Joe worked at a very prestigious jewelry store in town, and had lots of customers with deep pockets. Joe had always dreamed about opening up his own jewelry store instead of working for someone else. After all, it was Joe who made the store…the store. One day, a few friends came up to Joe at his store and said, “Joe, we are going to help you open your own store!” Joe was thrilled.
Joe had never OWNED his own store before. He was a manager, not an owner. And as any successful business owner will tell you, there’s a big difference between the person who signs the front of the check and the person who signs the back.
Joe opened his very ritzy jewelry store, but did so without any kind of marketing plan. Sadly, any knowledgeable observer could see that Joe ran his jewelry store like a manager, not like an owner.
Although Joe had the support of his customers from the jewelry store where he used to be the manager, the bottom line was that Joe’s business wasn’t doing very well. His investors decided to give Joe a little advice.
Each of these investors came from different industries/professions, and each was very wealthy. Each bit of advice was preceded with a statement like, “I’ve had a lot of experience dealing with _____. Let me tell you what you need to do…”
Not having any entrepreneurial skills, and only having his managerial experience from which to draw upon, Joe decided to take and then implement the advice given to him by his investors.
In the final analysis, it was that very POOR advice combined with inadequate preparation that finally led to the demise of Joe’s dream. One year after opening, Joe’s jewelry store was closed for business.
So what went wrong?
First: Joe wasn’t using the “operating system” of a business owner. That’s not to say that he couldn’t be wired for that purpose, rather – that he wasn’t wired for an entrepreneurial pursuit at the time he opened his jewelry store. Joe was thinking like an employEE. There’s nothing wrong with thinking like an employEE unless you have plans to become an employER.
Second: Joe didn’t have a plan. Good ideas are not a plan. In fact, good ideas without a specific calendar are worth as much an ice scraper on a hot July day.
Third: Joe should not have taken the advice of his investors. In my world, an investor should INVEST, not advise. Having experience as the Senior Vice-President of Marketing for Mega Corporation is a wonderful accomplishment, but that doesn’t mean that such a position gives you the qualifications to market a smaller entrepreneurial venture. It’s an entirely different ball game. And as much as I appreciate money, having a lot of it does not mean that you know what the hell you’re doing. Good fortune and great intelligence are not mutually inclusive.
What I would like you to take away from this blog post:
You must have the correct operating system for the appropriate application. Not following that advice is like forcing a guy who doesn’t want to be married…into marriage. You first have to want to be married in order to stay married. Common sense, right? RIGHT!
You must have a plan…for everything. Not to be a spoiler, but even spontaneity must have some sort of plan. If you are going to whisk your special someone off to Paris for dinner, you must first have your airplane fueled and then waiting at the airport. You must file a flight plan. And if you’re going to Paris – “on a whim,” you’re probably going to need a dinner reservations.
You must understand that ALL advice is not necessarily good advice. I know a person who admits to being very unintelligent with regard to business, investments, and common sense. This same person is a multi-millionaire (as in the hundreds of millions). He made his money by winning the lottery. His advice would be to buy more lottery tickets. My point: Even an “expert” in the same field may not be an “expert” with regard to your type of business.
Have A Great Day!
…Dr. Marc