09/06/2026
Edwin Dela writes:
10 years in corporate and 10 years building a business are not the same classroom.
Earlier last month, I met a gentleman at Kempinski Hotel in my consulting capacity at LuminCore Consult.
He had spent 15 years in the corporate world and now wants to transition into business.
But when he saw me, his first impression questioned everything.
In his mind, I looked like the PA.
The “real consultant” was probably an older man with grey hair who would soon appear.
So I asked him calmly:
“What makes you feel I am not qualified to guide this conversation?”
That question changed the room.
As we spoke, I shared some of the businesses I run, the companies I support, and the boards I serve on.
His face shifted from doubt to surprise.
Then he asked, “How did you get here? How long have you been doing this?”
By the end of the meeting, we had moved from first impressions to business models, risk, growth strategy, positioning, and the real work required to start, run, and grow a sustainable business.
He apologized.
And I respected that.
Because his reaction was not just personal.
It was cultural.
In Ghana, we respect age deeply.
That is beautiful.
But sometimes, we confuse age with experience.
Corporate experience teaches structure.
Business experience teaches consequence.
In corporate, a wrong decision may affect your department.
In business, a wrong decision can affect salaries, rent, reputation, family, suppliers, and the next month’s survival.
That kind of pressure teaches you things no job description can.
Age can carry wisdom.
But age alone does not build business models, test market entry assumptions, manage cash flow, lead teams, handle failure, serve clients, or grow an SME through uncertainty.
Corporate experience gives structure.
Entrepreneurial experience gives scars.
Both matter.
But they are not the same.
Here is what many professionals must understand before entering business:
A job gives you a role.
Business gives you full responsibility.
KPIs measure performance.
The market measures survival.
Titles open doors.
Value keeps you in the room.
Strategy sounds clean on paper.
Ex*****on exposes the truth.
Experience is not always grey hair.
Sometimes, it is a young person who has paid quietly in pressure, payroll, mistakes, growth strategy, leadership, and consistency.
We must learn to complement one another better.
The corporate leader needs the entrepreneur’s reality.
The entrepreneur needs the corporate leader’s structure.
And Ghana needs both for national growth.
Have you ever been in a similar position, either in your corporate career where managers undermined your competence, or in business where clients doubted your expertise because you looked too young to execute a project?
I’m Edwin Dela, your Brand Strategist and Business consultant.
