Do you know what it takes to launch an entrepreneurial venture in a foreign land? When have you faced a decision either to return to the known, comfortable path or to embark on a new one? What would you chose?
Manny Addo, founder and CEO of Natural Shea Care, chose to leave Ghana and come to the United States. He came to the US get his MBA with only $600 twenty years ago. Today, he is selling high-quality shea butter products in Cincinnati, OH.
Entrepreneurship was in Manny’s blood, but he started in corporate. He decided to build foundational business skills as a financial analyst with F500 companies like General Electric before leaping into the founder’s seat.
A chance encounter with a fellow African in Columbus, OH sparked his shea venture. Now, he is selling his True Shea product in over 1000 Kroger stores.
Listen to the full episode. Even if you aren’t a beauty aficionado, you’re sure to pick up a nugget or three for your own career adventures.
Core Themes
Manny talks about many themes you’ve likely heard before. Play to your strengths. Accept help. Inspirational sparks. But, there is more. Take note of these themes for your own career adventures.
Serendipitous Meeting?
How often do you have chance encounters that lead nowhere? Most of the time, right? Yet, sometimes these “chance” meetings can go somewhere if we make it happen.
Manny bumped into a fellow African in Columbus, OH. They connected instantly. Who knew this would lead to building a shea butter beauty business?
“I happened to run into an African American friend. He asked me the question that all immigrants get when they start speaking: Where are you from? I said, ‘I'm from Ghana.’ He runs into his room. This is about 10 o'clock in the night. I'm like, ‘What did I say?’ All I said was I'm from Ghana. He shows up about 30 seconds later with a huge ball of shea butter in his hands.”
Don’t Quit
You’ve seen the movie a hundred times. There’s a restless person who knows their current gig sucks. They’ve got an idea. Then, they suddenly go for broke. They go all-in on the idea. After a ton of adversity and bankruptcies, our hero succeeds. They are a billionaire, right? Wrong!
Manny didn’t quit his day job immediately. Rather, he mixed shea in his basement. He gradually expanded. He leveraged his current income and job as an asset. Since he didn’t quit his day job, he could take advantage of credit to help raise money. Beware going all-in too early.
“One of the ways I was able to raise money was through the banks. I had a day job. My credit score was really high and I had an income. So, I was able to leverage lines of credit and find things from, the bank. I always keep on telling people that. Don't quit your day job yet, because that could come in handy and help you.”
Remember the Tortoise and the Hare?
Go fast, break things. That’s been a dominating mantra of late. Yet, is it correct in all situations? If memory serves me correctly, the tortoise won the race.
Manny expanded True Shea very quickly. He grew to over 1,000 Kroger stores rapidly. In doing so, he stressed his funding sources and ability to keep the business running smoothly.
Upon reflection, he thought an apt analogy was a student accelerating beyond their current social capabilities. Sometimes we just aren’t ready to go too fast!
“maybe you are smart enough to be the sixth grade from an economic and intellectual standpoint, you may not be matured. Your social skills may not be there.”
Was it a Mistake?
Much has been written about the stress of entrepreneurship. Outside observers might only see the success. They might not understand the adversity and the doubt an entrepreneur faces.
When Manny was at Xavier University, he wondered if leaving Africa was a mistake. He had a comfortable life in Ghana. Today, he has accomplished a ton, yet there was a time when he was second guessing the decision to leave the comforts of his African home.
“At the time I said to myself, ‘Did I make a mistake?’ I had a job in Ghana. I had a car. I lived in my sister's house. It was a nine bedroom house. All to myself. Now I'm in Cincinnati, in a half room, sleeping on the floor. I'm like, ‘am I going forward or am I going backwards?’ What am I even doing? But I stepped through all that, successfully”
A Father’s Guidance
Manny has entrepreneurship in his blood. His father was an entrepreneur. Manny learned a lot from his dad on both success and failure. He applied his observations to his own entrepreneurial pursuit.
Manny decided that he needed a fall back plan. He wanted a corporate job early in his career. This would provide security in the event the entrepreneurial path was not successful.
“My father at some point in time was a very successful entrepreneur. He never worked for anybody. He did it from beginning to end. But, the latter parts of his life he struggled a lot with his business….I said to myself, I would change my entrepreneurial path a little bit. What I would do is I'm going to go to school, get an MBA, get a corporate job, work for 5-10 years. So that just in case that entrepreneurship thing doesn't work, I can fall back on a day job.”
Hear Manny’s Extended Story
Manny is paving his own way one product at a time. To make Natural Shea happen, he would spend twenty hours on the weekends mixing product in his basement. He is breathing life into his own career. He is putting his sweat equity into his products. He is helping communities.
Go beyond the themes. Listen to the full episode. Manny provides more insight to how he is confidently forging a unique path
Enjoy the episode! Thanks for you support!
Paul G. Fisher
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