Segment: Greedy Bosses Kill Businesses - Your Staff Leave When You Don't Share The Growth

Summary

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Episode Overview

Main Theme:
This episode of the Konnected Minds Podcast with Derrick Abaitey delves into a critical issue affecting many African businesses: how greed and lack of shared growth among business owners ("greedy bosses") can drive talented staff away and stifle innovation. Through candid conversation, personal stories, and practical examples, the episode explores how fostering transparency, recognizing staff contributions, and creating visible paths to growth can transform company culture and business outcomes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Importance of Track Record for Investment

• [00:00–01:21]
  • Investors are more likely to back those who have already started something and demonstrated commitment, rather than newcomers with only ideas.
    • Quote [00:18, B]:
      “You need to set a track record. You have to prove it that you are capable of doing it. No investor would like to put or bet or put, bet a huge amount of money without seeing a little bit of track record. So you just need to put in that step to say, okay, I'm doing this.”
  • There’s a distinction between perceived and actual progress. Transparency and visibility are crucial in showing genuine impact.

2. Identifying and Solving Problems for Growth

• [01:22–04:31]
  • The guest discusses constantly observing everyday problems and writing them down as business opportunities.
  • Practical examples:
    • Poultry business with turkey products (unique to the local market).
    • High-end car owners needing home car-washing services.
      • Quote [03:03, B]:
        “Bring the washing base to their house. Simple as that. Use the right quality materials. You solve the problem because it's constant. You might think it's not a problem, but it's someone's constant headache.”
  • Encourages proactive problem-solving and thinking locally about business opportunities, rather than always looking abroad.

3. Mindset: Opportunity in Local Problems

• [04:31–06:00]
  • Host and guest reflect on the notion that many believe solutions only exist outside their own countries.
    • Quote [04:39, A]:
      “Where did you learn this from? Because you haven't traveled abroad. So how did you know that? The problems we have here has got opportunities in them.”
  • The guest shares learning from family conversations and continually seeking ways to improve local systems.

4. Learning from Other Markets & Implementing Innovations

• [06:01–07:54]
  • Drawing inspiration from abroad, such as Shopify and TikTok Live business models.
  • Applied the TikTok Live strategy for increased visibility in Ghana.
    • Quote [07:49, B]:
      “Before coming here we did a TikTok Live okay? Within that period of less than 40 minutes I'd reached a total amount of close to 5,000 people.”
  • Reinforces importance of adapting global trends for local advantage.

5. Staff Retention & Business Growth—The Core Problem

• [07:54–09:08]
  • Host inquires about staff management challenges in Ghana and Nigeria.
  • Comparison: staff treatment issues are worse in Nigeria, but still a significant issue in Ghana.
  • Quote [08:25, B]:
    “Some business owners are very greedy… the business is growing but the staff doesn't feel the growth within the business.”

6. What Drives Staff to Leave? The Growth Disconnect

• [09:09–11:39]
  • Analysis of how lack of shared growth and recognition fuels staff discontent.
    • Stagnant compensation and lack of benefits, despite visible business growth, erode trust.
    • Failure to acknowledge individual contributions weakens commitment.
  • Solution: Assign direct responsibility and recognize staff achievements; tie growth to tangible outcomes for employees.
    • Quote [09:39, B]:
      “If your business is growing and the staff doesn't feel that change… their actions and inactions, their contributions are not being recognized. That is when the staff issues comes into play.”
    • Quote [10:40, B]:
      “How do you let them feel it? You assign direct responsibility to that person… based on those calls that come in, people make more purchases and the business grows and the person feels it in a source of compensation.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Opportunity in Problems
  • “That broken system. That means there are a lot of problems.”
    — A, [04:09]
• On Learning and Adapting
  • “When I came back I implemented it here and it's working for me so much.”
    — B, [07:49]
• On Staff-Employer Relations
  • “If you take care of the business, the business take care of you.”
    — B quoting Dave Ramses, [09:06]
• On Importance of Staff Recognition
  • “There are some business you don't see the visible growth but they see the visible growth that is being put into it… if you assign that particular tax to one person and that person is doing it wholeheartedly and based on those calls that come in, people make more purchases and the business grows and the person feels it in a source of compensation.”
    — B, [09:39–10:40]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:22 – Actionable examples on spotting and solving daily problems locally
• 04:31 – Mindset: seeing local problems as business opportunities
• 06:01 – Applying global business trends (e.g., TikTok Live in Ghana)
• 08:02 – Staff management challenges in African businesses
• 09:08 – How “greedy bosses” erode staff loyalty
• 09:39 – Solutions: responsibility, recognition, compensation
• (Advert begins at 11:39; content summary stops here)

