TikTok influencer Aba Dope had a challenge with setting up a restaurant when she returned to Ghana after the surge of COVID-19 infections made her stay in China impossible.
With the alarming rate of infections and death of affected persons, Aba Dope who was apprehensive headed back to her roots with some items she acquired for herself and other people who sent her money for that purpose following her announcement of a comeback.
As a trained nurse, her first adventure upon her return was to work with Korle Bu Teaching Hospital where she worked for six months but eventually called it quits due to financial constraints. The cost of transportation from Kwabenya, where she resided to Korle Bu, was financially draining, hence, the decision to quit.
Her backup plan, according to her narrative during an interview on The Delay Show, was to sell the items she returned. After a while, Aba Dope said she decided to sell kelewele and groundnuts because she noticed she was good at that.
That decision led her to musician and businessman D-Black who offered her a place around his Club Onyx at Cantonments, Accra. The venture was fruitful as she clocked a milestone in her life.
“December 2020, I established my restaurant at Cantonments, Club Onyx. I went on to open three restaurants,” she said.
Her quest to expand her business led her to discover another place at East Legon but needed enough funds to secure the location. According to Aba Dope, D-Black and one Mah came to her rescue.
She said: “My kelewele and rice enterprise went well. I raised money and some people also assisted me. A Hausa called Mah who resided at Kasoa supported me. I raised twenty-five thousand and he supported me with a thousand. D-Black also supported me with fifteen thousand.”
Aba Dope said she now has three branches for her restaurant enterprise.