Jack Ma once said:
“If you put bananas and money in front of the monkeys, the monkeys will choose the bananas because the monkeys don’t know that money can buy a lot of bananas.”
But, he didn’t stop there; his actual quote continues:
75% of Americans say they’d like to be self-sufficient. Less than 6% actually pursue it! Why? Consider the monkeys.
“In reality, if you offer people a job or a business, people would choose the job because most people do not know that business can bring more money than wages. Profit is better than wages, for wages can make you a living – but profits can bring you a fortune.”
Ceiling, Control, and Confidence
One of the reasons salaried employees feel limited in their financial growth is because they are not trained to recognize entrepreneurial opportunity. They spend a lot of time in school, and what they learn in school is to work for a salary instead of working for themselves.
Professionals and executives often tell me that they’re frustrated with various elements of their career. Among them are long hours, heavy business travel, lack-of-control or authority over MANY things: Career trajectory, company policies, vacation, staffing, budgets, projects, internal politics, where they live, and a ceiling on earnings. Their first thought on how to solve those problems?
Get a new job. Well, … Good luck with that.
Too often, a new job is just trading who owns your career, but perhaps with a modest salary increase an another week of vacation. If YOU aren’t controlling the parameters of your career, then someone else OWNS your career. Not you. Bad assumptions can lead to less-than-the-best decisions. My coaching tenure has included clients who assumed they lacked the skills, but the truth is really quite different.
Consider Business Ownership
People have blind spots. I’ve worked with clients who didn’t think “they had what it takes” to be successful as a franchise business owner. People like:
• Veterans / military service – Years of understanding the value and importance of processes, systems, and discipline
• Volunteer leader – whether a kids’ baseball team, HOA, church committee, or department at work …
• MBA Degree – literally educated and trained … on how business works
Well, … respectfully: My clients were wrong. They DID “have what it takes” to be successful business owners, and they’re enjoying their new lives – on THEIR terms! Fortunately, COVID had some impact on people’s perception of risk assessment and career goal-setting. RECORD NUMBERS of people continue filing new business start-up applications, and small business is forecasted to thrive going forward like never before in our lifetimes. So, …
You owe it to yourself to “look BEYOND the bananas”. If you’re ready to explore ‘running your own business – without having to “invent” it’, then reach out to me. I can help!
To your success!
