Mixing business with love ends up being a mistake in most cases. For a business to thrive, there are guiding principles and once those principles are jettisoned, the growth of the business becomes a mirage. In many instances, people tend to overlook these guiding principles with the belief that the existing relationship with the other party is enough to prevent any breach in the business whatsoever.
I had an experience in this regard. After rounding up my national service in Bauchi State, Nigeria, I decided to go into the business of agricultural produce. I was farming too but more attention was paid on buying grains from Bauchi and sending them down south to sell.
It got to a point, it became expedient on me to own a car in order to facilitate my movement. I told my friend to help me get a car to purchase. He had more knowledge of automobiles than me. I told him my budget and the search began. He reached out to his friend and the friend was in custody of a car that he wanted to sell.
We wasted no time to go and inspect the car. From the body of the car to the interior, I loved what I saw. However, I couldn't confirm the standard of the engine because I am not a professional nor had enough experience as a car user. I had been advised in the past that if I am buying used automobiles from someone, I should make sure that I invite an expert like a mechanic to help ascertain the status of the engine and other critical components.
I raised the idea of getting a mechanic to inspect the car before making payment but my friend said that there was no need. According to him, he trusted his friend that was selling the car for me. I believed in him and I made payment for the car.
The first few days of using the car was without any hitch. However, within one week or two, the car started giving me problems. I started visiting mechanics almost every week. It was then that my mechanic told me that the engine was bad. According to him, it was packaged and sold to me with the problem.
When the car was becoming a burden to my business, I parked it and returned to where I was.
After some months, I decided to revive the car once more but to my greatest disappointment, the problem of the car had multiplied. I ended up selling the car for about 50% of the amount that I bought it. I was very angry and disappointed in myself for mixing business with friendship. The love I had for my friend couldn't make me do the most appropriate thing. My mechanic told me that if I had involved a mechanic to inspect the car at the point of purchase, he was sure that I would be discouraged from buying the problematic car.
The loss of the car frustrated my movement and interest in the business. I quitted and traveled to Abuja to join my sister. I switched my interest from investment to looking for a job.
My in-law offered to connect me with someone that could be of assistance to helping me get a desired job. He collected my CV and returned back after a few weeks and told me that the person was requesting a certain amount of money.
I was skeptical about releasing the money because I sensed some red lights in the way the whole thing was presented. My sister pressured me to release the money. I used my savings to pay for the job.
Unfortunately, the money went down the drain. I couldn't get the job.
I vowed never to put love or relationship ahead of due diligence whenever I am putting money in a business. Whatever it is that is supposed to be done must be done by me moving forward. Business requires more than trust.