Finding Hair products for my daughter birthed HairBureau- Sylvia Naa Djanie

We took away some great nuggets from this interview, especially with the part where our guest spoke about the importance of keeping virtual friends and the impact they could make in our business. Join us as we explore Sylvia’s journey as a Mom in Business in the past three years

1.Please tell us a little bit about yourself

My name is Sylvia Naa Djanie. I am a married woman with two kids ( A girl and a boy) and I am a banker by profession.

2.What inspired you to take this path in entrepreneurship?

In 2017 when I decided to have my daughter, I realized I had hair issues and my hair started falling out during my pregnancy stage .

I had to cut my hair at a point and start natural hair. Through this journey I met a lady by name Abena who exposed me to a lot of things about hair and I realized Good hair care is expensive and required a lot of time. I decided to joined an academy where I learnt a lot of things about hair.

I had my daughter and she came with a lot of hair ,but her hair started depleting along the line so I decided to get products for her hair to sustain and grow it. It was very difficult getting products for kids hair as most of the shops I walked into either told me they didnt have kids products and rather gave me products meant for older people as a substitute.

I also realized there was only one hair type product on the market for kids and most of these shops had little or no experience on how to care for the hair. I came back home and looked at what I could do, that was when I decided to start a simple hair care routine for my daughter which included a hair regimen. Guess what, In a few months I began to see growth in my daughters hair.

After I realized that only one haircare brand for kids was trending, I hit the internet to do more research online and find out if there were products for kids.

And guess what there were tons of products online for kids hair care. There are so many products for adult hair but we forget babies are being born everday and that market also needs a lot of attention.

In our age , parents are looking for products that can help them grow their kids hair but they do not come acrross them easily. With time I started helping my friends to grow their kids hair .

My husband drew my attention to the fact that I was spending a lot of time researching, enrolling for haircare courses and the passion with which I was using in whatever I was doing and encouraged me to consider taking it up as a business. That was when I decided to launch Hair Bureau , my business.

3.How are you able to manage the family and your business?

Trust me managing a family a business at the same time is not chicken change. I have cried a few times because I virtually have no sleep. I am in a financial institution so you can imagine, I am at work at 7am till 5pm then from 5pm mummy duties begins. That means if mummy wants to nurture her business she has to still set out sometime to pay attention to it and give it all the support it needs. I had to make time to undertake some classes onine to help me manage the finances of my business.

Also my husband has been of great support. There were days that we will sit down to draw plans on how we will market for the week and how to even come up with our logo. Overtime we have been able to identify a niche and this has made it easier for us to run the business.

My kids have also become a part of the business. They are able to tell their friends what castor oil is used for and tell their friends how castor oil is used to grow the hair. It hasn’t been easy but with time we realize we are getting there.

4.Share with us one challenge you faced in your business and how you overcame it

One major challenge I faced in my business was how to manage my finances.Trust me, anyone I told said that but you work at the bank? But I am a marketer, I am not an accountant. Managing the finances of a business and home was a big issue for me and for two years straight I never declared profit.

It was impossible to identify what I had sold even though I was buying more goods than on a regular day, I couldnt tell my profit from my seed money and it was difficult until my husband taught me some simple accounting techniques. Now I am able to tell how much I have sold in a week, how much profit I have made, and how much stock I have left. I am proud that now through my husband I have been able to get far in the business.

5.What keeps you going as a mom in business

What keeps me going is the fact that I love what I do and the feeling I get when I see the results that people send to me. I have clients all over the world. People ask me, How come you are able to get clients from all over the world and I tell them that people have not found human face to haircare especially when it comes to kids. And I have been able to provide that for the past three years and counting.

Through consultations and one-on-one sessions, people are now taking haircare very serious and I am changing the minds of parents when it comes to haircare one parent at a time. I believe through my services, people are begining to have confidence in their own natural hair and are able to wear it very well. I am trying to instill that love for our african natural hair in our young girls. African hair is resilient to growth.

