Ghanaian starts online marketplace for black businesses in the UK
Amazon may have ruled ecommerce but do not underestimate Densu – an online market place, poised to empower and enable black businesses in the United Kingdom (UK) to improve and make more revenue.
Established in October 2016, Densu is an online marketplace for small to medium black businesses within the UK, providing a unique platform for businesses to showcase their products while telling their stories to the outside world.
The founder, Bernard Adjei, UK’s Young Banker of the Year 2016 created Densu when he realised that there are no ecommerce platforms dedicated to the development of Black Businesses in the UK.
In an exclusive interview with ghanabusinessnews.com, he said “The name Densu is derived from the River Densu in Ghana, which for us means “the source of great things”. The motivation for Densu is to plug the gap that currently exists within the UK market for black businesses and provide a one-stop shop for consumers for all products relating to black culture and tradition.”
Apart from targeting black businesses, it is easier for subscribers to register and set up shops ready to sell products in less than two minutes.
On how Densu hopes to make money from such an initiative, Mr Adjei noted that although the focus is not entirely to make money, all sales completed via Densu will directly be deposited to the vendor’s Paypal account and for each transaction, Densu makes three per cent.
Although, there are other leading online market places, Densu is poised to compete and beat them to become the best platform for businesses and entrepreneurs.
Mr Adjei and his team pride themselves in being unique – Densu is a unique marketplace because it does not only utilize mainstream marketing such as social media, it also utilizes targeted marketing through platforms such as radio and black newspapers.
Launching officially today, February 27, 2017, Mr Adjei has as his long term goal to provide funding, scholarship and contribute to the success of black businesses within the UK and worldwide.
Given the way the world is, there is a possibility of some businesses selling fake or low quality products on the platform but Densu is ready to prevent such occurrences by working with only reputable black businesses that have been tried and tested and additionally, by conducting extensive research into all businesses they work with.
“We accept all forms of payments on Densu; MasterCard, Visa, Paypal etc,” he said.
Being a young entrepreneur himself, Adjei believes that challenges faced by young entrepreneurs have never been a lack of ability but a lack of opportunity or support to showcase their skills.
Bernard was raised in Dansoman, Accra. He attended St. Martin de Porres before moving to the UK to pursue a career in Business and IT. He attended the University of Bolton obtaining a degree in Business Information System.
Prior to becoming a Project Manager at one of the leading banks in the UK, Bernard started his career at Manchester United FC as a waiter, progressing through the ranks to become a Junior Business System Analyst and finally then to the role of an EPOS Support Analyst. During his time at United, he was nominated and won the Team Leader of the Year (2012-13). He later moved to NCC Group, a leading company in the Escrow Sector to become a Business Analyst where he worked with companies such as Zurich and Capita.
By Pamela Ofori-Boateng
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