Stop Waiting for Easy - Why Building in Ghana Means Solving Problems Others Won't

Summary

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Episode Overview

Podcast: Konnected Minds Podcast
Host: Derrick Abaitey
Guest: Mr. Fred (entrepreneur, chemist/scientist, and business founder)
Episode Title: Stop Waiting for Easy - Why Building in Ghana Means Solving Problems Others Won't
Date: January 13, 2026

In this episode, Derrick Abaitey explores the mindset, grit, and practical realities of building a business in Ghana with guest Mr. Fred. They discuss personal and professional setbacks, the necessity of relentless problem-solving, and the unique challenges and opportunities of entrepreneurship in Africa. Mr. Fred shares candid stories of devastating setbacks—like factory fires and betrayal—and unpacks why resilience and resourcefulness are non-negotiable when building something meaningful in Ghana.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Overcoming Devastating Setbacks in Business

• Factory Fire & Aftermath (00:00–03:29):

  • Mr. Fred recounts the shock and emotional toll when his new factory, stocked with fresh raw materials, was found burning at 1:00 AM.
    • “As soon as the raw materials came the next day, early in the morning, 1:00am… I had about 30 missed calls… they said the factory is on fire.” (Mr. Fred, 00:03)
  • Despite no apparent electrical fault (no electricity connected), the fire service dubbed it ‘spontaneous combustion,’ which Fred doubted was plausible given the materials involved.
  • He lost nearly $50,000 in equipment and materials, guttingly sharing:
    • “I was in the washroom crying. My wife came in, saw me crying… the factory is on fire…” (Mr. Fred, 01:03)
  • The person who helped put out the fire was later hired as caretaker, then ultimately stole 500,000 cedis in goods—leading to a criminal trial and jail time.
  • Fred highlights the importance of learning from these “lapses” but rejects the notion that these issues are uniquely ‘Ghanaian’:
    • “People take the path of least resistance… It’s not just Ghana, it’s worldwide.” (Mr. Fred, 02:29)

• Another Explosion & Continuous Adaptation (03:00–03:29):

  • A second fire, this time with Fred present, required direct action:
    • “I went in the burning poor house with fire extinguishers, managed to calm it down…” (Mr. Fred, 03:14)
  • Root-cause analysis revealed heat and ventilation issues, prompting investments in new ventilation and safer storage—demonstrating relentless adaptation.

2. Mastering Relentless Problem-Solving

• Entrepreneurship = Problem Solving (03:29–04:04):
  • Derrick and Fred agree that, above all, successful entrepreneurs must master problem-solving skills.
    • “There’s a skill that you are going to end up mastering—problem solving skills.” (Derrick, 03:29)
  • Fred’s scientific training is cited as a vital asset in this mindset of continuous troubleshooting.

3. Mindset: Resilience and the “No Sleep” Hustle

• Sacrifice and Hard Work (03:46–04:25):
  • Fred shares his grueling work schedule: “There are nights I go to bed around 1am, 3, 4am and up. People send me messages at 2am… I’m like, money doesn’t sleep.” (Mr. Fred, 03:46)
  • Responsiveness and tireless effort are presented as non-negotiable for African entrepreneurs.

4. Family Tradition and the Making of an Entrepreneur

• Nurture over Nature (04:25–07:00):
  • Fred traces his entrepreneurial drive to family influence:
    • His father, a top professional, also ran businesses into his old age.
    • “He’s still working. While his friend and his colleagues are long retired. Still working.” (Mr. Fred, 04:29)
  • Of eight siblings, half are already entrepreneurial—others, he predicts, will follow.
    • “Entrepreneurs are nurtured… because of the upbringing and me seeing, that’s all they did. By default, subconsciously, you’ve seen them doing it.” (Mr. Fred, 05:45)
  • Derrick notes the deep-seated “seed” of entrepreneurship, suggesting shared values and experiences have a delayed but inevitable impact.

5. Financing a Ghanaian Startup: Sacrifice and Strategy

• Startup Capital & Western Leverage (07:00–End):
  • Over ten years, Fred (and family) invested around $500,000 US into the business—a substantial sum for Ghana.
    • Most of this investment came from his own savings and labor abroad.
  • Fred explains his strategy for raising seed capital in the West:
    • “If you live in the West, the fastest way to get access to capital is through real estate. So initially I purchased my first home in 2011… I did that for one year to raise the needed capital.” (Mr. Fred, 07:40)
    • He worked two jobs—professional by day, factory hand at night—to afford the down payment and start accruing equity as future business funding.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Problem-Solving:

  • “There’s a skill that you are going to end up mastering—problem solving skills. And as a scientist you do that a lot.” (Derrick, 03:29)

• On Human Nature and Accountability:

