Petrosol CEO Michael Bozumbil says trust, integrity and financial discipline have been central to the company’s rapid growth in Ghana’s highly competitive petroleum industry.
He said Petrosol deliberately built its operations around strong values from the beginning, making trust a key asset in attracting suppliers, banks and other business partners.
“From day one, we set out to build a business that is a model of excellence. So, we determined to build a values-based business. And this became the anchor of our growth,” he said.
Mr Bozumbil explained that the company’s reputation allowed it to access petroleum products on credit despite starting with limited capital.
“When your business is built on values, integrity, empathy, quality service, you attract capital because people trust you,” he said.
“We started as a small business with little capital, but suppliers could count on Petrosol, because they knew they could supply products to Petrosol without taking any collateral, without taking any form of guarantee, because our name alone served as a guarantee.”
He said that confidence from suppliers provided the company with an important foundation for growth.
But Mr Bozumbil stressed that access to credit alone was not enough.
He said Petrosol complemented the trust placed in the company with strict financial discipline, governance and risk management systems.
“But we also applied discipline, because it’s one thing being supported, and another making yourself supportable,” he said.
He explained that the company put systems in place to ensure that credit extended to it was repaid consistently.
“Which means, once you are given products on credit, you make sure that you consistently put in systems and structures to ensure the monies come back to the system, and that you are financially disciplined, you put in right governance structures, right risk management, systems.”
Mr Bozumbil said the approach has helped Petrosol establish a strong reputation for creditworthiness over the past 12 years.
“And so thankfully over the past 12 years, the industry has known Petrosol to be creditworthy,” he said.
He said banks that have supported the company’s expansion into retail infrastructure have also maintained confidence in its financial record.
“Our banks support us to construct our retail infrastructure, have known Petrosol to be creditworthy because we’ve never defaulted in any way,” he said.
He added that Petrosol’s compliance record has also earned recognition from the Ghana Revenue Authority.
“The Ghana Revenue Authority has praised Petrosol for our compliance,” he said.
Mr Bozumbil said the company’s reputation has become strong enough for the GRA to exempt Petrosol from providing an insurance bond normally required in the industry before lifting petroleum products.
“In fact, they’ve even exempted Petrosol, you know, from providing what in the industry they usually call for an insurance bond before you can lift petroleum products,” he said.
