How To Raise Money For Your Business In Africa | Diane Akuffo

Summary

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Konnected Minds Podcast – Detailed Episode Summary

Episode: How To Raise Money For Your Business In Africa
Host: Derrick Abaitey
Guest: Diane Akuffo (Business Consultant & Entrepreneur)
Date: May 1, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode explores, step-by-step, how African entrepreneurs—especially in Ghana and Nigeria—can prepare themselves and their businesses to raise investment. Derrick Abaitey interviews Diane Akuffo, who shares practical strategies from her experience helping entrepreneurs secure over $1.5 million in funding. They discuss the real challenges of raising capital within Africa's economic and cultural context, the importance of compliance and documentation, investor expectations, and pitfalls to avoid.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Who Gets Funded – Reality versus Expectations

• Investors in Ghana (and broadly Africa) do not fund ideas alone; they need to see traction, existing work, and compliance.
• Diane Akuffo (00:00):
  "I can't come and give you $100,000 and then you're going to use 50K to sort out your personal issues… Investors in Ghana don't really give money for ideas. They need to see something in hand."

Important Takeaway:

• Proof of concept—such as a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), pilot program, or actual sales—is crucial.
• Registering your business is just the starting point, not a ticket to funding.

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2. Bootstrapping and Diane’s Credentials

• Diane herself bootstrapped all her ventures but has successfully helped others raise close to $1.5 million globally, with many successes in Ghana.
• Diane (03:49):
  "I've helped other businesses raise money, and I've done roughly over $1.5 million for entrepreneurs across globe right here in Ghana."

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3. The Compliance Process & Why It Matters

• Investors look for compliance: formal registration, tax filings, employee registrations (SSNIT), accurate financial records, and government filings.
• Diane (07:17):
  "Compliance means that first, are you even registered... Are they registered with snit? Are you paying for them? That is compliance."

Survival Entrepreneurship Problem:

• Many businesses are in "survival mode" and mix personal and business funds, making proper accounting and compliance difficult.
• Diane (09:17):
  "A business that is in survival mode, right? So I call it survival entrepreneurship. They don't have time to keep records, they don't have time to document their journey."

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4. Traditional Trust Models vs. Silicon Valley Model

• Historically, funding in Africa was based on trust (collateral, family networks, communal pooling like susu).
• Diane (10:46):
  "Initially in Ghana and across the continent... What was done was trust. So I knew you, you knew me... Right now we're using the Silicon Valley framework. We actually need you to prove yourself with data, with numbers, with every documentation possible."

Limitations:

• Traditional methods (susu, apprenticeship) are not scalable for modern, high-growth entrepreneurship needs.

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5. Building Investor-Ready Documentation

What Goes into a Pitch Deck? (15:38)

1. Problem
2. Solution
3. Market Size (TAM, SAM, SOM)
4. Traction
5. Competitior Analysis
6. Business Model
7. Product
8. Go-to-Market Strategy
9. Financials
10. Team

• Diane (16:45):
  "When someone tells me that there are no competitors for what I'm building, I tell you that you haven't done your research enough."

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6. Market Validation & Pilot Testing

• Validate the idea with real customers; run pilots, pre-sell, give out samples, and measure willingness to pay.
• Diane (31:51):
  "You can have an idea, your idea can be a billion dollar idea, but if you don't make any money with the idea, it's still an idea. You need to validate that this thing can actually make money."

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7. Unit Economics and Customer Acquisition

• Key metrics:
  • Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
  • Lifetime Value (LTV)
• Ensure the business generates significantly more revenue from customers than it spends to acquire them.

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8. Finding Investors

Where to Look:

• LinkedIn

• Networking events

• Investor conferences

• Purpose-built digital platforms (e.g., FundVesta, Diane’s AI-powered platform for connecting entrepreneurs and investors)

• Diane (36:51):
  "My Ghana, what I'm trying to build, it's called FundVesta. FundVesta is an AI powered platform that connects entrepreneurs and investors."

Investor Readiness Layer:

• Many fail due to poor investor readiness—lack of documents, clarity, and professionalism.

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9. Why Diane Turned Down $3M in Funding

• She declined significant offers for her own startup because investors wanted an escrow model she wasn’t comfortable with in her current stage.
• Diane (40:39):
  "I actually turned down the money because I feel like it's too early. They require me to build an escrow. And we know the regulations are a lot. This is kind of where I want to start. I want to start with the readiness, because that's the most important part."

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10. Types of Funding Offers

• Equity (ownership percentage)
• Blended Finance (mix of equity/loans)
• SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity)
• Convertible notes

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11. Pitfalls & Bad Funding Stories

• Entrepreneurs sometimes sign away most of their company (over 60%) due to eagerness or lack of due diligence.

• Diane (42:57):
  "Now, when that term sheet comes, most people make this mistake, which is they actually don't involve a lawyer."

• Dianne’s Golden Rule: Always involve a lawyer at the term sheet and contract review stage.

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12. Investor Intent and Funding Pressures

• Investors demand returns on a timeline.

• Many African startups collapse under the pressure of aiming for “unicorn” status and burning cash without achieving product-market fit.

• Diane (44:44):
  "They need to make their money back and they have timeframes... So taking somebody's money means... you're going to be under a lot of pressure to deliver because you're taking money that you haven't made yet."

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13. Valuation and Equity

• Never give up more equity than necessary; majority ownership should remain with founders, if possible.
• High equity offers (>40%) often lead entrepreneurs to feel alienated and “working for” investors.

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14. Formal vs. Informal Business Sectors

• There’s a gap between formal businesses (with proper documentation and knowledge) and the significant informal sector, which uses mobile money and recordkeeping systems unique to the community.
• Funders and startup ecosystems must “meet people where they are” and adapt solutions accordingly.

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15. Coaching and Capacity Building

• Diane's “Big Ten” incubator aimed to help 10 businesses raise GHS 100,000 each, but due to unprepared applicants she only selected three.

• Diane (61:13):
  "I wanted to pick 10 people, but I actually picked only... picked four and one person didn't respond. So now I have three people. So the Big Ten has turned into Big Three."

• Many entrepreneurs lack readiness, seriousness, or ‘polish’—being late or casual in meetings, not following instructions, or contacting mentors with vague “Hi/Hello” messages.

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16. Professionalism & Attitude

• Presentation, preparedness, and directness are necessary to unlock opportunities.
• Diane (63:19):
  "There's a certain type of person that you need to be to be able to unlock that money."
• Derrick (63:41): recommends watching shows like “The Apprentice,” “Shark Tank,” and “Dragon’s Den” to learn how real deals are negotiated.

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17. Business Structure & Financial Discipline

• Sole proprietorships are generally not investable because there is no legal distinction between owner and company.

• Diane (56:52):
  "A lot of people would register a sole proprietor and think that, oh, they can give equity to investors. How? You and the business are one. As a sole proprietor, you are considered the business."

• Registered limited liability companies are preferable for fundraising.

