Where Desperation MEETS OPPORTUNITY- A Cautionary Tale

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Life is so wild that sometimes it puts us in a situation of ridicule. One minute you are standing firm by your decision, and the next you are going back on your words due to one condition or the other. I remember during the era of the Ponzi scheme and how I had lost a huge sum of money to it.

At the time, I was in so much pain that I swore never to have anything to do with a get-rich-quick scheme ever again. While I was firm in my decision over the past years, I was recently put to a test by life where I was faced with a situation of lack, and the only way out was to join a dropshipping team.

Don’t worry, you will soon understand how my involvement with the dropshipping team became a get-rich-quick scheme.

So about some months back, there was an issue with our company account, and salary wasn't paid for the previous month. We were already halfway into the new month, and salary was still not forthcoming. By now I had gotten a lot of items on credit, and I was barely surviving on side income.

You know life is such a risk that while you plan and predict the outcome by being calculative, reality sometimes has something different in store. While I thought the issue with the account would be rectified in the current month, it lingered for another month, and in a short while I became desperate for funds. I thought about borrowing, but the existing debt hanging on my neck knocked out that decision, as I didn't want to compound issues for myself.

I spoke to a few friends for assistance. I hate begging, especially for money, so I asked them to hook me up with any freelancing job with flexible timing. At least with that, I know I’m always getting money, no matter how little.

Finally, a friend introduced me to a dropshipping group. The group was on WhatsApp, and it was designed in such a way that if you do not have an existing customer base that will pre-order from you, you could team up with customers who wants to retail, and once the goods were sent to them, they’d sell off and give you capital plus 50% ROI. It was a good deal, but its ROI was highly concerning.

Like I said earlier, I was desperate; I didn’t have the capital to spare, nor do I have an existing customer base for retail. It was a risky venture, no doubt, but my friend assured me that it’s legit, and since they are just starting, I took advantage of the fact that the owners will strive to keep it afloat because they need to make some money off it.

While I thought critically on how to get at least five hundred thousand naira to pair with a retailer, my best gal sought my advice on how best to invest a spare money she didn’t want to squander on games. consoles. When I asked her, How much? It was a little above what I was looking for, so I immediately keyed her in on what I had going on. We assessed the risk, and I told her it’s definitely not a long-term plan, but we could enjoy it while it lasts.

My friend wanted something sustainable, but the ROI was too juicy to pass off, so she came on board, and she was paired with a retailer. True and true, barely 3 weeks after, she was credited with 1.2 million, of which she sent me a cut of one hundred thousand naira and an additional fifty thousand naira to get by, as she was aware of my financial challenges.

It was a good deal, too good, and she wanted to invest some more, but I warned her against it and told her if she insisted, I would not be liable for any loss. While I enjoyed the proceeds of my risky venture as it paid off, our company issue was rectified.

Unfortunately, like every business-oriented individual who is a risk taker, my friend went back to invest. Given my warnings, she invested five hundred thousand naira that disappeared with the wind.

One morning, while waiting to be credited by the retailer she was paired with, she woke up and discovered that the drop shipping WhatsApp group was no more. I had since archived the group chat after our payment, so I wasn’t aware of what was going on, and no one even bothered to inform me since I had warned both my friends not to invest again, but they turned a deaf ear.

Later on, while the pain of being swindled was no longer biting, that was when my best gal told me everything. I felt really sorry for her. Sadly, it was a lesson learned even for me.