Believe in your brand. Nedco Male Entrepreneur 2024 winner's advice to aspiring startups

It was the culmination of eight years of hard work – Fedell Solomon, co-founder of agro-processing company and natural food producers, Nabdell – walked on stage to accept his award as Nedco's Male Entrepreneur 2024 on August 3 at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain.

His wife and business partner Nabihah; his eldest daughter, eight-year-old Suraiyah; and his mother, Sheriffa Mohammed-Solomon; were all present when he accepted the award.

"My mother had to hold my daughter back from jumping up on the table for her dad, she was so excited," he said.

Solomon, who won the Newsday-sponsored award, said entrepreneurship is not an easy road, it is one filled with breaking points and demands a lot of sacrifices.

He said despite the challenges and pitfalls, aspiring and growing entrepreneurs must have faith in their brands and believe in the good work that their business can do.

Your brand is your confidence

Solomon said when his business was registered in 2016, it started in a similar way to most businesses – as a one-man or two-man operation.

"People would see our products and the packaging and they would say ‘You have a lot of pretty packaging.’ Some thought we had financial backing, but behind the actual brand was just me and my wife, working day and night.

"Your brand is your confidence, it says a lot about your company. Once you put that confidence into your brand – and a simple thing like packaging can do that – it does a lot for your company.

"A lot of people would look at your company and think it is a massive organisation, and they would compare you to bigger companies," he said.

Solomon said working with Nedco through its Business Accelerator Programme (BAP) also gave him confidence to build his brand and his business in ways he did not anticipate.

He was part of the latest cohort of entrepreneurs, who started the programme in March last year and graduated in April this year.

He said before getting into his business he was in oil and gas and didn’t have any knowledge about food processing or entrepreneurship.

Solomon said the BAP equipped him with the knowledge to run a business.

"The programme is designed to teach you what you need to know about business such as taxation, social media marketing strategies, pricing, food processing, manufacturing practices, getting our company to a level where we can approach any institution for funding for purchasing equipment.

"They taught us about government-required documents and how to have everything up to par. They assisted in helping us have that knowledge to bring us to the standard we needed," he said.

He added that the Nedco team continues to help him with advice, which adds to his confidence in his brand.

"I can call anyone from the team at any point in time. It gives you a form of security and support and confidence as a business to know that you have that extra backing."

A family business

Nabdell, which got its name through an amalgam of the names of both Solomon and his wife, started in 2016, with one goal in mind – helping Solomon’s mother fight cancer.

When Sheriffa was diagnosed with breast cancer Solomon saw the need for pure, organic products.

"During her treatment, we couldn’t get pure powders and organic products. You would go to the pharmacy and see powders there but when you look at the ingredients you saw a lot of additives.

"What we wanted was a one-ingredient product. So we decided to try to make our own, because that was the only way to ensure that it was pure," he said.

Nabdell started with moringa powder, which Sheriffa would carry for friends that she met during chemotherapy.

"That was how we started," Solomon said. "After that, we made kale powder and a combination of greens for her. My mother is really the inspiration behind Nabdell, because we had a living testimony as to the effectiveness of the products and going the pure, natural way."

Sheriffa has since beaten cancer, with the help of the powders and a lumpectomy.

"She has been cancer-free ever since," he said.

Now, the company produces 42 products which range from alternative flours, natural powders, alternative flour-based products, teas and even ice creams.

Solomon said Nabdell is considered one of the leading agro-processors in the country.

"We use our flours and incorporate it into pancake mixes and tortilla wraps. We also have a sweet potato latte, a caffeine-free drink that is made with sweet potato," he said. "That won us ambassadorship in the UN World Food Programme for root crop innovation. We will be featuring a couple of recipes in a cookbook that will be distributed worldwide this year."

The Piparo-based business endured more than the regular amount of challenges which would face a business, with their business centre being located near the Piparo volcano, but through it all, family remained at its core.

He recalled his eight-year-old daughter, being involved in the business since she was a baby.

He said all three of his children, aged eight, four and a year and a half, have been involved in the business, one way or another, almost from birth.

"When we started manufacturing moringa powder, my daughter was about two years old. She would sit in the moringa and help us strip the leaf. It was a game for her, but for us it was a help."

He said that his three daughters now have product lines associated with their names. Suraiyah was given the seasoning line of products, which include parsley flakes, pimento flakes and shadon beni flakes. His second daughter, Haaniyah, was given the tea lines, which includes soursop teas and ginger teas.

"For my baby (Inara) we launched a new line of products for her a couple months ago, which is the ice cream line," he said. "We make sweet potato pallets dipped in local dark chocolate, we have an eddoes palette, we have pumpkin, and it is all from local produce."

Exporting and expanding

While Nabdell can be found in groceries and pharmacies in many locations nationwide and consumers can also look for their products on their Facebook page, the company is also making strides in exporting.

Solomon said the company already exports to Antigua and North Carolina and is now in talks to expand exports to Jamaica.

"We are doing private labelling for potential customers in Jamaica," he said. "We are also trying to see how best we can utilise the space that we have to expand, because some of the area we use is inaccessible because of the mud volcano."

He said in the export market, likes and dislikes vary from the local market.

"We have specific products designed and made for the export market," he said. "We make pimento flakes which are a big seller in the US, so we find that it does really well for our North Carolina customers. We also have a lot of Caribbean customers that would value things like callaloo, so we have a dried callaloo pack. Everyone likes our turmeric powder because of the richness it has. Those products that give the outside world a taste of what we in TT have to offer, those are the ones that attract outside markets."

Solomon expressed joy over winning the Nedco male entrepreneurship award.

He said the award is another milestone that continues to motivate and inspire him and his family.

"Entrepreneurship is not an easy road, but nothing great happens overnight. A simple thing like an award is a pat on the back that says: 'You are doing something good. Keep going.'

"Being recognised with an award gives me and my whole family that motivation to continue. Our consumers and the public are now seeing what Nabdell is doing and they are actually valuing our products. Sometimes that is all you need."