She is Ama Adu Amua Ametewee and she’s a young entrepreneur from Ghana with a true passion for healthy food. She attended the 3rd edition of the MBA at Catholic Institute of Business and Technology in Accra (Ghana) and she has won the E4Impact Business Model Competition of her year.
She studied Chemical engineering, but she never knew that the degree would have led her to become the CEO of LADL Patisserie, the Ghanaian brand famous for healthy pastries, smoothies, salads and grills to prevent lifestyle diseases caused by bad food choices.
“I enrolled on this MBA at a point when I was asking myself so many questions yet had no answers. I needed to scale-up my business yet the question was ‘how’? I needed to know who to talk to for funding, yet the question was ‘from who?’ and lots more. However, I got all the answers and more when I joined the MBA. It’s been really awesome.” she told us an year after she has received her MBA title.
But let’s learn more on LADL Patisserie!
1.How was your Business born?
It was born out of a pain realized when otherwise healthy looking mother was suddenly admitted into hospital with a stroke. At that point I knew next to nothing about the causes of stroke. Subsequently, I got very inquisitive and started making friends with most of the doctors that attended to her. It came to light that, in recent times, stroke was very prevalent in our society and was actually not limited to the aged. Many young people are now falling prey to a disease that hitherto was a reserve of the elderly and the risk factors include diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and sedentary a sedentary lifestyle. These days, one of the preliminary tests done on children who visit the hospital include diabetes tests. This was not the case before but even children are now tested because of the rise in diabetes in children due to poor diets. I therefore started thinking deeply about how this could affect people like me and how I could make an impact by providing a solution to reduce the deaths and high hospital bills for families affected by the disease. Then came the idea to look into producing pastries made from whole wheat flour instead of processed white flour.
2.How can your business improve the life of the beneficiaries of your activities?
Pastries would normally not be considered as healthy but I decided to change that perception by producing low fat, whole wheat croissants and pies that were high in fibre and therefore good for lowering cholesterol and low in sugar. I also decided to produce juices made only from fresh fruits with no sugar added. These products are good for the elderly as well as children and adults and allows everyone to control their diet right form childhood and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes. I have successfully won the trust of a few 70 years old women who tell me they are happy with my product because it’s not oily and they can have their favorite pastries without feeling scared of eating too much white flour. We however also serve the general market, specifically those who do not really mind what they eat
3.What has been the main challenge you had to overcome in your entrepreneurial experience?
My biggest challenge before joining E4Impact MBA was trying to do everything myself and also not knowing where to go for what. Regulatory issues, funding issues, networking with entrepreneurs with similar minds are challenges that I have successfully overcome after joining the MBA program. For me, I always say that in my entire life, aside family, I got connected to the most important people who matter only during my one-year with E4Impact and I will never regret it.
“I started thinking how I could make an impact by providing a solution to reduce the deaths
and high hospital bills for families affected by the disease.”
4.In your opinion, what are the main qualities an entrepreneur should have?
The most important things that an entrepreneur needs is God, passion and drive. The journey of entrepreneurship can be very lonely and you need to be a strong focused person determined to achieve the goal you set for your business else the likelihood of giving up midway because of obstacles is extremely high.
5.Is there a person you are inspired by?
I am inspired by a couple of people including the owner of FC Perfumery – Grace Amey Obeng and my mentor Hamdiya Ismaila of Venture Capital Trust Fund and my business coach, Andrews Ayiku.
6.What would you suggest to a new-born entrepreneur?
The song I sing to my children now is that as much as possible they should not go to school with the aim of looking for employment. In their youth, they should aspire to do something for themselves and they should remember to start small and work hard and never give up. They should also validate their business idea before moving on, so it doesn’t feel like a wasted effort that can make them give up. That’s the same song I will sing to a young entrepreneur.
7.Could you tell us a particular satisfactory moment you had in your entrepreneurial activity?
A satisfactory activity that always brings a smile to my face was when I pitched for the first time to external judges on the ENGINE program by TechnoServe in 2016. Scary as it was, I performed well and it encouraged me in my business that I had something good on offer. Finally, I came out as a top finalist and have been registered as one of their entrepreneurs.
8. Could you tell us how the MBA has helped you?
Through E4Impact MBA, I got to know about ENGINE where I am now enjoying a grant and aftercare support. Thanks to E4Impact I now have links with lots of Angel Investors and business accelerators who can be of help when I need funding. I leaned how to pitch well to investors for investment in my business without being nervous. The benefits are endless.
Learn more on LADL Patisserie
Facebook page: @theladlpatisserie
Twitter account: @Ladl_Patisserie
Instagram account: @Ladl_Patisserie
