From Puzzles to Legacy: Family Business & Generational Wealth with African Culture | Patrick Adom

[00:00:00] But actually what then happens is like every six months or so I can go back to John Lewis

[00:00:07] or Waterstones and say, oh look we've got a memory game now you'll take him you know let's say

[00:00:12] you know five have a minute of these products already you should maybe take you know half the amount

[00:00:20] in the in the activity books or in the memory game and so and sometimes I need to sit back

[00:00:25] and like actually well that's quite powerful actually you can actually speak to these guys

[00:00:28] and you actually picture them and you're already in there so you know hopefully they'll take more

[00:00:34] of your products and you continue to expand over the years and build on what you have and so

[00:00:40] just having that and this is you know potentially an ongoing revenue stream that you have

[00:00:45] that you can basically you know hopefully expand obviously there might be ups and downs and you

[00:00:49] know trends and things like that but um

[00:00:59] hey so hello everyone welcome to the a conversation series on the Sound of Accra Podcast

[00:01:06] so this is the standalone series where we explore the lives the journey and celebrate the success

[00:01:11] of individuals from a gardening heritage or interest in short and sweet episodes until they

[00:01:16] are joined by the founder of very very puzzled Patrick Adam sorry a little bit about very very

[00:01:22] puzzled so they offer families of all backgrounds the opportunity to explore and learn more about

[00:01:28] the richness of Africa and African Caribbean community I'm really excited about these products

[00:01:33] I've been seeing them just get better and better over the years and Patrick I think we met each other

[00:01:40] at a network and a thing up I think as one of the tech networking events within the African community

[00:01:46] and then here we are how many years later how you doing Patrick welcome to the show

[00:01:52] I'm very well thank you for having me Adrian so I think we met young young

[00:01:57] gone in event so and have a what's that group as well so yeah

[00:02:06] absolutely yes I think you get started your podcast then and so yeah

[00:02:10] yeah I think it was probably just around about the tough it's it's funny because I think I met you

[00:02:15] maybe just before I started or just after I started I think one of those periods you know it's

[00:02:20] such a long time ago now when you think about this is January 2020 for those of you who don't

[00:02:25] know as when I started but I had the idea in 2019 you know I'll and I told people I was going to

[00:02:30] start this and here we are 2024 it's amazing it's gone full circle because I did my first episode

[00:02:36] in a craft in January 2020 and now I'm back in a craft again January 2024 and about to do season

[00:02:43] six it's crazy just it's crazy how life works but yeah look Patrick is great to have you

[00:02:48] show you're one of those entrepreneurs that I'm known for some time and I think we just had one

[00:02:54] of those moments the other day when we had a quick call when where where I was like I was in

[00:02:58] the Uber we had a quick call and I was like well I haven't got you on the show before but you

[00:03:02] know what they say everything works out for reason God's timing is the best and no one beholds I

[00:03:07] think you're in a really I mean I mean you're in a fairly solid place at the moment in terms of

[00:03:12] where very very positive is and where it's going I mean we are gonna get into that you know you

[00:03:16] mean you're stuck to in hamines war stones John Lewis we're gonna get into all of the good stuff

[00:03:21] but yeah let's go straight into the interview just give give our audience for those of them

[00:03:27] that don't know about very very puzzled and what you're doing in the toy and the game you space

[00:03:32] just to just explain the product and the yeah explain the product to the to the audience

[00:03:38] yeah sure thank you for that introduction I think you kind of covered a lot of it so we are

[00:03:42] very puzzled and the idea really started because of my daughter I wanted to make sure that she was

[00:03:50] confident and proud of her gun in heritage we're not doing very well at a full at the moment but

[00:03:55] you know this comes and goes but no I just wanted her to be happy we live in the UK and you know

[00:04:03] where seem as a minority but I wanted her to feel fully confident when she was and so yeah

[00:04:09] the idea of very puzzled was came out from that as you've said you know we're now stopped in

[00:04:16] hamines John Lewis and water stones it hasn't necessarily been an easy journey we started in 2018

[00:04:23] so it's taken us a number of years to get into those shops but these things take time and I think

[00:04:30] yeah we are in a good position hopefully we can now find distributors so that we can get into

[00:04:38] more shops in the UK but also in Europe and America and rest of the world. Excellent I love it

[00:04:45] 24 spells out world domination European domination African domination that we love it the whole

[00:04:50] Shabank if you know forget about world war this is about puzzles going around the world you know

[00:04:55] about to make lives better and happier I'm really excited about this Patrick it's one of my favorite

[00:05:00] products out there I must say and you know we're gonna talk about how you've really diversified

[00:05:05] the product how you've really adapted the product to different brands as well which I think is

[00:05:09] really really clever and you've really really you know take look to open up out of the box

[00:05:16] the methods to really you know just make the most out of this product really it's really beautiful

[00:05:22] to hear that your daughter kind of like led you to kind of create the product I've been this

