Turning Passion & Curiosity into A Business: Meet the Chocolate Lady of Ghana

Intro

How do you start a business when there are no other examples to follow? When you have a new idea, how you do go about making that thrive in a new environment? Akua Obenewaa Donkor is with us today to talk about her experience in the growing chocolate business in Ghana. Join us as she shares her story!

Guest Bio

Lady Akua Obenewaa Donkor, popularly known as The Chocolate Lady GH, is the CEO of Decokraft. The company is famous for chocolate, but they make several other products, including cakes and snack versions of chocolate treats. Obenewaa has been in the chocolate business for over ten years.

Q: How did you get the idea and confidence to start a chocolate business?

Before I get into that, here is a little bit of background. Ghana is the world’s second largest supplier of cocoa [Côte d’Ivoire is the largest], and about 70% of the world’s cocoa comes from West Africa. There is one large company that manages most of the cocoa in Ghana, and it is rare to see private companies rise up to compete. I did some research, and realized that you don’t need a lot of fancy machinery to make chocolate. You can do it in your own home.

I looked for courses to learn how to make chocolate on my own, but they were too expensive for me at the time. Instead, I found a lady who was doing the same thing and sent her an email. It took a year for her to reply to it, but we eventually connected and she agreed to give me a short course on making chocolate. It was only five days, and I was the youngest one there, but I am glad this opportunity came and that I took it.

Q: Before you started, were there other people doing what you do with chocolate?

No, there weren’t. What I brought to chocolate was my background in graphic design. I was not the first, but I was the first to do chocolate in this way. When I got the idea [in 2011], I saw Cake Wars and saw them doing creative things with chocolate. When I tried to make my own, I made mistakes that I had to learn from. After I finished that short course in December, I had two orders before Christmas.

Q: What are some of the challenges in starting a business in an undeveloped area like yours?

Entrepreneurship is not easy. Everyone sees the glamour of those who succeed, but they don’t always see the struggle that leads to that success. Raising capital is difficult, but I have been blessed with a family that was in a position to give me some help. I had a place where I could start testing my chocolate making process. I also took part in a lot of entrepreneurship competitions to raise support. Even if you want the cheaper equipment, it will still cost you a significant amount of money. It is capital intensive.

One of the biggest challenges was building trust with my clients. Some of the first people who were interested in buying from me would ask, “Are you sure this is chocolate?” As far as they knew, most finished chocolate [as opposed to raw cocoa] came from abroad. Changing the mindset of those in Ghana to believe that we could make the chocolate ourselves was a challenge.

Q: What are some of your successes?

I wanted to give back to society; I didn’t want to keep all the success to myself. There is a terrible practice in the cocoa industry of child labor. Children can be kidnapped and taken to work without their parents’ knowledge. I wanted to change that. I started a fund to help children in the cocoa growing area to be able to dream and thrive. Being generous to your community is one of my favorite parts of being an entrepreneur.

Q: What advice do you have for those who want to start a unique business?

Coming to business school, I have realized how people are afraid of entrepreneurship. It is something people don’t want to venture into because of their fears. To those people, I always say, “You need to know yourself.” Don’t hinder yourself or give yourself excuses. Just be who you are.

You don’t have to be an expert in whatever you are interested in to get started. Just start! The expertise will come with time. Find what you are passionate about, and pursue that relentlessly. Go for what you believe in!

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