I am also very happy when people to come to me and say thank you , you have been able to change my mind about my natural hair and this is what I am going with.

6.Share with us some tips that have helped you to succeed.

Tips on what helped me to succeed. There are three things I keep in mind;

1. Always make friends with successul people, I am not saying go bootlikcing people. You need to create acquaintances with successful people so you learn one or two things from them that you can add to what you already have and sell it back to them and they will help to also propagate your message to others. On this point I would like to commend a baby shop called BabyBliss. This lady literally took me from the ground and helped me up and helped me put structure to my business.

She and my husband believed in me more than anyone else and saw a light in Hairbureau and if I ever get to stand anywhere I will never ever forget Babybliss.

2. Always make friends even if they are virtual friends. Ever since I joined IG as a business I have realized that entrepreneurs in your field or those around you sell you out better than some of the marketing strategies we use. There is nothing as good as a fellow instagram or virtual friend that you’ve met.

Keep them, and everywhere you meet people try to keep in touch with one or two people, that is how your network will grow. There have been referrals from people even my mind cannot comprehend because I striked them as an acquaintances and then wowed them with the x-factor of my business . That has helped my business to succeed.

3. Never ever despise small beginnings, my profits were between GHS30-GHS50 initially and some people thought it wasn’t worth the stress . With time everything I sell hits right back into my bottom line. Never despise small beginnings or small monies. Make your noise, network and it will work for you.

7. Message for WeMompreneurs on our 5th Anniversary

On your 5th Anniversary, I want to thank WeMompreneurs for all the wonderful tips you share with us. For the next generation WeMompreneurs is a great platform to network and build aquaintances for your business as a Mom . The information shared is spot on and there is this energy that hits you as soon as you come to the page and lets you believe that you can do it.

I am glad to be associated with you, because more often I take a lot of inspiration from your page. I pray that you grow, you impact more lives and in the years to come you become one of the big communities that have changed motherhood in a unique way.

We create solutions for common hair and skin issues- Kate Apaflo Awuku- Darko

Our team had the opportunity to engage with Kate a Mom in Business who is passionate about producing safe products for the skin and hair. It was interesting to learn the inspiration behind the business and how challenges she faced led her to start another busines. Enjoy our short interview with Kate Apaflo Awuku-Darko founder of Natural Treats Industries.

Dont be afraid to start all over if you have to.

  1. Please tell us a bit about yourself
    I am Kate Apaflo Awuku-Darko. A mother and a serial entrepreneur. I love to create solutions to common hair and skin issues and to help people learn to create their own cosmetic or food products on a lean budget.
  1. What inspired you to take this path in entrepreneurship
    A personal health challenge made me create safe natural hair and skin products for my personal use and it later occurred to me that there will be other people in my shoes and I began to market these products and later went on to register the business. @naturaltreatsgh where we craft premium natural cosmetics for the whole family.

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  1. How you are able to manage the family and your business. This is not something I can say I have pat down. I try to create a balance by having a schedule and identifying priority tasks each day, either for family or business. I then work on those priorities and simply go with the flow with every other thing. I also sometimes give up on trying to achieve balance and ‘let it go, let it gooooo’ lol
  1. Share with us one challenge you faced in your business you faced and how you overcame it
    One challenge I faced and kind of still face, is the issue of financial inflows and investment. I overcame this by beginning with what I had on the smallest scale possible and reinvesting my returns. This is what I have condensed into a mini course that I teach at @Thrivewayconcepts
  1. What keeps you going as a mom in business. My supportive family, the Holy Spirit and the passion to be useful to the world.
  1. Some tips you have used to help you succeed a.Pray as if you don’t work and work as if you don’t pray. b.Keep at it, keep at it, keep at it. c.Actively seek and implement feedback. d.Dont be afraid to start all over if you have to.
  1. Message for WeMompreneurs on our 5th anniversary I wish wemompreneurs well on the occasion of your 5th anniversary. Thanks for all you do supporting and giving light to mothers on this sometimes dreary journey. I pray and know that in a few years, wemompreneurs will be featured on major international news agencies and will blossom into something eyes have not seen nor have ears heard just as God in heaven has in store for you.

