In an interview with DJ Nyaami on SVTV Africa’s Business Link, a Ghanaian businesswoman shared her inspiring journey in the hardware retail industry. She revealed that her entrepreneurial spirit was shaped early on by her father’s plumbing shop, where she was regularly sent after school to assist with managing the business. That early exposure to business, she said, helped her build her own house and laid the foundation for her success.
She currently sells a wide range of general goods, including hardware, marine grease, paint, hot water equipment, wheelbarrows, and construction materials—all available in bulk quantities. According to her, the business is a family legacy, as her father was engaged in the same trade at a different market. After completing her national service in 1993 at age 22, she decided to start her own shop with support from her parents, who provided some stock to help her launch. She noted that she never worked for any company after school because her father always involved her in the shop.
Her mindset was business-oriented from the start. Even as a student, she would calculate cost and profit margins, thinking of how to resell items at a profit. Her parents, especially her mother, were instrumental in running the shop and often allowed her to take charge even before she finished school. Though she once traveled to London, she didn’t stay abroad and chose to return to Ghana.
She is the eldest of four siblings and takes care of her family, including helping her sister manage their mother’s palm oil business. After getting married, her husband supported her in starting her own shop and even gave her the capital to expand. Through this business, she has not only supported herself but also helped others, emphasizing that business in Ghana can be profitable if handled wisely.
She cautioned against extravagance and lack of discipline, warning that people often collapse their own businesses by spending on luxury items like shoes and clothes instead of reinvesting in their ventures. “No one starts big,” she said. “Start small. Even with GHC 1,000, in three years with discipline, it can grow into GHC 20,000.”
She highlighted that staying close to your business is key. “You can’t start a shop and always be absent. If you’re not around, your workers will chase short-term gains and abandon your vision.” She also pointed out that many foreigners, like Indians, Lebanese, and Nigerians, have helped her by supplying goods on credit, which boosted her business over the years.
With over 30 years of experience, she admitted that although business was more vibrant in the past, it has slowed in recent times. Still, many contractors come to her for supplies. She once traveled to the UK and received calls from customers while she was there, showing how dependable her business has become.
She advised that people shouldn’t rely solely on traveling abroad to find capital. “Some people give agents GHC 100,000 just to go abroad in search of better opportunities, but you could use that money to start a business here with discipline and patience.”
She also emphasized the importance of saving, recalling how she first started saving at age 14 and had an account opened for her at 18. After marriage, she discovered she had saved nearly GHC 2,000, which later helped her with Methodist Church activities. “If you don’t save and keep spending, you’ll have nothing left,” she said.
Her shop remains a trusted destination for contractors and builders looking for construction and hardware supplies.
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