here to stay!

Samuel “Fiifi” Okore Mintah,

Chief Executive Officer,

Kreative Terrain Agency

If KTA was possible, so is this! On track to make my dreams REALITY!

PICKING AT THE MIND OF A LUMINARY CHIEF WITH MR. INVESTOR: PART TWO

Mr. Investor and myself waited in a Gas Station close to the bus stop until the chief’s wife picked us up and drove us to their commodious abode. We settled into our rooms, had some dinner and had a long chat with Nana Kyia. As always I tried to glean as many nuggets of wisdom as I could from this luminary chief and vastly experienced entrepreneur, and indeed I got a goldmine full of knowledge. During our stay whenever Mr. Investor and I had a chat with our “Chief Consultant”, I had my pen and notebook out, scribbling furiously! And he kept reminding us of how people pay him for similar advice and how lucky we were to be getting all of his precious face time for free. We were very lucky indeed. I probably should have taken videos of our conversations, because we roamed a vast landscape of business, social and economic issues, far more than can be packed into this blog. Mr. Investor and I fielded all the questions that we could, and the chief always gave us a flood of sensible answers from a perspective we did not have enough experience to elevate to yet. He sat adjacent us in this rather comfy chair in a corner of his large living room adorned with biographical pictures of the chief in his younger days, his first wife and his children; a portrait of his life and his legacy. It felt rather appropriate when he said, “Everybody (in Ghana) is having fun making a living but not leaving a legacy”. With his legacy complete he was encouraging us, and you to begin thinking about creating ours, a legacy we can be proud of during our old age.

In relation to a question fielded by Mr. Investor concerning business in Ghana the chief said, “There are many bureaucratic disincentives that prevent investors from coming into Ghana”. Among those we discussed were the poor state of our physical infrastructure; the lack of reliable energy; entrenched corruption, inefficiency and dissatisfaction in all levels of the public sector. According to him, Ghana has “a system that forces conformity” because it doesn’t reward innovation but rather favors blind adherence. In a sense it is a country whose people prefer to follow and therefore leaders are in short supply; people rarely think outside the box. This is difficult for foreign investors to adjust to since the internal and external realities they have to deal with are in a system where things tend to be rather different (I think the actual word Nana used was ‘backward’) from their experience in their home countries. He felt that, “Idea testing is essential for success” because every business investor needs to do a lot of market research before they embark on any business. According to the chief, “Nobody should go into any business without testing; you must have a minimum of a B+ certainty that it will succeed before moving forward”.

The chief also delved into the poverty issue by stating that; “In trying to solve poverty we must move poor people away from what they are used to (their comfort zone of being given freebies; food, water and clothing) by challenging and empowering them to be upwardly mobile economically”. He was greatly dissatisfied with the status quo of begging donors for money to simply throw at the poverty issue, rather we should be teaching poor people to fish rather than just giving them fish. He stressed on the need to provide quality education as the basis for empowering the poor, because according to him as literacy levels increase so will the living standards in general, and this is a self evident fact. Nana Kyia III felt strongly that the Ghanaian youth, especially those in the Diaspora had a lot to give back to the country. He understood the temptation of seeking greener pastures abroad but felt that if they could be encouraged to come back to Ghana they would be critical to the development of the country. He encouraged people to try to monetize their passions saying, “If you have a hobby and if it can be turned into a business, quit your regular job then do it full time” because you are then motivated out of intrinsic passion instead of being stuck in a job that has extrinsic benefits (good pay) but is not truly fulfilling.

Yes, Mr. Investor had reception, AMAZING!

We talked, and talked some more and then he took us on a trip to his beautiful seaside village. We first went to a council meeting of the traditional chiefs of the area, and Mr. Investor and myself had the honor of meeting all the other chiefs in the area, to the extent of being treated like VIPs even though we were wearing simple white tees. We then went on to his village, Ekumfi Ekumpoano and even deep into the hinterland we still had reception on our mobile phones and several of the villagers were busily chatting on theirs; the power of IT! When we got there we had that iconic scene where all the little kids run behind the car. Everybody there was buzzing about the arrival of their chief, and of course a “white man”. Alas Nana himself was at the council meeting, but it was still such great experience, his wife took us on a guided tour and then cut us loose. For me the village was about these little kids, smiling, dancing, treading our footsteps and asking 20 questions a minute. They were such a happy riot, excited and inquisitive beyond belief. I acted as the translator since they seemed so fascinated by the ‘obroni’ who had magically appeared in their midst and then after following the sound of the waves a short while, we hit the beach, and OH was my breath taken away! It was a beguiling sandy beach, untouched by development and pollution, and there were only a few canoes in sight because the fishermen were out to sea. I couldn’t appreciate the scene fully then but now in retrospect I was rather affected by the serene beauty of the soft clean sand, the clear blue sea and the rolling waves all hidden away and unknown, a real unpolished gem waiting to glitter. The ideas begun to flow, and the plans begun to form.........

