Awurama Asante: Meet The KNUST Graduate Who Started An Event Firm With GH¢500
- KNUST graduate Awurama Asante has disclosed how assisting with planning and coordination in a top cocoa processing company gave her in-depth knowledge about events
- The gorgeous chief executive officer of Planned by Dassah also recounted her philanthropic works in some parts of Accra
- Awurama Asante showered praises on her friend who helped her start her business without any capital
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Never take anything for granted. Ghanaian wedding planner Awurama Asante, a Kwame Nkrumah University of Science of Technology (KNUST) graduate, shared her story of learning new skills through passion and dedication during her internship at a top cocoa processing company in Ghana, which enabled her to start her business after school.
Source: Instagram
In an exclusive interview with YEN.com.gh, the chief executive officer of Planned by Dassah, Awurama Asante, who has a degree in Food Science and Technology, delved into wedding planning and the duties of an event planner, especially during any event.
Awurama Asante talks about her first event-planning experience
In Ghana, most interns are given mundane jobs and made to run errands. Still, Awurama Asante was given a golden opportunity to learn on the job, and she excelled exceedingly well.
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In 2020, I had the opportunity of interning with the marketing department of NICHE Confectionery Ghana. I was put in charge of planning and seeing to the execution of product activations in various media houses.
I was tasked to plan, coordinate happenings, collate feedback from the visits made, and report.
This encounter laid a sort of foundation for both planning and coordination. Thus, I can handle the planning of events and their coordination on the day of the event.
Awurama Asante organises a plush wedding:
Awurama Asante opens up about turning her hobby into a profit-making venture
Awurama Asante is getting paid for doing something that she truly loves. Besides this, she has always been a philanthropist who gives back to society in the best way, and it has harnessed her event planning and coordination skills.
My story began purely out of turning a hobby into an enterprise. I love to organize/bring people together for a worthy cause. I often frequent the streets of Shiashie, a suburban town in Accra. It hosts many refugee children from neighbouring countries.
Most of these children beg for alms to afford a single meal for the day. In March 2021, I volunteered as lead on a Feed the Street Project that targeted feeding hundreds of children on these streets. The difficulty in manifesting this arduous project was in raising funds to feed hundreds of children on the streets of Accra, the national capital.
We sought sponsorship from individuals and organizations through the sale of chocolate and souvenirs. Seeing the smiles on the faces of these young ones gave me so much joy.
Before this, in church, I was assigned the role of Programs Director, and I excelled at it. All these experiences made me realize how much zeal I had for putting together events and working through the processes to ensure favourable outcomes.
Awurama Asante shares a video of a wedding she planned in January 2023:
Awurama Asante insists that you don't need capital to start a business
The young woman used the resources to start her business and secure her first gig shortly after with support from family and friends. She started emphatically that she started her business with zero capital.
I began the venture with zero capital. My go-to was to create a profile on Instagram, a LinkedIn account, and an email address system on Google, for starters. Thankfully a friend designed a logo for free, so no costs were incurred. I have also utilized free online applications in creating proposals and budgets.
Awurama Asante outlines the roles of an event planner
With the introduction of social media, it is pretty easy to determine whether an event planner is suitable for a job by going through their social media posts. However, Awurama Asante, one of the newest event planners with lots of practical experience, shares some trade secrets.
My job is to guide clients in putting together budgets for their events. A greater deal of being an excellent planner is seeing that a flawless event is carried out while staying within budget.
I usually begin with drawing up budgets, including allotting 10% of funds for surprise costs or last-minute needs. In considering vendors, I always have a preferred vendor for several different cost points—a low-cost option, a mid-tier one, and a high-end one. I find that paying attention to detail, knowing how to negotiate, and having a contingency budget guarantee that everything stays within the budget.
To achieve perfection in an event, it is imperative to sit down with the client and ask what they hope to get out of the event before beginning any engagements. Then you can proceed to counsel them on suitable vendors. Also, I aid them to curate their events to suit their tastes and visions; then, I support them to execute their ambitions.
Awurama Asante posts a video from a plush baby christening ceremony:
Awurama Asante shares her most remarkable success stories as an event planner and challenges
Although Awurama Asante has a full-time job, the determined and results-oriented young lady manages her business to meet the satisfaction of her clients. Like all business owners, she shares some challenges and how she resolved them on the spot.
As a planner, one of the exciting yet challenging aspects is ensuring that I complete events successfully without exceeding the budget. The most common reasons projects exceed budget are poor communication, unrealistic targeting, and lack of foresight.
One of the best events yet posed such a challenge. However, negotiating with vendors and finding cheaper alternatives for essentials that don’t directly add to the attendee experience helped me sail through the day.
Again, event planning has been listed as the 5th most stressful job and requires a lot of energy and brain power. Nothing ever prepares you for the challenges that pop up during an event. Being mentally aware and readily alert while balancing so many things simultaneously has, in some ways, passed for a challenge.
As a newbie in the industry, I have not yet reached the level of hiring help. However, these real-time experiences have taught me so much I could never learn from a classroom.
Sometimes I was clueless about a client's questions or had outright solutions to situations that popped up during an event. Staying calm at the moment has saved me in many ways, that I give credit for. I have realized that as a planner, you have no room for anxiety, as the more tensed you appear, the more you stress yourself.
Awurama Asante organises a family event:
Awurama Asante shares some nuggets of wisdom with entrepreneurs
The rising event organiser shared this advice with other entrepreneurs in the event industry.
I am a Christian and believe God is why we are on earth. He’s the source of our talents and abilities and is the only one who can help us navigate our potential.
Seek counsel from God first before anything. Every time I have sought Him first, all other things have been added. If you prioritize God, things will work out. Sometimes it may tarry, but God is always on time, even when He’s seemingly late.
CEO Who Started A Watch Company In Ghana After Circle Repairer Ruined His Late Father’s Watch Gets $600k Deal
Previously, YEN.com.gh wrote about Patrick Amofah, the chief executive officer of Hourhand Co., who founded his watch business in Ghana when a local craftsman nearly ruined a watch he had inherited from his late father.
The young watchmaker explained that because of his entrepreneurial spirit, it was simple for him to decide to pursue watchmaking when he noticed a need.
In an exclusive interview with YEN.com.gh, Patrick Amofah discussed the craft of watchmaking and how he gained the confidence of his affluent customers to create a prosperous business in Ghana.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
