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Konnected Minds Podcast
Konnected Minds: Success, Wealth & Mindset. This show helps ambitious people crush limiting beliefs and build unstoppable confidence.
Created and Hosted by Derrick Abaitey
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Konnected Minds Podcast
From 7 Students to $30 Million: A Ghanaian Education Pioneer's Journey - Dr Charles Yeboah
From seven students in a living room to educating over 2,400 students across multiple campuses, Dr. Charles Yeboah's journey building International Community School (ICS) is a masterclass in entrepreneurial patience and purpose. When he and his wife returned to Ghana after studying in America, they faced a common challenge: finding suitable education for their daughter. Their solution? Create it themselves; starting right in their living room.
What sets this story apart is Dr. Yeboah's counterintuitive approach to success. "Black people in general have the habit of acting successful before they are actually successful," he observes, explaining how he deliberately avoided this trap. His family lived in four different rented homes over ten years while investing over $4 million in developing their school before building their own house. This disciplined reinvestment strategy, coupled with what he calls the "three H's", humility, honesty, and hard work, created the foundation for sustainable growth.
The most audacious chapter came when ICS expanded from Kumasi to Accra in 2015, challenging established international schools in Ghana's capital. Dr. Yeboah's strategy of differentiation through campus design, teacher development, and educational quality paid off; the Accra campus now serves more students than the original Kumasi location. With total investments exceeding $30 million from an initial capital of just $20,000-$30,000, ICS demonstrates the power of patient capital and principle-centered leadership.
Today, as ICS celebrates its 25th anniversary, Dr. Yeboah is focused on extending his impact through the Education Foundation, committed to improving teacher development in public schools. His philosophy, "I don't want to die rich," reflects a profound understanding that true success comes from giving back to the society that enabled your rise. Want to build something that truly lasts? Start by remembering where you came from and who helped you along the way.
Watch the video episode of this on YouTube - https://linktr.ee/konnectedminds
Black people in general have the habit of acting successful before they are actually successful. If you really want to have sustainable success, you have to be honest in all your deals.
Speaker 2:How do you run a business before?
Speaker 1:We started a school in our living room, Half of the house that we lived in. Seven kids came. Total value of investment so far We've done over $30 million. Total value of investment so far We've done over $30 million. You need to give yourself time and not be quick to show success. We invested over $4 million in the school before we ever built our house. What you say you will do, you do it. And what you say you are going to use the money for, you use the money for.
Speaker 2:It's important for business success. It's come to the point where you are celebrating your 25th anniversary.
Speaker 1:What's one big mistake that you've learned from?
Speaker 2:well, I think you're welcome to connected minds podcast. My name is derek abayte. Thank you so much for being here. If it's your first time chancing on any of our video or any of our podcasts, please subscribe and become part of the family.
Speaker 2:Seated here today, I've got dr charles yabua, who is the co-founder of ics international community school. Before I even got to know about the school in Accra, it was really big in Kumasi and somebody told me about that school and I said, wow, the things they've done for the kids of those parents that told me about it. Today I'm seated here with this man because he has so much knowledge, experience that he has built over the years. And you see, I was speaking to someone who said said that One of the most lucrative businesses you can do In parts of Africa Is setting up a school. So I have someone here and I'm going to ask a lot of questions. Ics is also celebrating their 25th anniversary it's also right that we speak about that and this man has championed a new foundation that he started. What legacy is he trying to leave?
Speaker 1:stick with me and if you're ever thinking of changing the screen.
Speaker 2:Please don't, because I've got some nuggets for you. You're welcome, dr charles yabua.
Speaker 1:Thank you how are you doing? I'm well. Thank you very much great.
Speaker 2:Um, I don't want it. I don't want this to be one-sided, because, especially because my kids go to your school, right? So I don't want it to be one-sided. I need to stay in the middle sit on the fence.
Speaker 2:But you know, you're very welcome. I think it's incredible what you've done. When I heard about the school and what you do in Kumasi, at the time you had only a small place somewhere in East Ligon and my kids were pretty young, you know, and I was looking for a place to take them, but I couldn't see how they could graduate from a small place in East Ligon and then go to Kumasi. So I just thought to myself let's wait and see what's going to happen of. Let's wait and see what's going to happen. A few years after that, I saw a big building come up and I said, aha, it's beginning to happen. What has? How has the journey been so far?
Speaker 1:Well, thank you very much, Derek, and for this opportunity to speak to your audience and many young people that you've been trying to nurture through this podcast. What an honor, you know, to have the opportunity to speak to them. Well, let me give you a brief history about how it all started. So my wife and I lived and studied in the US for a period of eight years. We moved back to Ghana because we had made a decision that we will not stay. So after my PhD in Loyola University, chicago, I decided I was going to stay. I moved back to Ghana and when I got back, we decided to settle in Kumasi.
Speaker 1:Finding a school that our eight-year-old daughter then would fit in Kumasi was a challenge. She had attended some great suburban schools in Chicago. So finding a school there were some good schools and there were still some other good schools in Kumasi, but the transitioning from the US to Kumasi made us think again. We were committed to staying in Kumasi, so we decided maybe, if we can find the kind of school that we want, why not start one? Basically, that is how it all started and because we had not stayed in the US after school, we decided that how would we do this? We would do it in our living room.
