The adage that turning lemons into lemonade suffers from the dubious notoriety of being a cliché, but fewer words would better describe the courage and dogged determination of Joseph Yaw Frimpong.

In 2017, Frimpong was looking for a platform to publish the electronic version of his first book “The Quietist”. The platforming options available to him at the time were inaccessible to many of his compatriots in Ghana. Unable to find one, he decided to create an app on purpose to publish his book.

This led to the co-founding of ReaderApp. Frimpong publishes his book electronically with success, but seeing that he has overcome a challenge common to many writers, he decides to open it to other publishers, especially African ones.

The app allows writers to publish their books to its extensive e-book store, purchase e-books from the comfort of their own homes, read books on the app, and provide writers with an opportunity to earn silver.

According to Frimpong, he was inspired to publish his book electronically by Steve Jobs, who he says pioneered the concept of e-books. Starting ReadApp was the easy part, says Frimpong, but admits the task of maintaining and developing the platform was the hardest.

Frimpong’s account highlights an all-too-familiar hurdle that many black founders must overcome to sustain and grow their business ventures. Harvard data shows that less than two percent (2%) of black business owners get venture capital funding and the situation is even worse for black female founders.

As the founder of a tech startup, having insufficient capital to get off the ground was a major Achilles heel, which is further compounded by the low acceptance of e-books in the African literature market in particular. “Some people think e-books should be free, buying e-books is not yet entrenched among Ghanaians. I think we will get there. It is a slow process though,” he said told Face2Face Africa.

Below is our full interview with Joseph Yaw Frimpong.

QUESTION: Can you introduce yourself to our readers?

JYF: My name is Joseph Yaw Frimpong, I am co-founder of ReaderApp. By training I am a demographer, I have chosen to believe that I have expertise in market research.

QUESTION: Tell us about ReaderApp

JYF: ReaderApp is an application for publishing, buying and reading electronic books. It’s up to authors to publish their books and also up to people to find those published books to buy and read.

QUESTION: What gave you the idea for the start-up?

JYF: The idea or should I say the inspiration came from a personal situation in which I found myself. In 2017, I wanted to publish a book electronically and was looking for a platform where I could launch the book. The options I had were inaccessible to Ghanaians, so I decided to create an app to deliberately publish the book. During the development phase, we decided to open it so that anyone who wants to publish their book on ReaderApp can do so.

QUESTION: What motivates this inspiration?

JYF: I would say that my greatest inspiration is Steve Jobs. The fact that he was one of the pioneers of the concept of electronic books. He is also a perfectionist and does well in everything he does.

QUESTION: Was it difficult to start?

JYF: I would say that getting started is the easy part. Maintaining it and growing it is the hardest part.

QUESTION: What challenges do you face?

JYF: It’s more a question of social studies. Haha, we all know the challenges small businesses face in Ghana. Insufficient capital is one. The biggest hurdle for us is the acceptance of e-books. Some people think that e-books should be free, but buying e-books is not yet entrenched among Ghanaians. I think we will get there. It’s a slow process.

QUESTION: How do you market your business?

JYF: We use authors who have published on the app to market the app. It’s a chicken and egg situation; you need an egg before you can get a hen…or whatever position you believe in.

QUESTION: Do you have employees? What does someone have to do to work with you?

JYF We do not have employees at this time, but we encourage internship opportunities. They can just email me via [email protected], and I’ll get back to them.

QUESTION: How does entrepreneurship compare to regular employment?

JYF: Entrepreneurship is difficult, I wonder why it is glorified in movies and on social networks. Not everyone needs to be an entrepreneur. If you have to do a 9 to 5 job, do it.

QUESTION: What can the government do to help young entrepreneurs?

JYF: I believe the government needs to outsource activities that help young entrepreneurs to PRIVATE venture capital that can identify talent and train them and perhaps link them to funding sources.

QUESTION: Any advice for other entrepreneurs or future entrepreneurs?

JYF: The work gets harder, but you have to get harder.