A Costly Mistake

©

It was a cool Sunday evening, and the clouds were thick as it was going to rain. I was already indoors putting things in place after I left them scattered while rushing down to church in the morning. My phone rang, it was my girlfriend

“Hello Best” she said
“How are you doing”?
“Fine”
“I have something I'd want us to discuss about”
I paused a little bit to process the statement
“I hope everything is fine”
“Yeah…there's a business proposal I want us to talk about”
“Oh!... That's okay. I am home” I assured her.
“I'll be coming around” she said as the call ended

Two hours later she arrived as it began to rain. We sat at the dining table, there was a brief silence in between, and we looked at each other, expecting the other to speak. In the end, she broke the ice

“My mother is lending me four hundred thousand naira to start a business,” she said gently
“That's some kind of good news" I retorted
I knew she'd mention home gas business, so when she asked me to guess the kind of business she had in mind, I didn't mind mentioning that and it was all correct.

She told me her plans on how to go about it. We put our heads together and mapped out the things required for the business.

“So who'll manage the business?” I asked, knowing full well that she's a student.
“I'll employ a salesperson,” she responded lightly while still writing on a piece of paper.
“That's not right” I advised “you cannot allow your business you have no idea about to be managed by someone else, you need to be present there every day to monitor how things are going”

“It doesn't matter, baby,” she said. “My salesperson is trustworthy, my mother recommended him”
“It's okay, if you say so”.

We talked about other things about the business, and the following morning, we set sail to pay for a shop, and a couple of days after, the business began.

A week later, I called my girl to find out how the business was going. She complained of how the sales boy had been stealing from her. After much explanation, she told me that she was going to dismiss him.

Not long after, she employed another sales boy on recommendation from his brother, who had been doing the same business.

“Baby, I am not comfortable with the idea of employing someone, why not do the business by yourself, after a couple of months, then you can employ someone” I advised

Again she dismissed my idea and went ahead with her decision. A month later, her money started missing, the business began to dwindle, and she could not put up with the losses that came from the business, so she decided to fold up.

“Baby, how I wish I had taken your advice”, she said, feeling remorse. “The boy has finally ruined my business now I am indebted to my mom, how then do I pay her back, I have broken the trust she had in me,”

“Hmmm”, I hummed as I didn't know what to say next. After a couple of minutes, I decided to air out my views

“Do not cry, that's business for you, you either gain or you lose. At least you have learned from your mistakes so next time you'll do better. Just clean up your tears. Failing in business doesn't mean that you're a failure, it only shows that much effort would have been needed to make it work out”.

She wiped her tears and began to smile. I was fulfilled. At least my words could bring comfort and succour to a fainting heart.

“Thank you very much, my dear”, she said. I could sense burdens lifted from her heart. Her countenance, which was darkened, became brighter.

The following week, she sold out the empty gas cylinder and other equipment. She rented out the shop and used the money to pay off her debt.

“So what's the way forward”? I asked

She looked at me and smiled, “To look for a job, of course”, she responded.

I knew it wouldn't be easy for her, but I loved her courage and determination.