Yesterday I went to buy some fruit not far from my house and something interesting happened. I didn’t in any way expect to get a business idea from a banana and pineapple transaction but it happened. I wanted a bit of a variety of fruits but after I asked about the prices I realized that I didn’t have enough money on me. I had estimated using old prices but with the current inflation in Ghana, the prices had gone up a bit. The cost of a single pineapple had almost doubled.
I shook my head and thought about which fruit to leave out but my smart fruit seller told me not to worry. She could see the amount of money I was holding in my hand and offered a clever solution to my dilemma. “I know the prices are high so I now cut and pack pineapples in small packs, would you like one?” she asked in a local language. I took a look at the little pineapple packs and smiled. “What a brilliant business idea!” I screamed in my head. It was really simple but this helped most people get some vitamin C in their diet every day. Her pineapples are delicious and it would be a shame for someone to want one and not be able to afford it. I commended her idea and bought my variety of fruits as planned.
On my journey back home I put my thinking cap on and asked myself how I could use this business idea or strategy in my own fashion business, Zedi. We make clothes and accessories and have also been hit with a heavy wave of high prices for all our raw materials. Since 2021, fabric prices have gone up as high as 3X. How was I going to apply this to my business and make our products affordable? I thought about all my expenses and dug deep. Finally, I got an idea. Can you guess what it is? Let me know in the comments section. If you are right I will certainly let you know.
