AptAmigo Innovation Scholarship

Ever since I was young, I always wanted to be independent and have my own business. I did not like the idea of being under someone or allowing another person to dictate how I use my time and my movements. Entrepreneurship was the perfect solution to this discomfort of mine. I started my business in my first year of high school. I was in a boarding house so my mother used to buy a lot of provisions like milk, beverage, biscuit, for me to take to school. We have a plantain plantation at the back of my house so whenever the harvest period came, we used the plantain to make plantain chips. The plantain chips were part of the provisions my mother packed for me when it was available. One day, I gave my friend out of it and she liked it then she told other people about it and they loved it too. When I discovered too many people loved the chips and they always came to ask me for them, I decided to let myself gain too, so I started selling them. The price was determined by the quantity the person wanted. Whenever the ones I had finished, I would call my mum to send more and I used to package it in nylon that was easy for them to carry around. The chips were so good and popular that upper-classmen too started buying from me. I made a lot of profit from the unripe plantain since I did not like it; I sold more of it than the ripe one which I liked so much. This went on till I graduated from high school. Now, I sell to my neighbors and friends, I deliver to those I can get to while my mother makes them and we now have a customized brand and logo for it. We sell in plastic containers and sachets. The independence and flexibility of entrepreneurship were what pushed me. If I did not want to sell anything, no one would force me to and I was not reporting to anybody about anything. All these convinced me to start something small that has helped me and my family now. Always hearing people complaining about their 9-5 job also motivated me to start selling the plantain chips. I hope to have a restaurant in the future where I can cook and sell food to people because I enjoy cooking. There would be snacks in my restaurant that would surely involve my plantain chips. I want to get to a point where I will be delivering to orphanages for free and doing giveaways for homeless people to put a smile on their faces. Starting this business has helped me boost my confidence that I can do anything and be my person and I now have a sense of responsibility that has helped me in other areas of my life. Now I realize for entrepreneurship, a lot of planning is involved and goals have to be set or else there would not be efficient productivity. One has to be responsible to start a business. I learned how to be proactive and forward-thinking while in high school. The creativity part of me has also enhanced, I am constantly looking for ways to make my products more appealing to existing and new customers. Also, multitasking has become second nature. I have to make sure things are done on time and that requires doing different things at the same time. I am more accountable because if I do not take note of my surroundings and be upfront about things, I believe my business will not bloom. I have learned a lot of things from entrepreneurship that I believe will help me in life and my career.