Author name: Dr Maxwell Ampong

I can always tell when I’m dealing with a founder who’s been through it. It doesn’t take me long now. Their one giveaway is how they spend their money. When I sit down with early-stage founders or young entrepreneurs in Ghana, especially the ones looking for my money, it’s often one of the first things I look out for.  It would surprise you how many of them have fancy offices and sleek furniture that costs more than it should. I have even seen a branded coffee machine sitting in the corner like it’s a tech company from Silicon Valley. And I choke up just a little because usually, the truth isn’t what they’d want to hear when I myself have nice furniture. I choke up because I’ve seen that mistake before, many times. You get so caught up in looking successful that you forget what actually makes you successful. That office furniture, that coffee machine, it doesn’t move your business forward. It’s a distraction, and keeping it up will distract you at that early stage. And most importantly, it shows me that you, the founder, haven’t yet figured out one of the biggest lessons in building a company: it’s not your money anymore. The Common Mistake: It’s Not Your Money Anymore One of the biggest misconceptions I see among young founders is this idea that company money is still somehow their money. Let me break it down: once that cash enters the company’s account, it’s no longer yours. Whether you raised it from investors, bootstrapped it with your savings, or got a grant from some well-meaning institution, it doesn’t matter. The moment it enters the business, it belongs to the business. You are not the one going on a shopping spree. The company is. But here’s where the real problem lies. I’ve walked into offices of early-stage founders where I can tell, within five minutes, that the founder sees that money as their own personal bank account. You see it in the flashy office, the unnecessary perks, the lavish spending on things that don’t drive the company forward. And the reality is, when a founder thinks that way, they’re telling me something important, that they’re not yet ready to scale. They’re not even ready to build. I know because I’ve been there. When you’re just starting out, every cedi counts. Operating within this Ghana economy with global competitors already puts you a couple of paces back with one hand tied to your back, so if you don’t have the discipline to respect company money as separate from your own, you’ll quickly find yourself burning through cash faster than you can raise it. The irony is that the very thing meant to help you grow, which is the capital, is the same thing you’re misusing to look like you’ve already made it when you haven’t. Great Founders Are Frugal: The ‘P3p3i’ Mentality There’s something I’ve noticed across the board: the best founders are frugal. And I’m not just talking about being careful with spending. I’m talking about being p3p3i – the Ghanaian word that means miserly, calculated, or downright stingy. Some might think that being p3p3i is a bad thing. But in business, especially when you’re starting, it’s an essential survival skill. The great founders know that every cedi, every pesewa, counts. They’re the ones who understand that the money has to go into the right places, into the things that drive growth. It’s about making deliberate choices. Do you need that new laptop, or can the old one do the job for another year? Do you really need to be in that expensive co-working space, or can you work from a smaller, less fancy office for now? The truth is, most of the wildly successful founders didn’t start by paying themselves a salary. Not a dime, not a kobo. Everything went back into the company. Because they knew that the more they poured into the business, the faster it would grow. They weren’t distracted by flashy cars or flashy offices or the image of success. They were obsessed with the grind, the real work that builds something from nothing. It’s easy to be tempted by the trappings of success, but if you want to make it in the long run, you’ve got to embrace the p3p3i mentality. You don’t spend a cedi unless it’s going to move your business forward. That’s how you build something sustainable. Key Traits of Successful Founders: Company-First If there’s one thing all successful founders have in common, it’s their company-first mindset. They understand that, in the early days, the company comes before everything. It comes before comfort, before flashy offices, even before their own pockets. It’s not glamorous, but it’s real. The founders who make it are the ones who sacrifice. They’re not drawing salaries, they’re not living large, and they’re definitely not spending on things that don’t drive the business forward. They understand that what’s good for the company is ultimately good for them, but only if they put the company first. The office may be small, the chairs may be a bit less comfortable, and the pay cheque may be less, but they are laser-focused on growing the business. Let me give you a practical example. We’ve all read about founders who worked for years with no salary, living off the bare minimum, just so they could reinvest every pesewa back into their company. Why? Because they believed in the potential of what they were building. They understood that if the company succeeds, their personal success will follow. This isn’t just about being frugal; it’s about having the discipline to do what’s best for the business, even when it’s hard. So here’s a question for every founder: Are you prepared to live like this? Are you willing to sacrifice your comfort, your salary, and your image to put your company first? Because that’s what it takes. It’s not about looking successful; it’s about being successful. And being successful means prioritising the business over everything else. Practical Advice for

