During my university days, my parents had financial challenges. I engaged in menial jobs and ran errands for people to make ends meet. A man for whom I ran errands introduced me to someone. The man needed a large number of shrimps for a state function. There’s abundant seafood where I’m from, so I knew I could handle the contract.
Upon being mobilised, I set off to purchase the products. After buying the fresh shrimps from the vendors at the shore, I got on a bus back to the delivery point. The journey took about four hours. On arrival, the contractor examined my consignment and told me that the shrimps had begun to rot. There was a foul smell from the decaying product, so I knew he wasn’t lying.
I was shattered as it meant that my dream of paying my semester’s fees had just become a mirage. A friend told me we could still dry and sell the products to market women in bulk. We went to a bakery. After taking our money, the workers still couldn’t dry the shrimps because they were even more rotten. I was further devastated because I had planned to send my father some money from the deal for his medication.
The contractor pestered me to refund the money he had paid me for the mobilisation. I couldn’t give him anything since I had used every dime to purchase and transport the shrimps. He began to threaten me, such that I had to hide in different places to avoid him. I couldn’t even go to school for fear of running into him. After some months, he gave up.
It was a really horrible business experience. I learned the hard way to always research extensively before embarking on any business venture. Now I am a smarter and wiser businessman, and I rarely make such mistakes anymore.