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Summary

This episode offers a frank, insightful exploration of why staff leave businesses that grow but fail to share success with employees. Through storytelling and practical advice, Derrick Abaitey and his guest emphasize:

• The necessity of building a track record before seeking investment
• Recognizing overlooked problems as opportunities for innovation
• Adapting ideas from other countries to local markets
• Most importantly, the host and guest highlight the direct link between staff motivation, recognition, compensation, and business growth.
  The takeaway is clear: Businesses thrive when growth is shared, contributions are recognized, and staff feel they matter.

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Transcript

[A]

When he bet on them, two people left. And it's the reason why some investors are also saying that they would rather put money in people who have started something here, right, that are busy working on it to try to make it work, than to give the money to somebody who just finished university and is looking for an investor. They haven't done anything, they haven't tried anything.

[B]

That's what. There's always this statement. You need to set a track record. You have to prove it that you are capable of doing it. No investor would like to put or bet or put, bet a huge amount of money without seeing a little bit of track record. So you just need to put in that step to say, okay, I'm doing this. Try as much as possible and bring visibility. Some people get their visibility. Sorry, visibility through the bad way. Some people get it the popular way, right? So how do you go about it? You want to go on the bad narrative and later come and change the narrative, or you go on the good narrative, then in the end it comes to the point you want to see it. So it depends on you how you want people to perceive how things are going and how actually the thing is going. There's a difference between perceiving and knowing the inequities of what is going on.

[A]

Okay?

[B]

Make it very visible, make it very transparent so that when anyone comes, the person knows that, okay, this what the person has been able to do, a proven track record person has mean like this. If you give me money to travel abroad, I'm sorry, I'm not going because there are so many opportunities, there are so many problems. Every time I tell myself, if I had more resources, I'll be doing a lot of stuff. I see, because I always see a lot of problems. I have a book written down. I see every problem. I write it down. Sometimes I'm on social media and I see, I say, okay, so someone has thought of this and is working on it. Okay, so cancel it out. Sometimes I even share problems with my friends who I think they can also go ahead and tackle that problem. And they do. And they come back and say, sam, Charlie, whatever you told me to do is working. Like, a friend of mine just started a poultry farm business grilling turkey. People bring turkey into their country. So different, different people bring turkey. And the turkey they bring is not a whole turkey, it's turkey wings. So he is rewelling the turkey over here, selling the turkey. Because the turkey eggs also are very nutritional. I see those who know, they know, very nutritional, selling turkey parts, turkey breasts and all that, despite he started small, he's growing gradually and he's making ends meet out of it. Something different. A lot of people eat chicken. So there are a lot of poultry, chicken, birds. But turkey is rare. So he has created that niche and he's following it. And every time they say, sam, this advice you gave me was very good. An example. People are now rich. They are importing luxury cars into the market.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

Into their homes. They barely drive them. When you barely drive them, it still accumulates dust. They cannot bet and send those cars to washing base. So what do you do? Bring the washing base to their house. Simple as that. Use the right quality materials. You solve the problem because it's constant. You might think it's not a problem, but it's someone's constant headache. How am I going to work? I can't send this pochette to this normal.

[A]

Honestly speaking, to drive into a washing bin and stay there for 30 minutes is a headache for me.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Almost all the time. So I think about half of the time. My Carlos dirty all the time.

[B]

You get it? So people, these are problems people are not even thinking about. But I mean, when I'm on my free time, especially when I'm showering, that's when I get best ideas. Ideas just flow. So in the end I just write them down. If I get someone who is having the money, who I think not everyone. You might tell some people have the money. Knows a guy or two who can execute the work.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But has the resources to back it up and monetize. Because in the end it's his or her brother that is out. I'll share with you if you can. Go ahead. Why not? There are so many problems that we can solve. That we can solve. Running abroad is good. Some people will say the system is working over there. Our system is broken. That broken system. That means there are a lot of problems.

[A]

Where did you learn this from? Because you haven't traveled abroad. So how did you know that? The problems we have here has got opportunities in them.

[B]

Good.

[A]

It's usually the people who are coming from the diaspora are the ones that have this mindset. Where did you learn it from?

