Being a parent and a business owner is a lot to juggle, and for Patrick Adom these identities have intersected to create Very Puzzled – a children’s puzzle and games business celebrating African and Caribbean cultures.
The business was not only inspired by his daughter Naima – she is also involved in running it as the self-styled co-founder and Patrick hopes that what he builds as an entrepreneur can be passed on to her as his legacy.
The vision is to create, “something where she could see her culture, her history, her heritage reflected, but also something for her in terms of an inheritance and opportunities that she might have in the future.”
Patrick was inspired to start the business after struggling with the lack of representation in children’s entertainment.
It was through looking for toys, games, books, and films for his young daughter that Patrick was struck by the lack of diversity. It was a challenge he had to contend with as a child, and he wanted things to be different for his daughter and her generation. There were several business ideas that Patrick had considered in the past, and it was the personal nature of this business mission that inspired him to take the leap to really start and grow it.
“My daughter, she’s the real catalyst, the inspiration.”
Developing the business with Naima as the ‘co-founder’ was first intended as a bit of a gimmick that made them stand out, but it soon became clear that her perspective and her insights were invaluable.
As a member of the target audience she was perfectly placed to test the products and develop ideas, and as her involvement grew she also demonstrated an impressive attention to detail and keen critical eye.
As a business committed to increasing representation, having this authentic representation of an end user at the heart of product development and oversight was a huge benefit.
Having entrepreneurial experience from an early age is widening opportunities for Patrick’s daughter.
Patrick acknowledges that it has been hard work running the business alongside being a parent and having a full time job, and wanted to expose his daughter to these challenges early on so she could recognise the realities of entrepreneurship.
“It is good for her to see that, the good and the bad, because I guess we all like to show our highlight reels and just the good things, but it’s also good to see behind the scenes so that they’ve got an accurate reflection of what it actually took.”
Whatever Naima decides to do with her future she will be able to use her learnings from this experience and understand what goes into business ownership.
Patrick also hopes that he is building something that she will one day be able to inherit.
“You want their lives to be a bit easier. The idea is you put in the effort now and you’ll get it to a point where it’s a lot more sustainable.”
Accessing business support has been a key part of Patrick’s journey.
It takes a lot of work to turn a startup into a success, and this isn’t something that any entrepreneur has to do alone. Patrick joined the Hatch Incubator programme to access support from experts as well as a community of like minded entrepreneurs.
“I’ve had a lot of support which I’m really really grateful for. Sometimes it’s just small things where someone might say ‘oh have you tried this app or have you tried this platform’.
“Those little things will move the needle a little bit. What you learn from other founders, it’s really, really helpful.”
Patrick sees the business as one big journey, so while there have already been some big milestones to celebrate, his biggest point of pride is the fact that he made the decision to start the business, and that he is still continuing on.
He hopes that he has been able to have a positive impact already, helping people to feel seen and represented through Very Puzzled products and encouraging more people to spend quality time together, minus the usual screens that have become part of our entertainment equation.
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