The fifth session of the monthly startup huddle was held on the 17th March 2023 at The Hub. The founders that presented at the event were Mr Baboucarr Njie , founder of Substantia farms and Fanta Jawara , founder of KJ Cupcakes.
The event was moderated by the Hub manager Basiru Drammeh and the Hub Intern Awa Touray.
Baboucarr Njie is the founder of Substantia farms , a Self funded business he runs with his family. His farm deals with the growing of fruit and vegetable crops as well as poultry farming. He provides space for women in Abuko to do gardening for free.
Baboucarr spoke at length about the lack of willingness to support from the Government to entrepreneurs thus encouraging the startups to start small and grow big.
He mentioned that if he had known the share base ownership since the start of his business he would have been more successful stating that share base ownership is more ideal for business than salary payment to your workers. He said this would not only motivate and make sure your workers fulfill their duties but would help in times of lack of sales and it's fair for both parties .
Baboucarr advised the startups to venture into partnerships that have trust.
Substantia farms is a local vegetable and fruit farm located in Abuko and started operation in 2013 as a mangrove farm.
Fanta Jawara is a law graduate and the founder of KJ cupcakes. She started the business while she was in high school as a side hustle. The business is being operated by her with the help of her house help. During her interaction , she stressed on the need for customer satisfaction and trust, giving examples of how she tells her customers she is fully booked when she doesn't have her top ingredients . She said she does that to not spoil her brand name by using just any ingredient to be able to sell.
She also encouraged the startups to be consistent and not give up when it gets hard.
KJ Cupcakes is a homemade cake bakery that provides different crafted cakes for birthdays, weddings etc.
The event was successfully attended by twelve startup founders who were motivated .The next startup huddle is expected to be on the 26th May, 2023 at The Hub.
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