Pledged business

Kakao Koutou

Cocoa confectionery · Accra, Ghana

Pledge certificate · P-RS-HD

Hold the Door

Kakao Koutou promises: We help one first-time founder get their business started every quarter.

Kojo Mensah, Founder

Effective 2026-10-03 · A short note from the founder you helped, every quarter.

Verification history

Self-declared. Not yet checked.

Our story

Kakao Koutou is a small confectionery business making cocoa nib snacks and gift bars. Founder Kojo Mensah took the Hold the Door pledge because he had benefited from a patient first conversation with a shop owner when he was starting out. He now commits to helping one first-time founder each quarter with a specific, practical task. In his first session, he worked with a new fruit-drying business to calculate the cost of a 20-pack trial and prepare a short wholesale introduction. They tested the figures against three ingredient suppliers and adjusted the proposed price by 10 percent before the founder approached shops. Two weeks later, the new business secured a small trial order from one neighborhood grocer. Kojo emphasizes that his role is to share experience, not promise contracts or funding. He has already arranged the next session with a first-time maker of shea-based skin products. The pledge has also encouraged his own team to keep basic templates ready, making it easier to give thoughtful help without disrupting production.

Councils

Red Tape Council

Take the pledge