Moved to Ghana from UK with £200 and now owns a 30 bedroom hotel

there's more to talk about yeah yes there's more to talk about we've added the ground building believe in yourself believe in what you can achieve believe that it is possible there's no place like hope set your time Focus work on your move and come home you started with £200 100 but a lot of people watching it will say show us the way what will be the way about a year ago I interviewed an inspirational man Mr kofia piia who moved from the UK to Ghana with his wife and two kids with only £200 and a six-bedroom house in their name in just over a decade the family have managed to transform their six-bedroom guest house into about a 30 bedroom hotel with their new addition the grand building conceptualized and wed into existant within a 12 month period in this video I catch a glimpse of the new addition of a santa Premier Hotel the grand while revisiting the Journey of Mr kofia in Ghana I'm sure you will be inspired if you able to make 20,000 in Ghana you are smart so therefore focus on how you make that money and move another step forward my name is Mickey keep watching Mr thank you very much for having us again nice to again oh no no no I'm very happy to see you again so since our last conversation what is new here there's more to talk about yeah yes there's more to talk about we've added the ground building the ground building yeah that's why I'm here we will go there have a look and talk about it so since our conversation um did you get people messaging you how how has life been on social media life has been incredible a lot of followups a lot of calls a lot of emails and a lot of personal visit I appreciate all of you and again you are always welcome free consultancy come to me we have a discussion I'll give you all the ideas you need to move to Ghana the Homeland was there a particular question that a lot of people were asking and what was the answer what inspire you to move all the way from UK with your family not just yourself not just myself or the family that was one of the most asked questions the answer is hey there's no place like home set your set your time Focus work on your move and come home okay it's it's you nobody can do it for you no matter what I say to you you no matter what I explain to you it come down to you what do you want this is home for me is home and I believe for all of you ghanians Africans desperat out there this is home come home and you can make it okay so when I came here you told me that in I think we were here late January yes and you told me that in a very short time you should be able to complete the grand the building yes and to be honest I was a doubting Thomas and I was thinking are you kidding me and because of that I've been waiting and I've been looking and it's actually completed yes how has the journey been the journey has been ups and down of course there are some times but hey be resistance be ready to fight fight for what is good for you the journey has been good overall at least we set ourself a year to complete and in fact we did finish before a year before a year so I can't complain the good things are more than the challenges that we faced but a lot of people watching it will say show us the way you started with 200 lb 2 200 with only that house that is the house so you came in when this house was done built this is what happened with 200b 200 house this house was there right and then this one came up this one came up 2016 2016 and this one and now 2024 we've got the grand yes please if somebody is in front of you and said show us the way what will be the way okay okay believe in yourself believe in what you can achieve believe that it is possible you see don't doubt your capabilities it is possible we did believe we can do it and that's to me it's not a surprise because we plan it and we believe it and it's been achieved okay so believe it if you want to come whatever your vision is believe that it's possible you can do it okay so I am in to see the ground can you please introduce me to the ground four story buildings here we have three types of rooms we have the studio apartment which is due to popular demand a lot of dipor a lot of people coming from abroad they want a place they can have their own if you like cup of tea so we have that on the studio apartment side we also have rooms for groups which is the train rooms that that is a two separate bed in a room and shared by two people that is also very popular for groups that are coming from overseas and within the country and we also have the standard room that is for solo Travelers people that travel alone and want to have their own privacy so that is all over here we have 13 rooms all together and a ground floor 100 sea conference state of the art down here so as we move along we will show you and remember all the rooms have balconies all the rooms and they have the views they have the views that is due to the demand listen to your customers listen to your guests what do they want they want every of fresh air they want to enjoy the atmosphere they want to be part of the society so that is what we've delivered for them [Music] this is the conference room or what people call it Event Center when set up depending on the St is set up it can accommodate up to 100 comfortably um we provide big screen we provide the projector screen is also there if needed it can be done microph microphone um speakers all around it can also be divided into two sections so as you you can see it's a massive state-ofthe-art Conference Center or Event Center as many people call it depending on how you want to set it up the seat and the tables are available to set it up for you to enjoy your event party conferences meetings boardroom whatever you want it will be available for you and also those people that want to kind of work from home we have the facilities so you can come here we set it up for