• Separation of Personal and Business Finances:
  Both Diane and Derrick share that many new entrepreneurs fail to treat the business as its own entity.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Realistic Ambitions:
  Diane (19:11):
  "A unicorn is a company that is valued at over $1 billion...Or maybe you just need to be a zebra. You need to be something that is reachable, achievable in wherever you are."

• On Copycat Entrepreneurship:
  Diane (21:57):
  "I have a big problem with the copycats... If you can't add any value to what, what the person is already doing, you're just, in the end, you're just coming into the same space, doing the same thing. There's no difference."

• On Business Plans & Flexibility:
  Derrick (28:39):
  "80% of the things I wrote to my business plan didn't happen."

  Diane (28:48):
  "It's a plan. So it needs to change. If something goes wrong, it needs to change. It's a plan."

• On Unprepared Entrepreneurs:
  Diane (61:13):
  "You are sitting in some place with your friends, laughing in the back. There's music and all of that. Another person was at a funeral. Right… this is the reality."

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Key Timestamps

• 00:00 – Opening remarks: Investor mindset and funding realities
• 03:31 – Diane’s background and how she became a business funding consultant
• 07:16 – Compliance and formalizing your business
• 10:28 – Trust-based traditional funding models vs. Silicon Valley approach
• 14:42 – Steps and content for creating a winning pitch deck
• 23:39 – Startups vs. traditional SMEs distinction
• 29:21 – Minimum requirements to approach any investor
• 31:51 – Validating your idea: pilots and customer research
• 35:37 – Unit economics & customer acquisition cost explained
• 36:51 – Where to find investors, and introduction to FundVesta platform
• 40:39 – Why Diane turned down $3 million in investment
• 42:57 – Horror story: entrepreneur loses control of business after poor contract
• 56:52 – Sole proprietorships are not suitable for raising equity investment
• 57:58 – Launching the “Big Ten” incubator and poor applicant preparedness
• 61:37 – Advice on professionalism and communicating with mentors/investors
• 63:19 – The right attitude and resource recommendations (“The Apprentice”, “Shark Tank”)
• 64:24 – Derrick highlights Diane’s practical book for Ghanaian entrepreneurs

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Actionable Advice for Listeners

• Get your house in order: Register your business; keep accurate books; file taxes, and separate business/personal finances.
• Validate your idea: Run pilots, seek actual sales, and research your market.
• Perfect your investor documents: Build a strong pitch deck, business plan, and clear financial projections.
• Network where investors are: Online (LinkedIn), at live events, and via purpose-built platforms.
• Know what you’re signing: Always involve a lawyer when reviewing term sheets or contracts.
• Be professional: Approach meetings and communications with the seriousness they deserve.

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Further Resources:

• “The Apprentice” (UK), “Shark Tank”, and “Dragon’s Den” – for real-world investor pitching models
• Diane’s book for regulatory navigation in Ghana
• FundVesta platform for connecting to investors with an AI-driven business readiness layer

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Transcript

[Diane Ekufu]

There's a certain type of person that you need to be to be able to unlock that money. I can't come and give you $100,000 and then you're going to use 50K to sort out your personal issues. Most entrepreneurs would come to me with ideas wanting to get funded and unfortunately in our ecosystem that's going to be a very difficult thing for you to do. Investors in Ghana don't really give money for ideas. They need to see something in hand. The problem is that we're all trying to be unicorns and a unicorn is. A unicorn is a company that is valued over $1 billion. But maybe you just need to be a zebra. You need to be something that is reachable, achievable. Importing ideas is not a bad thing. We just need to make sure that.

[Derek Abayte]

Is this the same idea that you've been approached with funding for? Yes. How much was that?

[Diane Ekufu]

$3 million. I mean this conversation is very interesting because I actually turned down the money cuz I feel like

[Derek Abayte]

where do I identify investors?

[Diane Ekufu]

When you ask anybody where do I look for investors? They'll tell you.

[Derek Abayte]

You're welcome to Connected Minds Podcast. My name is Derek Abayte. I think I've said my name so many times now, everybody knows it. Now if you're struggling to raise funds for your business, as many people tell me on the Internet, we don't have capital. It's all well and good the things you are discussing, Derek, but we don't actually have the money to start this conversation is for you. So all the brilliant ideas you have in your notebooks, wherever you have it, stick with me because my guest today is a business consultant and an entrepreneur, Diane Ekufu. And she's going to take you through the steps from beginning to the end, how to make your business investable and if you have an idea how you can pitch that to investors and exactly where to find the investors. On the 9th of September, myself obey Diane herself and Eko Eshon were going to Kumasi, the great hall. Connected Minds Live is coming to a sacrum. So if you haven't gotten your seat yet in the description and the comments right now, click and purchase a ticket because they go really fast. Now if you want to know where you can listen to Connected minds apart from YouTube, go to Spotify and search Connected Minds podcast. You can also do that on Apple Podcast. Just search, subscribe and become part of the family. Hi Diane, how are you doing?

[Diane Ekufu]

I'm good, how are you?

[Derek Abayte]

I'm doing fantastic. I'm happy you're here today.

[Diane Ekufu]

I'm glad to be here. Yeah. Yes.

[Derek Abayte]

Connected Minds podcast.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yes.

[Derek Abayte]

So today, our conversation, the interest said, is really for you to break it down.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yeah.

[Derek Abayte]

To the simplest forms, for us to understand how we can, you know, model our business properly, to raise funds. And then also people can go from idea to getting funded. But for you yourself, have you raised fund for your business before?

[Diane Ekufu]

For me, no. I've never had the need to.

[Derek Abayte]

Why?

[Diane Ekufu]

Because I always bootstrap, so I use my funds to set up my businesses. So I've never had the need to.

[Derek Abayte]

So then to really qualify you, why should anybody watch this conversation?

[Diane Ekufu]

Because I've helped other businesses raise money, and I've done roughly over $1.5 million for entrepreneurs across globe right here in Ghana. Across globe.

[Derek Abayte]

Right. From investors here or across.

[Diane Ekufu]

I see, yeah.

[Derek Abayte]

And these businesses are Ghanaian businesses, or

[Diane Ekufu]

some of them are.

[Derek Abayte]

I see, yeah. And where did you learn that skill? How did you come by that?

[Diane Ekufu]

So, very interesting story. Someone one day asked me if I could build them a business plan, and I said yes. And so that's where the journey started from. I started writing business plans for people. I was helping people write business plans that they could take to the banks. And so, I mean, I was already doing most of the work. They would send me the criteria, and I would try and do everything within that criteria. I was like, oh, I'm already doing the job. Why not position myself better in that space? Because I'm already doing it. And I was really good at it because most of the people that I did it for actually did get their funding.

[Derek Abayte]

Yeah, most of the people. What percentage are we looking at?

[Diane Ekufu]

Oh, probably like 80%.

[Derek Abayte]

I see.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yeah.

[Derek Abayte]

And what have you seen as the reason why people get funded and the reason people don't?