[00:05:26] really exciting I mean how does she feel about you know where it is today and how you know

[00:05:33] the business has grown or because of her nine day that she kind of gave you

[00:05:38] yes interesting um she's 12 now so when I started she was about six or so so before it was a

[00:05:47] lot easier she was a lot more I don't know happy and involved now she's a lot older she has a phone

[00:05:53] she has her own friend group so and I'm just not cool at all so yeah so I think she gets it and

[00:06:03] she appreciates it and part of the whole thing is she's my co-founder so she's in the business with

[00:06:09] me so it's not that I'm doing it because of her or for her what kind of entanglement and so the idea

[00:06:15] was that she could learn the business um and so you know once she finishes you college school

[00:06:22] college university whatever it might be she has that as an inheritance potentially but also she's

[00:06:27] seen things you know from the inside um and you know she does contribute in that she'll give me

[00:06:35] suggestions for products she will also review existing products and you know she'll

[00:06:40] from time actually highlight flaws and improvements that can be made so she's very vocal and she

[00:06:47] does contribute in those ways yeah when I ask her and when she wants to be involved there she also has

[00:06:53] ideas in terms of go to market and who should be approached or how certain things can be done um

[00:07:00] so it's not just a gimmick and I'm not just using her as a prop because you know she'll see

[00:07:06] and it's sometimes the smallest things where we had a gun or activity book and it was talking

[00:07:11] about adding up like food so you know a child that has a menu and they need to pick what food

[00:07:17] and what they need to yeah and one of the things she pulled out quite quickly was like yeah but

[00:07:22] the fancy you've gone here is a can garland of fantasy bottle like this is an actor in a way

[00:07:30] it's small as trivial but also it is important is that like she's got attention to detail

[00:07:36] that I don't always have because yeah I've maybe I've got more things to worry about but that's

[00:07:42] this my excuse so yeah she's she's very great in that regard and she you know yeah so I'm fully

[00:07:49] supportive of her being in a business and I was encouraged to participate and contribute

[00:07:54] you know as much as she can when she feels like it she does that's incredible that's an absolutely

[00:08:00] amazing story um you have a 12 12 year to coast co-CEO her resume her resume or a CV is looking fantastic

[00:08:10] even before she even hits the legal age working um when she also loved the fact that you know

[00:08:15] you're leaving something behind for your daughter generational wealth um you know you're thinking

[00:08:20] ahead um she's involved in the business and also she's she's also you know your audience to be

[00:08:26] potentially as well because you know these are the kind of people that have been of course we can

[00:08:29] talk about you know puzzles for all the people as well but this is potentially like in probably

[00:08:34] one of your main audiences if I'm correct right the young the young kids who are going to use

[00:08:40] the product and what better way to have you know your own kid to actually test and give feedback on

[00:08:46] the product and help you to improve it and you know I can give you feedback and you know keep

[00:08:50] it up to date with all of their you know the the lingo and the slang or whatever you know all these

[00:08:54] little you know connotations that you know relate to someone her age so I think it's fantastic

[00:09:00] and you think you've made the right decision doing what you've done you're doing a great job

[00:09:05] thank you appreciate that yeah okay cool um so I mean I think we all we'll kind of go into the

[00:09:11] product and it's a little bit later and you know we'll go to the share screen and then you know

[00:09:15] we're kind of going through the products so you know sort of viewers who are watching the YouTube

[00:09:19] they can kind of see you know what the product looks like in all the different you know um

[00:09:24] products that you have for sale um give us a quick breakdown of very very puzzled so in terms of

[00:09:28] the name itself like how did how did you how did that come about yeah I mean

[00:09:35] I mean backstory I had I had I registered a company it's called Oscebo Limited Oscebo in

[00:09:41] tree is the leopard um and I had other ideas it's only when I sat down with one of my cousins at

[00:09:48] a wedding and I was explaining explaining the different ideas and he glazed over he wasn't very

[00:09:54] interested he I'd kind of lost him and then I mentioned a jigsaw puzzle of the map of Africa and

[00:09:59] he's like ah like you automatically put up and he said that's a great idea yep I can see that

[00:10:03] working so that made me you know go with that idea um and I'll just sit at home and I'll just

[00:10:10] thinking what name should I call it you know at first I was thinking maybe black stars puzzle or

[00:10:15] sank you know like fit it did I was it just kind of just came to me of every puzzle like it's just

[00:10:21] it's a funny pun it's a funny like you know and it's something that translates to everybody

[00:10:28] you don't have to be African or Ghanaian you don't have to be you know yeah and I I quickly

[00:10:35] searched for the domain name and it was available so I just registered it and just really look

[00:10:39] back because at the time for me was like you've got like a hundred things to do you don't

[00:10:44] spend like days weeks or months thinking of a name like the perfect name just you know yeah

[00:10:49] and it just happened that up to me anyway that was a nice name it ran the bill yeah yeah actually