Speaker 1:Wow, now our daughter, who was eight then, couldn't go to our school because she needed to be in the proper school. But we did that. Now, luckily enough, my wife was trained as a school teacher before we went to the States. So school thing was a welcome news, you know, for her because she had been thinking all along what would I do when I came back? So a few months into our you know resettlement back in Ghana, we started school in our living room, half of the house that we lived in, and seven kids came, four or five year olds, and the seventh child was actually our second child who was student. So Michelle, who was two certain, as the four, three, four, five year olds came in and the rest, we call it history right.
Speaker 1:Now. So the school that started in our living room just grew. A year later we had to move out. This is a school that started in Patase, kumasi, and then found a place to live, live and the school blossomed. And then this was late 1999 and 2000 school is up and running 2001, we find a 20 acre land on the Obwasi Road in a place called Pechi, and we didn't have so much money but we decided, let's give it a shot. You know started developing the campus, you know, phase by phase. So we started modestly and small.
Speaker 2:Doc, I want to take you back.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:If I take you back to when you were doing the school in your living room, were you not worried about your security, Having just moved to Ghana, people coming to know where you stay? Every single day people are coming to your house Were you not concerned about your security?
Speaker 1:Not really, Because I mean, initially, people that came to the school were people that were within our neighborhood. They had heard a couple had just come from the US and they had set up a small school and people came and looked at it and they just trickled in and school is pretty safe enterprise to run, and especially when it is that beginning, you know, at the beginning level, you know younger families and we had just, you know, five kids to start, with five, six kids to start, with our daughter being the seventh. So it wasn't busy, it wasn't too many people coming in, and at that point it wasn't even it wasn't too many people coming in and at that point it wasn't even like so-called rich people driving with their cars. It's a mixture, you know, of people you know that took advantage of what we're doing and brought their kids there.
Speaker 2:You have six to seven kids from your living room. Did you start off with charging, or was it just free services to start with?
Speaker 1:No, it was modest fee. It was a modest fee but initially the thinking was to run after school program for school children as a way of providing some enrichment to children that went to other schools Because we really didn't think we had the resources to start a school schools because we really didn't think we had the resources to start a school. But on second thing we said well, school, not finding the right school was the reason why we decided to really do this. So why not just do it at normal school and just start small and then grow it? So that's basically how we started did you have a mentor?
Speaker 1:um, at that point? For school? Probably not, but we had to basically remember and learn from the experiences that we had seen our daughter go through. You know, we went to the school, we attended parents' meeting, we saw the setup and so we decided if you're going to do something good here in Ghana, why don't you at least mimic what you've seen that you liked? And so, from day one, our setup was quite different, even though it was in a house, yeah, Now the process from moving from the house to finding that huge land.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So as the school was spread and we had some contacts in the US, some American teachers that were excited about what we were doing. So for three summers in a row they would come to Ghana and train the teachers that we had recruited to teach, and so we started some good practices, you know, that were quite unique and new in Kumasi. So my wife herself was a very passionate educator. So the kids that came to our school from day one really got strong foundations.
Speaker 1:So, as has been the tradition with ICS, or the history of ICS, parents just spread the word about the school. That's true. So as the school grew, parents themselves, you know, started, you know, looking around and say, hey, how can we, you know, help you find a place? So it's actually a parent, one of the parents in the school, that said hey, I have heard that the chief at Pechi, number one, is selling some land. They had just finished this new road to Oboase and some land up for sale. So I introduced it to him, went and saw the chief Chief, took us to this vast land and said how much do you want? All that you see can be yours. Wow, and we could have bought 50 acres if we had money then, so we settled for 20 acres and began developing it in phases. You know, the first phase was from 2002 to 2003. And then on and on and on until the whole campus now in Kumasi is an amazing, amazing campus.
Speaker 2:Yes, Before that time had you run a business before?
Speaker 1:Not really.
Speaker 2:So I want to know, when you saw the land and then you saw the progress that the school had made and now what you are coming to get into what was the thinking in terms of the plans you had for the entire brand of ics?
Speaker 1:I'll be very honest with you, derek. So there was no major blueprint on paper about. This is where we want the school to go. There's a business business plan. You know that's on paper. We'll go.
Speaker 1:You know this way and this and that, and that the only thing that we had was that we had some good friends in the states that were architects and engineers who came and helped, you know, mapped out, you know the land, and then designed a campus for us in so kind of structures here, structures here, structures there that we could develop in phases, and we're going to do it as we had funds.
Speaker 1:But what was important, even though we didn't have business ideas or business experience, is that we were committed to making sure that whatever we did must be a good experience for the children that came. In fact, because the school was way out of town, about 18 kilometers away from the city center, we had to tell ourselves what would it take parents to drive or to allow their kids to come all the way 18 kilometers from city center to your school, if there are other schools in Kumasi? So that meant that you had to create something that was unique, that stood out, and that really is what propelled ISA. So if there was anything to say about thinking business, thinking about success, it was more about how can you differentiate what you deliver from what is out there, because you're already in a disadvantaged position. You are way out of town and you would have to have a product, a service and a campus that is different from what people are used to To allow people to want to come to you.
