Last week I was contacted by a lady I meet about a year ago
who owned her own business selling organic healthcare products. She sent me an
email asking me to contact her right away concerning assistance she
needed. I put aside a couple of tasks I
had immediately intended to work on to contact her. Her email sounded urgent,
so I felt the obligation to respond right away.
Once I got her on the phone she let me know that she had
received a wonderful opportunity to grow her business. She informed me that after a trip to Dubai she connected with some
people of influence and was able to get a verbal agreement for distribution of
her products. There was a large expo happening in Dubai in a couple weeks
and she was able to secure a spot as a vendor in the expo. This is where my assistance was needed.
She needed a large quantity of samples of her product to be on display and
available at the expo for people to try.
She did not have the capital to buy and produce the amount of products
she wanted to ship and have available at the expo. In turn she was asking me to
support her with several thousand dollars to buy, produce, and mail products to
Dubai.
I was reluctant to support her effort for various well
thought out business reasons which included my own risk assessment. In short I
told her I wished her the best, but I couldn’t justify financially supporting her
effort. For the next couple of days she
sent me short emails of pictures, videos, and spreadsheets about her
business. Again I wished her the best,
but encouraged her to move forward with her goal if she truly believed in what
she was doing.
I didn’t feel bad about my decision because it was an honest
one. I had purchased her products when I first met her and they worked great. I
would even suggest them to other people. However, the risks, chances on return on
investment, and logistical support involved in the venture concerned me. If I would have invested and
was not able to recoup my investment I would have felt very foolish for going
against my well thought out analysis.
About a week and half later I received an email from her
telling me her products were in Dubai for the expo. Some way somehow she
managed to get her products there. I
told her “No,” but somehow she found a way. She took a risk on herself. She
didn’t allow my “No” to become her “No.”
I’m unsure if she has yet to receive orders for her products that allow
her to break even or make a large profit.
The important thing is she had enough faith in herself to make a leap to
invest in an opportunity that could yield success. Excuses, procrastinations,
and fears don’t yield positive results, rewards, or success.
In order to become successful sometimes you will have to bet
on yourself, recover quickly from “no’s” , get out of your comfort zone, and leap forward, even when you don’t see a net
below.
Don’t find an excuse to abandon your goal. Find a way to
obtain it even if you must go it alone.
Luke Motivates
“Don’t find an excuse. Find a way.
