When I was younger, in my early teens I had a big idea. I noticed that in Ghana, we didn’t have boutiques or stores that sold affordable African wear that appealed to young people. The trendy African brands that existed at the time were high-end and thus pretty expensive. The average working class Ghanaian couldn’t afford Kofi Ansah, Mawuli Okudjato and Joyce Ababio which were among the top brands at the time. The only option that was available if you wanted a trendy African dress or shirt was to get a tailor or seamstress to make it for you. If you have ever done this in Ghana you will know this experience is usually very long and stressful.
The story was different for foreign clothes. There were many boutiques who carried numerous foreign brands of clothes. I decided to one day create an affordable-ready-to-wear brand where people like young professionals could buy trendy African clothes and accessories with no stress at all. You can imagine my excitement when the 90s streetwear wave hit Ghana. It birthed many local brands that were producing clothes that more people could afford. I joined them briefly but I soon had to put it on hold when it was time for me to go to university.
When I graduated from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, I had some time on my hands and decided to continue to achieve my dream. I partnered with a friend who also had a brand of his own, Cross and we became ZediCross. We both had corporate jobs at the time so we run the business in our spare time. We encouraged each other, shared expenses and ideas to make things work. In essence we were two brands under the same name. I remember those days very well. We would make a collection, take professional pictures, share them on Facebook and people would order them by sending us a message or calling us.
The most pivotal part of the business happened when I was diagnosed with scoliosis. I had a big decision to make; continue working in corporate Ghana and spend big amounts on physiotherapy and treatment or start my own business which would give me a lot more flexibility to manage my spinal condition. I never thought being a full time entrepreneur would happen so soon but I accepted the challenge! Then the real learning happened. With no formal business training I had to learn everything about running a business. With very supportive parents I guess I was lucky. My mother even bought my first set of industrial sewing machines!
The business slowly grew and with our savings and investment from a friend we were able to open our first shop. I was so excited about this because e-commerce was so hard back then. Having a physical shop was the absolute norm and I was proud to be a shop owner! Little did I know that in 2019 I would gladly switch to being an online company only. After some years, my former partner and I decided to pursue our brands separately and my business went back to being Zedi.
it’s the stress aspect of your humble beginnings story that gets me. it’s such stuff that easily breaks people’s resolve but you kept going. Kudos to you and the fam.