[00:10:54] absolutely loved the name and um what I noticed as well I mean because we're just on this the screen

[00:10:59] now is the the logo actually reminds me a little bit of I mean you know the little is like a little

[00:11:04] orange kind of curve below the very it kind of reminds me of um the Amazon logo for some reason

[00:11:09] you know they're little small kind of hour just below it yeah kind of reminds me of that which is

[00:11:14] but I love the fact that you went for that name because if you went for something such as maybe

[00:11:19] um something like maybe something to do with Ghana or then then puzzled that may have restricted

[00:11:25] you from creating products that go outside of Africa do you get it yeah so I think what you did

[00:11:31] was was genius because it kind of set you you know up for like future success and didn't restrict you

[00:11:37] in terms of what you could do um you know in the immediate in the in the immediate time uh unless

[00:11:44] that's that's that's that's clearly your daughter in the picture which you're fantastic um but yeah

[00:11:48] we're gonna come back to you know the website and take a look all the different puzzles that you

[00:11:52] created all right cool so very positive name I love the name um before you kind of dive into the

[00:11:58] puzzles actually just tell us a little bit about yourself you know kind of like what you've been

[00:12:02] like the kind of like you kind of background and you know maybe a little bit about what you were

[00:12:07] doing you know that led up to the puzzle yeah so um I was born in Ghana um I moved to the UK when

[00:12:17] I was seven um before moving to the UK my mom moved here before me so I spent like parts of my early

[00:12:24] childhood with my grandmother and my great aunt um and you know I absolutely loved it there they

[00:12:31] adored me um yeah they treated me like a little emperor I was like very very key key I will talk

[00:12:39] back I will you know make requests and demands and this was at the time where you know children

[00:12:44] will just be beaten mercilessly for like the smallest infraction for like nobody ever you know

[00:12:50] laid a finger on me um other than one of my aunts but I deserved it which is fine um so I'll just

[00:12:57] running around um just waiting for the day that I kind of get caught to go to a brochi um to

[00:13:04] you know to go to the whether the streets are paved with gold and and that kind of then um but I came

[00:13:10] to the UK as a priest it was cold yeah you know the food wasn't as tasty as but I don't know

[00:13:19] just everything was just a huge um adjustment uh for me but it was fine you know you adapt

[00:13:26] your young and you know grew up you forget your accent you know you're assimilate um yeah and

[00:13:33] you know I didn't be very well at school I don't know why I just want to focus I want to sit you

[00:13:37] know um I graduated like three GCSEs also it's terrible um my mom obviously wasn't happy like just

[00:13:46] yeah um but I did go into university and I got a degree and I got a master's degree so

[00:13:53] I maybe I redeemed myself but I think in my household you know we had an extended family

[00:14:03] with aunts uncles cousins and and things and so I think you know it was kind of drummed into us

[00:14:07] you know kind of make your family proud and you know um yeah just trying to achieve you know

[00:14:14] you're here for a reason um yeah just you know make use of the opportunities that you have um

[00:14:23] and you know the benefits that you gain from being in this country because you know there's

[00:14:28] people still to this day you know struggling um risking their lives to get to this country

[00:14:32] because they can see the opportunity so you know it's yeah so that was that really just obviously

[00:14:39] African parents very strong in academics um you know want me to be successful um and just having

[00:14:47] that drilled into you but um I think I was always a bit of a tear away um a bit of a maverick and

[00:14:53] kind of wanted to do my own thing but I just didn't understand or know what that was and maybe it

[00:14:59] wasn't too later in life when maybe you know I could strike out on my own I could maybe understand

[00:15:05] myself a bit better um maybe focus on my passions and I think really the the birth of my daughter

[00:15:13] kind of made things a bit more crystal and just paying me like that focus and that um

[00:15:19] sense of purpose because just need myself it's like it's okay right I can kind of coast through

[00:15:25] life but having another person that depends on you and kind of relies on you um just gave me that

[00:15:31] sense of oh right okay this is my purpose and I've got to you know really do something worthwhile

[00:15:37] and yeah so yes that's what what inspired me and kind of got me going really wow um

[00:15:45] yeah that's that's pretty incredible um I can definitely relate to you in terms of you know

[00:15:50] you know growing up a little bit in Ghana you know I lived there you know three four years

[00:15:55] went to school there and everything and um even picked up the accent but then I kind of ran back

[00:15:59] to the UK you know before the accent could be set in stone um but yeah definitely you know

[00:16:05] understand you know having African parents you know drilling into you you know education

[00:16:09] academics and you know getting good grades or good stuff but also on the flip side I can also relate

[00:16:16] to you in terms of you know people maybe not getting those opportunities here in Ghana for example

[00:16:22] and having to work their socks off and not really getting much you know probably having to live

[00:16:26] hand to mouth on some cases you've seen like the street hawkers etc I mean I wrote an article called

