We operate our little business from the house. We sell mostly via the net and we supply services to the odd customer. Anyhow, I've spent what seems like a lifetime developing all sorts of weird and wonderful lasercut products that I simply never bothered to market (I like to develop stuff, not sell or market etc - k@k entreprenuer hey....) anyhow....
A white girl pitches up this morning riding an old clapped out bicycle. She sells air fresheners door to door. We get to talking and it turns out that she comes from a poor family. She's now 20 and she's been selling door to door for 8 years to support herself and her parents. What struck me is her tenacity, we spoke about selling and people and what she puts up with, the money she makes etc. Her view is simple, she buys and then sells for a profit, she rides her bike going door to door until she's made whatever her target is for the day. She doesn't think too much about life the universe and everything, all that she thinks about is meeting her target.
Ah so now for the lateral thinking bit: Here I am with a head full of ideas, a house full of machines and products ready to roll. I showed her all the stuff that I've designed and asked her if she thinks that she would be able to sell any of it. She's coming by tomorrow morning and we will select a range of products that she can sell. She can have the products on consignment and see if she can turn the oppertuniy into a business. We will keep on developing ideas and working on consignment until we both bcome rich and famous. My input costs are very low, the machines ar paid for and the wood costs next to nothing. We buy paint from wholesalers so those costs are low too. I am quite sure given her drive that she will make something of it. Let's call it paying it forward - I will enable her (by doing what I am good at - designing and making things) to build a little business for herself by doing what she is good at namely selling.
She may not be the sharpest pencil in the pack but she has one quality that I don't see very often in people - A dignified drive to make a life for herself using the meagre skills at her disposal. (She doesn't moan or complain or demand anything, she simply wants an oppertunity to better her lot...)
Hopefully tomorrow opens a door to a better future for her!
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