MY 100K WORTH OF GOODS GOT BURNT IN TRANSIT!

Ama's Collection rants - ep 2

I don’t even know how to begin this, but omo… entrepreneurship is not for the weak! Ask around you’ll cry shege banza.

You’ll cry and cry till there are no tears left. At some point, you might even need to borrow tears from your friends because your own well has run dry.

So, I wanted to do a boubou restock around mid-January. I ordered the fabrics I needed on a Wednesday. The vendor took them to the park that same day for delivery to Minna, since I was in school.

If you run a business or you know someone who does, you already know delivery is a ticking time bomb….Anything can go wrong.

Still, I wasn’t expecting the fabrics till Thursday (because…drivers and their wahala). Thursday came and I waited the whole day for a call from the driver. Nothing. No call. No text. Nothing.

I messaged my vendor that evening to ask for the driver’s number. She didn’t have it.

And just like that overthinking set in.

My chest tightened and my mind started spiraling.

What if it’s missing? What if they gave it to the wrong person? How will I raise another 100k?

That period, I was unusually quiet. Sad. People around me could guess something was wrong, but they had no idea what it was.

On Friday, the vendor finally reached out to the park officials to get an update. They said the original car had issues on the way and handed the goods to another driver.

At that point, I didn’t even have the energy to be angry. I just said “okay.” That was the only thing I could say. I just wanted my stuff, nothing else mattered.

But then they dropped another bomb:

They didn’t have the second driver’s number and no one knew exactly where he was.

I was helpless.

Saturday, I followed up again because that second driver should have been in Minna by then. That’s when I heard it:

“The car burnt.”

I froze.

You know when you hear something that doesn’t process immediately? I just stared at my screen like maybe I read it wrong.

They said some things were saved and I should just “pray” my goods were part of them.

Do you know what 100k means to me???

I didn’t scream. I didn’t cry like I thought I would. I just sat there…numb.

This business thing don turn me to hard girl fr.

But the truth was I couldn’t sleep that night. I was tossing, turning, my heart racing. Every sound felt like a notification that could make or break me.

Sunday came. No news.

Sunday afternoon? Still nothing.

By Sunday night, I was ready to just give up.

Then at 10pm, like a movie twist…the vendor texted me.

She said I should go to the park first thing Monday morning and ask for someone. When I find him, I should check if my fabrics were among the things they were able to rescue.

For a second, I felt some relief, but it was short-lived when I remembered it was still a 50/50 chance.

Monday morning, an unknown number called me.

My heart skipped and my fingers shook. I picked and held my breath.

“Hello. Your goods don arrive Minna. Come carry am for Kure market… ask for so and so person, pay him #500 for store keeping.”

I almost screamed.

On a normal day, I would’ve sent a rider but after all the emotional damage? Lai lai. I carried myself there, collected my fabrics with my two hands and brought it back to my hostel.

That was how I escaped being 100k down. Barely.

If there’s anything you take from this, let it be this:

Appreciate business owners. Support your friends. Promote your people.

Because behind the cute Instagram posts and sold-out stories…people are crying real tears.

Speaking of sold-outs…. our new collection drops August 1st and you already know how we do it over here. I’ve worked sooooo hard on this and I can’t wait for y’all to see it. So, set your reminders and lets make it a date!

Follow us on IG (@ama.s_collection) for all the behind-the-scenes gist and launch countdowns 💃🏽

See you next timeee,

Ama🤍