[00:16:31] you know um about street hawkers and that kind of went viral years ago but it really kind of depicted

[00:16:37] you know like what they go through and also the hustle and the effort work ethic that they have

[00:16:41] to really survive in the streets and if we had that in the west you know could be a whole different

[00:16:45] story for a lot of people but yeah um you know humble humble hard work in upbringing but it looks like

[00:16:51] you know you kind of turns whatever challenges or you know you know disadvantages or barriers

[00:16:58] you've made the face of life into advantages you know um I mean you know maybe they didn't get

[00:17:03] the best GCSEs but also you managed to go to university and even get a master's you know

[00:17:08] I haven't even even I don't have a master's you know and then you have the daughter beautiful daughter

[00:17:13] and then she's inspired you to go and create this business you understand so um you have you know

[00:17:17] some wonderful you know um things in your life that's pushed you to where you are today and it's

[00:17:23] just amazing what you're doing but yeah thank you for showing I really appreciate that I'm sure

[00:17:28] that all the experience relating to that as well excellent so let's let's go straight into the

[00:17:35] puzzles so I'm gonna I'm gonna show my screen we're gonna share a screen again we're gonna have

[00:17:38] a look at the puzzle maybe you can talk us quickly through um some of the puzzles that you have

[00:17:43] all right um so I'm the one the screen now and I think this is one of the first puzzles that I

[00:17:48] that I remember you're seeing the the I think there was a hundred piece with 32 piece African

[00:17:54] giant jigsaw puzzle I think it was this one um yeah I think if a screen just loads I think it

[00:18:01] was this one I don't know if you can you see that yeah so that was the first puzzle that we did um yeah

[00:18:08] and yeah like I said I wanted to really have something that my daughter you know could feel proud of

[00:18:14] um and obviously Africa resonates to you know any that person anywhere in the world um

[00:18:22] and that really went well when it came out so at first I wasn't sure if I should even do it

[00:18:27] so I had a design done and I had um a sample made and I reached out to my cousins and my brothers

[00:18:36] that we have in a WhatsApp group and just you know showed it to them you know got their feedback

[00:18:41] and you know they were like yeah you know we would support this you know if you needed money you

[00:18:45] know we would you know we would contribute and that gave me the the acknowledgement or that gave me

[00:18:52] the I don't know the confidence to go ahead and do it myself and so I you know I ordered

[00:18:57] I think it was like a hundred at the time that I could admit it in the month you do um yeah

[00:19:03] and yeah within about a week there were pretty much sold out because I'd gone to several shops

[00:19:08] and you know the shops took them I'd gone to like a market and I sold quite few um and so yeah

[00:19:14] I just went back and ordered more and then from then it was like okay what else can I do

[00:19:20] I could have made different versions of the Africa puzzle like more pieces fewer pieces different

[00:19:25] designs but I kind of designed to go straight and do a Ghana one because as I said I really wanted

[00:19:31] to make sure you know you know my daughter was proud of who she was and I could also imagine

[00:19:35] you know the Ghanaian community really supporting such a product which which they have done um

[00:19:41] and that went well and then from then we did like uh Ethiopia and Nigeria as South Africa

[00:19:49] and I don't know if that lashes the word but um we've got some grumbles about you know what about

[00:19:55] the Caribbean why don't we have any Caribbean but you know why is it always all skewed to Africa

[00:20:01] and it's like okay cool so we did a we did a Jamaica one we weren't going to do one anyway

[00:20:08] and initially my clan was which countries have the biggest population so Nigeria, Ethiopia and Africa

[00:20:18] and then we did Jamaica which has a population of about I think two three million

[00:20:23] and that's the same company selling products we have and so it's very powerful yeah so it was like

[00:20:28] actually how many people you have is how patriotic they are and so that was a really good um

[00:20:35] learn an experience for us um and so from that we did a you know a Caribbean one Barbados

[00:20:40] Trinilla you know so we also started to build out the whole range uh within the Caribbean as well

[00:20:47] we've started out in the Philippines so we created a set of posters that go with most of the

[00:20:51] puzzles we also started to create some t-shirts that children can color in um they go with the

[00:20:57] puzzles and what we're really excited about now is our activity book so this is where you know

[00:21:06] it's 52 pages and children can do different types of activities so it could be coloring in

[00:21:12] it could be solving you know um crosswords and word searches you know it could be doing like a maze

[00:21:22] just a whole collection of different activities and the thing for us is everything that we do

[00:21:28] is focus you know on a particular country continent or region but also we want it to be

[00:21:35] um interactive for the child so you know they're doing something that's educational but they're not

[00:21:43] they're seen as fun and so you know they get they you know they're going to be engaged and they

[00:21:48] gonna be happy to you know you know yeah you know do what they're doing basically and

[00:21:53] yeah it gives the parents you know some free time that maybe they can do other things

