When I founded my clothing line, Zedi I was thrilled to bring my vision of making African fashion easily accessible, to life. The ready-to-wear idea was well received in Ghana, where I’m from. However, as I began to expand my brand globally, I soon realized that it would not be an easy feat. Building a global business is not easy.
The first hurdle I faced was trying to find a good team to work with who believed in what we were doing and was ready to meet international standards. While there were many skilled artisans, craftsmen, and people, finding those who could keep up with our standards, be customer focused and go the extra mile was a bit of a challenge. Especially because we could not afford to pay high salaries. I spent countless hours interviewing people and following up on recommendations. I’ve had some good people I’ve worked with though and I’m grateful but even today this is a struggle.
Payment platforms available to businesses in Ghana were so few some years ago. Today the options are a bit better but earlier we really struggled to accept payments from abroad. It’s impossible to build a global business with only local payment options. PayPal and Stripe for instance are not available in Ghana and these are some of the most popular payment methods people abroad use.
Then there was the issue of shipping and logistics. As a small business owner, I had to rely on third-party logistics providers. But working with these providers was not easy. Shipping products outside the country costs lots of money. In the early stages, I remember how I had to try many shipping options. Some were too slow, which led to unhappy customers and lost sales. I have finally settled on DHL and so far so good. I have used DHL to ship to over 7 different countries so far so we are certainly getting somewhere with the plan of being a global business.
Another challenge I faced was marketing my brand to a global audience. While I knew that my products had the potential to appeal to people all over the world, I struggled to get my message out there. Social media helped to some extent, but it was not enough to reach the kind of audience I was aiming for.
Despite these challenges, I never gave up on my dream. I continued to work hard, refine my processes, and build relationships with people who shared my vision. Slowly but surely, my brand began to gain traction.
Today, my clothing line is still based in Ghana, but we have a global reach. We have a website where we accept foreign payments, we sell on two global online marketplaces; Afrikrea and Etsy. We also have customers all over the world who appreciate the unique designs, high-quality materials, and sustainable practices that we stand for.
Around this time 5 years ago I was sitting in training at Google’s Head Office in California about how to explore global markets. I learned a lot that day and since then I’ve never stopped pushing. As the saying goes, nothing good comes easy. The Google team led by David Weller was truly amazing.
While the road to success is not easy, I am proud of what I have achieved and grateful for the lessons I have learned along the way. A lot of the lessons were hard but absolutely useful. Coming from Ghana I know firsthand that building a global business is not easy. But with determination, hard work, and a willingness to learn from our mistakes, we can achieve our goals and bring our vision to life.