Speaker 1:That's right and that is what we try to deliver. So the campus design by this American renowned architect was great right. And then the training and investment in teachers was also on point. Investment in teachers was also on point. So when you have a nice campus and the content in the classroom in terms of teacher delivery is good, then people are willing to go all out. It doesn't matter how far the place is. You know to be able to get it. Of course we had to use bus services so that parents are not too inconvenienced.
Speaker 1:But that was really the thinking from day one, that why would people travel that far to Pechi if what they have, or what you have, is the same as what is in town, just the differentiation. There has to be a differentiation and that has been the way we have operated and that in a lot of ways, was what made us also want to come to Accra. Because coming to Accra and I'll get into that, I'm sure we'll get into that we knew all along, everybody knew Kumasi School and Accra had great and well respected international schools. Talk about the Lincolns, the SOS's, the GIS, the Seoul clinics, the Ruman Ridge and all of that. So how dare you, a Kumasi school, to want to come.
Speaker 1:I mean, no school in modern history in Ghana had dared to move from one major city to the other. Now you want to do that Great. But do you understand what you are in for? You're going to compete with the best in Accra. Well, good luck. But once again, the plan was it's a differentiation. If you have done your best to differentiate your system delivery from what was known and common in Kumasi, then you probably could do the same in Accra and not only survive but succeed, and so that is what I think also undergirds how we have failed in Accra since we came here.
Speaker 2:10 years ago. I kind of have a feeling that you attribute the success of this, your business, purely to a divine being and chance.
Speaker 1:No, god is definitely a factor. I am a Christian, a pastor, but God works with us Right. God works with us right. God doesn't leave all the success to himself. It doesn't just have to do with only his blessings. It is God and people partnership that create success. So God gives us the strength, the wisdom, the understanding that we applied right and in creating us in his image, he gives us the power to think and to reason and to create, just like he does right. So we need to put our mental faculty at work and if we can do that and can create, then we can, you know, be successful and you can give the credit to him because we are his creation right and you can give the credit to him because we are his creation right. But a human being, christian or non-Christian, has a huge role to play in his own success.
Speaker 2:Let me stop you here for a minute. If you've been watching this show, I want you to subscribe and become part of the family. We are on a journey of changing the lives of people on this channel and we appreciate you for being here. But if you haven't become part of the family, connect with us, hit the subscribe button and let's carry on the conversation. You know I've spoken to a lot of entrepreneurs, including myself. My first business failed. Many of them, their first businesses, will fail. Yours has been a tremendous success.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you what I attribute our success to, three things that I always talk about Humility, hard work, honesty. I call them the three H's Humility, hard work and honesty. Why humility? Now? I see it started very humbly. Why humility? Now I see it started very humbly.
Speaker 1:But humility tells me all the time that I can do better. I am not there yet. I should recognize the contribution of people that I'm working with. The success is not just my creation. I may be the one doing all the thinking and dreaming, but I can do all of that. If the people around me are not supporting forget you will not get to where you want to be. So humility helps you to sit up and recognize that your success has come about because of the contribution of others. So take people seriously, people that work with you seriously, and I think when you do that and people see that you respect them and respect their contribution, they do their best. They do their best. So over the years, people that have come to ICS, they have worked very hard. They have contributed to the success of the school because they know they are respected. When you are humble and you think it doesn't all revolve around you, it helps your business to get some mileage. That is helpful.
Speaker 1:Humanity also tells you that you haven't arrived yet. Sometimes we start something small and it's gaining momentum. Everybody is talking about it and it gets into our head and women. We get to that point Sometimes people are beginning to invest in too many things in cars, in houses, in lifestyle. That really seems to suggest oh, we've arrived. Look at me, dr Ebora, I've just arrived at this school and then, as you, bam, you are down.
Speaker 1:Humility also says success can be patient. Humility says you know you can wait to show success. You know, derek, one of the things that I talked about often is that Guineans and Africans in general, maybe black people in general, have the habit of acting successful before they are actually successful, and that we see success as a destination instead of seeing success as a journey. You need to give yourself time and not be quick to show success, and that usually contributes in many ways to the downfall of many businesses. So that's about humility.
Speaker 1:There's so much I can talk about that I don't claim to be humble, but I try to make sure that I act in a way that shows that I take people seriously, that I know I'm not the center of everything that I do and that people are important and that let me illustrate. You know. So, for example, in Kumasi we invested over $4 million in the school before we ever built our house. Wow, we lived in four different homes in 10 years and people would come to the campus and say, hey, you've sunk so much money here and you don't have a house.
Speaker 2:I said that can't wait.
