Making Your First Million.pdf - Association of Net Entrepreneurs and ...

Making Your First Million
And he took the money and started advertising. Before long he was taking out full-page
spreads in the city newspaper. And he had to extend his trading hours to cope. And as
sales rose he was obliged to take 10% and do even more advertising. And customers
started queuing up outside his little suburban shop. And it was impossible to get in. The
crowd inside was hot and jammed together as people fell over themselves to pay top
dollar for his electrical goods. And he had to open his shop till midnight seven days. And
still the customers and profits poured in, overtones of the Sorceror's Apprentice, and he
went to his friend and said: "This is crazy! We're working a hundred hours a week. We
can't cope. Can't we slow down the advertising?"
"No." said his friend, "Keep going." And to soak up the ten percent they started doing
television ads and pretty soon the shop was open 24 hours seven days selling high-priced
off-brand goods, barreling along with customers anxious to get in before the price rise.
Joe went to his friend again. "We've got to do something! The shop is bursting at the
seams. Customers can't get in. They're walking away without buying anything. We need
to move to bigger premises."
"No. You move to bigger premises and I'm out." So Joe bought his partner out, moved to
bigger premises, relaxed, stopped spending ten percent of his turnover on advertising and
went broke.
What's the lesson? Live a little on the edge. Keep out of the comfort zone. Push yourself
and your staff. And push your customers if it comes to that, Joe's customers figured if this
place is so busy they must be selling some real bargains and they hung in there.
Remember the diving board principle. The diving board is either full or empty. Nothing
in between. Create that buzz, that competition for your services. The Chinese are great at
this. Go out to Yum Cha on a Sunday morning, if the place is empty they'll push the
screens close to the door, turn up the music and sit their children down at the table so
when you look through the window the place appears full. Pretty soon it is.
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