His artistic and professional paintings have won the hearts of many individuals and has now become a household name across the country. His name is Bernard Ato Sam. At the age of 29 he works as a professional painter and the Managing Director of Anointed Bernard’s Painting and Decorating Service, located in East Legon.

At least, in a day, Bernard receives about twenty business calls from clients in and outside of Greater Accra. He has by far proved that one can make a living out of painting but not always from working in a reputable company.

Of course, the young entrepreneur’s success story didn’t happen in just a day, he had to wipe of sweat every day, sacrifice his time and also put in extra hard work and commitment.

Growing up

Growing up, it was quite obvious that the boy had a passion for painting. But, just like every typical African family setting, Bernard faced a lot of challenges getting his parents especially his mother to buy into the idea of him becoming a painter. They rather wanted him to further his education and go ahead to get a white-collar job.

So, he went ahead and gained admission to study Visual arts at Kaneshie Senior High Secondary Technical and later on to the Takoradi Polytechnic to pursue Painting and Decoration.

How it all begun

But after graduating Takoradi Polytechnic (T’Poly) in 2013 in a bid to impress his parents, the task of getting a job became a wearisome one. He roamed the streets of Takoradi on a daily basis but to no avail.

“I submitted several application letters to different companies but to no avail. The only company that accepted to employ me, wanted me to work as an intern. So, I worked with them for two months and resigned, since I felt I made more losses than profit. But I almost regretted because I was unemployed for almost a year.”

This trend compelled young Bernard to after a youth entrepreneurship seminar he attended at church decide to create his own business.

“I wrote down four creative works I am good at, on four different call cards, prayed over it, and finally settled on Painting and Decorating although I didn’t have the necessary logistics at the time. But I contacted Mr. Ishmael Asamoah who is a colleague friend I met at T’Poly, who was then also unemployed but had all the necessary equipment.”

With support from Ishmael, Anointed Bernard’s Painting and Decorating Services came into existence.

Business Trends

Bernard explained that, business wasn’t encouraging at the beginning and he almost gave up. The only jobs he had, were through recommendations from the few clients he had worked for.

“Anointed Bernard’s Painting and Decorating Service is a God-gifted business. Early 2015, the company was rebranded and through the various social media platforms, advertisements were made. Business started booming at a very fast speed. I contracted some of my colleagues, who were still unemployed, to give a hand to meet the scheduled time of my clients.”

Anointed Bernard’s Painting and Decorating Service has been operating over a year now and no matter how detailed the job might be for your buildings, they have the necessary knowledge to do the job right as experienced painters.

Future Prospects

It is Bernard’s desire that his company will become a leading commercial painting firm that offers professional interior and exterior painting services globally. He also hopes to build a school that will train young people who want to venture into the field of painting and decoration.

Many people are looking for painting services for their homes, so it’s definitely a good venture for Bernard to look into. If the number of painting jobs that the Happy Valley painting contractors get is anything to go by, Bernard will have a successful career in painting.

Advice to the youth

Bernard has asked the youth to seek God first in all their endeavours and be very prayerful. He has urged the youth to be result-oriented and never give up on their dreams.

Anointed Bernard’s Painting and Decorating Services covers a broad range of commercial buildings, including offices, churches, shopping centres, hostels, restaurants among others.

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