Mo Issa on Kimo and rediscovery
Mo Issa did well for himself at Kantamanto, Accra’s central business district (CDB), where he traded in tiles and sanitary ware. He was known for the quality of his Europe-made goods which he imported himself.
Advertisement
But he soon faced stiff competition in the construction products enclave in Kantamanto. With his competitors undercutting him, Mo worried about his turning fortunes and decided to rework his strategy. After carefully thinking over his problems and the opportunities to turn things around, he got bold and creative. Going against conventional wisdom, Mo changed the base of his operations and opened a new showroom dedicated to customers along the Graphic Road in Accra instead.
His customers now could find space to park their cars and buy from him, unlike the crowded CBD. Mo had hit on the solution to his problem. He abandoned his competition and moved his products closer to his market.
The turnaround
Mo succeeded in turning his fortunes around by asking ‘why, and found that the answer – providing high quality products directly to customers as against using the middle men at Kantamanto – was crucial to his success.
He has not looked back since. The Kimo Home brand he built from Kantamanto has grown to become one of the leading names in tile and sanitary ware for middle income to high-end home owners, hotels and construction companies. In asking his simple ‘why, he restored the health of his business.
Twenty-four years later, you’d find him in his Industrial Area office, calm, with a quote from Gandhi never far from his lips. Over the years, Mo has not stopped asking ‘why and has found that his answers have led him down interesting paths.
Discovering purpose
The latest is his quest to remain authentic to discovering his purpose. For him, it is to guide other people on their journeys of self-discovery. “Authenticity is what you are supposed to do. The Hindus call it dharma. And for me what I see is, every time that I want my name to be mentioned, it's for you to self-reflect and ask questions,” he explains.
He has taken to blogging, in pursuit of his love for writing. When he goes on his regular morning run, or works out in his gym, the vision he has of himself is a writer. It is all down to his reading of Leo Tolstoy’s book The Death of Ivan Ilych where the book’s character, on his deathbed, asked the question “what if I lived all my life wrong?”
Sharing knowledge
Intent on sharing all that knowledge he’s gained running a successful business in a tough environment with other entrepreneurs, he sought education and is now a certified business and life coach, and a frequent public speaker.
For somebody who put aside his master’s degree in law, earned at the London School of Economics, to start trading sanitary ware in Accra’s hot business district, you would imagine he had it all figured out a long time ago. Not so. In fact, it his greatest regret, that he did not find this path he has recently begun on, earlier in his life.
Giving back to community
When his son was younger, he would organise football matches between his son’s team of friends and other teams. He noticed the poor state in which the boys from the local teams usually appeared, and was sensitised about their poverty. “They didn’t have much of an education either, and it appeared nobody was particularly concerned about whether or not they dropped out of school tomorrow,” he said of the boys he took a liking to. So he set up a charity foundation to cater for these boys in Labadi.
The Born to Be Free Foundation presently caters for the education and football training of its boys, two of whom play for Ghana’s national Under-17 football team.
Mo’s journey has brought him constant growth and learning and he has become committed to serving and giving back to his community.
Developing people
It has flowed over to the business relationships which are richer now. He runs Kimo Home now with a desire to see people around him develop. The business has become better since he became a better person himself, he says. “Now I see myself more as a transformational leader, more empowering with my words. The results you get are longer-lasting. You see after one year that people don’t repeat old mistakes.”
The future
Mo looks forward to expanding Kimo Homes and opening other retail outlets, and doing more of the good things to cement their position in the very competitive market of tiles and sanitary ware. The good things like the exchange offering, which allows Kimo customers to exchange products they buy and are dissatisfied with, for new ones.
Kimo has been known for the quality and renown of the brands they trade. With his rediscovery and new direction, Mo wants to focus on the personal; the relationship every customer develops with the business.
He has set his eyes on making Kimo’s customer service the number one in the country, “not just in the building industry, but in every industry.”
This is the story of what happens when a successful businessman asks himself, “what if I lived all my life wrong?” It is an unfolding one, and we will look to the Kimo of the near future to find some of the answers.