Au contraire, mon frere
 

Hi,

Since no one's willing to engage me in a debate, I think I'll post a counterpoint to your message. BTW, I agree with the main points you made.

You wrote:
> In 1956, no one was sure if a pizza shop in
> the suburbs would be a viable idea. Sounds
> like a needless worry today, but back then
> it was an untested novelty.

Since Papa didn't know if the idea would work, since he wasn't copying a viable success model, he's lucky it did work.

Luck is a necessity, but it's possible to manufacture your own luck by stacking the cards in your favor. I know I sound like I'm parroting what Bill Myers said a few years ago, but the truth is the truth no matter who says it.

Papa had an invisible helper, by the way: he was "trading with the trend," a maxim familiar to all traders. Papa was providing a product that was in a rising uptrend of popularity.

Just my two cents.

Boyd "Mr. Trend" Stone :-)

Luck, Trends, and Hot Chocolate....
 

Hi Boyd!

> Since Papa didn't know if the idea would
> work, since he wasn't copying a viable
> success model, he's lucky it did work.

> Luck is a necessity, but it's possible to
> manufacture your own luck by stacking the
> cards in your favor. I know I sound like I'm
> parroting what Bill Myers said a few years
> ago, but the truth is the truth no matter
> who says it.

I really don't think "luck is a necessity".... I do believe that "luck" can be created to a degree (see my other post below)....

But I do think it does help for someone to get over a fear of rejection.... I believe that fear of rejection stops people from doing many things which could otherwise help their success. Creating opportunities for yourself, I believe, often has a lot to do with getting over a fear of rejection....

> Papa had an invisible helper, by the way: he
> was "trading with the trend," a
> maxim familiar to all traders. Papa was
> providing a product that was in a rising
> uptrend of popularity.

> Just my two cents.

I also agree, it certainly helps to go with trends!

I'm very interested in low-risk approaches to business, and I think that one low-risk approach is to take a successful idea, and modify it in some way....

For example, read the interesting article (linked to below) from Inc. magazine.... It's about Moonstruck Chocolatier. This is a company which has noticed the success of Starbucks, and is copying their model -- with a twist. Instead of coffee, they sell hot chocolate. Things seem to be going well for them!

(Dien offers everyone at Sowpub a steaming cup of hot chocolate....)

Cheers!

- Dien


Moonstruck Chocolatier, copying the Starbucks model -- with hot chocolate!