28/01/2026
WE MESSED UP ON A HUGE SHIPMENT!
So we shipped phones for our clients and everything felt normal, at first. Orders were moving, timelines were tight but manageable, and when the package arrived at our office from China, it was one of those small wins you don’t even celebrate. You just nod and move on.
We opened the boxes to do the usual checks before dispatching to respective owners. Phones were there. Clean. Proper. Exactly what the clients ordered. Then someone asked a very innocent question, the kind that ruins your entire mood without raising its voice. “Where are the chargers?”
At first, nobody answered. We all just stared at the boxes again, as if chargers would magically appear if we looked harder. They didn’t. That’s when it became clear that the chargers hadn’t been forgotten in Nairobi. They hadn’t been stolen. They hadn’t been misplaced.
They had never left China.
The phones were ready for dispatch here in Nairobi while the chargers were still comfortably sitting at our offices in China, minding their own business. That’s when you realise business doesn’t embarrass you loudly. It embarrasses you quietly, with facts.
We laughed, because honestly, what else can you do at that point? Then we did what needed to be done. We got replacements immediately and arranged for the chargers to be shipped separately.