To learn more about Kate’s business contact her on +233 26 406 9365 for all your retail and wholesaling requests. Follow them on @naturaltreatsgh on Instagram and Natural Treats Industries on Facebook.

8 Essential Clauses To Look Out For In A Contract

Here are 8 basic clauses that every business oriented person or individual should look out for when entering into a contract with an entity or a person. Understanding these clauses will lead you to negotiate better contracts that are relevant to your business goals.

  1. Parties – this is the part where you ask yourself, who is the party you are contracting with? In other words, are you entering into the agreement with a legal entity (a company) as opposed to an individual? In addition, you have to check if the person signing the agreement has the authority to do so.
  • Consideration – It is essential for every contract to have a consideration clause. This is where you want to know what you stand to gain from the agreement. Are there any conditions attached to a performance under the contract? And if the contract is for the exchange of goods and services, you want to find out the kind of payment that is accepted.
  • Confidentiality – The confidentiality clause is found mostly in commercial agreements. This is the part of the contract that deals with what information needs to be disclosed. Usually the two sides agree to keep sensitive information among them without divulging it to third parties. In order words, you would like to know whether your most valuable information is being protected.
  • Non–compete and Non-solicitation – In most cases, an agreement will have a non-compete clause and / or non solicitation clause. The non-compete provision is the part that stops a party from competing against the other by using the information gathered from their previous relationship for a period of time.  For instance, if the contract prevents you from working with the other party’s competitors, you have to find out for how long you are not to engage with the other party’s competitors.The non-solicitation clause is the part where you want to know whether the contract prevents you from taking or engaging with employees or customers  of the other side for a period of time.
  • Dispute resolution –  How do you resolve a dispute with the other party in the event of a disagreement?  Do you want to settle disputes through mediation, arbitration or litigation? In negotiating for a contract, be sure to evaluate that the dispute resolution process chosen would best suit your business needs.
  • Termination – This is an important clause commonly found at the end of the contract. This is where you establish what will cause the contract to end. You will want to know at what point in time the agreement will be terminated. In addition, you will want to find out whether you can end the contract if the other party doesn’t fulfill their part or they do something unpredicted. In every venture, things don’t usually go as planned and so in a contract, it is important to have a provision that permits the parties to end the agreement if an unforeseen circumstance occurs.
  • Indemnification – This clause usually transfers risk from one party to another. In negotiating or signing a contract (especially commercial contracts) it is pertinent to recognize who is taking the risk for various actions.
  • Entire Agreement – This provision specifies that the contract is the entire agreement between the parties. This clause usually defines how the contract can be adjusted. This stop a single conversation from changing the foundations of the offer.

These items are to help you be a better negotiator in your next contract. I hope you find this discussion useful to assist you better understand the essential parts of a contract.

Disclaimer : This article does not constitute a legal advice. Please consult a lawyer before taking any legal action including using the discussion in this article.

About the Author

Obiribea Ampofo-Addo is a proud mom of a lovely miracle baby girl. She is originally from Ghana (West Africa) where she was trained and worked as a Lawyer before pursing an LLM in Canada. She currently lives in the United States with her family.
She is a Non- Executive Director of Emerald Community School in Accra, Ghana, where she also volunteers as the school’s Legal Consultant. She is passionate about the promotion and protection of the rights of women, children and persons living with disabilities. She also believes in the equality of all persons, and her dream is to see a world where the fundamental freedoms and rights of all persons are truly respected.
She runs a platform on instagram and Facebook called The Sisterhood of Women (@thesisterhoodofwomen) dedicated to celebrating, empowering and inspiring women from all walks of live. In her  spare time, she enjoys reading, cooking, writing and volunteering with organizations that promote the human rights agenda.