dno

> Cynical Boyd?

> I don't think so.

> In fact, your post reminds me of another
> similar post years ago. You may recall it...
> "A desparate note of randomness".

> Baby Mugs. Video Fireplace. et al. Remember?

> We've all heard the story of the homeless
> woman come cheesecake success, right?

> How many people all over the country also
> have a plethora of tasty recipes for
> cheesecake? How many try to sell em? Lots I
> imagine.

> But how many were homeless and living in a
> car? And how many could use that unique
> thing and have newspaper stories written
> about them? Only her I bet.

> I'm big on the idea of something being able
> to be duplicated.

> Unfortunately, most "success
> stories" involve a desparate act of
> randomness. And those acts of randomness
> center around people who, at the time, were
> not interested in nor entertaining the
> thoughts of success.

> There are many successful people who are
> successful as a result of pure hard,
> consistant effort over a period of time.
> BUT, the media never writes about them. They
> go about their business and no one knows.
> They are the silent successes. Or rather,
> the more silent successes.

> But even those have an element of chance
> about them.

> KFC's originator may have had to knock on
> 10,000 doors before someone took on his
> recipe. But what if the person who'd taken
> on the recipe just happened to be the fist
> door knocked on?

> Either way, the success of KFC can be broken
> down into Making A Contact With Someone Else
> That Makes or Can Make It Happen. Getting a
> break in other words.

> I spent a good deal of Sunday chatting with
> a guy. His business makes about $62k a year
> in the hand. He has a total of 6 customers.
> Wanna know how it began?

> He got one customer. Just one. An Asian
> restaurant on a corner. A little while later
> the Italian restaurant across the road also
> became a customer. Then, just up the road,
> one restauranteur with five Indian
> restaurants, became a customer. Then another
> Asian restaurant across the road became a
> customer. Then one of the customers (another
> business owner) of one of the restaurants
> became a customer. And finally, the place
> his girlfriend worked at became a customer.

> Not counting the customer who employs his
> girlfriend, which could be a case of
> nepotism, he has five customers in total.
> But it all began with just one. The first
> one. A single contact who gave him a break,
> so to speak.

> But he never would have made that contact if
> he'd just sat at home. He took action. Just
> enough to get one single customer.

> One single customer.

> Just one.

> One.

> Doesn't seem so hard to get.

> Perhaps, and I could be speaking out of my
> hat here, the problem lays in the
> conceptualized size of a business people
> consider.

> 1000 customers giving me $50 a year each is
> $50k a year.

> Boy, what a lofty goal considering you don't
> even have one customer.

> Remember how I mentioned a while back to
> break things down?

> So, break it down. Break it down into its
> smallest components.

> You'll always come to that first single
> customer.

> So instead of concentrating on getting 1000
> people to pay you $50 each. How about
> concentrating on getting just one.

> When it's just one it doesn't seem so hard.
> It's only one customer. Just one. A first
> one.

> Maybe that first one will refer others to
> you. Maybe they won't. Either way it's a
> start.

> And after that first customer, you can then
> concentrate on getting just one other
> customer. After that second... concentrate
> on getting just one more. So now you have
> three.

> Three doesn't seem like much, but remember
> the guy I just told you about... he only has
> 6.

> Who knows, after that first one an act of
> randomness may strike you too. It may not...
> but you'll never know unless you get the
> first, single, solitary customer.

> Michael Ross.