Speaker 1:Because we're not prepared and ready to just show here's a beautiful house that we have created out of whatever capital that we're using for the business. We could wait. Showing success could wait, even though the school borrowed and raised quite a bit of capital. We didn't even buy ourselves a brand new car for the school. We could have done that, but we didn't want to be comfortable too early. We needed to wait, because the moment you are comfortable early, it can affect. So it's all about. You can be humble, you can wait. You can wait to show success and I think a lot of African entrepreneurs and businesses are not ready to do that.
Speaker 1:The next thing is about honesty. I think we have a tendency and this is not just in Ghana or Africa people always think they can cut corners and be successful quickly. Now, dishonesty can pay and pays sometimes, but usually it is short-lived. If you really want to have sustainable success, you have to be honest in all your dealings. If you borrow money from the bank, pay it back. If you invite investors or partners into your business, don't take advantage of them. You know, don't act in a way. You know that you're trying to deceive people so that you can get ahead. It will catch up on you. You know the banks will not give you money any longer. The partners will tell everybody about you. You know people do all sorts of deals and then they start this and tomorrow they go and start that and everything now just catch up on them. Today, every bank that we deal with ICS will be willing to do business with ICS because they have seen that after ICS you give them loan, they will pay it back, inconsistently, whether the dollar is up here or down there.
Speaker 1:It is our commitment to fiscal discipline to ensure what you say you will do, you do it and what you say you are going to use the money for. You use the money for it. You know, and that is important. Building a reputation of integrity is important for business success and I think, sometimes because people see success in short terms, that is why people, I think, want to compromise and cut down corners. But if you think long term, you realize that those short-term tactics to get ahead of people will not work, you know.
Speaker 1:So humility, honesty, just be honest. Just when you say, yes, I would do this, just mean it. Now, we are human beings. Things could stand in your way and you may not be able to do. You know, if I said I'll call you Derek, unless for some reason I didn't write it down and forgot or didn't put it in my calendar and then didn't call you, then that is it right. But if I said I will call you, I will do this, I have to keep my word. My word must be my bond. I can't just say it and saying it really mean I can't just say it and saying it really mean I don't really mean it?
Speaker 1:So I think when people begin to know, as for Charles, as for Derek, you can trust him, that is bankable, that is business in itself, business success in itself, when people believe that, as for Derek, as for Charles, I can trust him with this. I remember I was trying to raise some funds from the states and from a US government entity and I needed to raise money from some American partners because the US government entity required that some American invested in the school. And I was wondering who am I going to ask? And I needed to raise almost $400,000. That's 2006. Who is going to give me $400,000? I just approached a few people, some American friends, and some of them had not even been to Ghana before. But because of what they knew and who they knew I was and my wife and I were, they trusted us and gave us the money. And when this US government entity people came, they couldn't believe it. People give you the money even though they have not been here. It is trust, it is integrity. So I think it is important for all of us to understand that.
Speaker 1:Again, if you want quick, you know, like some of what some other young people are doing, you will get it, but it won't last. Then you have to be running, you know, hiding what, what, what. Why would you want to do that? You want to be able to walk free, free conscience. You are not afraid of the banks. You don't have to stop, you know, put your phones off. You know, I mean, it's not even good for your heart and health. I mean it's not even good for your heart and health. Live free by being such a man and woman of integrity, and that will take you very, very far. It gives you mileage.
Speaker 1:And then, of course, the third H is hard work. It is important to work hard. Now, I know Ghanaians work hard. I mean, as for that, you can grant it to most Ghanaian business people. But hard work is not just being busy, it's also thinking smart. It's also being aware of trends in whatever industry that you find yourself in, and especially as a business leader, it's also not just folding your arms and checking to see whether everybody else is doing the work, but you are just collecting the money, right?
Speaker 1:I think if the people that you work with find out that you are equally hardworking, it serves as an inspiration for the people. So my staff know and sometimes they don't know you know where I get my energy from. You know and they know. Whatever I tell them to do, I will go the same extra length with them, if not more. So you have to set an example of hard work. You know with the people that you work with.
Speaker 1:I think if we do that, if we practice integrity, if we work hard, if we think smart, and so for ICS, for example, one of the things I'm always thinking about what else can we do for young people? You know, I'm traveling around the world, I'm looking for opportunities? Is it design for change that we should join? Is it round square? Is it this? Is it that Always thinking about what else we can do for our young children, you know, so they can stand out, so that they can you know, can have a future that is really great for them. So humility, honesty, hard work, all three are important. You can't just do and leave the other one.
Speaker 2:You have to go with all three. That was loaded. Yeah, that was loaded.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:The time has come where you've become essentially the best school in Kumasi. And then you are thinking to yourself wait, I want to expand and then take this school to Accra. Talk me through that decision and actually the scare you had as well.
Speaker 1:Yes, so before we made that decision, I had taken a course, and so I give a lot of credit to Stanford SEED. It's a program that Stanford University started running in 2013. And I enrolled in 2014 and one of the cohort two and in that program you were told to write your transformation plan and you were told to believe or to say to yourself that I can scale, I can grow, I can expand. So I wrote all those things down and then you assign a coach, you know, to help you really work, I mean, walk the journey that you have, you know, put on paper.
Speaker 2:So this was 2014.