[00:21:59] um what a child is engaged or you know you can spend quality time together and you know do these

[00:22:04] activities you know as as a family beautiful beautiful I mean you really are you know

[00:22:10] occasion to that you know that kind of that young child that family type audience because

[00:22:17] let's face it um if your products were just limited to puzzles it's all well and good but

[00:22:22] you know I bet you'll think to yourself after a while what's that next step we can take after

[00:22:27] just selling puzzles oh and activity book oh maybe uh maybe a memory game oh maybe even the

[00:22:33] t-shirt you know call it in t-shirt you know not just the t-shirt color in t-shirt that kids can get

[00:22:38] involved in and color in and I can see here you've got you know again quite a few you know t-shirts

[00:22:44] here which kids can color in and I think that's genius you know I didn't even I wasn't even

[00:22:48] really familiar with the concept of color in t-shirt and of course you got a Ghana one you know

[00:22:53] and whoever wherever country the kids are from they can get the t-shirt color in and then of course

[00:22:57] they can wear it afterwards as well which is brilliant um so I think you know from just taking

[00:23:02] the idea of initial puzzle I think you done a brilliant job in terms of taking that initial

[00:23:07] idea of one original puzzle set expanding it to different countries and continents and then kind

[00:23:12] of like following that kind of same theme or following that same kind of uh process and then

[00:23:18] replicating it in different types of products and I think you done an amazing job Patrick you know

[00:23:23] you should really give yourself a pat pat on the back um these are not tacky products so these

[00:23:27] are really good high quality products the illustrations are beautiful um it's really colorful

[00:23:33] and I'm sure the kids love it too I'm sure families and parents love it too who of course would be

[00:23:39] buying these products for their um for their kids as well um so you i'm sure you have to peel to them

[00:23:43] in a certain way um but is there anything for adults? Not at the moment um specifically towards adults

[00:23:51] we might do like a 500 piece puzzle going forwards um the idea is that adults can still sit with the

[00:23:57] children in their lives whether it's their own child or it's their nephew or niece or whatever it

[00:24:03] might be you know grandchild and they can still engage and you know share their experiences of

[00:24:08] that country or ask any questions that a child might have because you know between you know

[00:24:14] certain ages I don't know like the reads are seven or you know children just about some wild at

[00:24:18] the time they've just got hundreds and hundreds of questions and so as an adult if you're doing a

[00:24:23] puzzle you know demarts you know who's that person what's that thing have you eaten that you know

[00:24:27] so you're already there so even though you're not maybe doing the puzzle yourself you're still

[00:24:32] you know being involved and you're providing value um obviously adults can do the puzzle it wouldn't

[00:24:37] necessarily be challenging for them but I think as an adult you know we work we're stressed

[00:24:43] we come home we eat badly you know we binge on TV and actually all we binge on social media right

[00:24:49] so actually you know half an hour to an hour doing a puzzle is productive in that you know it reduces

[00:24:56] your stress your anxiety it kind of is a stress reliever um and you're not scrolling social media

[00:25:03] and getting depressed by other people's highlight rules and that sort of thing so although it's aimed

[00:25:07] at children adults can still get value and it's still just you know a nice thing that you can do

[00:25:12] that's just you know mindfulness basically which you know we all need to hopefully or I think

[00:25:17] yeah we could all practice and do more so you know we will possibly do adult puzzles in future but also

[00:25:22] I think there is still value in what we have for adults at the moment so yeah that's that's actually

[00:25:29] amazing I think you're saving families Patrick because a average family of today's day and age

[00:25:36] on the dinner table probably most of them are on their phones right right and then maybe the parent

[00:25:42] depending on what what type of parent is the parent might accept it may they may permit to they may

[00:25:47] allow it or they might be like hey get off your phones you know we're going to talk as a family

[00:25:51] kind of thing and the person or the kid might be like oh mommy daddy I don't really want to get

[00:25:55] involved but the puzzle it's like not only does the kid want to get involved the parent wants to

[00:26:01] get involved as well so you're you know you're getting away from the TV from the screens from

[00:26:06] social media as you mentioned as well and then you're also you know improving their mental health

[00:26:11] because you know the more time was absorbed by these screens it's not very good for us so you're

[00:26:17] doing you're hearing a lot of points with this puzzle and it's crazy something as simple as a

[00:26:22] puzzle can do so many different things you know so again it's not a congratulate you for the work

[00:26:28] you've done I've seen you've been featured in quite quite a few media press you know Forbes channel 4

[00:26:36] and the rest so you've got some really good PR out there as well

[00:26:41] talk in terms of achievements and stuff I'm talking through achievements that you're proud of I mean

[00:26:45] I know you were you know an award winner from the junior design awards and independent toy awards

[00:26:51] 2023 talk us quickly through that yeah thank you for that I mean I think really for me

[00:27:00] I think just starting and continuing is really my proudest achievement I think