One day I shall be a luminary business guru but for now I’m just a visionary mind making his dreams a reality, so I seek the counsel of greater minds to inspire me and point me in the right direction. Nana Kyia III is among those whom have had an undeniably positive effect on my personal development and propitious future. Thank you again Nana!

The happy riot of smiles, questions and poses.....cheeeeese!

Tune in next week for the next blog.......Cheers!

On FACEBOOK - The Road Less Travelled Made All The Difference!

Early Days of Facebook, Inc

In the autumn of 2005, a 21 year-old Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, sat across from Michael Wolf, President of Viacom's MTV Networks in a plush Gulfstream V private jet and refused a $1.5 billion buyout offer saying, "You just saw my apartment, I don't really need any money. And anyway, I don't think I'm ever going to have an idea this good again". He did manage however to learn as much as he could from Wolf on how Viacom makes money from MTV over the course of the 5 hour flight from San Francisco to New York. This and an insightful history of the ubiquitous phenomenon that is ruling cyberspace is provided by David Kirkpatrick in his upcoming novel, "The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company that is Connecting the World”. In those heady days, there were quite a few people who advised the young chap to sell his creation and finish school, rich beyond his wildest dreams but this stubborn creature went against all conventional wisdom and still lacking adequate funds bootstrapped this venture all the way to the Dot.com Hall of Fame. He and his team managed to have fun running the company in its formative years; a bunch of tweens working through booze fueled parties and friendly camaraderie. However much the company and its founder have both matured, it still maintains a relatively easygoing working atmosphere in Palo Alto, California.

Zuckerberg launched Facebook from his Harvard dorm room with a bunch of his friends and associates in 2004 under, as some would claim 'controversial circumstances', but the viability and overwhelming success of his invention soon brought all manner of suitors clipping at his heels. Facebook was exponential in its growth, even from the early onset. Within 4 months of the sites launch, he was perched on the brighter side of a potential $10 million dollar handshake and he refused without even taking the offer seriously. He and his team of friends and associates have turned Facebook into such a global web juggernaut over the past 6 years that Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft was willing to pay $15 billion for Facebook outright, but after serious haggling succeeded in only purchasing 1.6% at $240 million, essentially giving Facebook an implied book value of $15 billion. From $10 million through an astronomical figure of $15 billion, Zuckerberg has been steadfastly stubborn in his refusal to completely sellout and Facebook now has almost 500 million users and is worth an estimated $24 billion and counting; its heavily anticipated IPO is bound to instigate the greatest investor frenzy since Google. As Fortune would put it, Zuckerberg has succeeded in creating "the worlds most-coveted web giant." His personal net worth is estimated at about  $5 billion (representing 24% of Facebook, Inc) and he still wears frazzled hoodies, baggy pants and open-toed adidas flip-flops. That lucky f^&%*$!!!!!!

Personally I have been on Facebook since September 2004 and was probably among the first 200,000 to sign up. It was then thefacebook.com, a static page with no chat, apps, games and even no privacy; everything was open so long as you were in the network. At the time Facebook was essentially the privilege of American college kids until it was opened up to high schools then the rest of the world to such an unprecedented and overwhelming response. I have observed with rapt attention as this toddler technology that was very much experimental has grown into a full fledged and mature product that has become indispensable to many millions, inspiring a cornucopia of applications and an easy way to connect, reconnect and stay in touch. There was even a period of about 2 years when I practically ignored Facebook as its exclusivity paved way for universal access above the age of 13 but even amidst such changes the social network still wound its way back onto my fingertips because it has given rise to several brilliant new ways to communicate and a platform for rabble rousers such as myself to State Our Plays. Now FB is omnipresent on WEB 2.0; thumbs up Recommend signs are everywhere and all manner of websites are vying for recognition on the social network and its colossal and constantly growing user base. Facebook will generate $500 million in advertising revenue this year and this figure is projected to be in the billions a few years hence.

