The virtue of patience

Omerhan Datlar

My father is a very well-known businessman who sells building materials in the Agbodji area. Most of our customers like to patronize my father very well due to the way he attends to them. He sometimes gives discounts to those who want to resell.

My father strongly believes that customers are always right. No matter what, he will always show the tendency to please customers. To the extent that he does make a little profit on some items,

But an incident happened one night that affected my father's business.

Thieves came to rob the area where my father had his shop. My father's shop was affected. Some goods were stolen that were worth thousands of dollars.

Getting to shop the next day was like magic to us, seeing the shop empty.

My father fainted at first; he was rushed to the hospital, and some goods were bought on credit from his suppliers. And he has some other debt to pay too. I was in the hospital when the doctor said that the shock of the bad news had altered my father to the point that he needed to be admitted to the hospital.

At first, my father seemed to be a diabetic patient. We had no choice but to let the doctor admit him. This caused my mother to start running up and down to look for money for my father's treatment.

My father's sales boy had to be in the shop because I had to go back to school and my siblings too.

It took three months for my father to be on his feet again. Still, whenever he goes to the shop, he will always be thinking about his stolen goods. My mother had no other choice but to tell his friends and relatives to talk to him to avoid going back to the hospital.

With a little support from friends and relatives, they were able to raise some money to support my father's business. This helps him a little bit to cheer up.

Well, at a certain time, my father's friend introduced my dad to a loan that the government had arranged to support business owners in our community.

However, most of the business owners felt that it couldn't be true, thinking that it might be a scam.

But with a strong mind, some people end up showing interest in collecting a loan from the government, including my dad. But the money didn't come out in time. Business owners ended giving up, but my father didn't. He kept hoping and believing that the money would come.

After a few years, my father and a few other business owners who didn't have it, just like my father, got the information that the government agencies were around in the area for the investigation of people who showed interest in the money, checking their shops and what they sell.

It gave my father a little joy to know that his hopes would not be in vain.

After the government agency's investigation, they ended up asking my father and the few business owners if they had to pay some money as a form of insurance. A few business owners were discouraged.

But my dad still ends up paying the little money required, and other business owners pay too, while other business owners that end up showing interest make a mockery of them. They were saying that they seemed foolish for paying that little token required from the government agencies.

Even my mother felt so disappointed in my father for paying the money to the government agencies.

But he told my mother that he just strongly believes that the money will get to him, as the government promised.

After a few months, that year, my father got a call from the government agencies to come and cash the check for the money. It was a big surprise to us as a family and to the community as a whole.

My father got the money with a little interest applied to it. Those who ended up rejecting the offer felt disappointed.

It was a great joy for my father. My father's business came to life, and he was able to open other branches to expand the business.

Even as a child, I felt like his father was not in his right mind for paying a small amount of money. I was happy for him. It makes me feel proud of who he is.

However, he ends up proving that risk-taking in business can sometimes bring an advantage to the business.