Don’t Sleep On Your Business… Here’s Why
I had called Mr. Happy earlier in the day — just a simple check-in to see how he was doing. We didn’t get to speak until 3:27am the next morning, Thursday, 19th June 2025, when he finally replied on WhatsApp:
“So sorry I didn’t call back. Had a really busy day.”
I was surprised he was still awake, so I asked: “What are you still doing up at this hour?”
What he told me shocked me — and taught me some powerful lessons about business, systems, and leadership.
You see, Mr. Happy runs one of the biggest (if not the biggest) restaurants in Lokoja. He’d recently noticed that night-time sales were slowing down, and instead of just assuming things would fix themselves, he decided to stay up and observe things personally.
And what did he find?
“Everyone is sleeping… Delivery men, customer service rep… Only the cook is awake. Nigeria will frustrate you,”
He wrote, in a series of tired, emotional messages.
I probed a bit to understand what might be wrong and how he intends to deal with the issue.
His response?
“I pay twice what my next highest-paying competitor does. I offer solid bonuses and incentive packages. I don’t tolerate nonsense.”
So, I asked: “What are you going to do now?”
His reply came swiftly:
“I have fired them.”
4 Quick Lessons this Wake-Up Call:
1. A good system shows you what’s really going on.
Mr. Happy knew his numbers. He tracked his sales. And thanks to CCTV, he didn’t have to rely on guesswork — he saw the truth for himself.
2. Pay well — not just to attract talent, but to eliminate excuses.
His staff weren’t underpaid. In fact, he was probably paying too well. That sort of gives you the power to fire and possibly re-hire immediately as people find working in your company attractive.
3. High pay doesn’t equal high performance without structure.
You can be generous with salaries, but if there’s no culture of accountability, you’ll still have underperformance and mediocrity.
4. Be decisive.
When people show you they’re not aligned with the mission, you must protect the business. Leadership requires tough calls — and swift action can send the right message to the rest of the team.
But here’s a question for you…
Was Mr. Happy right to fire them immediately?
Could there have been more context to what he saw — maybe fatigue, miscommunication, or a failure in supervision systems?
Or was it a justified move to save a business from rot?
What do you think? Please share in the comment section.
Whatever your answer, this story reminds us that building a thriving business isn’t just about good products or flashy marketing.
It’s about systems, people, and the courage to act when things go wrong.
So the next time your sales dip or your performance lags — don’t just complain. Investigate. Observe. Act.
And most importantly…
Stay awake to your business.
Even if it means reading WhatsApp messages at 3:27am.
Hahahaha, thank you for this. This was a lovely read. I guess I had gotten to accustomed to holding my team accountable, that I didn’t think this deeply about our convo. Really nice to see that some lesson was drawn from my predicament. Well done on such a lovely piece.
Yes. Thank you for sharing. We look forward to discussing more in the future.