Ghana Talks Business’ Meet the Start-up Boss Series caught up with the Chief Executive Officer of Oldrock, Clement Obeng. Founded on March 25, 2015, this budding fashion accessories company is set to make in-roads into the Ghanaian and African fashion space with innovative and affordable products.
Clement is a Bsc. Actuarial Science graduate from KNUST and currently works as an actuarial officer in a general insurance company. He is also the co-founder of OLDROCK company limited, a Tema based clothing company.
Hint: Oldrock is a clothing,footwear and accessories brand inspired by African and Urban cultures blended with great finesse.
GTB: When you were a kid what did you want to be when you grew up?
CO: Laughs…I remember I told my parents I wanted to be a watchman because I saw the one at my church being given money all the time till I grew a little older to change it to being an engineer. The job of a watchman still appeals to me though.
GTB: What was your first business idea and what did you do with it?
CO: I think my first business idea came when I realized at Junior high that most students in my school were getting bored with our usual celebrations on the day of vacation, so I decided to organize an all-round entertainment event which will bring together students from JSS and Upper Primary called the “Daboo Show”. I was able to sell lots of tickets and as they say…the rest is history
GTB: What do you wish you knew before you started your first business?
CO: Honestly I wish I knew that the most important step to take in running a successful business is to start the business itself. This I later learnt when I realized I wasted too much time in planning other than acting.
GTB: How do you use social media?
CO: I am not too much of a social media person but it was important we had a social media person in our team at OLDROCK to be in charge of how we relate to the outside world on these social media platforms.
GTB: What were some of the biggest lessons that has impacted the way that you work? What was the lesson, and what was it like before and after?
CO:A Business Plan. Even though I have always believed in the importance of a business plan, I did not necessarily give it my maximum attention before making some major strides in my business activities. I have come to value the significant difference a business plan makes in our daily operations as a company. Our business plan has given us the room to anticipate some unforeseen situations and how to deal with it and this has helped us in quickly resolving problems that come our way daily.
GTB: What did you learn from your biggest failure?
CO: It is better to fail now than later
GTB: How do you find inspiration?
CO: Reading the Word of God, desire to creatively serve humanity and Need to provide the needs of my family and friends
GTB: What was the best piece of advice you ever got? The worst?
CO: I received the best piece of advice from a friend called George Duncan Williams aka Gino and I remember he told me the cemetery was the richest place on earth because it is there that you could find all the hopes, dreams and ideas that were never fulfilled. So he advised that the best way to go for an idea was to start executing it.
For worst idea, I never see any idea as bad not to even consider it as worst
GTB: What’s your productivity secret?
CO: Mindset. Mindset is everything for me
GTB: What risks are you facing?
CO: Risk is something inevitable in life. As an individual and a business we face a wide range of risks daily that is financial, social and even moral but the biggest for me is to wake up one day and not have the motivation to push anymore for my business.
GTB: Have you considered any alliance / partnership?
CO: Yes we consider strategic alliances all the time. We are currently looking at these areas to partner with other businesses; Retailing, Sales and delivery and last of it all having a vertical partnership with other brands with the same target audience
Source: Ghana Talks Business || news@ghanatalksbusiness.com