  • “People take the path of least resistance. If I look around, oh, Derek is not paying attention… If he has a phone, I’ll grab it and go. It’s not just Ghana, it’s worldwide.” (Mr. Fred, 02:29)

• On Resilience:

  • “We dusted ourselves off and keep continuing.” (Mr. Fred, 01:38)

• On Tireless Leadership:

  • “People send me messages at 2am they’re like, Mr. Fred, you don’t sleep. I’m like, money doesn’t sleep.” (Mr. Fred, 03:46)

• Entrepreneurship is Learned:

  • “Entrepreneurs are nurtured… because of the upbringing and me seeing, that’s all they did. By default… you’ve seen them doing it.” (Mr. Fred, 05:45)

• On Raising Capital:

  • “If you live in the West, the fastest way to get access to capital is through real estate.” (Mr. Fred, 07:40)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:03 – Mr. Fred recounts the night his factory burned down
• 01:03 – Vulnerability: crying in the washroom after the fire
• 02:29 – Reflection on theft and human nature
• 03:14 – Second fire and hands-on response
• 03:29–03:43 – Problem-solving as the core entrepreneurial skill
• 03:46 – “Money doesn’t sleep”—discussion of work ethic
• 04:25–05:43 – Family background, entrepreneurial nurture
• 07:00–07:43 – How Fred funded his business via work and real estate strategy

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Summary Tone & Closing Thought

The episode is candid, gritty, and motivational—showcasing both the pain and pride intrinsic to building a business in Ghana. Host Derrick’s tone is supportive and probing, while Fred’s is open, humble, but fiercely determined. The message is clear: “Stop waiting for easy”—progress comes only from engaging with hard problems, nurturing resilience, and leveraging every resource at your disposal.

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For more inspiring conversations on entrepreneurship and mindset in Africa, check out Konnected Minds Podcast on YouTube or Instagram.

Transcript

[A]

I don't know if Eric, I should share one story with you.

[B]

Let's go.

[A]

As soon as the raw materials came the next day, early in the morning, 1:00am, I just woke up. I looked on my phone. I had about 30 missed calls. I was like, what's going on? I pick up the phone, they set the factory is on fire. The next day, the day the raw materials came, the next day they set the factory on fire. How's the factory on fire? We hadn't connected. There's no electricity there. It's just a warehouse with raw materials and equipment. How is the factory on fire? We're able to cool, stop the fire. Fire service came. They said, oh, it's spontaneous combustion that caused the fire. I'm like, how is that possible? The one with the least. The chemical of the least spontaneous combustion that I feed can explode is 180 degrees Celsius. I don't think you can get 180 degrees Celsius in the factory. But we had a fire. I was. I always say I share this story. I was in the washroom crying. My wife came in, saw me crying in the washroom. I suppose when I told her, the factory is on fire, she said, did anybody die or anything? No. It's unfortunate. We lost almost $50,000 worth of lab equipment and equipment. Two of my mixers got burned to ashes. Yeah, lab equipment, almost everything. Tools for fixing, like cars and everything. Compressors all burned. We dusted ourselves off and then we continued brought in more raw materials. And the gentleman who actually helped stop the fire, I hired him to at least be the caretaker of the factory. Eventually stole almost 500,000 cedis worth of goods from us. So unfortunately became government of Ghana versus him. So he was jailed for about a year and a half. But we dusted ourselves off and keep continuing. People will say, I know people will say, why do Ghana? Is Ghana people still? I don't think it's a Ghana problem. It's a human nature. As I say, people take the path of least resistance. So if Derek, you and I are around and I look around, nobody's checking. If there are no checks and balances, People take the path of least resistance. So if I look around, oh, Derek is not paying attention. If he has a phone, I'll grab it and go. It's not just Ghana, it's worldwide. That's why we went to China. As soon as you step out of your hotel room, not even your hotel room, even like your hotel room, the hallways has cameras. You walk on the street. It has Cameras. Because when human, human, when human, humans, humanity, we are left on our own. We have the propensity to do our like, what is it? Horrendous or outrageous stuff. So it's not just the Ghana problem. We had some lapses around us why that happened, but we corrected it and we keep going. The fire that we had, another one happened January 3rd this year. I was there in the office alone, then explosion. I looked around, got out, I'm like, am I going to let this ownership burn to pieces? I said no. I went in the burning poor house with fire extinguishers, managed to calm it down before people came and helped. And then we made changes once again. Root cause analysis. We realized that the heat is one of the reasons why it's causing that. So we made changes, put in some extractors and moved that particular raw material that we think is susceptible to heat. We built another warehouse which is very ventilated and moved everything there. And we know we've solved the problem so it will happen again.

[B]

Something that most people who have never started a business probably do not know is there's a skill that you are going to end up mastering, problem solving skills. And as a scientist you do that a lot.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

I think it's really helped you.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

I'm sorry you had to go through all of this but business is hard, isn't it?