Internal control is an integral part of business management that consists of rules, procedures, and practices to protect assets, maintain accuracy and reliability in financial reporting, enhance operational efficiency, and ensure compliance with laws and regulations. Internal controls are essentially a set of checks and balances within an organisation that aim to mitigate risks, prevent fraud, and improve overall organisational effectiveness. They are tailored to each organisation’s specific needs and risks, so their complexity may vary depending on factors such as the business’s size, industry, and regulatory environment. HOW TO ACHIEVE INTERNAL CONTROLS The Control Environment The control environment sets the tone for the organisation regarding the importance of internal control and ethical behaviour. It includes factors such as the management’s integrity and ethical/moral values, the commitment to competence, the organisation’s philosophy and operating style, and the assignment of authority and responsibility. Risk Assessment For Internal Controls to be effective, a business must identify its risk areas, including financial, operational, and compliance risks. A comprehensive risk assessment process involves identifying and analysing these risks to determine their potential impact and likelihood of occurrence. This allows the organisation to prioritise its efforts and resources to address the most significant risks. Identify Your Risks: Begin by identifying the potential risks and concerns related to your business finances. Are you worried about theft, inaccurate records, or perhaps unauthorised access to sensitive financial information? By understanding the specific risks facing your business, you can develop targeted internal controls to address these concerns effectively. For example, if you are concerned about theft, you might focus on implementing controls to secure cash handling procedures and prevent unauthorised access to valuable assets. Develop Procedures: Once you have identified your risks, it is essential to establish clear and documented procedures for handling financial transactions and records. These procedures should outline step-by-step instructions for tasks such as cash handling, recording sales, reconciling accounts, and obtaining expenditure authorisations. By formalising these procedures, you provide guidance to your employees on how to perform their duties accurately and consistently, reducing the likelihood of errors or misconduct. Communicate and Train: Communication is key to successfully implementing internal controls. Take the time to explain your internal control policies and procedures to your employees and ensure they understand their roles and responsibilities. Provide training sessions or materials to educate employees on the importance of internal controls and how to comply with established procedures. By fostering a culture of accountability and compliance, you empower your employees to contribute to the effectiveness of your internal control framework. Monitor and Review: Internal controls require ongoing monitoring and review to ensure they remain effective and relevant to your business needs. Regularly assess the performance of your controls and their adherence to established procedures. Monitor financial transactions, review records, and conduct periodic audits or reviews to identify any weaknesses or areas for improvement. Be proactive in addressing issues as they arise and adjust your internal controls when needed to mitigate risks and enhance effectiveness. Segregation of Duties Segregation of Duties involves dividing responsibilities among different individuals or departments to prevent any single entity from having too much control over a process or transaction. It is designed to avoid unilateral actions within an organisation’s workflow, which can result in damaging events that exceed the organisation’s risk tolerance. In short, no one person or group should be given control over a process where they have the unchecked power to overlook errors, falsify information or attempt theft. By separating key tasks, organisations reduce the risk of errors, fraud, and misuse of resources. There are some things you can do towards this. Recording: This task involves accurately recording transactions into the organisation’s records, whether financial or non-financial. For instance, having a separate individual from the one responsible for recording sales or expenses in the accounting system should be different from the individual who authorises transactions. Custody: Custody involves physically handling or controlling assets, such as cash, inventory, or equipment. For instance, individuals responsible for handling cash should be different from those who record cash transactions or reconcile bank statements. Authorisation: This involves granting individuals the authority to approve or initiate transactions. For example, only designated managers or supervisors may have the authority to approve purchase orders or expense reimbursements. By segregating duties, organisations create a system of checks and balances that ensures accountability, transparency, and accuracy in transactions and reporting. This reduces the risk of errors, fraud, and mismanagement while enhancing the reliability of information. BENEFITS OF INTERNAL CONTROL SYSTEMS Peace of Mind Strong internal controls provide the management of an organisation with peace of mind, knowing that the organisation’s finances are secure and the business is protected. When effective controls are in place, the organisation and its assets are safeguarded, transactions are accurately recorded, and risks are managed. This peace of mind allows the management to focus their time and energy on growing their business and pursuing strategic opportunities rather than worrying about the integrity of processes. Preventing Theft and Fraud Just as security guards deter thieves from targeting physical assets, internal controls act as a deterrent against theft and fraud within an organisation. By implementing segregation of duties, authorisation procedures, and monitoring mechanisms, it becomes more difficult for individuals to engage in fraudulent activities such as embezzlement, misappropriation of funds, or manipulation of financial records. This creates a culture of accountability and transparency, discouraging unethical behaviour and protecting the business from financial losses. Accurate Financial Reporting Reliable financial records are essential for making informed business decisions, securing loans, and attracting investors. Strong internal controls ensure the accuracy, completeness, and integrity of an organisation’s financial reporting, providing stakeholders with confidence in the reliability of your financial statements. By maintaining accurate records and adhering to accounting standards and principles, transparency and credibility are enhanced, enabling stakeholders to assess the financial health and performance of the business accurately. Compliance with Regulations Many businesses are subject to various regulations, including tax laws, industry regulations, and corporate governance requirements. With Internal controls in place, the organisation

