THE GHANAIAN BRAND: Our country is where it is for lack of leadership, I never really understood Leadership until I read the book My Vision , Sheik Mohammed Makhtoum. It is a book about the leadership that has raised Dubai to what we see today. I decided to write this post because of my encounter yesterday. So, there was this Summit going on in Ghana yesterday at the International conference Center, Accra which I attended. Whilst there I walked to the booth of an international technology company. In fact the brand is a recognizable brand anywhere in the world and it's Ghanaian operations is headed by a Ghanaian CEO who's lived a good number of years in America. I went over to the booth because I had met this man earlier last year and had been following up with his company for potential business. Whilst at the booth I re-introduced myself and went on to follow up to discuss the possibility of my company providing services to this organization. There the manager in charge of Logistics informed the CEO that the selection process had been put on hold because their head office had made a decision to go with a certain Company. Then the CEO said to me " Mr. Prince , now don't take offense but you know my company is a big International company. We only would go for no.1/2 , so I suggest that you grow your company to become no.1 or associate your company with the bigger companies so that when they have crumbs of left over business, they can pass some onto you to feed on. Because there are too many of you guys in the system." I listened attentively and this was my response when he was done " Thank you very much Sir , your comments are well taken. I would just like to add to what you have just said if you would allow me. The company your head office has selected is definitely a bigger company than ours internationally, it has more assets and presence than we do. However , the rating of being no.1 depends on what you're looking for, if you talk about assets, Global presence then yes they may take that position but if you are looking for service in Ghana then I'm afraid they won't come close to us. Within the last 6 years, our company , ASCO has been involved in some of the biggest projects that have been done in this country; namely Kumasi Kejetia Market, Kwame Nkrumah Circle Interchange, Eastern Corridor Road Project , AKSA Energy 370Mw Power Project , Saglemi Affordable House project etc. You see the rating of a company depends on the criteria being used, we have taken jobs from the company your Head office has selected because our service was better , because these other foreign companies were not interested in a big name but with good service. I would finally like to add that your company was not always big, it started as someone's idea and then moved to someone's garage and through steady growth it is now a Global company. We all have to start from somewhere and gradually get to the global stage. My company has now moved to a second generation leadership and we are growing steadily. Thank you for your time and your comments were well taken". He then said to me , well since my manager said it's been put on hold and not closed, let's keep our fingers crossed. I said bye and left. I'm sharing this because as an Entrepreneur, you will meet a lot of people who will try to put you down. I can say that I'm yet to sign a fellow Ghanaians business, why ? I don't know? But I've realized we don't support our own.Asco works with Indians, Brazilians, Portuguese, Turkish people etc and I can say we do a good job but are committed to continuous improvement. Foreigners come to Ghana and evaluate service providers on merit and award contracts based on that. When you walk into most Ghanaian businesses , if you're not an old mate, from a royal family, from a certain tribe or associated with certain people they don't bother to hear the value you bring to the table. I am sharing this experience because as you walk the streets to find business, remember that you're not what they say you are , you are who You Say You Are! I believe my brand ASCO has gone global and I'm proud of that. I don't care if the next man sees it or not but I'm on that journey to international excellence. Don't let any man sweep your efforts under the carpet. When they speak rubbish , correct them respectfully, educate them , why ?? Because there are a lot of ignorant people in big cars and offices carrying big titles . I believe we will change Ghana , I believe Ghana needs brands it can export and I believe ASCO is one that is making Ghana proud, one day my "big man " from the above experience will come to that realization. As a Ghanaian it is sad to think that nothing good can come out of our country. That's a lie that we've been fed. I'm a student of business and I've studied Steve Jobs - Apple, Richard Brandon- Virgin , Phil Knight-Nike , Mark Zuckerbeg- Facebook, Amancio Ortega- Zara , Elon Musk- Tesla & Space X etc and this is what I've gathered : they're no different from you or myself. They're only keen observers of their environment and life long learners, they're not special. They've only found who they are, they're strengths , weaknesses and their purpose of existence. What they've done we can do too and more. I end by saying ,keep your head up , continue to master your craft, be committed to continuous improvement and one day Ghana will celebrate your efforts , The world will appreciate your contribution but don't expect it from your fellow Ghanaian because he can't see beyond the gutter next to his house. Yours Truly, Thetitansprotege