WOW! From chugging mountain dew coding other people’s websites deep into the night, Mr. Zuckerberg has come a long way. The question I have is what would this story have sounded like if he took the first $10 million dollars and didn't take the risk of holding out to the very end? He would certainly be wearing his hoodies, and baggy pants today but I doubt he would have had the ability to change the world as he did. He took the road less travelled, and it has made all the difference.

For an excerpt from David Kirkpatrick's, "The Facebook Effect" please visit this link http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/06/technology/facebook_excerpt.fortune/index.htm

WHO IS AN ENTREPRENEUR?.......Part 2

This is the second part of the article written by Samuel Okore Mintah, the Operations Officer of BMIC. What a marvelous piece - Enjoy!

I initially stated that the journey of every entrepreneur starts with an idea that begins in the mind. But the idea has to be fully developed and nurtured to the extent that it becomes a Burning Desire. It is this burning desire that invigorates the entrepreneur to go every extent no matter the inevitable impediments to attain his or her goal. This burning desire reinforces the mind to focus on a goal and propel the entrepreneur by reinforcing them for the long arduous journey to their desired destination. Having a burning desire will only take an entrepreneur halfway on the journey required to turn an idea into reality: unless the whole mindset of the entrepreneur is consumed by this desire. A consuming desire is stated by Noel Bempong “as the energy, fuel or power that is capable of launching one into action to bring the goal in mind to reality”. This means that consuming desire is what encourages, strengthens and motivates the entrepreneur to endure and act even in the face of adversity. Without this consuming desire, the entrepreneur is bound to stop pursuing his goal when unavoidable obstacles surface, but with this consuming desire any impediment is seen by the entrepreneur as a minor obstruction or even an opportunity in disguise. Apart from external impediments like a lack of funds or required experience, there are internal obstacles that emanate from within the entrepreneur’s own self in the form of low self-esteem, doubts, fear, procrastination etc. Acting at all times and in the face of all these obstacles is the underpinning manifestation of consuming desire that will get you to your destination. Action is the bridge between our dreams and reality, so ACT NOW because without action there is no progress.

They say what you see is what you get but this is not necessarily true in the world of business because what occupies your thoughts most of the time is what tends to manifest in reality. I prefer to say ‘how you think it is how you get it’. How you visualize an idea in your mind’s eye determines the probable reality that [with enough work] will materialize. Therefore as an entrepreneur, the positioning of your thoughts after every experience is what will make or break you. For example after your business suffers an unexpected setback, you have two options; you can admit failing abysmally and give up; or you can decide to see the setback as an opportunity to re-examine what caused the problem and consequently correct mistakes and root out inefficiencies. The second option allows you to approach the same project again but from a different direction which will yield the desired results, but the first option prevents you from trying again. So the difference between the businessman who succeeds and the one who fails lies in their mental outlook to life. Those with a consistently positive mental attitude tend to succeed even after many hiccups whiles those with a negative outlook to life inevitably give up. Human thoughts are powerful enough to transform into a reality exactly as has been envisioned. This means that Success or Failure is already decided in the mind before it manifests into observable reality.

A true entrepreneur never gives up because in the dictionary for entrepreneurial skills the word ‘quit’ does not exist. Perseverance [or persistence] is the word that defines every entrepreneur’s success. Though giving up may seem the best thing to do, your success is inevitable if you refuse to cave in. They say the darkest time of the night is the moment just before the break of dawn; this means that in every endeavour the point where going on seems impossible is when you must realise that victory is just a step away. Persistence is a mental attitude cultivated from self-discipline that will get you to your final destination no matter the odds you face. It is easy to dream but to be determined enough to achieve those dreams is the hardest of all the traits that an entrepreneur must cultivate but with self-discipline and hard work nothing can stand in the way of a person who desires to be an entrepreneurial success.