[Diane Ekufu]

Okay, so usually I would say that it's depending on what you're doing. Right. The industry you're in and what you have available. So most entrepreneurs would come to me with ideas, wanting to get funded. And unfortunately, in our ecosystem, that's going to be a very difficult thing for you to do. Right. Investors in Ghana don't really give money for ideas. They need to see something in hand. So depending on who you're talking to, it could be a very different conversation. If I don't know you and I'm trying to sell you a phone and I'm telling you the iPhone 17 costs 2000 CES, you're probably going to say, well, maybe it's fake you. Right, because you don't know me. Right. So you're going to have issues with that. It's the same way we're going approaching investors and we're asking them for their money. They don't know us, they don't know what you're doing. You're selling them an idea that doesn't exist yet. So because that doesn't exist yet, I mean, what is your proof? You don't have any money, you don't have any traction, you don't have any product, nothing in hand that they can work with. So it makes it very hard. So that's where the trust comes in. So if you've built something in the past, you can use that as something like currency to negotiate for where you're going now. But if you have something that you've been working on, it's actually really easier to sell that to somebody because you've been working on it for a while. You probably did a pilot, you have an mvp, you have something in hand to show that you actually are serious. So what happens is that most people think that registering a business or registering a sole proprietor is your ticket to getting an investor. It's not. It's just a registration. What is you need to be compliant.

[Derek Abayte]

Take me through the compliance process.

[Diane Ekufu]

Okay, so the compliance means that first, are you even registered with Green? Do you have snit? Right. You say on your pitch deck in your team section, you're saying that you have three employees. Are they registered with snit? Are you paying for them? That is compliance. You need to also be filing. Right. So how much money are you making? You can just put some spreadsheet together and tell us that you make this amount of money. But what is recorded? If you don't have anything recorded, you are not compliant.

[Derek Abayte]

So it's recorded on the spreadsheet that the small business owner is using? Yes. However, it actually also needs to be recorded with the government.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yes.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay.

[Diane Ekufu]

You need to be compliant because investors are going to give you their money. They need to make sure you actually obey the law. Right. Or else you're going to put them in trouble as well. So if you come with an idea and nothing in hand, nothing has been done, it's going to be really hard. So you have to put all of these documentations together and things like your bank statements as well, you're going to check that. And if you're someone that doesn't like a lot of pressure, they don't want anybody bothering you and looking into your business and holding you accountable, you probably would not do well trying to raise money. Why is that because you need to be compliant, Right? And if compliance also means that there's some strict rules that you have to follow, right? Filing for your taxes and all of these things, if you're not doing them, I mean, who can invest in a business that doesn't pay taxes? And the reason is even with your bookkeeping, right, People have bookkeeping, but how accurate is that?

[Derek Abayte]

Okay, explain that.

[Diane Ekufu]

A business that is in survival mode, right? So I call it survival entrepreneurship. They don't have time to keep records, they don't have time to document their journey in terms of how much sales, this and that and that. Because at the end of the day, they're going to be taking money from the business and things will get crazy. You won't see what is happening in your business again because you actually need the money. You have an emergency. You, you have to bring 3,000 CDs. Where are you going to get that money? It's going to come from the business. So even though you have probably some records, it probably isn't also accurate. Any investor that comes in and they do their due diligence, which means that they're going to look at the numbers in your business, what that means for them is that they're not going to be seeing, they will see the trend of how much money you've been taking for yourself. Personally, I can't come and give you a hundred thousand dollars and then you're going to use 50k to sort out your personal issues. It needs to go into the business. So that's the mindset of the investors.

[Derek Abayte]

I spoke with two grown men who had, you know, invested in other young people, and one of them said two of them use the money to travel abroad. Is this a genuine concern of some of the investors?

[Diane Ekufu]

Yes. Yes. And because what people don't understand is, let me even ask you, before we started this Silicon Valley framework of getting funding, because what we're using now is what we call the Silicon Valley framework, where you need to prove yourself before you get money. Initially in Ghana and across the continent, what was done was trust. So I knew you, you knew me. I knew where you lived, right? You sell, you use your land as collateral, right? And then you go and ask the chief for money. The chief gives you money. And then when the chief gives you money, that's kind of what you use to do what you need to do. You can use the land as collateral, right? And you can use your, if you're a farmer, you can use your future produce as collateral, right? So now what that means is that, that, that was very doable. Right now we're using the Silicon Valley framework. We actually need you to prove yourself with data, with numbers, with every documentation possible. But back then it was more of a trust currency. So I would come to your place and I would see it and I'll say, okay, I'll give you the money. So the chief gives you the money, or the elder in the community gives you the money. Some of the frameworks are still being used till today. Right. But there's a problem. So let me talk about Susu. Okay, Right. Susu is very good. People do.

[Derek Abayte]

And sorry, what does susu mean for my non Ghanaian audience?

[Diane Ekufu]

Okay. Susu is more like collating people together and then we contribute some amount of money and that money is giving, is collated and given in bulk to one person. Right. So we have numbers. So if you have 15 people, it probably be 15 weeks. Right?

[Derek Abayte]

Right. We all collect the money.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yes.

[Derek Abayte]

And then we say, okay, today let's give it to Diane.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yes.

[Derek Abayte]

And then the next time we collect it and then give it to there.

[Diane Ekufu]

So. Yes. So you pay weekly. Right. And this, this framework has been in existence for a very long time. But you know what the problem is? It's not scalable. Do you know why? Because when 15 people is a trusting, it's a trust. We trust the 15 people. I know you, you know somebody, you brought, this person you brought, so you're vouching for people, right? So 15 people makes sense. 20 people make sense. A thousand five hundred doesn't make sense. Okay, right. Because it's not scalable. Because how am I going to trust 1500 people? It's going to be really hard to manage. Yeah, right. Same thing. I'm going to make reference to apprenticeship. Right? Apprenticeship existed way before where even when you trace it back to the Igbo kingdom, right. The Igbos up to today, they still do that. You serve for five to seven years and then the boss that you serve with after that, they're going to set you up. So they give you seed capital, they help you set up your business, and they give you some money to go and start your life.

[Derek Abayte]

A lot of the churches even use this method, right? Yeah.

[Diane Ekufu]

Right. And the thing is, again, it's not scalable. How many people can one person take? How many people are even doing this apprenticeship thing? It's not scalable. Can we do 50,000 people? Can we give 50,000 people access to funding this way? It's not scalable. So now the problem is that because these things are not Scalable. We've had to adopt other frameworks because

[Derek Abayte]

we have evolved, which is why the Silicon Valley framework.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yes.

[Derek Abayte]

Can you explain that to us?

[Diane Ekufu]

Okay, so when, from inception, you need. I'm going to talk about your pitch deck. Right? Pitch deck. You need a pitch deck. You need a business plan. Okay, Right.

[Derek Abayte]

What is a pitch deck? What is a business plan?

