I'm Randolf laryea from Accra, Ghana. My entrepreneurial journey started when I was once asked by a client at my old job, if I was living the life I always wanted; that question changed my perspective and I began to think of where I was and who I wanted to be. At that point of my life, I was not financially free and passionate about my career; I began to explore how to be successful and earn a living by gearing my focus towards things I love doing. I have always had a passion for the arts, even though I graduated with a Diploma in Business Information Systems at Zenith College and Diploma in Hardware Technology at IPMC in Ghana. When a friend introduced me to decorative painting, I fell in love with it. I immediately started doing my research and practice different kinds of painting designs and ideas. I also started taking a few painting jobs on the side while working my day job. I eventually summoned courage to quit my job and go into painting full time when my new venture began to flourish. Even though the entrepreneurial journey hasn’t been easy, things have started falling into place and my client base is growing. I have had the opportunity to work for prominent people in my country (Ghana). My journey in business has taught me a lot about human nature and I would advice up and coming entrepreneurs to believe in their dreams and work assiduously towards them. One of the greatest insights I have gained during this process is that, in life one will fall, one will break and one will fail; but with perseverance, one can rise, overcome and be better. I have also developed an attitude of gratitude and self resilience and learnt to give thanks for everything; knowing that every step forward is a step towards achieving something greater than the current situation. What were the biggest initial hurdles to building your business and how did you overcome it? The biggest initial hurdles to building my business was getting clients to work for, it was tough. I overcame it by marketing my business and creating avenues through social media to potential clients and attended a few seminars on how to make my business lucrative. Did you ever deal with contention from your family and friends concerning your entrepreneurial pursuit? How did you handle it? What would you do differently in hindsight ? My family got worried about me leaving my day job to venture into a business I was introduced to, I even had friends telling me I was venturing into the wrong business. But believing in what I wanted to do and how far I wanted to go I didn't give up but stick to the idea I had and worked hard towards it. What would you say was the single most influential factor in your business success? The single most influential factor that led to my business success was the can do spirit and eagerness to achieve led me on. What I would have done differently was not to go out of my way to impress people and not to do too many things at the same time. What do you know today that you wish you would have known when you first started as an entrepreneur?
When I first started I wanted to be in control all the time and want to do everything myself. That was a bad idea to start with because I couldn't scale up. But when I started involving everyone in the brainstorming stage. I saw my business moving in a the right direction. What advice will you give to an upcoming entrepreneur locally and internationally ? I will advise any entrepreneur to always be on time, precise and honest with clients at all times.