There is power in a singular focus. It’s the difference between a company that merely survives and one that thrives exponentially. When every facet of an organisation rallies behind one pivotal metric, the potential for transformative growth becomes not just a possibility but a reality. Operating for growth by concentrating on one defining metric isn’t a new concept, but it’s one that’s often overlooked in the quest for immediate gains and juggling multiple priorities. We often see entrepreneurs and startups doing too much too soon instead of growing and building upon the depth of one (or a few) key feature(s) that could be a game changer with growth. Over the past decade, I’ve witnessed firsthand the remarkable impact of this strategy. Leading a company through the dynamic landscapes of agro-trading and agro-processing, the commitment to one core metric became the cornerstone of our growth. This singular focus streamlined our operations and ignited a momentum that carried us through challenges and positioned us strongly in the market. The lessons learned through this journey underscore the profound difference that operating for growth with one key metric can make. THE ONE METRIC THAT MATTERS This metric I speak of isn’t just another number on a balance sheet. It is the embodiment of the value a company delivers to its customers. By honing in on this one pivotal measure, organisations can steer their strategies with precision, ensuring that every effort propels them closer to their vision of success. Global industry leaders have demonstrated the transformative power of this approach. Take Facebook, for instance. By focusing relentlessly on monthly active users, they didn’t just track a statistic; they also gauged the heartbeat of their platform’s community. This singular focus enabled them to tailor user experiences, drive engagement, and ultimately scale to unprecedented heights. Similarly, Airbnb zeroed in on nights booked. This metric allowed them to follow closely both supply and demand dynamics, guiding them to enhance host offerings and streamline guest experiences. This fuelled their rapid global expansion. This concept of a ‘North Star Metric’, as some call it, resonated deeply with me from the get-go. Witnessing how these giants channelled their resources and aligned their teams around one defining metric influenced my own strategic thinking. It became clear that to navigate the competitive terrains of agro-trading and agro-processing, my company needed a singular focal point through which the team would channel all our energies, a metric that would unify our purpose and drive every decision. THE POWER OF FOCUS IN ACTION When a company centres its attention on one critical metric, it creates a ripple effect that aligns every facet of the business. This singular focus becomes the lens through which all strategies are crafted and decisions are made. Operations streamline processes to support it; marketing tailors messages to amplify it; every department moves in unison towards a common goal. In practice, this alignment transforms the way a business operates daily. Decisions that once seemed complex become straightforward when measured against the guiding metric. If an initiative doesn’t contribute to enhancing that key figure, it’s set aside in favour of one that does. This clarity accelerates progress and minimises wasted effort. In my experience with Maxwell Investments Group, this approach proved invaluable. By prioritising volumes traded over other immediate gains, we reshaped our strategies to maximise throughput. Our procurement team focused on securing larger quantities of agricultural produce, knowing that increased volume would strengthen supplier relationships and improve bargaining power. The sales team concentrated on expanding our distribution networks to handle greater quantities, rather than chasing smaller, high-margin deals. This focus permeated every level of Maxwell Investments Group. Meetings became more productive as discussions centred on how to move many more millions of kilos more efficiently. Marketing efforts were designed to attract partners capable of handling or helping us handle substantial volumes. Even investments in infrastructure were guided by the question: “Will this enable us to trade more volume?” By aligning our operations around this one metric, we unlocked efficiencies that might have otherwise remained hidden. The entire company moved cohesively, each department’s efforts reinforcing the others. This synergy propelled our growth and fostered a culture of unity and purpose that drove us forward. CHOOSING THE RIGHT METRIC Selecting the right metric is paramount. It must encapsulate the core driver of growth specific to your industry. Not all metrics hold equal weight across different sectors. The challenge lies in identifying the one that will propel your business forward most effectively. This requires a deep understanding of the industry’s intricacies and what truly influences success within it. In sectors like agro-trading and agro-processing, volume often supersedes revenue or margins as the critical measure of growth. Why is this the case? Because these industries thrive on economies of scale. The more volume you handle, the more efficiently you can operate, reducing costs per unit and increasing competitiveness. Focusing on revenue alone can be misleading; high revenues don’t necessarily indicate sustainable growth if not backed by substantial volume. This realisation was a turning point for us at Maxwell Investments Group. We understood that prioritising the trading of millions of kilos per unit of time would yield greater long-term benefits than chasing immediate revenue spikes. By concentrating on volume, we could strengthen our supply chains, negotiate better terms with suppliers, and meet the demands of larger clients. This focus enabled us to scale efficiently, opening doors to markets that were previously beyond our reach. Choosing volume as our North Star Metric was more than just a strategic decision. It was a commitment to a growth trajectory that emphasised sustainability and scalability. It required a shift in perspective, recognising that the sheer quantity of goods moved in our industry would ultimately lead to more substantial margins and revenue growth over time. This decision has become the cornerstone of our success, demonstrating the profound impact of selecting the right metric to guide your business. THE CEO’S ROLE IN CHAMPIONING FOCUS The drive towards a singular metric begins at the top.