Acres of diamonds exist right beneath our feet therefore it is up to us the young entrepreneurs to identify these burgeoning opportunities so we can develop them for the benefit of the masses. Though lack of funds and experience may cause us to doubt our capabilities it should be understood that though many have tried and failed those who succeeded were the ones that never gave up. No matter the obstacles that may exist nothing can prevent you from dreaming. Dream and imagine where you want to be and work hard and sacrifice to make them realities. Imagination is the ‘workshop of the mind’ where ideas are assembled together to form big dreams; true entrepreneurs are those individuals that persevere in their efforts and use their failures as stepping-stones to propel them to their final destination - SUCCESS.

WHO IS AN ENTREPRENEUR?.......Part 1

This article was written by Samuel Okore Mintah, the Chief Operations Officer of BMIC. He is a true friend and a brilliant business partner with the mind of a business guru in the making. Enjoy!

I have been asking myself the same question time and time again, “Who is an Entrepreneur?” From the many books I have read on Entrepreneurism the same answer to this very question pops up; simply put “An Entrepreneur is anybody who DESIRES to take the risks necessary to employ him or herself and others in a business venture.” Desire is a required mental attitude for an entrepreneur, but in the harsh world of business it is not enough to simply have desire, in order to succeed you need something more. An entrepreneur , formulates a definite goal(s) from an Idea, identifies an Opportunity and without procrastination works diligently towards achieving his or her objectives no matter the inevitable impediments to create value from a potentially profitable venture. Ideas are the children of the brain, which means that Entrepreneurism begins in the Mind. It is important to note that any business idea is potentially profitable but transforming the idea into a lucrative reality depends of the amount of work and determination that the proponent of the idea wants to expend in the pursuit of success. It is most often fear of the uncertainties of self-employment that results in most people giving up potentially profitable entrepreneurial opportunities in favour of securing a ‘safe’ and secure job, which was created by someone else.

The striking fact of economics is this; entrepreneurs are the minority who create opportunities for the majority to make a living. Every successful business, big or small, local or global, was the brainchild of a determined entrepreneur(s) that consequently created opportunities for others to benefit from, either as employees, shareholders or consumers. Their activities buttress that of state-run institutions by providing occupations for all the people seeking jobs that cannot be employed by the government. Entrepreneurs make up and define the Private Sector of any economy, which in most capitalist societies is much bigger than the Public Sector. All these jobs and opportunities originated as a little idea in the mind of an entrepreneur, which consequently contributes to nation building, creating jobs for the people and wealth for him or herself. Wealth creation through job creation is the universal attribute that is seen in every entrepreneur. Members of the entrepreneurial minority usually start with nothing but a simple idea, massive amounts of Determination, an incredible Work Ethic, the refusal so accept Defeat or Failure and eventually accomplish great feats in diverse areas because of their willingness to work, work harder and then work some more. With an idiosyncratic CAN-DO attitude and a NEVER-GIVE-UP spirit, entrepreneurs have been able to change the destinies of others and the fortunes of entire nations.

During a conversation a friend once asked me, “If entrepreneurial skills and job creation was important why wasn’t it being taught in schools?” I responded as Robert Kiyosaki wrote in his book, “Rich Dad Poor Dad”, “wealth creation or entrepreneurism is not taught in schools”. The syllabus taught in schools teach nothing about job creation or how to realize value out of an idea because the syllabus has been designed to turn us into job seekers instead of job creators. Therefore entrepreneurism is an individual pursuit that begins with an idea and manifests into reality through Determination, Hard Work, Perseverance, Discipline and Creativity. Indeed because of the unique and rare qualities that are necessary for a true entrepreneur to be born, not all of us can become entrepreneurs, which means job creators must not necessarily equal job seekers to decrease the large rate of unemployment. According to Noel Brempong, if just 5% of the citizens of Ghana become bona fide job creators then the unemployment rate of this country would reduce drastically.

An entrepreneur doesn’t wait for opportunities to come their way instead they actively search for opportunities and when they find one, they are able to capitalize on it to create value through which they create jobs for others and wealth for themselves. They use these opportunities to create an efficient effort-based system where wealth is generated by taking hold of the idea no matter how simple or complex and putting in the work necessary for it to become a successful reality. These entrepreneurs have Limitless Courage, a Positive Mindset, a Persistent Spirit and most importantly Self-Belief. Besides the above traits, entrepreneurs take responsibility for their actions; they have confidence in others, they cooperate with others and learn from their mistakes. When they sense an opportunity they move into action without leaving any room for procrastination. In entrepreneurism one’s level of education, sex, age, and race have no bearing on becoming successful......

To Be Continued!