Two Sweet Words
Sajida Amir
Faisal owned a cafe located just one kilometer outside the city. Every evening, it used to be buzzing with people. In the summer season, instead of the city's pollution, people loved coming here for the open atmosphere, fresh air, cold drinks, burgers, shawarma, chips, and much more. The food quality was excellent, but the cafe's pleasant environment was also a major draw, bringing people back again and again.
Suddenly, despite this success, Faisal's business started failing day by day. Where there used to be a crowd, now only a handful of people visited. Tired of the continuous losses, Faisal decided to sell the cafe. He advertised all over the city. Many people showed interest, but the deal never went through as they couldn't agree on a price.
One day, a man named Usman came to buy the cafe. Faisal and Usman reached an agreement, a settlement was made, and the cafe became Usman's property.
A few days later, Usman started changing the cafe's setup, worked hard to make it better, and renamed it "All Time." To kick things off, he organized a free juice day and announced that anyone placing a large order would get free juice for the next one week. Many people came to take advantage of this offer. When they ordered burgers, shawarma, and other items, they loved the taste so much that they started getting parcels packed for home as well.
After just a few months of hard work, Usman's cafe became famous throughout the city. Even people from other cities loved to sit there. One day, Faisal happened to pass by and was stunned to see the massive crowd at the cafe.
"As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh, Faisal Bhai!"
Before he could stand there thinking, Usman approached him.
"Wa alaykumussalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh! Alhamdulillah, how are you?" Faisal replied with a smile.
Upon Usman's insistence, Faisal went inside and ate a sandwich with tea.
"Usman Bhai! If you don't mind, may I ask you something?" Faisal asked, placing his teacup down.
"Yes, absolutely. Go ahead."
"I was suffering continuous losses in this cafe, and people had stopped coming. So, how did you turn it all around?" Usman smiled at Faisal's question.
"Brother! When I bought this cafe from you, the first thing I did was talk to the old staff and find out the reason for the failure. You might not like this, but you destroyed your own business because of your attitude."
Surprised by Usman's words, Faisal asked for the reason.
"It was like this: You reduced the staff's salary and increased their workload. Your rude behavior made the staff upset. You used to blame them for your failure and scold them unnecessarily, while they were not at fault. Your attitude eventually started affecting the customers. The poor staff was working only out of desperation, just to earn a living. Who wants to work where they are insulted every day? On the other hand, in your greed to earn more profit, you increased the prices of items and reduced their quantity. I simply did the exact opposite of all these things, and today, the result is in front of you." Usman said, gesturing to the people sitting on both sides of the cafe.
Faisal realized his mistake and lowered his head in shame.
"Brother! The first condition in any business is to respect every person working with you. The second condition is to care about the customer's budget and needs. This is the principle of both business and life. The more we give to others, the more we will get back. A human being should not be greedy for profit everywhere and every time; sometimes, just two sweet words and respect are our ultimate capital."
Usman looked at Faisal, whose eyes were filled with nothing but regret.