[00:27:09] like because you know we were we got on dragons then in 2020 it didn't get on air

[00:27:15] and we didn't get funded I was really like I was really taken aback I was really saddened by it

[00:27:21] and I you know you feel that this could be life changing and yeah no yes it brought me to tears

[00:27:28] because I'm sorry to really I think the thing is the realization for me is like just making my family

[00:27:35] proud this is this really my goal my aim and you know my biggest achievement and accomplishment

[00:27:40] I think everything else order awards accolades all of features they're great and a lot of it is

[00:27:46] really luck um I mean you can work hard but there's a huge element of luck um I think really just

[00:27:53] making my family proud and um just being able to look my daughter and I and honestly say you know

[00:27:59] I've I've tried enough you know I've given you know I've put in a good effort um you know I can never

[00:28:09] not tell her to follow her dreams because I know that you know I'm pursuing mine and so

[00:28:14] I feel like just doing that alone that's that's the thing that I'm most proud of and just just

[00:28:20] yeah make my family proud and make my mum proud that's yeah I you know that anything everything

[00:28:27] else is a bonus um yeah that's that's kind of yeah that's my main thing

[00:28:33] yeah that's a powerful Patrick you're up really thank you for showing that um it is very clear

[00:28:38] family drives you you know I'll you know the most when it comes to you know what you're doing and who

[00:28:44] you are and your business and and as a result of that you're also seeing the benefits and the fruit

[00:28:50] and the profits from that as well which is beautiful um but yeah I think um you know I did the day

[00:28:56] it's um you know it's it's giving you all and you know letting your and then I think what makes it

[00:29:01] worthwhile is the family behind you and seeing them seeing you do great and seeing you kind of like

[00:29:07] contribute something and making them proud I find that also kind of gives you a sense of

[00:29:12] satisfaction that nothing really can't in this in this life of course I mean God is up there but

[00:29:17] you know um it really is a driving force and I know the power of you know family you know just

[00:29:23] wanted to make family proud wanted to leave something behind you know it really is something

[00:29:28] you know deep deep to the core of your soul that you know you can't really explain you know what

[00:29:32] that means so I totally totally understand where you're coming from and you know I'm sure it's

[00:29:37] going to continue to be a driving force for you um on the topic of motivation um what would you

[00:29:42] say to um aspiring entrepreneurs or you know or creators or people that want to maybe start a

[00:29:50] business or start something um what would you say I mean what would you what tips would you give to

[00:29:56] them that want to start something especially when they hit a hurdle I mean you can talk to

[00:30:00] about dragons then they'll get through and that's even been used it is they even make it to TV

[00:30:05] of course as hard as it is you know it would kind of set you back well what tips would you give

[00:30:09] to entrepreneurs who who face setbacks you know what should be their motivation how can they keep

[00:30:14] going when things get tough yeah there's no real easy answer um

[00:30:21] um it's it's a challenge I mean people always say have have a why and and that can always you

[00:30:27] know refer back to your why um I think my one and my Nathan is just always be yourself and to

[00:30:33] believe in yourself so um and it they're sound really simple um but they're it's quite important

[00:30:40] just to be yourself because you can't be anybody else if people don't like you for who you are

[00:30:45] than at least you know and there's no point being somebody else because then if they don't like

[00:30:49] that somebody like just he just you just turn you know you go right so just always be yourself but

[00:30:54] also you have to believe in yourself you have to back yourself you have to you know think

[00:30:58] that you can do it and think that you're capable um because it gets hard people are going to doubt you

[00:31:04] but more so people are just not going to understand what you're trying to do maybe or

[00:31:09] appreciate cut yeah so you just have to believe in yourself and just keep going um if you can

[00:31:14] it's not easy um so yeah it's I think especially when I'll start in and even myself sometimes you

[00:31:24] project all of the glamour and you project all of the success and all of the highlights and all

[00:31:28] of the wins and what I've tried to do is um I email you know my subscribers that once a month

[00:31:35] and what I try to do as well is highlight just the things that didn't go wrong right or some of

[00:31:40] the disappointments um and hurdles um because I think it's it's good to share those as well and be

[00:31:47] honest and um yeah I think people appreciate that because I would get emails about like you know

[00:31:53] what I need doing well and you know yeah you know so yeah it's it's not easy um that's not to

[00:32:00] discourage anybody because if you've got the passion um and it's your calling then by all

[00:32:05] means go for it um I think one of the things that I've learned and I'm trying to understand is

[00:32:11] just patience because I'll email 100 people in a day or two and you know just hear anything

[00:32:18] for like weeks and months even years and people don't eat on that wow what the just letting this

[00:32:24] like okay yeah let's talk um and similar with you right like we met like five six seven years

[00:32:30] ago and it's only now that we're actually connecting and actually doing a put so it's patience

[00:32:35] and sometimes things falling to place at the right time um and that's something that I'm not

[00:32:41] necessarily used to and especially in this day and age where everything's kind of instant and just

