As part of WopeCar’s 8th anniversary, we’ve been hosting honest conversations with people shaping the way we think about work, courage, and community. In this episode of WopeCar Talks, our host Maame Akua T. Yawson sat down with Kelechi Ofoegbu, Co-Founder of Impact Hub Accra, to explore the emotional and mental side of entrepreneurship: the part most people don’t see, but every founder quietly wrestles with.
“Why are you doing this to yourself?”
That was Kelechi’s opening line to answering that question. It was half joke, half warning. Because for him, entrepreneurship is not something you enter for applause. It’s a path that makes very little sense from the outside, and sometimes even less sense from the inside.
He says many people grew up with one script:
Go to school, work hard, get a good job.
Entrepreneurship disrupts that script completely.
So when someone decides to step off the predictable track and start something of their own, the first question they must answer is simple: Why?
The Unseen Side of Building Something
According to Kelechi, people often celebrate entrepreneurship when it works: the product launch, the new office, the big moment. But you don’t usually hear enough about what happens before all of that.
He explains that “failure” is not always failure. Sometimes an idea comes too early. Sometimes the market isn’t ready. Sometimes you’re ready, but the environment is not.
He’s seen brilliant founders question themselves daily, not because their ideas were bad, but because the journey itself is full of doubt and emotional weight.
Entrepreneurship affects everything: family, friendships, your confidence, and even your understanding of who you are. Yet this side of the journey is hardly ever talked about.
Self-Belief Is the Real Engine
Kelechi believes that founders need a certain “irrational” self-belief. Not arrogance, but the kind of internal push that helps you keep going when nothing around you looks stable.
You’ll doubt yourself.
You’ll feel inexperienced.
You’ll wonder if you made the right choice.
But the only way forward is to keep trying, keep adjusting, and keep believing in the possibility that something you’re building will eventually take shape.
There’s No One Path to Success
One of the most refreshing things he shared was this: There’s no single path to success.
Some founders eventually move into the corporate world and thrive there. Some people start in corporate and later discover entrepreneurship. Some build, pivot, pause, and start again.
The journey is personal. And there’s no shame in choosing the route that brings you clarity, stability, or growth.
Know What Matters to You
When the conversation shifted to legacy, Kelechi talked about clarity.
Founders need to know what truly matters to them, what values anchor them, what kind of work feels meaningful, and what type of life they want to build through their choices.
That clarity becomes the thing you return to when things get confusing or heavy.
You Don’t Have to Have It All Figured Out
Kelechi’s message to upcoming founders is simple: You won’t always feel ready. You won’t always have the answers. Some days will feel like you’re moving backwards.
But that doesn’t mean you’re on the wrong path.
It means you’re building something real.
And sometimes, pushing through today’s uncertainty is exactly what leads you to tomorrow’s opportunity.
This conversation is only a glimpse of everything Kelechi shared on WopeCar Talks.
If you want to hear the full story: the lessons, the lived experiences, and the honest advice he offered, you can watch the full episode on YouTube or listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