[Diane Ekufu]

Okay, so a pitch deck is a summary, a visual summary and emphasis on visual summary, a visual summary of your business plan. Okay. So a pitch deck is just a document that. More like a PowerPoint presentation that is showing all the information about your business. So there are 10 things that actually go inside the pitch deck. Okay, right. Because while I've done a lot of consulting, I've realized that people leave some of these things out.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay, what are the 10 things?

[Diane Ekufu]

So problem. Okay, so the problem that you're trying to solve, the solution, the market size. Okay. And so you see things like Tam, Sam, some frameworks. Right. And this is just to show how big the market you are in is. And we go to traction. Okay. So when you started, whatever you have in hand right now, what is attraction? How. And traction means different things for different people depending on the industry that you're in. Traction could mean you have a wait list. Traction could mean that you have active people buying from you already. Traction could mean different things for different people depending on the industry that you're in. We go to. So market size, traction, and then we go to competitors. You, you have to do your competitor analysis in every. When someone tells me that there are no competitors for what I'm building, I

[Derek Abayte]

tell you that you haven't done your research enough.

[Diane Ekufu]

No. And even that if you don't have competitors, I personally would not go into any business that doesn't have competitors.

[Derek Abayte]

Why?

[Diane Ekufu]

Because the market is not validated.

[Derek Abayte]

But you could be the first person validating that.

[Diane Ekufu]

You could. But that will cost you more.

[Derek Abayte]

Right. And it becomes a lot more difficult to get.

[Diane Ekufu]

Exactly. And then do you know what happens? People can copy you and make it better. Huh? Because I learned from your mistakes. Right. And that's why you do competitor analysis. I look at what you're doing that I'm not doing. I look at where you're lacking in something and I improve on that. I would rather that than be the first person coming into the industry and I have to burn a lot of money. You can look at the story of Amazon.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay, talk to me.

[Diane Ekufu]

Right? Amazon had investors that were with them for many, many years. Over 10 years. Right. And they were still not profitable. And these at this time money was being burnt. Right. You probably can't afford that. You are in Ghana, you are somewhere, you have something small you want to start, you don't have the capital. You want to be the first person that came up with this thing. It's going to be very difficult, quote, because it can be capital intensive, depending on the industry.

[Derek Abayte]

I get it. Doesn't that also mean that we are going to be importing a lot of ideas instead of solving our own problems? Because some of the problems we may have.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yes.

[Derek Abayte]

There may not be competition as such.

[Diane Ekufu]

Right.

[Derek Abayte]

Locally.

[Diane Ekufu]

Locally. Personally, I don't think any idea is. It's so new, right?

[Derek Abayte]

Novel in its nature.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yes. People, it's something that someone has probably thought of. Someone has done something little, you probably haven't seen it yet. When I decided to start building something is when I realized that, oh, people are actually building similar things. Right. And they'll reach out to you and all of that. So you get to find out what people are doing. But the thing is, honestly speaking, if you see our problem is that I took this concept from Vousi. The problem is that we're all trying to be unicorns. We're trying to build the rare one, one in a lifetime, the one billion dollar idea.

[Derek Abayte]

And a unicorn is.

[Diane Ekufu]

A unicorn is a company that is valued at over $1 billion. And people want to be unicorns. Right. Or maybe you just need to be a zebra. You need to be something that is reachable, achievable in wherever you are. I'm not saying that unicorns are not achievable. They are. But do you have the capacity to get to that point and sometimes to.

[Derek Abayte]

I guess that's where the TAM comes in. Right. And TAM is total addressable market.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yes.

[Derek Abayte]

We may not have that in a small country like Ghana, but Nigeria may have it, South Africa may have it. And that's the reason why in Nigeria they have, I think they have about five or six unicorns.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yes.

[Derek Abayte]

Ghana doesn't have any.

[Diane Ekufu]

No, actually Ghana does have. But they are not Ghanaian owned. Okay. They are multinationals. Right, Right. And so when we count, when we count, we don't count them because they're not, they are multinationals. But the problem is that because we're chasing this unicorn framework, Silicon Valley, because this, all this came from Silicon Valley. Right. And so everybody wants to build a billion dollar tech company. A billion dollar. Maybe what you need to do is solve a little problem that actually has consistency, consistent users, consistent sales. That's what we need. Right. And I like the fact that you said, okay, so how then do we actually solve problems for ourselves if we're importing ideas? Importing ideas is not a bad thing. We just need to make sure that we apply it to our context. Right. Because the reason why people are also not getting funded is that the yardstick in which they are using to measure these entrepreneurs, we don't meet it. We don't meet it. And people don't know. Right? People don't know that we don't meet the yardstick. So it becomes a problem. So your competitors, very important competitors. You need to understand that when you are looking for a business that actually has competition, they validated the market for you. Right? They validated it already. They are telling you they are users. They are people that are actively paying for things in that space. You don't need to come and validate it. You don't need to come and experiment with your money.

[Derek Abayte]

I don't know. I mean, I like the idea. Right. It's just this part of the world.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yeah.

[Derek Abayte]

It fuels the copycat mechanism.

[Diane Ekufu]

I like that as well. Right, okay. And I have a big problem with the copycats, Right. Because we're not being. We're not being innovative. And I was talking to some people about this recently. We're not being innovative. We can take the same. There was a whole lip gloss pandemic. I don't know if you know this. Everybody started making lip gloss, right? Because somebody started it and it, it was nice. Right. And so everyone started making lip gloss as well. I'm like, okay, for something like this, what makes you different from the other person? If you can't add any value to what, what the person is already doing, you're just, in the end, you're just coming into the same space, doing the same thing. There's no difference. You probably won't make much. Right? The difference is not there. If you came with your own concept, brand story, even the. The packaging is still the same. You're all buying from the same wholesaler and selling to different people.

[Derek Abayte]

They're all white labeling. Okay, okay, let me stop you here for a minute. So if it's your first time watching Connected Minds or you have been here before but still have not subscribed, do us a favor, because majority of the people that watch our videos have not subscribed. This doesn't help us grow beyond what we expect. So help us by hitting the subscribe button. Thank you. Now, let's get back to the conversation. We have traditional businesses and we have startups. What's the difference?

[Diane Ekufu]

Okay, good. I like that you mentioned this because one thing here that I've realized is that we exchange the SMEs with startups.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay?

[Diane Ekufu]

Startups are meant to grow fast. They are rapid, they involve rapid growth. That's why you would see more like open AI. Right? OpenAI is a startup, right? They are rapid, they're growing fast, they're getting investors investing money quicker, they're doing things faster. Right. Those types of businesses are not passed to your kids,

[Derek Abayte]

okay.

[Diane Ekufu]

They are grown to a point to sell or to exit or to put in the market for people to buy shares.

[Derek Abayte]

Right? IPOs.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yes, IPOs. But for traditional businesses, you want to pass like this to your kids. You want to pass this to your generations. You're trying to build legacy. A legacy that you're trying to build cannot be a startup. You're an SME, right? Because it's not fast paced like that. You're not trying to build it quickly and put it on the market and exit and make your money.