[00:32:47] learning to play the long game as it were um and as an example like getting stopped in John Lewis

[00:32:53] Hamley's what you know these things were all very all great and it looks great on a CV as it were but

[00:32:59] actually what then happens is like every six months or so I can go back to John Lewis

[00:33:06] or or Waterstones and say oh look we've got a memory game now you're taking you know let's say

[00:33:11] you know five that have many of these products already you should maybe take you know half the amount

[00:33:19] in the in the activity books or in the memory game and so and and sometimes I need to sit back

[00:33:24] and like actually that's quite powerful actually like you speak to these guys and you actually

[00:33:29] pitching them and you're already in there so you know hopefully they'll take more of your products

[00:33:34] and you continue to expand over the years and build on what you have and so um just having that

[00:33:40] and that this is you know potentially an ongoing revenue stream that you have that you can basically

[00:33:45] you know hopefully expand obviously there might be ups and downs and you know trends and things

[00:33:50] like that but um yeah it's so yeah having that patience and just having that yeah that long game in mind

[00:33:59] I think um hopefully we'll bear fruit um you know because also just quickly to add you do get the

[00:34:08] sense sometimes um you know this company turned over 20 million in one year or this company made a

[00:34:13] billion in fact you know you get like the big figures and it doesn't always work like that and

[00:34:19] a lot of business as far as I'm aware you know maybe aren't profitable for like the first few years

[00:34:26] and a lot of businesses go under within the first so it's I think yeah having that longevity

[00:34:35] is something that maybe should be celebrated as well yeah you should definitely celebrate

[00:34:40] the Patrick I think um if I think it's 90% of businesses fell in the first three years or

[00:34:44] four or five years so I mean when I'll speak in six years layers since you started business and

[00:34:49] you're still here you know so definitely give yourself a pat in the back you know you've survived

[00:34:52] the pandemic which is another um filter or tester for a lot of people a lot of businesses as well it

[00:34:58] could it could it could have gone one or the other way for people during the pandemic as well you

[00:35:03] still here and um yeah I mean you know you played a long game you know it's it's paid off it's paid

[00:35:08] and it's still paying off and um you know you've been honest you know you've been honest you've

[00:35:14] been authentic you know you're sharing with your audience you're sharing subscribers the downs

[00:35:20] but at the same time you're also getting ups with that com with that as well and then you

[00:35:24] know you don't get the ups about the downs and those that just want to show off the fancy

[00:35:28] revenue figures you know it's not always it because you know what they say

[00:35:33] vannity you know vannity's insanity profit is sanity so you could have this huge revenue

[00:35:38] by end of the day what's the profit really say why'd you get it to take home that's what it matters

[00:35:44] at the end of the day and you know and you've been able to take something home to your daughter

[00:35:49] to your family to your wife or whatever you get it so you're doing a great job you're doing a great

[00:35:54] job yeah and great and quickly I'm 2024 goals um the key one for us is continue to expand our

[00:36:02] product range so really build out the activity books um and the memory games that we're really really

[00:36:07] excited about um and then the other thing is really just to find a distributor so we were speaking

[00:36:13] to a distributor in America they said no um we we're now talking to another distributor that's UK

[00:36:20] and America um one in Germany and one in South Africa potentially so we're just really really

[00:36:29] excited about finding a distributor because that then means you know you've got other people

[00:36:34] championing the products other people doing a sales other people leveraging their own channels

[00:36:39] and networks to like really grow grow to business um and I think it gets to that point where

[00:36:46] you know it's a business that hopefully my daughter could basically manage in the next you know

[00:36:53] few years you know two to three years even like because typically you just be like sending an email

[00:36:58] to the distributor finding out the order numbers and then sending an email to the manufacturer

[00:37:04] to like manufacturing and it's not that she could you know probably tell if I showed her so I feel

[00:37:09] like you know she could be learning the ropes you know and maybe getting pocket money um or maybe

[00:37:14] putting on a payroll and again you know having that when so when you know when she really wants it

[00:37:21] you know you know she's got something that she can play with um when she's older but I just

[00:37:25] feel it's a learning experience and it can kind of demystify things so that when she has it

[00:37:30] because she's got her own ideas and you know it's just showing her this is the process and so you

[00:37:35] know if she wants to develop her own product line you know whether within this range or of her own

[00:37:42] or whatever she wants to do really you know it's not magic there's just like a process so

[00:37:48] even if she wants to be you know I don't know an astronomer or I don't know yeah whatever it might

[00:37:55] be just just showing her that you know you can actually go for it and um you know give them the

[00:38:00] confidence to you know to strike out what on her own whatever it she wants to do in life

[00:38:06] absolutely absolutely um I really again I really love how you've got family in mind and you really

[00:38:11] want to leave inheritance and the original wealthier family and you know really you know be that

[00:38:17] father figure for your daughter and also you know hand something over to her that she can take over