you and we do your work from home so that is the conference [Music] facilities any room on this side consist of a studio apartment here we go wow so this is what we have for someone who want to stay independently we have the kitchenet here we have microwave we have the fridge wow and of course we have the kitchen on this side we have the washroom we have the hot water we have everything that you need to stay comfortably and um as you can also see we embrace our culture we Embrace everything here is homade directly or indirectly we employ people here to do the things for us this is a normal local M instead of using imported um floor mats the chair as you can see locally made um anything here is locally made so that when you so which type is this one this is the studio this is the studio okay this is the studio apartment so you can work from here we have direct Wi-Fi we have the ethernet so there's no interruption to your working when you choose to work from [Music] home 90y old man Ghan crafted this wow and at least he had a job at that age to [Music] do this is also another one it is you can do it believe that it is possible so how much is there Studio the two that we the studio go for 1,100 a night and that includes in cities in cities 1, 1,100 Ghana cities yes if you book direct you also get another 10% discount um just under $90 okay yes not too bad yeah so you you have the freedom of having your own place to cook um to wash um literally everything so what was the idea because normally hotels will have only this bed and then they go downstairs to go and eat now we have the kitchen what is the idea behind it this is based on your host home in the past most of them want to stay 2 weeks 3 weeks therefore they need a low bit of things they can do for themselves for example waking up and making your own cup of tea going out to get something different from what we cook here so that you can warm it up yourself or even if you want to cook you and cook it for yourself that is the whole idea we we we try to be cater for everyone we try our best to accommodate any guest any person that choose to stay with a Santa Premier Hotel so we have this studio and purposely we also have um the DI parice that study or work from home from home this is this is perfect you have the autonomy of your own Wi-Fi either wifi or net so that there's no disruption for that reason we have secure a good um network provider so that you can work comfortably and of course you also have the view here yeah you have the view which we can open the window and then look outside and the good thing I like is you can open these isn't it yes you can open this so you're not locked in you're not locked in but you're still safe safe correct because safety is very important and then like I said Each one has got its own balcony again this is one of the balconies um most of us that have live abroad we appreciate we understand what balcony means it means a lot if you have a place to stay and also can come out for fresh air so we took all that into getting this building up that is why you have the balconies [Music] all the rooms on this side is the train rooms yes so let's go and have a look at that one too wow yeah so this is this is our train room where decorated um again I love African I love everything we have I just wish we could even have a TV yeah was made in Ghana Ghana yeah if you look in this room this is our service book made in Ghana a guy down the street has got a job yeah he made a lot of this for me he got paid he's got a job that's it if you can get it in Ghana you'll get it if you can get it in Ghana please if you come on this side like I said this is an old man that has made this chest meaning that we've created job not for ourself but for other people out there loc as yes and then the balcony here beautiful yes nice so this is the balcony where you can relax and read maybe African story or reflect yourself [Music] stand it's also very popular yes so um let's have a look at that one so this is the standard is the standard room yes and look at this isn't it beautiful this is this is this is ghanian made fabric come on let's let's let's Embrace what we have we and appreciate we are what we are I can never become an AR I can never become a Scottish I'm a ghanian and those Irish people they love what they have that's it the British people I live with they love their fish and chips yeah why can we love ours and it doesn't cost a hand and a leg to eat locally please this is our standard room if you are traveling as a single person this is for you how much is the twin room again the twin room goes for 860 860 60 Ghana cities at night that includ breakfast free complimentary Wi-Fi and the rest and the standard goes for 550 of course it have all the facilities the only difference is the size [Music] here is going to be a private lunch where you can come and sit and have a drink and look at what Ghana Kumasi have to offer thank you for all those your questions your comment I really appreciate that and I think um Michael has given me the opportunity to address some of the question that were raised about the 200 yes for all the time we live in the UK what we decided to do is to get ourselves something that will generate income for us so we started by building six bedrooms mhm six bedroom guest house which is this building over here yeah so when we came down this building was already running at least giving us an income every day every day six bedrooms we will have a minimum of three people staying that give us a consistent income and it was based on this after 8 years we decided that okay we've saved enough to build this building so the last interview I think the focus was on this building one yeah and that is what we did but mind you we did not build this with A200 we build this with income income from from the 600 six bedroom house that is sitting so you buil from small please if you