[Derek Abayte]

Can traditional businesses also raise funds? Yes, same method.

[Diane Ekufu]

Same, same. So we're using the same framework across board, right? Same framework across board. So traditional businesses and even. Let me, let me highlight the informal sector. Right? The reason why we're having issues with the informal sector is that we were always widening the gap because they don't understand what is going on here. So there's the people that know, okay, about all of these Silicon Valley stuff, pitch decks, financial projections and all of these things. And then there's the informal sector that doesn't truly understand everything in this space. Right. Does that mean that they don't deserve funding? So we leave these people to go back to the traditional frameworks that have existed before. You see them doing the SUs and the apprenticeships and stuff like that because this is what is working for them now. We need to find a way where we merge these two. That's what we're struggling with and hence why a lot of people would still not get funded. My goal is to bring people up to speed. Up to speed that we meet in the middle. You understand what these people are doing, right? And you're able to move up the ladder with what they're doing as well you may. We don't have to get the Makola woman to understand accounting.

[Derek Abayte]

Why?

[Diane Ekufu]

Because she already has her own way of doing accounting. She probably doesn't need to use QuickBooks. We don't need to teach her how to use QuickBooks.

[Derek Abayte]

Books.

[Diane Ekufu]

She has memorials. Right. Most of the businesses in Ghana Take money where? On their phone. On their phone. Right. That can actually be translated to a replaced with the bank statements. Because maybe these people don't have bank accounts because they are not formal businesses. Right. So they probably don't have bank accounts for the business.

[Derek Abayte]

But that's a form of a bank account.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yes, essentially. Exactly.

[Derek Abayte]

And they can still get statements.

[Diane Ekufu]

Exactly. Right, right. And so we need to get to the point where these things are used and validated. Because the more we keep trying to force them to do something, it feels as though we're trying to get them to change. But we need to meet them where they are and create solutions for them where they are. So we build solutions around them. And that's even what I plan to do in the next few years. Right. Because even though we have Fundvestor now, we are going to have Fundvestor local.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yeah.

[Derek Abayte]

You've spoken about what goes into a pitch deck.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yes.

[Derek Abayte]

Now let's talk about a business plan.

[Diane Ekufu]

Okay. Okay. So the business plan is. It's is the full blown plan of your entire business. Okay. It's in its name. A business plan. Yeah. Right.

[Derek Abayte]

At what point do you do a business plan?

[Diane Ekufu]

I would say that like when you get your idea and you have the concept in place and you're, you know, you started working on, you know, putting things together.

[Derek Abayte]

80% of the things I wrote to my business plan didn't happen.

[Diane Ekufu]

Why?

[Derek Abayte]

Because the numbers were either inflated or under.

[Diane Ekufu]

Exactly. So what happens is that most people don't update their business plans. Right, Right. It's a plan. So it needs to change. If something goes wrong, it needs to change. It's a plan. Right. You're planning. It's more like you're planning your life. Okay. You take this route, it doesn't work. You're moving to this route. So you have to tweak it. Right. You can give what financial projections? And I always tell people this. Before you even go and talk to any investor, before you talk to any investor at all, you need a pitch deck.

[Derek Abayte]

Yep.

[Diane Ekufu]

You need a business plan.

[Derek Abayte]

Yep.

[Diane Ekufu]

Your business needs to be registered. Right. Because you need to show that you actually believe in what you're doing.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay.

[Diane Ekufu]

So if you are not registered is kind of like a red flag because how can you not be registered? And you are pitching to me to give you money because how much is a registration? Right. So you need to make a little investment in what you're doing. So pitch deck, business plan, financial projections.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay.

[Diane Ekufu]

Right. And I think these three can do,

[Derek Abayte]

should they have like social media Accounts ready, websites, maybe, I mean today's world,

[Diane Ekufu]

even that it's, it's not too much of a big deal. I feel like those are the low hanging fruits. Okay, right. Social media, you can have a social media, you're posting or not, depending on the industry you're in. But social media is a good tool to actually showcase what you're doing. But if you have a, like if you have a website and you don't make money, right? So you need to validate your idea. And validating your idea means different things to different people. Okay. Right. Before I decide that I'm going to work on something and go full force into it, what I would do is I would validate my idea. I would create a little pilot.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay. Pilot? Yeah.

[Diane Ekufu]

Okay, so let's say

[Derek Abayte]

pilot.

[Diane Ekufu]

So let's say my book, right? When I wanted to put together a book, I knew very well that it's something that's needed, but I didn't know if people actually purchase it. So I created a little community and I asked them, okay, so what do you think I should put in the book that I'm writing? They sell a whole lot of things. And it was in line with what I had planned. I validated it by asking them, okay, so would you guys pre order the book? People pre ordered the book. And that, that was, that was my validation. People actually want to purchase it. A lot of people leave the validation behind. You can have an idea, your idea can be a billion dollar idea, but if you don't make any money with the idea, it's still an idea. You need to validate that this thing can actually make money.

[Derek Abayte]

So this is, this sounds more like tech digital, you know, somebody that is.

[Diane Ekufu]

So we can use products. Yeah, okay, let's use products. Let me give you an example. When I decided that I wanted to start a dried fruit business, what I did was to go ask people, oh, would you actually like this? And I actually brought samples to give to people to see. Okay, so if I am to sell something like this, would you actually like this? One thing that we usually leave out is the market research that goes with the validation. Right. You can't sit in your room and coin ideas and think that, oh, this idea is going to sell. You actually need to be on ground and talk to the people. Before I started building a tech startup, I had one on one meetings with entrepreneurs and investors. I went to their offices to ask them questions. Okay, so what, what would you want to see in a product like this? What does that look like for you? Would you pay for something like this, right? Some of them will say yes, and at the end of the day, maybe not pay. But the thing is, you want to validate, right? Sometimes I'll require them to make a little commitment. So, okay, can you pay like 100 cedis for something that we're working on? If you believe in that idea so much, right. Someone might not want to give you that money. Somebody will. Right. But the thing is, you need to be out there trying. And business is not a one size fits all. It's different for different people depending on the target market that you are addressing. You need to make sure that you have more insight on what they can actually do in terms of do they even have the purchasing power and the pricing. Pricing is always a thing as well. Because our ecosystem is strongly price driven. Somebody will move from here to somewhere very far just because of some 50 cities, right? So the market is driven by price. And so we're talking about the total addressable markets and the serviceable obtainable market, right? Well, sometimes the market is the market, right? It's the data that you would probably find online, find with the data, stats and stuff, that's general. But when it comes to the obtainable market, that's what you can do based on your finances, your research, the idea that you have the location, all of these things play a role. So you can have a billion dollar idea, you can be in a billion dollar industry, but you actually make very little because you are in Ghana.

[Derek Abayte]

That's true.

