A Nigerian man identified as Prince Francis, better known as Akaraboy shares the story of how he transformed his mother’s akara (bean cakes) business into what he humorously refers to as a ‘billion-dollar’ brand.
In a Facebook post, Francis posted images that illustrated his journey while recounting his inspirational tale.
While it’s important to note that the akara business is not yet valued in millions of naira, this optimistic young man already labelled it as a billion-dollar brand. He explained that his mother had been running this business for over 25 years when he took charge of it in 2020.
Francis reflected on how he had to drop out of school in 2020 due to financial constraints and made the decision to concentrate on revamping and rebranding his mother’s business, which is located in Port Harcourt.
As a creative individual, the young man felt compelled to channel his talents into something purposeful, leading him to join forces with his mother in the business.
How I transformed my mother’s Akara business into a brand
My Mother Left me a billion dollar worth in business…How I took my mom’s Akara business of over 25years and turned it into billion dollar brand.
I know you’re curious to know what I mean exactly… Let me tell you more.Hi, my name is Hrh Prince Francis a.k.a AkaraBoy CEO Akaraboyng and this is my success story.
I’m a Portharcourt based entrepreneur from Akwa ibom state.3years ago I started a journey of rebranding and packaging my mother’s existing Akara business into a global brand by infusing proteins (chicken, goat meat, prawn, fish, sausage and suya spice) into the regular Akara.
I remember in 2020 when I left school due to the financial challenge I faced, I came home and told my mother I had to quit school and focus on the dream rebranding the Akara business with her, because I was left with no choice but to do something with my life.
I’ve been a creative person from time. Studying under the likes of MVGD Isaac Utere and Pa Jude Anyanwu helped me discover my creative rooms.So I decided to put everything I’ve learnt over time into establishing something, it was just an idea…
Sincerely I wasn’t certain it was going to help my current situation as at then, but I heard clearly what God said to Abraham in the bible, he said to me that day in my room in school The LORD had said to Abraham in Genesis 12…“Akaraboy, Leave your school, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.
“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing…. It was never for the now, but for the future. So I followed. Truly, God had a purpose for me.
Fast-forward to today, you can all see the evidence.That mumsi’s regular Akara business of over 30years is now a standard brand with structure and a greater purpose.All I did was to follow God’s directives.
Today we’re one of the fast rising food brand out of the city of Portharcourt taking our local meal to the world.Just like Pizza and shawarma, we will make our Akara reach the ends of the world, with a different touch.
Dear Mother, thank you for believing in me without any atom of doubt.Thank you for all the prayers I’ll wake up at night and hear you pray concerning this idea.
You followed me blindly, praying and believing God’s promise in my life.Only you was my majority. Today, Akaraboyng has taken a more valuable step. God blessed us with Sir Emeka Nobis #AkaraDon.These pictures slides will show you our journey so far.Until we reach the promise land, we will never stop…”
