How Not to Ruin Your Business – Straight from a Movie Scene

How Not to Ruin Your Business; Straight from a Movie Scene

In the gripping short film "To Kill a Monkey", we watch a heartbreaking unraveling of trust, desperation, and betrayal, all within the bounds of a seemingly successful business. What begins as a partnership fueled by ambition ends in disaster. While the storyline may be fictional, its lessons hit too close to home for many Nigerian entrepreneurs navigating today’s chaotic and unpredictable business landscape.

Here’s what "To Kill a Monkey" teaches us, and how you can apply these lessons to your business journey:

1. Trust is Earned, Not Automatic

One of the first red flags in To Kill a Monkey was blind trust. The lead character, despite obvious tension, kept trusting his partner until it was too late. As business owners, we often make the mistake of assuming everyone on our team has our best interest at heart. But business is not built on assumptions, it’s built on systems.

·      Create accountability structures: Use inventory management tools, assign roles with clarity, and audit frequently.

·      Be present: Don’t hand off everything and disappear. Even if you’re delegating, be in the loop.

Lesson: Your business is your responsibility. Build trust, but verify, too.

2. Money Doesn’t Fix Broken Systems

In the movie, we see a business that looks profitable on the outside. There’s cash flowing, clients coming, but internally, everything is falling apart. The partners have no peace, no order, and no structure.

And that’s exactly what happens in many startups today.

·      You can have the best products, booming sales, and still be on the verge of collapse, if you don’t put systems in place.

·      Automate what you can. Create SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures). Hire with intention, not desperation.

Lesson: Money might build a business, but structure sustains it.

3. Desperation Leads to Bad Decisions

The film captures something many Nigerian entrepreneurs know all too well, survival mode. When you’re constantly trying to stay afloat, you begin to make business decisions from a place of panic rather than strategy.

In To Kill a Monkey, desperation drove actions that couldn’t be undone. And many times, that’s how real businesses lose everything.

Stop winging it. Sit down, write out a budget, even if it’s small.

·      Create short and long-term goals. Ask yourself: Where do I see this business in 6 months?

·      Don’t underprice out of fear. Value your time and product.

 

Lesson: Calm, clear-headed decisions come from planning, not panic.

4. Integrity Matters, Even When It’s Hard

It’s easy to talk about values and principles when things are going well. But when you’re under pressure, your integrity will be tested.

The betrayal in To Kill a Monkey was painful because it wasn’t just financial, it was moral. Cutting corners, hiding truths, taking shortcuts: these decisions might give you short-term gain, but they rob you of long-term stability.

·      Always ask: If this came out publicly, would I be proud of this choice?

·      Build a brand your customers and team can respect.

Lesson: When your integrity is intact, your business has a foundation nothing can shake.

5. Betrayal Costs More Than Loyalty

Perhaps the deepest wound in the movie was betrayal by a trusted partner. It reminds us that while loyalty may be expensive to build—training your team, paying them well, treating them right—betrayal costs far more.

·      Invest in your people. Reward loyalty. Communicate often.

·      Build a transparent culture: Let your staff know the goals, the plans, and how they fit in.

Lesson: People who feel seen and valued rarely sabotage you.

Conclusion

To Kill a Monkey is more than a dramatic story, it’s a mirror for every business owner trying to balance profit, partnership, and peace of mind.

It teaches us that your greatest threat isn’t always external, it can be internal. From untrustworthy partners to a lack of planning, the real enemy of growth often hides within.

So dear Entrepreneur:

Build systems.

Budget wisely.

Protect your values.

Reward loyalty.

And never stop learning.

Your business is worth the effort.

Don’t kill your own monkey.