[Diane Ekufu]

Right. So you need to understand how, how all of these dynamics play a role in your business. One thing that I want to also highlight is that there's something we call unit economics in business. Right? Unit economics is essentially, okay, if I'm spending this amount of money, how much money am I getting back? Right? And most businesses can't answer this question. There's something we call the customer acquisition cost. The customer acquisition cost is in terms of all the marketing that you've done.

[Derek Abayte]

How much does it cost you?

[Diane Ekufu]

How much does it cost you? And if it brings in what, 20 people, then you know the value of one person, right? How much money you are spending to acquire one person? When you know how much money you are spending to acquire one person in terms of your marketing efforts. Now we have the lifetime value of customers. So let's say your business, it's in the tech space or it's a product for products. You can get people that will keep buying from you for a very long time. But for specific niche things, maybe the customer stays with you for three years. For three years. If you spend more to acquire that person and that person is not spending three times that amount of money, your business will collapse. Okay, Right. Because you're putting a lot more in the marketing side. You're pushing in so much money and you're not going to get the value at the end of the day.

[Derek Abayte]

I've put together all of this and I've now where do I identify investors?

[Diane Ekufu]

Okay, so for now, right, when you ask anybody where do I look for investors? They'll tell you go on LinkedIn, go to networking events, they have a few investor programs that happen, conferences that happen that they bring investors in. So that that has been the norm so far. My Ghana, what I'm trying to build, it's called FundVesta. FundVesta is an AI powered platform that connects entrepreneurs and investors. So we're not an escrow, so we don't hold investors money and disperse it to you, the investor. It's more of a connection platform to see where you're at, to vet each other and see if you actually want to invest in what they're doing. What I want to do is bring visibility to most of the people that have either ideas, right. Because we know that ideas are not getting funded either ideas, a minimum viable product or you're even making money, your revenue making business already and you actually need money to skill on this platform. One of the things that we've seen people struggle with generally in our ecosystem is investor readiness.

[Derek Abayte]

Right, which is why you've taken us through that process.

[Diane Ekufu]

Exactly. Inside Fundvesta we have an AI business intelligence layer which is called Mangrove AI. Mangrove AI. Think of it as a 24 hour consultant or advisor that you can ask anything in terms of your business. So you upload your pitch deck. It will give you a pitch deck review and tell you the things that are missing in your pitch deck.

[Derek Abayte]

Right.

[Diane Ekufu]

If you upload your business plan it will do the same, tell you what is missing. And we wanted to also make it very interactive. So in case you upload your page deck in your business plan and you still have questions and you want to ask questions that probably you can't go and pay a big consultant for, you can actually ask questions and you get proper feedback from.

[Derek Abayte]

Is this the same idea that you've, you've been approached with funding for?

[Diane Ekufu]

Yes.

[Derek Abayte]

How much was that?

[Diane Ekufu]

Three million dollars. One million dollar and I mean one million dollars and a hundred thousand Ghana cities. And I've had smaller offers come to the table as well. But I mean this conversation is very interesting because I actually turned down the money because I feel like it's too early. They require me to build an escrow. An escrow means I have to hold money on the platform and disperse the money as and when the investor decides who to give the money to. And we know the regulations are a lot. And at least for now, this is kind of where I want to start. I want to start with the readiness, because that's the most important part you can be on. There are other platforms similar to this, Right. But they don't have the readiness layer. There are other platforms that will connect you to investors. Even in Ghana, there are platforms that would create what we call deal rooms. They will put you in the same room with the investor. You pay money roughly around maybe $120 or thousand 200 CDs. They'll put you in the room with the investor. What if the investor doesn't fund you? What happens to your money? You're a small business.

[Derek Abayte]

So I'm really trying to figure out, figure out, like why. I mean, yeah, why would you refuse 3 million USD for your idea?

[Diane Ekufu]

Well, what people don't understand is anytime we talk about money and investors, they think the money is free money, it goes into your pocket. Okay, it doesn't go into your pocket, it goes into the business. And if your business cannot make 10 times that amount of money, what is your business taking that money?

[Derek Abayte]

Do some of these people, do they usually come for equity or as a loan?

[Diane Ekufu]

So equity, Some of them have blended finance models. So they cannot give you equity and a loan or something we call safe. Safe is I give you the money and then later it turns into equity when you decide to raise money. Yeah, and we have convertible notes. Convertible notes are a loan that is given to your business. And then in when you're going to raise money is actually giving to you at a specific time, like for a specific time frame. And what happens is that it's a loan, so you have to pay back. Right. And you might pay with interest as well, but for Safe, you don't pay any interest. It just turns into equity.

[Derek Abayte]

Let me stop you here for a minute. So if it's your first time watching Connected Minds or you have been here before but still have not subscribed, do us a favor, because majority of the people that watch our videos have not subscribed. This doesn't help us grow beyond what we expect. So help us by hitting the subscribe button. Thank you. Now, let's get back to the conversation. There's Something I really wanted to talk about.

[Diane Ekufu]

Okay.

[Derek Abayte]

Because it's a story that someone sat here and spoke to me about. It's actually and said that there's a Ghanaian company that invested in his business. And initially, you know, it was equity. Right. And they ended up taking over 60 of the business. But now he regrets it. Yeah, but it's a bit too late. And initially when the investment came, it was. The contract was a bit funny, but because he was excited and he needed the money, he went for it. Later realized that it was actually two companies and he's almost lost control of the business. What's your advice?

[Diane Ekufu]

Okay, so I will say this from the point. So let me even walk us through what that process to getting money looks like from having your pitch deck. Your finances, you are compliant, you have registered gre, and all of these things that we're talking about, you move to the stage where you're talking to the investor. So you approach them with your pitch deck. Right, with your pitch deck. They like your pitch deck. Okay. They want to do due diligence on you. And so that's where they request. Request for all the documents that you have. Yeah, Right. They go and do their research and then they come up with evaluation. The valuation is going to be based. It can be based on different things, based on the market, discounted cash flow, which means how much money your business has been making, or can be based on the industry that you're in. You move to the term sheets. Okay. The term sheet is where they actually give you a document that states that we want to give you this amount of money at this rate and we're going to take this and that from you. So it's either equity or it's a loan that you have to pay back at a specific time. Now, when that term sheet comes, most people make this mistake, which is they actually don't involve a lawyer.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay.

[Diane Ekufu]

Because you would think you understand 20%. And they've written safe, they've written convertible notes, they've written all of these things. And you think you understand, but you later come and find a clause that says that if you try to quit, they're going to take your company from you. I see, Right. And you might miss that because that's legal's job. Right. And so I tell people this, as an entrepreneur, always involve a lawyer. You don't need to have a lawyer because I know it's quite expensive. Expensive to retain a lawyer, but then

[Derek Abayte]

maybe you could do a no win, no fee kind of model.