Speaker 1:And so I wrote my transformational plan that, next year being 2015, we will be in Accra. Now, that was an audacious move.
Speaker 2:Did you just think about it when you were on the program, or it was already?
Speaker 1:preconceived. No, this actually came about because of the program.
Speaker 1:While you were there, yeah, so the program is more like an MBA program. So after you've gone through it, you have to talk about what next of ics? What are you going to do? You know, after you've gone through this program and now you know that you have the potential you can grow, your mind has been psyched. You believe that it is possible for icrs to grow.
Speaker 1:We said we'll go now. I didn't say I'll go to the nearby town in Kumasi. We said we'll go to Accra, and Accra because we know in terms of disposable income, in terms of people that can really accept what we are trying to do, because even in Kumasi, early on, people said, oh, what you are trying to do, dr Ebua, dr Misesi Ebua, I think Accra, people appreciate this better. And people were saying why don't you take it to Accra instead of Okumasi? We said, no, okumasi, people need this too, right. But then, in 2014, the time had come for us to now start thinking about maybe Accra is ready for us now. So we did it.
Speaker 1:But it was an audacious move because when we came to Accra to survey the place, the best place we also wanted to start was expensive East Lagoon and found a place on Lagos Avenue, the former Men's Vic, you know building. It was an expensive, you know, lease. But we had made a decision, we were going to do it. And my wife said come on, can we afford this? And I said, well, if we think about it, we wouldn't do it. I mean, business success requires some tactical moves and it does require, you know, sometimes facing your fears, you know. So what are we going to do now? I mean, we had Kumasi to back us up, but we started in Kumasi. The rent was so outrageous. We knew the first two years we were going to run at a loss in Accra. But we had made a decision we're going to be in Accra and we stuck to it. We started with the summer school. 26 people came for the summer from different schools around East Ligon.
Speaker 1:By the end of the summer 23 out of the 26 decided they would stay with us. Wow, and that was incredible. And how did we do it? Incredible? And how did we do it? Well, prior to coming to Accra, the strategy was that we're going to bring to Accra the nursery, kg, year one and two classes that we're starting at the best of our teachers in Kumasi. So we recruited some teachers and put them to follow these best teachers in Kumasi, so they would then be supported by the rest of the teachers if we removed, you know, those best teachers or moved them, you know, to Accra, and that's what we did. So already from day one, parents that brought their kids to the Accra campus on Lagos Avenue saw good practices.
Speaker 2:At this point did you have mentorship, so through the SEED program.
Speaker 1:I had a coach A business coach so I had Hansen. I had a coach a business coach so I had Hanson. I had Terry, both from the state Hanson was actually from UK and Terry Duye from California in the US and they were a great guy. These are people that have run successful businesses in the States and the key thing is listening and wanting to apply, because they were not Africans and they didn't understand the contest. It was kind of having a conversation with you about how we're going to do this and all of that and you making the move, but those mentoring and mentorship was very helpful. So that was how ICS Accra came about. It was an audacious move, but it was one that we did and did right. The whole ICS group, if I may call it that way, is today better because of that audacious move.
Speaker 1:Accra has changed the ICS story. Right now we have more children in Accra than we do in Kumasi. Accra gives us far more revenue, not because of numbers, because the numbers is just about maybe five or ten more, but it's also because of the you know fees and all of that. And as I speak, we get more demand. We become in recent times the fastest growing school in Accra and we've again applied the same model of differentiation trying to make sure that you know you set yourself apart, and we do that in ICS through strong professional development, you know of our teachers and through listening, empathy and humility.
Speaker 1:Don't think that, even when you are growing and everybody is looking after you. Recently I had a retreat with my staff and I said my managers, and I said when everybody is wanting to come to ICS, what should happen to us? Should we stand up and jubilate and let the whole world know we have arrived because everybody's coming to us? No, we should actually be scared that everybody is coming to us. How about if we fail to meet people's expectations? Wow, so when your business is growing, when your business is getting all the attention, that is not when you put up attitudes, you know, towards people coming there because you think you've arrived. You know, take it or leave it. If you won't come, you're already full anyway. No, that is not the attitude you have. And so I called my leadership together and I said now let's open our eyes wide and see what are all the gaps that we see in our school. And we just had a retreat two, you know, two weeks ago, and we could see quite a bit of gaps ourselves. And I know, when people come very close, I see us, as you know, celebrated, but they'll see gaps too. So let's see them first and address them, so that we are doing our best to not just even meet people's expectations but actually exceed them. So that should be the way you think and I think that is what is helping us.
Speaker 1:Remember, I have said, success is a journey, not a destination. So if you know you're on a journey, it means there are always more you can do to improve on what you do. But if you think you've arrived, there's nothing more to do. Guys, I see what it is. We've already done what we could do and that's why you're coming here anyway. If it wasn't good, why would you have come? No, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 2:It's a journey look, I want to test your knowledge very quickly. How much you know your school?
Speaker 1:Wow but not that.
Speaker 2:Well, if I ask you how many students do you have in total? I have that. I have. I have to know.
Speaker 1:So I have about 2,400.
