Who says you cannot have it all? That is certainly not the impression we got during the "Think Like An Entrepreneur" Panel at the D-Lab on the 30th of September 2019. Five talented students graced us with the opportunity to hear all about their businesses, their ups and downs as the challenges that they are working on. Through these initiatives, the panelists have proven time and time again how far your creativity, passion, and determination can take you in Ashesi.
Manuella Sekyi & Khanitat Abdallah - Founders of Waakye Vibes
Manuella is a third-year student who is also the head of her very own business, Waakye Vibes, and her partner in this venture is Khanitat Abdallah, another third-year student. They initially came up with the idea of seeing as the waakye here on campus was not meeting the satisfactory needs of students in the school. Since their startup, their business has grown more popular and gained a significant amount of sales. A challenge that they have been faced with is finding the right cook to prepare their waakye as various choices concerning that particular aspect seems to cause a shift in customer feedback rolling back and forth between positive and negative. This is one thing that they are working on in order for their business to thrive.
Dzifa-Partner of Li's Cupcakes
Dzifa is a second year student who works with Li's Cupcakes, a cupcake shop in Accra. Her reason behind introducing them into Ashesi was because she saw that there was a low variety snacks on campus and that students desired a little something extra. This gave rise to her idea of introducing L'is Cupcakes to the Ashesi Community. This has been very popular with most members of the Ashesi Community, and hopefully will carry on that way. One challenge she faces is packaging, as the icing on the cupcakes tends to melt. This is something she is currently thinking of how to solve.
Jennifer - Founder of Popo's Popsickles.
Jennifer is a final year who is the founder of Popo's Popsickles. She had the idea during one game night here in Ashesi, and due to the massive amounts of positive feedback it inspired her to turn it into a business. Her father helped her with her startup capital, after he saw how serious and committed she was to making this a reality. Sales have been good and business seems to be thriving. Her challenge is akin to Li's in the sense that packaging is proving to be a problem.
Karl - Member of Bridge
Karl is a final year student who took his talent for building applications to a whole new dimension. With two of his colleagues who also share this talent they have created Bridge, a service that involves the creation of useful applications to solve the daily problems that plague us as a society. This is something that the boys seem to love but unfortunately, school impedes them from fully immersing themselves in the business. However they maximize their efforts whenever they have a chance to work.
Michael Lawson - Co-Founder of Brainstorm.
Michael is a third year student who founded Brainstorm Africa alongside a companion of his from K.N.U.S.T. Brainstorm Africa is a fast growing brand consultancy firm with a mission to get your brand looking good and in a position to make a good impression on competition and the market at large. They have been very successful with this initiative so far. A challenge for them also lies in time management since most of their time is spent doing schoolwork. Michael states that it is something he is working on.
Khanitat Abdallah - Founder of Zuri Shades.
Khanitat is a third year student and the founder of Zuri Shades. Her inspiration for this came from viewing several fashion related photos on Instagram. Basically she sells a variety of unisex glasses that most Ashesians have come to love. Initially they weren't considered the hottest thing around. She suspected it to be her choice of logo and changed it. Afterwards there was a massive boost in interest for Zuri Shades. Her challenge stands on delivery, which she is currently trying to improve.
Eric Kwapong - Leader of J-Force
Eric is the leader of the J-Force Club based off of the Non-Profit Organization, J-Force. He began it when he was in high school in the U.S and brought it home to Ashesi University. The club has been thriving after successful conferences and members are still growing. One tough time he had was when a conference in 2017 failed to ;launch, but he has overcome that loss and is moving forward with J-Force as still continue to progress forward and grow.
These students represent what we can do with our ideas and how much we can defy the odds to make them a reality. This is a lesson that can be learnt by other innovative Ashesi Students "Innovation is a gift you share with the world".
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