[A]

Business is hard. There are nights I go to bed around 1am, 3, 4am and up. People send me messages at 2am they're like, Mr. Fred, you don't sleep. I'm like, money doesn't sleep. So if somebody, if you send me a message, have to be responsive. That's one thing at times. That's the challenge I think we have here. Yeah. You have the response.

[B]

You see Mr. Fred, you had an idea about business before you left Ghana.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And in between when you visited back home, there's still business that was giving you some, you know, a few ideas about how business is. And then you travel abroad, stay there, you know, work and you know you had a really high paying job.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And decided to come back to Ghana to do your own thing.

[A]

Yes, yes.

[B]

Family tradition. Facing all these challenges, why did you.

[A]

Not give up Erica, once again? It's just, I think it's part of the legacy that I was born into. I think. Of course we've always been entrepreneurial. My dad's side, my dad as I said, is a top, top, top, top professional. But he's had businesses, run a hotel a couple of times now what he does is he builds apartments and then rents it out, stores and rents it out. And he's still working. How old is he? Still working. While his friend and his colleagues are long retired. Still working. My aunt just passed away three months ago. She passed. Two months of staying home. She passed away. She was 83. Wow. My grandmom passed away at 103. Five years after retiring. So 96.

[B]

Fred, how many siblings do you have?

[A]

Eight.

[B]

Are they all entrepreneurial?

[A]

That's actually a good question. Actually. I have a sister at one point. She had the largest E commerce rings chains in Ghana at one point. I think she still does. Yeah. So out of the eight siblings, and then I have another young sister, she last born, she's a mechanical engineer, GP of 4.0. Okay, brilliant. She's also an entrepreneur.

[B]

Right. So out of the eight, let's say there's only three.

[A]

Yes. Great. Actually another sister. Four.

[B]

All right, so four.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

So let's say four of your siblings. So half.

[A]

Half. 50. Yes.

[B]

Are entrepreneurial.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

So our entrepreneurs made all.

[A]

I think entrepreneurs are nurtured. They are not made or born, they are nurtured. So cause of the upbringing and me seeing that's all they did. Yeah. By default, subconsciously, you've seen them doing it. You know the pain that comes with it, but then also the reward if you get it right. So you are nurtured into it. So you see it. It's just, it's time. Even all my siblings, who I say the other four bet you mean five, ten years time, if you talk to, I'll tell them they are now all entrepreneurs.

[B]

Why do you believe so?

[A]

Because they see it. They saw it. They see their mom doing it, they see me doing it, they see other siblings doing it. So because you see it, it's just natural.

[B]

Why did. Did they not do it before?

[A]

Because I think it's just time. You know, when I went to kind of, I wasn't an entrepreneur until I decided in 2014 that this is what I wanted to do.

[B]

But every, every, every story you've told me today, this is your real life story.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Proves that you had the seed in you from the beginning.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Did you guys not have the same upbringing growing up?

[A]

Actually, similar. Similar upbringing, yes. Okay. So as I said, you know how everybody takes their path is different. Maybe mine started early, but I knew for a fact that in time theirs also come back into the entrepreneurial stream. It's just a matter of time. If you like. Market on the wall. I've marked it. Yes. All right. In about five, 10 years. You come here to. I'll tell you, they are all entrepreneurs. Now.

[B]

The business you started in Ghana.

[A]

Yes, sir.

[B]

What was your startup capital?

[A]

Over time. The tax man be happy, he'll be fine. This is cost.

[B]

You don't tax cost.

[A]

Around 500,000 US over time, over a period. Over maybe 10 years.

[B]

Over 10 year period you've put in your personal income.

[A]

I said I've a group of us. Me, my wife, my big brother and then my colleague Kofi. All right.

[B]

And everybody's helping to support.

[A]

Everybody helping. But a chunk of it is more. It's more me.

[B]

That's amazing. Yeah, you've done fantastic.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Now if I. This capital is coming from your work.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

You've worked for years.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

In, in Canada.

[A]

And then also strategy.

[B]

Okay, talk to me about the strategy.

[A]

Okay. I think I've shared this on a couple of platforms. If you live in the west, the fastest way to get access to capital is through real estate. Okay. So initially I purchased my first home in 2011. Back then it was easier. You didn't need as much capital. But I was going to say something, I think it might not be appropriate. But I put in some hard work. Hard work. I used to, I was a professional. So I go to work from 7 to 3:30, come home quickly, go shower, sleep and go to my second job as a factory hand at 9:30 to 6:30. I don't go home because where I was working was just a stone throw from my workplace. I did that for one year to raise the needed capital. That's a down payment for my first house and that was what I needed. So you stay in the house because you know, homes kind of appreciate over time. So that's your startup capital. So you put that money in as down payment and then you watch it grow. Connected Minds podcast.