Speaker 2:So that, Both Kumasi and Accra. Both Kumasi and Accra yes, okay, and total value of investment so far.
Speaker 1:Well, we have done over in terms of funds that I've raised and invested and reinvested from the school. We've done over $30 million. You've done incredible.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Now you've decided that. Well, not, you've decided. It's come to the point where you are celebrating your 25th anniversary. What's one big mistake that you've learned from?
Speaker 1:From. Well, I think. Let me see, I will say that my mistake. I'm sure there are several of them, not just one. So I'm trying to think. I think one of the things that I could have institution is people help build you up, and you have to think about how do you make sure people feel they can grow in this business with you. Now, there are a lot of people that have stayed in the school with us for 20, more than 20 years, 15, more than 15 years, 10, more than 10 years, five more than five years, and on and on. And it's just recently that we began to put in vice principals, you know, assistant head, and all of that drawing from within, because we used to recruit from outside, and when we did that and people saw that they have been here, and they have helped create, you know, the success.
Speaker 1:But others are coming in and when others in there you know could have risen, that did, you know, create a bit of uneasiness on the part of some. Not a lot Now. That didn't mean we didn't take care of, you know, of our staff very well. So we realized quickly that we need to do a lot of in-house recruitment.
Speaker 2:Yeah, training as well.
Speaker 1:We do a lot of training, but the create opportunity for people to feel that career.
Speaker 2:Basically yes, yeah.
Speaker 1:I can grow, I can go all the way up, I can become the director of the school and then I don't have to wait and see somebody comes from outside. But that can be a motivation because we have some very strong talents in the school and I can see some people that can easily walk into my role in the future, others that can become principals, assistant principals. So we are beginning to do that. We could have done that a bit earlier, but we're also a relatively young school, so I think there's kind of a walk in the fine line. But I think that's one area that I think we could have done a good work on. But I think we are on the right path now, yeah.
Speaker 2:It's interesting you spoke about succession because I don't see this happen a lot in the school. You know sector as much. You see that in a lot of african businesses where the first generation that's fantastic you and your wife, you know two founders doing amazing with the school. What's what's really the succession plan? Family wise to say that, okay, these were my values, these were my ethos to myself and my wife pushing the business to this level. What's the carrying on plan?
Speaker 1:Well, we I've already just mentioned about within the school, you should be able to identify somebody that can walk into your position in the future, and people must feel that I am hardworking, I have the integrity, I can do this. So that is one. The other thing we have a daughter, in fact, a daughter who was the main reason why we started a school now Dr Debbie Yeboah, because she just finished her PhD at the University of Cambridge. Debbie, if you hear the podcast, I salute you. She did an education, so we are hoping that one day she will come and help continue with the legacy.
Speaker 1:But we are trying to build an institution that is more than a family business Wow and one that in the future, even if you're a family member, you get to the top by earning it, not only through lineage. And that is important for those that work for the institution and even for the person that comes to run it, because otherwise sometimes you put wrong people into wrong positions. They have no institutional knowledge or memory and that might not go very well, you know, for the institution. So we are trying to do that. So our daughter knows that and other kids that we have know that if they're interested in an opportunity. They would have to come through and through the mill, understand the business and end the right into leadership. So that's one path.
Speaker 1:The other part is that I mean we have, over the years, brought in institutional partners, uh, with the idea that, you know, we don't want to carry the full burden of running the school today and in the future on our shoulders. We have to get to that point in the future where, if we are not there, somebody else, through institutional arrangement, can take over. So even though on our minds, one of our children may take over, he or she will still have to go through an institutional process to get to that point. So that's what we are trying to do, to make sure that we don't have the situation that a lot of African businesses go through, that when the owners are not there, the business disappear. So it is an important thing that we are doing and we are confident that the protocols you know are in place and will be in place when we are no longer there. Fantastic.
Speaker 2:So just to remind you guys, on the 29th of August, at the British Council, we are hosting our first Connected Minds Live event. I'm going to put a link in the description here, if you're listening to the audio, you should be able to see that on spotify or apple as well, and if you want to come to that event, show up and learn something from a lot of business people. Your mindset is not going to be the same, doc. Where is the next audacious move going towards? Which region are we looking at?
Speaker 1:Where is the?
Speaker 2:next big move.
Speaker 1:Well, initially, our plan when I did my transformational thing at Stanford SEED was to come to Accra 2015. The plan was going to Takarade in 2017 and then see where it nest, but I did a bit of survey in 2016 in Takarade. It wasn't really ready. Yeah, there's an international school there that has been struggling. So we realized that, no, takarade is not the next place to go and, to be honest with you, the markets beyond Kumasi and Accra for all kinds of schools or businesses is very, very tight. Okay, so the campus at Obojo in Accra here is full. Ato Bojo in Accra here is full, and we have to see to where some people leave before we can admit. So we have an admission process going on and we're hoping that some people will not return, so others can come in.