want to come to Ghana to do any business we were not hoteliers I haven't been to a hotel School neither my wife we didn't have any experience but by the time started running gave us we learned it gave us the experience of how to run a hotel and it was based on that experience 11 rooms which is are located on this side and so a buy wow now again we believe that home is home we have to do the best we can to stay we have to appreciate what we have here so it was based on that we save we built on our confidence to be in the country our country it is it is our country we built on that and then we brought this and then the grand came the came into place so it's not like you have some some pot of money left behind by your ancestors so not on pension I didn't even get any pensioners we were coming we didn't have any Pion we have no income coming from the UK we have no property in the UK that is giving us any um income or a buffer which we can fall on the point is we did believe in ourself we did believe that we can do it and that that is all you need you don't need that much money and in fact you can have the money but if you don't start from scratch from scratch yeah you the chances of you failing is high so please whatever you have if you have 100,000 even if you have £200,000 get a piece of land M get one acre yeah as you grow as you experience how to work on it you add another acre then another acre you'll be about 50 acres before you know if you ask me how this was built I will tell you we didn't have the money there is there a lesson in how you manage your money to help you build an asset like this okay like like I said before yes I was working I was full-time my wife was full-time but we were not earning any um um you know we were just a few percentage of Africans in the UK or the diaspora that were earning small money how we built on this again it's is believing that you can do it believing and working as a team I never say I I say we we we I will focus that here we and good team treat your team well work together as a team educate them on minor minor issues these are challenges they are not something and have that critical thinking solution solution always have solution yes you will face obstacles find solution and you can make it on average how many people have you employed working here if you don't mind me asking um currently directly directly on the pay row 20 20 yes indirectly so many many there's so many businesses here there's so many small businesses here that rely on us so those are indirect people that we employed okay so a lot of people say the locals it's difficult to work with them and they are going to collapse their business for you how what do you think about that and how do you combat that well the business the business is you it's not the locals what is your vision and how do you treat the people you employed if you treat them as well as you yes of course you might have one or two that will you know do otherwise but honestly speaking it is possible that the locals can make your business work what about people watching you right now and thinking I have to travel abroad before I can make it what what would be your advice for them travel if if you are young if you are young you are unemployed you don't have the means and the opportunity comes it could be by attending University School like others do it could be that your parents are there they come for you but please if you have a job that you can earn over let's say let's say you can make 15,000 or 20,000 or dollars to give to um someone to get you a Visa I would say no you are smart if you are able to make 20,000 in Ghana you are smart so therefore focus on how you make that money and move another step forward multiply yes yeah so the question of if I will say go or don't go different people have got different you know strength so if the opportunity is there for you to travel of course you are not only going there to make income but you also going there to to learn how how those people made it and you come down you apply to it and you can also make it okay so final um how do people find ASA Premier hotel we are at fuma just some few kilometers away from Tech K us those people and that's the Acra Kum and that is the Acra Kumasi Main Road this this is the CSR yeah crop Research Institute so once you get there you turn right a Santa is located on your right hand side I want to say thank you to both of you and I want to say thank you to my big brother Joe Joe who is in Cape Coast in fact as much as I'm giving this to you out there to come home he called me and said cofi if you have a house in Ghana you are aging you are not getting any older what do you want to do I did it it work for me he is at Cape Coast Lans Hotel guys if you go to Lans if you go to Cape Coast don't forget to stay at no Hotel Big Joe gave me the advice to come home and of course like I said we I couldn't have done this without my wife my wife supported what I would said I we we we came together and said this is what we want to do so please don't be that you can do all by yourself team with your partner and it's not just the money the support that we give to each other that is what is that is what has built us the children are here with us my wife is here with me I've got an income what else do I want I've got the weather I've got a place I feel home I've never been pointed at and this is something I get so many times while I was in you enter a shop straight away they are let the security man watch him what else do you want it's not about the money and you can pass by the s restaurant oh the love their food s resta um is there come in and enjoy breakfast African cine we do everything on request so thank you Mickey I couldn't say I don't know thank you all of you let's 2025 be a good year that we see Africa Africans see Africa as our home yeah Africans let's see Africa hope and thank you very much thank you