Ghanaian who Moved to US with $600 Becomes Founder of Skincare Company Bringing In $500K (Photos)

• Manny Addo, a US-based Ghanaian entrepreneur, has detailed how he entered the beauty sector by starting small before establishing the brand
• About 20 years ago, Addo travelled from Ghana to the United States for the first time with just $600 in his pocket, and he later started his business
• Sales from his beauty brand surged from $10,000 in the initial year to $100,000 the following year to $500,000 in 2022

US-based Ghanaian business owner, Manny Addo, has detailed how he ventured into the beauty industry by starting small before establishing the brand.

While working in corporate America in 2016, the founder of the skincare company True Shea launched his venture as a side project.

The modest beginning of Manny Addo's brand

Success didn't come to him on a plate. Before obtaining a tiny account at Jungle Jim's International Market, Addo began modestly, worked on his products through the evenings and weekends, and sold them at churches and flea markets.

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Per Face2Face Africa, the largest operator of conventional supermarkets in America, Kroger, has True Shea at nearly 1,200 locations. Among his customers are Target, Walmart, and Amazon. Cincinnati Business Courier reports that 335 locations made up his initial rollout at Kroger.

Addo said he entered the shea business due to the US's strong demand for it. He mentioned how raw shea nuts are widely available in his own country and said that since the start of his firm, he has been importing raw shea from there.

Before launching his shea business, Addo was a senior financial analyst for General Electric, Fifth Third Bank, Duke Energy, PwC, and JP Morgan Chase. He recently resigned as a relationship manager at the Economic Community and Development Institute to concentrate on his skincare startup.

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Manny Addo's sales surge

The decision was made primarily due to the company's increasing sales. According to the Cincinnati Business Courier, sales increased from $10,000 in the initial year to $100,000 the following year to $500,000 in 2022.

Manny Addo's charity initiatives

Addo reinvested a portion of the profit in the Ghanaian town of Gnani. He invested in a community water project in 2022 in collaboration with Kroger.

He stated that clean water is frequently taken for granted in the United States when providing a well for the village's drinking water.

He claimed that when he was staying in the community, he witnessed school-age children traveling great distances to find water, illustrative of the difficulties residents of Gnani in Ghana's northern region have in obtaining clean water. Addo is scheduled to commission another water project by the end of 2023.

"I don't just give money to any cause. These are people I've spent time with. They were my neighbors," he told Cincinnati Business Courier. I want to do something to change the course. It's a big part of our mission and our story,'' he said.

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Around 20 years ago, Addo made his first trip to the United States from Ghana with only $600 in his pocket. It was his goal to finish his master's degree at Xavier University. He quickly started sleeping on floors and was on the verge of leaving school because of a lack of money.

But he overcame his obstacles with grace and tenacity. The birth of True Shea was the result of his business spirit.

Meet the founder of company that turns waste into gas

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh previously reported that the founder of DAS Biogas Construction Ltd., a company that provides a comprehensive home and institutional waste management service, is Ghanaian mechanical engineer and biogas expert Enoch Kofi Boadu.

The business owned by Boadu also produces plastic pavement and roofing tiles for the building sector. He created a generator that uses biogas to produce up to 1.5 kilowatts of power.

Source: YEN.com.gh