[00:38:22] in the near future even join you know join you know join venture with you you know and I think

[00:38:27] you know one amazing thing would be to be in business with you know with a son of a daughter

[00:38:32] and then to see him eventually take take over take it over from you um you know I mean I mean

[00:38:37] it's quite a sight so I'm looking forward to that day when when she goes from cozy to see you

[00:38:44] you wonder what an interesting uh um sight that would be and I think I've seen that in um I think

[00:38:51] I think it was a Lamborghini movie I watched all the Ferrari movie I watched then I think Lamborghini

[00:38:55] had the had the sun I've had a few sons and I think one of the sons ended up taking over him I think

[00:39:02] um and then he ended up dying and the sun took over and I think it's I think it's quite you know

[00:39:08] common in Italian families but I think the secret to longevity is having family take over

[00:39:15] the business and when you when you have a uh success on lined up it just makes things easy

[00:39:20] easy to keep that generation going but when you don't you know things can be quite messy and I've

[00:39:24] noticed that with certain businesses but the family own businesses tend to be the most

[00:39:29] or genuine and seem to be the most long long running ones as well and sometimes the most

[00:39:34] profitable too so you know I think you're onto something and you know really proud of what you're

[00:39:38] doing not just in the gardening community the African community and that Caribbean community because

[00:39:43] you know um did Jamaica want to piece once a piece of the pie to know a pun intended for the

[00:39:47] piece of the puzzle but also what you're doing around the world so yeah it's really congrats to

[00:39:51] you Patrick you doing a great job and I definitely need to order some of the puzzles this year

[00:39:56] you know thank you so much no you're absolutely correct because um especially yeah like to be Italian

[00:40:02] I think it was for our remake because that's quite a new film that's come out but um like Louis Vuitton

[00:40:08] Moette Hennessy that's owned by like a a guy who's like all his children are like

[00:40:13] own different like bright brands and obviously you've got a group of Murdoch like him or not you know

[00:40:19] his one of his children's inheritance you know his his business um and then yeah exactly

[00:40:25] um I don't know Prada these are all you know names of people like actual people's names

[00:40:32] were wearing and his death family that owns it um so yeah we should definitely you know

[00:40:39] try to do more of that and I think

[00:40:44] it is good competition as well like you know each each and every one of us in our families you know

[00:40:50] building something that you know we're competing against the arcade they've got the puzzles

[00:40:54] whether they do the farming whether they do the real estate and then you know you building up your

[00:40:57] family name you know your house basically right you know um and sometimes I think maybe

[00:41:04] and it's because different families had their things I think that maybe spurs you on okay we want

[00:41:10] to be as good as their family we don't want to get left behind or you know so yeah you can kind

[00:41:15] of take pride and then you know at some point maybe you know the families maybe even like

[00:41:20] marry and then build you know that dynasty and that kind of thing so maybe that's something

[00:41:26] that you need to do more in Ghana and across Africa as a whole when the Caribbean is just

[00:41:30] doing our families absolutely that's the key that's the key you know family unit you know

[00:41:36] you know keeps keeps keeps things moving you know keeps things moving okay for Patrick's been great

[00:41:43] having you on the show really enjoy this conversation most importantly where can everyone find

[00:41:48] very puzzles on social media and where can they get those hands on the puzzle I mean we've

[00:41:53] showed them the website they can definitely get from the website but where else can they get it

[00:41:58] yeah so definitely on our website our social media is very very puzzled on all of the social

[00:42:04] media networks very puzzled was already taken on social media so we just went we're very very

[00:42:08] puzzled and also I'll start my own businesses so try going into diverse in Brixton the Black

[00:42:15] Cultural Archives also in Brixton those are two really great places and also the Black Pound Day shop

[00:42:22] in Westfield and Westville Strapford and White City you can get it there we are also available

[00:42:29] in Wildgecko in Akra and my booksy in Akra as well for those in Ghana and then if you're not in any

[00:42:38] of those places any of those locations then you can go to obviously Hamles, John Lewis and Waterstones

[00:42:44] which are National Retail Brands and you can also check on those websites and you can see like

[00:42:52] which shop which branches have it but also you can order click and collect from most of those shops as

[00:42:58] well brilliant well I mean you've definitely spread spread you've definitely spread it to your

[00:43:04] wings in terms of distributors and I'm sure you're going to spread even more in 2024 Patrick doing

[00:43:09] an amazing amazing job with the puzzle and with your family and looking forward to seeing where

[00:43:13] you're going to be the next year to even five years yeah thank you so much for your time Adrian

[00:43:19] I appreciate it pleasure all right guys so there you have it and we'll leave all the links

[00:43:26] and some of the key points mentioned in the podcast player if you're listening on the podcast

[00:43:32] player or on the YouTube channel in the description below if you're watching the YouTube all right

[00:43:37] guys so we're going to see the next conversation