Michael never imagined that the person who would help save his business would be the same person he had barely spoken to properly in months.
And that person was his younger brother, Enoch...... and the funny thing was that they lived in the same city, but life had happened to them, work, responsibilities, and pride had quietly created a big distance between them,yes they were not fighting they just weren't close ....... anymore.
Michael owned a small printing business in Uyo, It wasnot anything massive, but it paid his bills and kept him busy, at least, it used to, until the business slowed down.
The customers who used to call every week stopped calling , schools that normally printed materials with him started looking elsewhere, even the little walk in jobs became scarce.
One evening, Michael sat inside his shop staring at the empty chairs,
He sighed.
" God ...this month no funny at all."
Just then his phone rang.
It was Enoch.
Michael looked at the screen for a few seconds before answering.
"Guy."
"Michael, how far?"
"I am okay o"
"You sure? You dont sound like someone who is okay."
Michael laughed softly.
"My brother, business is humbling me."
Enoch was quiet for a moment.
"Oh so what's happening?"
Michael didn't plan on talking about it, but somehow the words just started coming out.
"There aren't customer like before anymore, and I am even begining to think that I will close shop for some time."
"Hmmm."
"I seriously don't know what to do again"
Enoch simply said,
"Okay I will come over tomorrow."
The next afternoon, Enoch walked into the shop carrying two bottles of malt.
"You look like someone that needs this."
Michael smiled.
"You didn't come to laugh at me?"
"Laugh at you for what?"
"For this empty shop."
Enoch looked around.
"Everybody might see an empty shop. What we need is a solution."
That one sentence made Michael smile for the first time in weeks, the two brothers spent hours talking, not just about the business, but about everything.
Enoch asked questions Michael had never really thought about.
"Do you have an Instagram page?"
Michael shook his head.
"No."
"Facebook?"
"I post once once."
"TikTok?"
Michael laughed.
"My brother abeg."
Enoch shook his head.
"That's where your problem lies actually."
Michael frowned.
"What concerns printing business with TikTok?"
"A lot."
Over the next few days, Enoch practically moved into the shop.
He took pictures of Michael's work
Recorded short videos.
Designed simple flyers.
Created social media pages.
He even convinced Michael to start posting behind the scenes videos of how banners, business cards, invitation cards, and souvenirs were made, Michael wasn't convinced.
"Who wan watch person wey dey print?"
Enoch laughed.
"You wil be surprise."
A week later, one of their videos unexpectedly blew up.
Not millions of views.
Just enough.
Someone shared it.
Then another person did.
Soon people started sending messages.
"How much for wedding invitations?"
"Do you deliver outside Uyo?"
"Can you print customized T-shirts?"
Michael just couldn't believe it, and Customers started returning, not because the quality had changed.
The quality had always been good, people simply didn't know he existed before.
One evening after closing, the brothers sat outside the shop eating roasted corn, Michael looked at Enoch.
"You know say if you didn't come that day, I would have closed this place."
Enoch smiled.
"You would have figured something out."
Michael shook his head.
" Nah I don't think so."
There was silence between them for a few seconds , Then Michael said quietly,
"You know what's more funny?"
"What?"
"I thought that I needed customers."
Enoch raised an eyebrow.
"You didn't?"
"I actually needed my brother."
Enoch laughed.
"You are getting emotional now"
"I'm serious."
"So because I helped small now, you want to start crying?"
Michael burst into laughter.
"Get out of here joor."
The business continued to grow over the following months, but something even more important had changed, The brothers had found each other again,Not through a family gathering.
Not during Christmas
Not because someone forced them to reconcile, they reconnected because life became difficult.
sometimes though, it does takes hard seasons to remind us of the people we already have, Michael thought he had lost his customers, but what he really found was an unexpected connection with the one person who had been in his corner all along,
And looking back at it ,that turned out to be worth far more than the business itself.
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