At the eve of my birthday, I woke up to discover that my anticipation of having a fabulous family celebration was about to be truncated. I had proposed that when the d-day come I will throw a small party for my family, inviting a friend's family along. I have imagined cooking a delicious coconut jollof rice with my wife preparing fried chicken for us. There would have been a presumptuous cake gotten from a certified confectionary in town. And then a few bottles of soft drinks would have blended our day. But oops! It all became an illusion.
Waking up on the D-Day, I felt some sense of frustration. The only one thousand naira left in the house was used to prepare breakfast and lunch for my two kids who were about going to school. I sat down on the couch in the sitting room, overwhelmed with sadness. Many thoughts flow through my mind. Should I called a friend to borrow me some money; should I go to the foodstuffs seller and collect items on credit? ( Oh, the agony of a poor man).
Then suddenly, I remembered there is a Father above who is capable of supplying every need. So, I utter out of frustration: Daddy celebrate birthday for me. If you know me as your son, please give me money to celebrate my birthday with my family. Thereafter, my wife left for her shop. She had no intention of going to workshop that day but since there wasn't anything at home to eat, talkless of celebrating, she changed her mind and let for shop paraventure there could be a client who will come to make or amend leather bags. That way, food would come to the house.
Later in the afternoon, the atmosphere changed. Sadness gave way to joy. The hope of celebrating birthday came alive. One phone call brought radiance of happiness to my life. A school, who was preparing for End-the-year party had offered to give my wife the contract of making leather bags souvenir for their students and pupils. When she told me how much the contract was worth, I literally shouted for excitement. Thanks to God, my Father who has sent me a birthday gift. That evening we aet and celebrated in joy; and slept peacefully knowing that most of our financial debts would be paid.
Now the celebration is over. The initial excitement of getting a contract worth over eight hundred thousand naira has evaporated. (To someone who scarcely get contacts above one hundred and fifty thousand naira, eight hundred thousand naira contract would seem like eight hundred million naira contract to him). The pressure, stress and unforseen uncertainties started setting in.
The time frame for completing the type of leather bags demanded was not enough to produce 200 pieces, not to talk of 456 pieces demanded. Consequently, the demand for labour so as to meet up with the deadline increased tremendously. And the diversity of labour associated with the making of that type of bag makes the cost of production to zoom up far beyond projection. Aside all these, one can't actually understand what has happened that the quantity of materials consumed increased by almost half of what was projected.
Hmm! My sweet candy has been stained with bitter piles! From where did the bitterness come from? Was it that my wife didn't consider the gravity of labour and time required to produce leather bags using belt strands? Did she miscalculate the quantity of materials required to finish the 456 pieces of bags? How come that we are spending far more on materials and labour than estimated? We spent sleepless night thinking on how we will meet up with the deadline. What an experience!
Such is life! We learn and gather experiences from the rough routes we pass through. Not as if I have a total regret, for surely there is profit from the contract. It's only that the expected profit margin has dropped. And much stress and strategies had been implore to catch up with the deadline.
What is there to learn from this my experience. Firstly, count the cost properly before giving quotations. If you are not sure, make enquiry from others. Secondly, have a ready working team to work with. So that when there is business that passes your only effort, they could be readily handy.
Thirdly, do not spend too much out of the contract when you haven't paid for all the needed materials and labour force. Finally, when projecting time frame, give excess allowance.
In all, it was sweet but bitter.
