Very Puzzled: Patrick Savi Adom

P: There’s a lot of research out their on the benefits of puzzles for both kids and adults. They help with hand-eye coordination, with cognitive awareness and logical reasoning.

Completing a puzzle also creates a challenge, but a sense of achievement. When I tell my daughter it’s time for bed, and she wants to save the puzzle and not put it away as she has spent a lot of time to complete and she feels proud of her achievement, that’s a great feeling to have! She feels like she’s accomplished something. The trick is having something that is challenging enough, but not so difficult to put together that it defeats the whole purpose. It has to be fun.

They are also great for learning and interaction! You can sit down and chat: how was your day? Where’s Ghana? Where’s the capital of Ghana? Who is this person or that person? Your kids also share things with you, it’s quality time.

P: I always try to keep a positive mindset and to see challenges as opportunities. The first designer that worked with me on the puzzles quit, after he found he could earn more money doing something else. I had to find another designer.

I worked with a manufacturer in China to make my puzzles. I later found out that they had copied my designs, changed the names to French, and started selling my puzzles with another company! I’d like to start making my own puzzles, with a small machine, to manage this risk. It takes a long time to make the puzzles in China and ship them here.

Cash flow quite difficult. Sales through shops; they’ll pay 60, 90 days later. That’s a challenge. But learning all the time; that’s the thing I value most. Learn about how to run a business and make it more effective every day. That’s the way you grow.

P: My biggest achievement is definitely my daughter; she’s my everything. I want to make lots of puzzles, sell lots of puzzles, and make lots of money! But being able to inspire my daughter is the main thing for me.

P: I am a migrant and I believe migration is a good thing. We always talk about the Protestant work ethic, but what about the migrant work ethic? People come here to work, not to claim benefits. They work to make money, support their families back home, and then often returns o their own countries. Some people do come and stay forever. But most want to come and then return back home.

Immigrants contribute to the economy of the country they go to; they also contribute to culture and wider society. One of the UK’s biggest exports is entertainment; migrants make a big contribution to that. They also do the more menial jobs that locals wouldn’t want to do anyway. They come in and regenerate areas that had been neglected.