- August 7, 2018 -
A tale of two salesmen.
It's early 1900's.
Two competing shoe companies want to expand their market reach.
So they each send their top sales guy to Africa to scout out the potential.
After a day or so, the Salesman #1 finds a telegraph office and types out:
"Research complete. Stop. Situation hopeless. Stop. No one wears shoes here."
The Salesman #2 does his research and head to the same telegraph office. He types out this message to his boss:
"Research complete. Stop. Incredible opportunity. Stop. No one wears shoes here."
Two smart guys.
Same situation.
Opposite outlook.
So...we can end this email right here and conclude that the lesson for today is:
When we have a glass-half-full mindset, opportunities will arise.
Sales guy #2 is the real entrepreneur who sees opportunity where #1 guy didn't.
Right?
Nope. That's way too tidy for this Contrarian.
Salesman #1 returns on the next steamer to London.
His boss rewards him from saving them from a disastrous venture and sends him to oversee the newly-formed sales territory in Paris, France.
He goes on to build a booming business in ladies’ dress shoes. He became wealthy and comfortable...and is on the most eligible bachelor list.
He meets and marries a French heiress. Though wealthy enough to retire in his 50's, he never looses his love of selling shoes and continues creating new styles for the Parisian socialite niche.
He continues working well into his 70's (for the same company) until the start of WWII and is rewarded a very nice retirement package.
Salesman #2 has a different story.
He opens up a warehouse in the heart of Africa and orders a huge shipment of shoes from the home office.
He trains a team of locals who are willing to work hard and learn...and eagerly forecasts the sale of 2,000 pairs of shoes in his first year of business.
The home office is ecstatic that they have such a go-getter and optimistic entrepreneur on their team.
At the end of the year salesman #2 has sold less than 100 pairs of shoes.
His home office orders that he cut expenses. Depressed and stressed out from having to let go most of his team, he finally admits he's made a serious mistake.
Whoa, Art...isn't this supposed to be a tale of hope and the entrepreneurial dream?
Sounds more like reality, doesn't it?
After a disappointing first year, Salesman #2 decides to regroup.
OK, so the market for shoes is terrible, but by now he knows his audience very well and realizes...
...it's not that the Africans don't want to protect their feet. They just feel silly in American shoes.
So he imports a small shipment of sandals to test that market.
AND he notices that a large portion of his audience is probably never gonna wear shoes after being barefoot for their whole lives...so he finds and imports a brand of lotion that soothes and toughens up their soles.
AND he notices that because everyone walks everywhere, they get sunburned. So he imports broad-rimmed hats.
The hats were a hit. The sandals did marginally well. And he couldn't stock enough lotion.
He didn't give up on selling shoes and was able to break even at the end of year two due to reinvesting the profits from his side niches into the shoe line.
After 7 years of hard work, no vacations, one kidney stone and a revolving door of employees...he bought the local business from his home company since it had never been the boom they anticipated.
He never became a millionaire.
But he was content and very comfortable financially.
Every so often he thought about all he'd given up.
But being the optimist he was...he didn't dwell on what might have been.
So who was the real entrepreneur?
Both.
Who was the most successful?
Both.
Which one do most of us relate to more?
I think you know the answer to that.
Those marketers whose ads show them standing next to private jets and fast cars with hot babes on their arms?
Meh...those stories happen occasionally - but more often than not, there's another story behind the story.
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