[B]

You see, just last week, Saturday, I was having a conversation with my sister in law. She stays with my cousin in US and they always talk about the system in Ghana that is poor. And anytime they talk about it, I said aha. This problem is there. It might look big, but you can start from somewhere. Because they are seeing the difference between the two. They are clearly seeing the Differences. So what I do is that anytime that we have such conversations I also see the problem. I see, I note it down. I find in my free time, I find the best purpose. Every time everyone say oh, they why are you busy? Like you are too busy. It's not I'm busy. I might not be busy with the current work but I'm trying to think outside the box and trying to find a solution to that problem that was being stated. Can I do it alone? Do I know somebody who is doing it or who is on a similar track that I can communicate to the person that Jack, what you are doing, you are doing good. I think if you add this to it right it's going to fire up better for you. That's what I think about each and every time I have not traveled outside to go and stay there, I go for holidays. I love it, I love it.

[A]

That's how it's gonna be.

[B]

Yes, I go for holidays. Based on what I've seen myself, I also explore. So based on what I see, I go, I see a problem. Example. Ghanaians were not utilizing TikTok Life okay for in terms of business very well. I traveled to the UAE and I realized any shop I entered to a tick tock life I went to Kenya, the same thing happened. So I was like why am I not doing this in Ghana? So what is going on? Why are we not even trying to. And every time once you see people six of life either they are banting around the they are insulting somebody, they are playing whole lots of whilst you can monetize it. So when I came back I don't I had a TikTok page but the TikTok page was not functioning. And between just 6 months I've grown the page from 1000 going to 11k all from TikTok live. So when I saw it, I saw it was a problem that Ghanaians were not seeing how to utilize it because the one who brought the channel has brought it out. But it depends on you, the individual, how you use it, how you use it. So when I came back my staff were like hey, so we are going to talk like that playing teacher. I said yes, because no one is doing that and actually it brings a lot of visibility. Before coming here we did a TikTok Live okay? Within that period of less than 40 minutes I'd reached a total amount of close to 5,000 people. Wow, close to 5,000. That's where the rich got to. So just imagine you just being over there consistently. That's the rich.

[A]

It gives you visibility.

[B]

Visibility for the business. When I came back I implemented it here and it's working for me so much.

[A]

So. Well, tell me how many staff members do you have?

[B]

With my graphics and everybody. I have eight people. Well done to you. Thank you.

[A]

Well done. There's a discussion around the staff troubles that most business owners face face in Ghana and many parts of West Africa. My research tells me that is worse in Nigeria. In fact we have a good compared to what goes on in Nigeria how staff members are treating African owned businesses. What has been some of your experience in the past?

[B]

I always learned this from social media. There was this guy called Dave Ramses. I listen to him a lot and he always makes a statement that there is a menace going on in the US where we are workers are not giving them. They are not giving or putting in or staff are not putting in their best because they feel like they are just there to make the money and go. But previously the who you employ understands that whatever they are doing in that business contributes a quota so that in the end a salary or a pay slip comes in. Because if you take care of the business, the business take care of you.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

And social media on the negative end is disrupting that flow. So a staff might come and work with you. In the end they feel they're entitled. Why do they feel they're entitled? Some business owners are very greedy. That's the statement I use. Okay, very greedy that the business is growing but the staff doesn't feel the growth within the business.

[A]

Talk to me.

[B]

If your business is growing and the staff doesn't feel that change, one, it may be their compensations. Right. Two, in the terms of services, the benefits and they are still at the same point. There is no growth from their perspective, but they see visible growth. There are some business you don't see the visible growth but they see the visible growth that is being put into it. And two, their actions and inactions, their contributions are not being recognized. That is when the staff issues comes into play. I see when the business is going one, let them feel it that my contribution to this work is making the business grow. How do you let them feel it? You assign direct responsibility to that person. So if that particular portion of that business is not functioning well, you've assigned a direct individual, responsible person for that. And now example, you call a business, then a person says hello, who is this? Oh instead of saying hello, welcome to Banana Bread Ghana. I'm so so and so, how can I take your order? Or what do you want to ask to help you with. That alone changes the business tone or creates comfortability for the customer who is coming to buy from you. Feel safe. Feel confident that I can purchase from them just because you're saying hello, this is Banana Bread Ghana. How may we help you assist you with it makes the person feel very comfortable. So if you assign that particular tax to one person and that person is doing it wholeheartedly and based on those calls that come in, people make more purchases and the business grows and the person feels it in a source of compensation Connected Minds Podcast

[C]

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