Speaker 1:You know, but the plan is in the next year or two to build another campus in Accra. So we are, you know, feverishly, you know, looking for a new land to build a new campus not too far from where we are, and it's likely to be in the high school, so we can move the high school. You know students there, but the parents will drive to the current campus, will bus them there and return them, so that there's not so much inconvenience you know created, you know for parents, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:I kind of know that, the amount invested in the early startup right in Kumasi through funding and, you know, support here and there. But what I don't really know is your initial capital from your pocket, you and your wife.
Speaker 1:It was very small, I don't even remember what it was. We know we had to invest in some computers. The house rent the paying teachers from our pocket because the school didn't have enough money. You know, from our pocket, you know because the school didn't have enough money.
Speaker 1:You know probably some $20,000, $30,000, you know, for the first you know, two or so years to what it is today. You know, and the value is multi-million. You know, dollars now, wow, small things can grow If we are consistent, if we do things right, if we are humble if we are honest if we work hard. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Let me stop you here for a minute. If you've been watching this show, I want you to subscribe and become part of the family. We are on a journey of changing the lives of people on this channel and we appreciate you for being here. But if you haven't become part of the family, connect with us, hit the subscribe button and let's carry on the conversation. Doc, what do?
Speaker 1:you want your legacy to be Well. I don't want my legacy to be restricted to the school that my wife and I founded, even though, you know, having educated hundreds of students that have gone to the world's best schools. I see students have gone to MIT, they've gone to Brown, they've gone to Columbia, they are at Johns Hopkins, they are at Cornell, they are at UPenn, rice, all over the place, cambridge, ucl, stalin, all over, ashesi, knusd, legon, and they are working at Microsoft, goldman Sachs, bloomberg, you know, you know doctors, you know Confanoche, all over the place, big engineering firms around the world. So I can sit back and say, oh boy, I have done so well. The school has created, you know so many, you know has developed so many people.
Speaker 1:But, derek, if you live in Ghana and you run even a school like ICS, you cannot live in a bubble. And you run even a school like ICS, you cannot live in a bubble. The country is vast and there are so many children that don't have the opportunity that children in ICS have, and that is why, at my 60th birthday recently, I decided I would set up a foundation that I called Child Civil Education Foundation, and the purpose really behind this whole thing is to extend my legacy beyond the walls of ICS and to extend the kind of quality, good education that children from ICS I mean children at ICS are getting to as many children in Ghana as possible. So the focus of the foundation is going to be on developing teachers in public schools and low-fee private schools, training teachers in best practices so that the children that they educate can also have best experience, succeed and thrive. The foundation will invest in some scholarships.
Speaker 1:You know, for some students the foundation will invest in some light infrastructure improvement, like if there was a ceiling or roofing issue or floor issue tables and chairs, uniforms, learning materials, but more the focus will be on teacher development, because that is where we think we can impact more children.
Speaker 1:I am committed, you know, to devote a substantial portion of my personal net worth towards the foundation and I just started recently, with over 1.5 million cities, with a goal of adding and growing it in the next five to seven years to close to a million dollars myself and a number of people that have expressed interest that, when you get going, please call on us.
Speaker 1:We want to partner with you because I believe, derek, recently, if you heard, bill Gates announced that in the next 20 years, he will give away 90% of his net worth 200 billion away and I think those of us in Africa that have been recipients of such goodwill from people like Gates and other foundations from around the world, if we have been blessed, if we are resourceful, we should consider giving back in a meaningful way, because, you know, none of us are successful by our own intelligence and hard work.
Speaker 1:We are successful because of what society has given to us and it's imperative that we give back, and I like what Bill Gates said I don't want to die rich, and that was a powerful thing to me and I have resolved I don't want to die rich, whatever little that I have't want to die rich whatever letter that I have. I want to die. Given that, what I have, yes, I will give to my family, I will give to my church, I will give to you know other people that are needy, but I was going to be very deliberate and intentional in giving to society as a way of enriching those that are currently not within my reach as far as the school is concerned. So I want to be remembered as somebody who came from the States, built great schools, impacted so many children within the walls of ICS, extended his reach to many children in Ghana through the foundation that he created, and because of that, many children in Ghana have had quality education and a great future.
Speaker 2:I think you've done fantastic. In a previous interview, which I watched, you said that you know there are potential issues with the current you know government education. As a matter of fact, I think the words were the education system is almost broken. Right, you're educating people. You've done fantastic with know what you're doing with your school. What do you think needs fixing in our government education system to align with what a lot of private schools are doing and what actually makes people push their kids into private schools rather than, you know, government schools?
Speaker 1:Well, you know, I think we know, the problems are many, but one area that I think government over the years have neglected is the basic level.
Speaker 1:I mean if you've driven, you know, around town and seen basic public schools and seeing basic public schools, the buildings some are falling apart the paintings, the classrooms, potholes in the classrooms. Teachers' motivation is way low. I have discovered in my interaction with public school teachers most of them don't trust the system enough to put their own children there. So how do you expect? And so the public schools ends up being patronized by the very, very poor who can't afford to take their kids even to the low-fee private schools. And Derek, the sad part is this People from poor homes are the ones that need the best of education, because education is the best equalizer. If we want to create a country where everybody has a chance to succeed and not just a few of us, then those that are, I call it, trapped in the public school system, really need more opportunities than those that are from middle class families.
