A visit to his former workplace, UBA (United Bank for Africa) Teshie branch across the untarred road just opposite his showroom in Accra brings back fond memories but not one that will make him rescind his decision.
Nana Yaw Owusu, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of YawBako Clothing entered the banking sector as a teller in 2012 but unlike many young people who get into the “prestigious” banking fraternity, he had a strategic exit plan.
As a fresh entrant trying to find his feet in his new role, Owusu was occasionally hit by records of imbalances (overage and shortage).This got to authorities of the bank earning him the “record” for the first employee to be suspended as a result of account imbalances.
“I was a teller …It wasn’t easy if your transactions don’t balance daily. Colleagues made mockery of me because I wasn’t balancing,” Owusu told Business World Ghana in an interview in his showroom tucked on a laterite stretch at Teshie that links to the Spintex road.
His show room is a regular one located at a strategic point with glass doors typical of most Ghanaian shops. An entry into the showroom opens up a world of “Africanness” right from the heavy wooden shelves that elegantly displays his neatly stitched apparels to the three framed paintings hanging on the wall.
The shelves are divided into sections; a part of it displays colourful modern designed African print shirts marched with other fabrics, the next shelf had African print shorts suitable for a chic weekend look and a few women’s clothing was also represented.
Directly opposite is another huge shelf displaying bespoke men’s shoes and leather slippers. Women’s beads and accessories are also displayed.
The big exit
Now back to the banking saga.
His colleagues made mockery of him and even called him bad luck for his imbalances.
“Some of my colleagues will say don’t mix my money with yours; you are full of bad luck and that really got to me. However, this wasn’t the only motivating factor. What really ignited the creative part of him was when he started sketching designs for his tailor to sew.
His boss and colleagues at the bank admired his designs and requests started pouring in droves. With his exit date inching closer, he enrolled in a fashion school as a weekend student to learn the rudiments of the fashion industry.
He readily admitted that banking wasn’t his passion although he admired their professional dress code as a young boy.
“I use to like the appearance of bankers; I remember while in Junior High School (JHS) my friend’s dad who worked at the bank will come to the school in a white shirt and tie and I admired the man,”
“Banking wasn’t my dream, it was a means to an end,” he said when asked if banking was his childhood dream.
Owusu couldn’t lay finger on a major event that led him into fashion but his creative side, “banking stress” and the rise of African print fashion could easily pass as a major push.
In 2016, he finally quit his bank job and launched Yaw Bako Clothing to the amazement of his former colleagues and relatives. Now his colleagues who once mocked and labelled him bad luck thought of him as a man of courage. They have since remained his top clients.
“My former colleagues are my bankers and clients now and I have a very good relationship with them. Whenever I visit for transactions it brings back memories.”
“But not a single day have I regretted resigning,” he quickly added.
Challenges
Unlike many start-ups saddled with funding challenges, Owusu’s only hurdle had to do with convincing his family to accept his new found career. Funding wasn’t a challenge as he manged to access loans with low interest rates during his banking days and invested heavily into acquiring equipment, logistics, and website among others for his business.
Business success
Over the past two years, Nana Yaw Owusu has steadily built an enviable list of clientele and currently produces 500 pieces of apparels monthly. These pieces are put together by his supportive 15 member team who work around the clock to ensure clothing comes out in perfect style and shape.
He explains that his clients are the middle and upper class people hooked unto the internet and often shop for various designs online (Yawbako.com) rather than walk in to buy.
This isn’t surprising because with deepening internet penetration in Africa, many people especially millennials conduct sales online boosting ecommerce platforms to the detriment of brick and mortar stores.
According to a report released by global digital giants, We Are Social and Hootsuite, Africa has the fastest growth rate with regards to internet penetration and users as the number of users across the continent increased by more than 20% in 2018 compared to 2017.
Part of his success could be attributed to his sales team and most importantly referrals from customers in countries like Australia, China, US, UK among others.
The Yaw Bako brand is divided into 3 areas; Yaw Bako Men’s wear, Kwame IX- the shoe brand and Star J accessories.
The fashion scene- Ghana, Africa
For Owusu, Ghana’s fashion has springed into vibrancy compared to 5 years ago with an insatiable taste for African prints.
“Before people were not really into African wear but now people are beginning to accept what fashion designers do.”
Challenges in Ghana’s fashion scene
He described disunity among fashion designers as worrying as there isn’t one vibrant fashion designers’ body catering to their needs.
“We need unity among us, everybody is focusing on themselves and we only go for fashion shows and even that is full of unhealthy competitions”
YouTube to the rescue
His YouTube channel, African Men’s Fashion And More is specially dedicated to African fashion trends and Fashion designers.
The channel enables him to educate people on Africa’s fashion scene while selling to the world concurrently as he is not relenting on his efforts to use the platform as a major tool to boost sales while reaching the world.
“Youtube is one platform people underrate but it’s very strong as it enables brands to play on the world’s stage because everybody gets to watch your videos,” he concluded.
By: Pamela Ofori-Boateng/ Business World Ghana