[Diane Ekufu]

Right. So that needs to Happen when you get to your term sheet stage, don't go and sign any agreement with anybody without a lawyer looking at it because that's what happens. You get excited, you feel like you understand everything, the relationship is good, everybody is smiling, but you don't know what is hiding behind those words, behind the document.

[Derek Abayte]

And then also essentially, investors go into business because they want to make money.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yes. And that's my problem with most Ghanaians, right? They think that an investor is someone that just wants to throw money at people. That's not it. They need to make their money back and they have timeframes in which they want to make their money back. And so going to take somebody's money means that you're probably going to be under a lot of pressure to deliver because you're taking money that you haven't made yet to make that money, right? So you, you have to force the business to produce that money and more. That's why validation is very important. If you haven't validated your idea, you move to a point where you're, you've taken the money, now you're not getting the people coming in and you are burning the cash every month your burn rate is high. What that means is what, within a certain time frame you would have, you would have burned through the money and not achieved any. And so you see that recently we're having trends of investors pulling out their money from tech startups across the continent because we're depending on their money. Right. 80% of the funding that comes to Africa is from, not from the continent, is from Europe and North America. That's where the funding is coming from. So you don't fund yourself and so you don't get to determine how, what the market looks like. So that's why when there's a little market volatility, you see investors pulling their money out and then the business starts crashing. And there are people that also want to build businesses in spaces that are capital intensive. Right. You get the money, all right, but you forget something. The knowledge tax, you're building in a market, you're the new person, the new idea. You are building the market that is new, right? You are quelling your own space. Now you have to pay the knowledge tax because you have to spend a lot in marketing to get the people up to speed to use the product. I'm going to use an example, right. Mtn.

[Derek Abayte]

Yes.

[Diane Ekufu]

Mtn came to Ghana. Mtn came with the mindset of taking over the market already. We had Vodafone, I think it was called Something else. Yeah, I forgot what it's called, but it was in the market already and it cost 1 million them in our old currency. 1 million to get a SIM card. MTN came into the market and distributed SIM cards for free. Even as a kid, I, I probably had what, five MTN SIM cards because they will meet you on the road and give it to you for free. Right. And then when they realized that they wanted to take over the momo and money transfer side of things, what did they do? They went into the rural communities. Because you know what, whatever we do, we cannot get rid of the informal sectors. The people that are not very formal, they haven't, they don't have all the knowledge that we have been going to school and all. They have their own type of knowledge as well. So you need to reach out to these people. But how do you penetrate the market? Once you're able to break into an informal, formal. The informal sector, you're going to be a millionaire.

[Derek Abayte]

I see.

[Diane Ekufu]

Because MTN used the trusting. So we're talking about trust. Trust being a currency. Right. Susu trust, apprenticeship trust. They use trust. They started using people in those same communities and then they trained them in how to do the mobile money transfer. Right. They built the stalls for them and they put them there. Derek, I would trust you because I know you.

[Derek Abayte]

Yep.

[Diane Ekufu]

So I would trust the system that you're using because I know you, I know your house, you live in the community. So it's a trusting. MTN builds that trust across board and they did this everywhere. They spent a whole lot of money for adoption to happen.

[Derek Abayte]

Right.

[Diane Ekufu]

And sometimes not all of us can do that. We probably don't have the finances, we don't probably have the grit to be in a system for 10 years and not be seeing the results immediately. Yeah, but right now everybody uses MTN mobile money. But it was strategic.

[Derek Abayte]

So the person that decides to go for equity, you sit with the investors. What sort of percentages, as a business owner is a. No, no.

[Diane Ekufu]

So it depends. First off, I'll say that you as a business also need to know the valuation of your business. Look at your industry, look at people that are doing similar things that you are doing and start and compare what they are valued at and what you have the potential to be valued at as well. If you don't know that you're going to go in and collect equity at a rate, I mean give equity at a rate that probably you later realize that, oh well, that didn't make sense. I've seen investors that will Say we're going to do 60, 40, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't work. Right. And it's also a mindset thing. When you say bigger numbers, the. The entrepreneur starts to think that, oh, now I'm working for you.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay.

[Diane Ekufu]

Right. Because even though it's my business, I'm working for you. Right. And most people don't like that. So in my conversations with investors, they try and do less than that. Right. They try and do. So you have majority shares. Yeah. So that they would be minority. And so you can feel as though you own your company and you're doing things. Because the mindset also plays a huge role in how the person is behaving, how, you know, how they deliver on things. Because when they start to think, oh, if you've taken all of my company.

[Derek Abayte]

Yeah.

[Diane Ekufu]

And all of these things, then it starts to trickle down and you see that the relationship kind of.

[Derek Abayte]

Yeah. There are also stories, though, of some Ghanaian entrepreneurs who raised money, I think, in the US where they use the money for personal things. Company nothing for the company, but essentially the company went bust.

[Diane Ekufu]

And this is, this is a huge challenge because it's a trust thing. Right. The trust thing is that the investors actually want money. So if you start using for your personal finances, I mean, doing anything that you want, first thing, someone. And even I've had people on my live sessions, I would say I want to raise money so I can buy a Range Rover.

[Derek Abayte]

There you go.

[Diane Ekufu]

Right. But they don't realize what it actually takes to get to that point. If you're making 100,000 Ghana CDs even on a monthly. Right. That money still doesn't belong to you. Your business is an entity. You are an entity. So they're treated as two different things. You're two different people. Let's use your business as a person. Your business is a person. You're a person. The business pays you to an employee at your business. And that's very important because if you don't understand this basic concept, it's going to be very hard for you because you're going to use the finances to do your own thing.

[Derek Abayte]

I'll tell you the truth. Should I tell you the truth?

[Diane Ekufu]

Tell me the truth.

[Derek Abayte]

When we started our business, I think for the first one year, I mean, lucky for us, you know, George was always with us. George is a bookkeeper.

[Diane Ekufu]

Okay.

[Derek Abayte]

I mean, he's been with us since 2014, from the get go, when the business was being registered, you know, he was around. But I didn't get it that the Business was a different entity to myself. I actually did not get it.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yeah.

[Derek Abayte]

It took me a while.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yeah.

[Derek Abayte]

To know that it's, it's like you've created a whole a human being and it needs to be respected, it needs to be taken care of. I didn't get it.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yeah.

[Derek Abayte]

To the extent that now for me to be able to take money, it needs to be, I need to be paid. No, I didn't get it.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yeah.

[Derek Abayte]

So I understand that some, you know, small business owners and people even have startups, you know, people are even doing all this tick tock stuff.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yeah.

[Derek Abayte]

Social selling. They still don't get it.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yeah.

[Derek Abayte]

Recently there was a lady that approached us for some, you know, investment and we just asked basic questions. Have you got a management account? She didn't even know what the hell that was. Now I'm still here to, you know, get those management accounts.

[Diane Ekufu]

Wow.

[Derek Abayte]

She had registered the business.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yeah.

[Derek Abayte]

Never filed anything for the past three years.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yeah.