Speaker 1:From middle-class families Because for a lot of us, to be honest with you, even if you went to the public school, you still figure a way to get to where you want to be, where you have some backing. The people in the public schools, they have no backing. And so if you have a government that really cares and I know the government over the years have done their best the high school system and all of that and training teachers, but they need to pay attention to the basic schools and teacher development. But I think it's also not just government, it's also people in the public school system, the teachers. They need to understand that we are all in this together and that every Ghanaian teacher or educator must endeavor to contribute his or her quota to helping these poor children come along. We should not give up on them, we should not believe in them, and you know a lot of teachers go to school, they put their bags and then they're out.
Speaker 1:We are contributing to a system that is broken. And you know what? Because private schools have stepped in, you go elsewhere in the world. When there's a new community, the government will go and build a public school, but for so many years in Ghana, private people have just stepped in, so in middle class neighborhoods they will start a school. The government has not had to do that for so many, many years, and the ones that were created many years ago? They're also not taken care of. So I think that this current government and governments that will come in the future really need to pay attention to a business school but you've had relations with previous.
Speaker 2:You know minister of education and you've had relations with previous. You know ministers of education and you've had conversations. You've sat on panels where these conversations have been going on. You know what are they trying to do about it.
Speaker 1:I think the system is. I mean, the problem is much deeper than that. I think that leadership, from what I know in Ghana, is really what the president decides. Really, the minister may have all his ideas about what he can do the previous, the current but it is what the government the president and his government wants to do With all your ideas. If the president says that's not part of my vision, it won't happen. But yeah, we've tried, I've supported in so many ways and I'm still trying to support, but the government has to see that we need to touch the foundation level. You can't have even a great high school when the basic is weak. You can't have even a great high school when the basic is weak. You can't build a superstructure on a foundation that is shaky, and that is something I think that we don't see and the government needs to see that.
Speaker 2:Doug, what's one thing you like about working with your wife in one business?
Speaker 1:The one thing that I would say is that she is the only person that usually has the boldness to tell you what you are doing. That is not right. So that's a positive right. So because even your top leadership may see sometimes, you know, usually at meetings, they will share things that are not going well and in ICS we really respect the views of everybody. Things that you said, things that you did that people are afraid to talk about, it takes your spouse to say this. You didn't say it well, and that I value from working with my wife.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Is there anything we could have spoken about that we haven't? That you still think we can have a quick chat about?
Speaker 1:No, I think we've covered quite a lot. We've covered quite a lot, yes, yes, we've covered quite a lot. But I really commend you, derek, for what you are doing to really shape the minds of young people and for the entire Ghanaian entrepreneurial community. We need to be having these kind of conversations to build each other up and to support each other to grow in this laudable journey of business, and so I commend you for doing this and doing it in a manner that is kind of selfless. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. Our question is motivation or discipline, Both Okay.
Speaker 1:You need to be disciplined, and I've talked about some of the things, whether it's fiscal discipline, paying your debt, getting up and doing what you have to do, and discipline is I like the Nike slogan just do it.
Speaker 1:Just do it. Don't wait Tomorrow, don't push, but you have the discipline to do what you have to do. So it's important. But we can be motivated also. Things like what you're doing helps people because life can be motivated also. So things like what you're doing helps people because life can be tough. Sometimes you may want to do all that you want to do. You may have all the discipline, but some urging can be helping. So I wouldn't say discipline or motivation. I think both are important for our growth and success.
Speaker 2:One advice, which should be the best advice you've ever received. What would it be?
Speaker 1:That would be remember where you came from and your beginning. I think many times we forget. And when I came back to before I came to Ghana, I had a chat with a gentleman, an African American minister, pastor, and I asked him what one thing would you want me to know or take away? And he said that remember that you didn't get here all by yourself, wow, and that people came to your aid and to your support. So I remember where I came from and that I am who I am and that I am who I am because of what people did for me. Wow, and that is also the reason why I am so much for this foundation.
Speaker 1:I cannot, I couldn't have been where I am without people, you know, giving me support, and I think so. No matter where I rise to, I always remember I was a little boy in the Buyaqua, struggling to find my way, even through high school. I mean, today, if I run this big international community schools, you have to understand that finding money to go to high school many, many years ago was tough. I came from not a good, you know background.
Speaker 2:So I remember that.
Speaker 1:And I think remembering that it's not just remembering how poor you were Right, it's remembering how people held your hand and helped you to where you were, and that hand-holding support sticks with me all the time. So it's not just where I was, it is.
Speaker 2:The people involved, people involved. Thank you, thank you so much. Thank you, I really appreciate your time. Thank you, and if you made it to the end, as usual, leave a comment and let me know that you're one of the champions that did, and I'd like you guys to help me say thank you to Dr Yebua for allowing this conversation to happen and the things he's spilled here today. I wouldn't have ever gotten to know this if he didn't come to the studio. So thank you so much and take care of yourself.
Speaker 2:My name is derek abayte. Stay connected.