Be inspired by the story of Josephine Amankwah, the CEO of ObaaGoGetter Network ; an NGO and a platform dedicated to bring corporate women and female entrepreneurs together to inspire and help each build a solid career and businesses. She’s very insightful, enjoys reading and loves praying.
This is her view about Entrepreneurship based on what she do. Enjoy her story.
“My name is Josephine Amankwah,I’m a social entrepreneur, I am the Founder/President of the ObaaGoGetter Network and the CEO of the iCuddles Ventures, iVelvet Gh and iLuxe Decorum. The ObaaGoGetter Network (OGN) is a non-profit organization and a platform dedicated to bringing corporate women and female entrepreneurs together to inspire and support each other in order to reach for more in their career fields and businesses.The network provides a supportive environment for personal and professional growth, a forum for sharing ideas and expertise and a platform for which today’s woman can reach her highest aspirations with the support of her fellow women. iCuddles is a crochet accessories and clothing brand for babies and toddlers, iVelvet is an online wholesale and retail shop for jewelry and fashion accessories and iLuxe Decorum is an online retail shop for home and office decor pieces. Besides this, I have also recently taken up public speaking where I speak on topics relating to entrepreneurship, leadership skills, women empowerment, youth in Christ and girl child education.
I choose to view entrepreneurship as an individual’s ability to turn ideas into action. I’ve always known myself to be a creative, innovative and a risk taker with an amazing ability to plan and manage projects in order to achieve objectives. This understanding of entrepreneurship and these qualities are definitely what stimulated my interest in entrepreneurship. Whatever work I do as an entrepreneur is something I’m very passionate about and that is why I chose that.
One sector I know the charity arm of my organization would focus on is the female prisons. Interacting and showing some love and support to the health and well being of female prisoners is a cause dear to us as a women network. We have a line up of projects for female prisoners and we can’t wait to kickstart.
My view about entrepreneurship in general is that I don’t think it’s the solution to some of the worlds problems, I believe entrepreneurship is the solution to all of the worlds problems. As explained earlier I view entrepreneurship as an individual’s ability to turn ideas into actions. Solving problems requires the ability to come up with ideas and these ideas can only be enforced through actions.
In the next 5 years, I see myself on various international platforms empowering women which is a cause very dear to my heart and also fighting for their rights. I see the expansion of the ObaaGoGetter Network with various chapters in other regions undertaking amazing social projects to make our world a better place to live in.
My biggest challenge I’ll say is trying to adjust to the change of leaving a job with a regular and steady paycheck to chase a dream which outcome you can’t tell for certain. I don’t allow this challenge to get in my way because I believe in my dreams and in making the world a better place; people are counting on me to make that happen. And I know with or without the regular paycheck, my passion, hard work and go-getting attitude will get me there.
My personal and professional vision gets me out of bed in the morning and what keeps me up at night is prayers. I pray a lot at night and into the dawn. Normally, what keeps every entrepreneur up at night would be thinking through the challenges you’re facing and trying to figure out solutions to how you can overcome but I prefer to just pray throughout the night instead of focusing so much on the negatives.
My businesses were all funded by me personally through savings. Before becoming an entrepreneur I had an 8-5 with a steady paycheck and I saved up and invested into my businesses. It was very difficult especially when you’re someone like me who loves to really be comfortable all the time and you know in our world now, comfort is only possible when you have the financial resources to support it. So yes, I’ll say it was pretty difficult saving money but it needed to be done.
When it comes to funding for young entrepreneurs, there really isn’t much avenues ready to support. What I would suggest is for entrepreneurs to save up as much as they can towards investing in their dreams. They can also ensure they have the detailed and right business plans which could go a long way to help them in securing business loans from banks and other individual investors.
I wish someone had told me how difficult being an entrepreneur is. I mean, yes people always say “it’s not easy being an entrepreneur “ but you only understand this saying when you get in there. And trust me, it’s tough, it gets frustrating, and sometimes it gets extremely difficult that I feel like quitting. But once you have your vision spelt out correctly and with your passion guiding, you’ll make it.
I will characterise myself an an insightful entrepreneur.
My greatest inspiration is “women in history”. I’ve read so much about women in history who did amazing things to change their world and make positive impacts in the lives of others. This is what drives and inspires me, I want to be remembered when I’m gone. I want young girls to read about me and about my work when I’m no more. It basically about leaving behind a positive footprint.
If I had the chance to start again, I don’t think I would want to change anything. Every mistake I made, served as a lesson and made me a better version of myself. So yes, I think I would do the same things, I might even make more mistakes, take more risks just so I can learn more.
One advice I will give to any upcoming entrepreneur is to believe in yourself, believe in your dream, wake up every morning with your vision at the back of your mind. Fight your way to the top one step at a time and allow the word of God to guide your steps.