[Derek Abayte]

A business account, but it's completely empty. Everything is happening on a momo. She's quite educated.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yeah. And this is a story of most people. Right. And that's why I say we kind of need to come to their level. Yeah. Because the more we try and change them, it's not working. Yeah, it's not working. We need to come to their level. And that's why there's a lot of SME capacity building happening across the continent.

[Derek Abayte]

Yeah.

[Diane Ekufu]

Where people are funding people in the north, across regions to educate them on, you know, what it actually takes to run a business.

[Derek Abayte]

Yeah.

[Diane Ekufu]

Because most of us were not taught in school. Right. And for me, I came from a pure biology background and I'm now in the business space and I'm learning all of these things. I, I actually had to learn it. Right. And practice some of these things. Because listen, you, if you want to get to a certain level, there are certain things that you cannot just leave on the table.

[Derek Abayte]

Okay.

[Diane Ekufu]

And a lot of people would register a sole proprietor and think that, oh, they can give equity to investors. How? You can't do that. You and the business are one. As a sole proprietor, you are considered the business. An investor will not invest in a sole proprietor because it's high risk if something happens to you. Now you and the entity are one. Right. And what people also don't realize is that your personal finances are liable. So if you are operating as a sole proprietor and you go into a bad deal with somebody and the person sues you, they are coming for all the assets that you own that are in your name. Now when you register the limited liability by shares, you can actually issue shares to investors, right? But most people don't understand this. And so they think, oh, I have, I have a registered business. You know, I have a registered business, but you and the business are one.

[Derek Abayte]

So recently you started coaching businesses and helping them to raise money. Tell me the story.

[Diane Ekufu]

Okay, so over the past few years where I've been helping businesses raise money, one of the things I've realized is that again, the readiness part is not really there. And all the things that we've discussed here is the problem of every investor in this country, right? I've had conversations with them and they complain about the same things over and over again. So I'm like, okay, well if I understand what the investors want and I also understand what the entrepreneurs need to be, why don't I solve this problem and put them together, right? So I came up with an incubator program called the Big Ten. So the Big Ten is essentially to help them raise 100,000 Ghana cities each. When I started this, do I have a hundred thousand Ghana cities? Probably not to give to them because I was thinking one. Because in total 10 people. So 1 million Ghana cities. So I have 1 million Ghana cities to give them? No. But do I know people that have 1 million Ghana cities that probably would want to give to people that qualify? Yes. So what I did is, okay, I'm going to bet on 10 people, train those 10 people and help them raise that hundred thousand Ghana cities. If your business is at a point that you need to be, you need to scale or you just need some money to push into what you're already doing, yes, I would definitely help people do that. So I brought, I put out the application for two, two, close to three months. Right. The reception was very bad, very, very terrible. Those videos probably went like, the reach was really high on TikTok. And if you go to those DMS, I mean those comment sections today, you see people saying, interested? Meanwhile, in the video, I gave clear instructions, Use the link and apply. Use the link. I even put the link in my bio. I probably got maybe 23 applications over three months with videos that probably had maybe over 100k views. And in my mind I'm like, what is wrong? Right? Because everything was clear what to do and it wasn't a very hectic process. Just answer a few questions and well, with the 23, we did the interviews and I'm really sad to say this, but some people came very unprepared for something of this Magnitude. Right. And this is just to show where people are. Right. You want to raise the money, you're sitting in. You know, we sent you the time that you need to be on the interview call and everything. You are sitting in some place with your friends, laughing in the back. There's music and all of that. Another person was at a funeral. Right. So this.

[Derek Abayte]

No.

[Diane Ekufu]

And this. And I'm really sad to say this, but this is the reality. Right. And out. I wanted to pick 10 people, but I actually picked only. I picked four and one person didn't respond. So now I have three people. So the Big Ten has turned into Big Three.

[Derek Abayte]

They're like. Are young people really serious? Like.

[Diane Ekufu]

Well, I think so, to some extent.

[Derek Abayte]

What you're saying.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yeah.

[Derek Abayte]

Sometimes when we have our community calls, it will shock you, where people are completely unprepared.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yeah. And I've seen this a lot. I've seen this a lot. A lot. And if I tell you that my DMs are full like you want, you see, we don't even know how to re. Approach people. Right.

[Derek Abayte]

Hi.

[Diane Ekufu]

Hi.

[Derek Abayte]

Hello.

[Diane Ekufu]

Hello. I have it in my comments. I have it in my DMs. And this, this is a. It's a pandemic. Yeah, it's a pandemic. If you want approach someone for something specific, go straight to the point.

[Derek Abayte]

Yeah.

[Diane Ekufu]

State everything that you need in that one message.

[Derek Abayte]

Yes.

[Diane Ekufu]

The person reads it and gives you feedback. Let me tell you something. One of the investors that we're going to meet, okay. There's this entrepreneur. This was my first time meeting him in person. And he actually was supposed to meet an investor, right. This guy came wearing chaps, chaliwati, okay. Slippers, shorts and a lacos a shirt. Right. To me, that's so. That's so crazy because you are not serious. You're not ready. There's a certain type of person that you need to be to be able to unlock that money.

[Derek Abayte]

I recommend everyone to every young person that wants to raise money, that really wants to be an. A serious entrepreneur to watch a program called the Apprentice. It's a UK program. When you go on YouTube, I'm sure you can find it. If you can't find it, I don't know, use a VPN and try to access it on itv or is it BBC? One of those.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yeah.

[Derek Abayte]

Watch that program. And there is another program you need to watch, which is Shark Tank. The next program is Dragon's Den. Find these programs and watch it. You know, it's like trying to become a business person isn't is an actual thing. You know, it's not. I'm sitting somewhere in Kwarasu and I think there's somebody somewhere in New York that has money that is going to give it to me. Because my story is that my mom and dad don't have money. And I've thought that I can start self drive Taxi and. And they're gonna just look at me and my situation and give me the money. Right.

[Diane Ekufu]

It's.

[Derek Abayte]

It's a real thing, man.

[Diane Ekufu]

Yeah.

[Derek Abayte]

But anyway, thank you so much. We've been displaying something right here that you people have probably seen. It's right there. So this is a book that Diane has put together. And genuinely, I haven't read the book, but today I went to page 98 when she came in, because this is actually, I discovered that she had a book today and she came to the studio. I went to page 98 and then I flipped over to page 97 and I realized that there are certain things you've written in this book. When I was moving to Ghana, if I had this book, my life would have been a lot easier. I'm not even kidding. And you saw the face I did in there when I saw it. This page talks about regulatory approval and it tells you the exact industry and the regulator of that industry. And I'm like, goodness me. Anyway, so if you made it to the end, I'd love to know. And on Sunday, Diane is going to be on our community call in tribe. So if you want access to her apart from everything, I'll drop in there, join the tribe community, and we'll be on a call there. She can ask, you can ask any question that you have for her as well and interact with her. And she's going to be with us in Kumasi. So, you know, thank you and stay connected. My name is Derek Abaytech.