ENGINE offered us a platform to showcase our business—Yabco Focus Company CEO
Yabco Focus Company Limited was one of the 176 businesses which were inducted into the Enhancing Growth in New Enterprises (ENGINE) Alumni through a national Business Plan Competition (BPC).
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Maclean Kwofi of the GRAPHIC BUSINESS (GB) caught up with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Baba Yabdow (BY), and asked him how the Yabco Focus Company was faring currently.
BY: Yabco Focus Company Limited is doing very well. The company was formed in 1996 and incorporated in 2006 as a limited liability company. It has grown to become a leading name in the agro-processing industry.
As the first indigenous company in the Upper East Region to process, preserve and package fruits for the local market in Upper East and parts of northern Ghana, we are currently helping to address perennial post-harvest losses, and our strategy is also geared at ensuring a ready market for mango, baobab and tamarind producers.
We are also helping to increase the income levels of fruit farmers and contributing to employment, especially among the youth in the region.
As a socially conscious organisation, we are helping to protect and promote the local fruit tree species found in the three northern regions. We have also contributed to society through the provision of borehole to select communities.
GB: What has made you an entrepreneur?
BY: The freedom to wake up and make a difference in the world and do what I am passionate about at the same time. You have to be forward thinking, have the willingness to fail a few times and a desire to be an expert in your field.
Entrepreneurs must take the good with the bad and, despite the challenges, I have learnt never to give up despite the problem.
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GB: Tell us how you started as an entrepreneur?
BY: First of all, I was an accountant at the Controller And Accountant General's Department before I decided to start my own business.
I built up the business through savings, preparation of financial statements for start-ups, writing up books of accounts for market women and other consultancy works required by my clients.
I initially ventured into car washing with an amount of GH¢15,600 and resigned from the civil service in 2008 to concentrate on the business.
Two years later, we established a sachet water production business and that business gave birth to the fruit juice processing company.
It is worth mentioning that it took a lot of discipline, commitment and focus to attain this level and our company is worth about GH¢2 million.
GB: What’s the biggest thing you have learnt about managing your finances?
BY: Every business wants to grow, but I want to grow smart and big in order to reach the international market but such achievements do not come on a silver platter.
Therefore, anyone who wants to be successful in business has to have a good understanding of financials. For me, I want to be on steady ground before we grow so that when the time is due we can grow and expand on a faster pace.
Before that, we have to know how profitable we are, what our assets are, and if we have the right people and resources in place.
One of the most important meetings I have every month is with my bookkeeper, and we go over the numbers and anything that looks out of line.
Investing in entrepreneurship is actually fun. Each day, you can take charge of your own destiny and each new day brings a new opportunity, which you should take with both hands.
GB: Operating as an SME for about 20 years is no joke. What are some of the strategies that have kept you going despite the economic challenges?
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BY: We always try to be closer to our customers so we can support them well with the needed products.
We see the Ghanaian economy as promising even though there is a section of the populace who think otherwise. Our products are fast gaining grounds in Ghana and even beyond our borders.
GB: What is the biggest risk you have taken in your career?
BY: Quitting a stable civil servant job to do something that really does not pay off in a short term.
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Talking about risks is funny but moving away from one's comfort zone is certainly one such risk worth mentioning and that is leaving one's job and moving into nothingness.
GB: What is your recipe for success?
BY: To succeed, one has to work hard and smart. In addition to that, one should think differently, be creative and innovative in order to prepare grounds for the future.
Having a purpose, learning and inspiring myself and others to improve their lives and achieve their goals.
My mindset plays a huge part in business and investment success and I spend the first part of my day on that aspect daily.
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Also, one needs to take action on his or her ideas; otherwise it just remains a wonderful idea and idle conversation.
GB: What are the future plans of Yabco Focus Company Limited?
BY: Some agro-processing companies have already expanded within Ghana, but we want to become a truly global business that can have the competitive advantage over others.
We want to expand outside Africa to new markets. We want to be a central hub for agro-processing companies in the world.
GB: What benefit has Yabco Focus Company Limited derived from enrolling under the ENGINE Scale Up II programme?
BY: ENGINE offered us a platform to showcase our business to the Ghanaian business community. ENGINE has enhanced corporate awareness of the right principles and practices to adopt; improved our ability to access and utilise the right business information, credible and realistic financing options and facilitated effective networking for business development.
Prior to meeting ENGINE, Yabco Focus Company Limited did not have a working document in the form of a credible Business Plan. This working document was immediately put to use even before the company won the Tier One Award of £6,000, with funding from the UK Government through the Department for International Development (DFID).