Every Company Needs Investment

I think that money or the lack there of makes most people apprehensive about starting their own business. However, there are dozens of ways to get around this problem. Though its not so easy to get someone to give you large sums of money, it's more possible than people think, myself included. Cindy and I were lucky enough to find a couple who believed in our idea and in Hemma's potential and chose to invest in our company! Best of all, they not only invested monetarily but are investing time, resources, ideas etc. This brings me to a very important point, Once you do have investors or know potential investors, you should ask your self :

• Do I get along with them as people? (You will most likely be spending large amounts of time sharing and communicating with them)

• Do they share my motivation and drive to make the business a success?

• What are you looking for in an investor?

• What do they want out of the deal?

• Do you trust them?

Its very important to find a good fit between you and your investor because hopefully they will be someone who shares more than just money with you (ie: information, knowledge, experience). Cindy and I thought about these questions and what was important to us, before we even found investors so that when we did, we were prepared! Prepare for opportunities, so that when they appear, your ready! Its more than just being at the right place at the right time. What we did when searching for investors:

1. INTERNET RESEARCH: We searched for grants in all fields we thought would apply. Who would give you money? Be very inclusive and search broadly at first not only specific to your industry but specific to who you are (ie: student, woman, person of color; were just a few of the criteria we looked into).
2. YOUR FAMILY: The closest people to you, who would probably be very supportive of you doing such a courageous thing like starting your own business. Ask them for money: parents, granny's, aunts, uncles.
3. USE YOUR NETWORK: Whether you are a student, employee, parent etc, use yoru network of people. They may be potential investors themselves or more likely than that is that they will know someone who would be interested in investing. Tell as many people you can about your business! You have to basically become your company, its biggest fan and cheerleader. The more people you tell, the more people will hear about your company and possibly want to contribute. That is pretty much how we met our investors.
4. READ as much as you can about business related issues, including tips on effective ways to get investment for your specific industry. One publication I would recommend is Inc. Magazine, read the magazine or articles online, its great for the new business owner! I also recommend SBA another organization that helps small businesses with a wide range of services from loans to counseling.
5. YOURSELF: Cindy and I invested our own capital at Hemma's inception and we did so willingly because we both really believed that we would see a return. We had both just graduated college when we decided to start Hemma, so we were not at all financially established, but that goes to show that you do not necessarily need large sums at the inception of your company.
6. HAVE A BUSINESS PLAN:

• Learn how to write a business plan by internet/book research and by looking at templates online or from friends
• Be very detailed when writing
• It's OK to not have all the answers about your business at the very beginning of writing your plan, the more you research, the clearer they may become
• Make the cover and writing style within very professional and concise
• A business plan is your way to convince someone that you have a great product, service or idea so treat it as such!

So now your ready to move your business to the next level. Good luck!!

Reason 237 of Why I Love Ghana

So I was very nervous about going to Ghana without Edna, I mean we had such a great time studying abroad there and I couldn't believe that I was traveling back for Hemma by myself! But during the flight I remembered another reason why I loved Ghana: Ghanaians are so welcoming! This is how I managed to get a new boyfriend and be the bottle opener official all in the 9 hour flight to Ghana. So, theres this cute 3 year old boy sitting in front of me who manages to waddle his way over to my seat. As always, babies are just attracted to me! By the end of the flight, everyone was referring to me as his new girlfriend! By dinner time the flight attendants were serving wine. There were older women around me and somehow I became the official wine bottle opener for those 55+ women who wanted to get their drink on. Although I was on the flight alone, I felt right at home!

Ghana Flashback: Lets Get Crunk!

I know the term is very outdated, but this is a Ghana Flashback. Edna and I studied hard even while studying abroad. It seemed at times we were the only ones in the program who actually did work! Every weekend we were determined to have fun. Baze was one of our favorite local spots. Somehow we would end up there every weekend with our friends from Ashesi University. One of our close friends always used the term crunk and it just became part of our normal vocabulary. When we came back, we were forced to reject it from our speech, but I still have fond memories of it nonetheless!!!

Countdown to Ghana!

So the countdown has begun! In 4 days I will be in Ghana, West Africa to complete our initial line! This whole week has been so surreal for me. Edna and I have been planning for this trip for so long and it is finally happening. We were just talking about how it just recently hit us that everything we have worked so hard for is finally materializing in front of our eyes. I am very excited, but nervous at the same time, there is so much riding on this trip! So what am I doing now to cope? I'm at work working my butt off.....on Hemma, of course!

The Origins

The idea for hemma came about when we studied abroad in Ghana. We were there during the our junior year in the Spring of 07. This was a major turning point in both of our lives because we were able to become so detached from our lives in New York and fully immerse ourselves in the Ghanaian lifestyle. We were both worried when we first got there and weren't sure if we could last an entire semester. But by the time we left, we cried our eyes out because we didn't want to leave Ghana behind. Through hemma we've found a way to bring some of Ghana back with us and share it with New York. We fell into the idea of creating a clothing line, it started off unintentionally. While in Ghana we loved the wide array of West African fabrics and garment designs, so we started designing clothes for ourselves. Between Cindy and I we made dozens of pieces, including garments made out of Kente fabric. Everyone in Ghana and the NYU program loved it. When we came back to NY we got the same reception. A lightbulb clicked for us. We decided that we wanted to share the clothing that we loved so much by starting hemma.