Take a look at this video of a Jimmy Fund (a Boston based charity supporting the Jimmy Fund Clinic for pediatric cancer) former patient throwing out the first pitch at a Boston Red Sox game. It’s funny if you’re not the recipient.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq-nwZmuLBY
Things don’t always go as planned, do they? In fact, they rarely go as planned, and sometimes that’s not-so-good and other times it’s great. That’s why plans have to be flexible. I’ve given my talk, “Lessons from Unusual Places” dozens of times. The story is about how we took my dad, age 80, to Europe for the first time. After the first full day in London we realized he couldn’t keep up with our plan, so we adapted it (so he could take a nap every afternoon).
The same in life, business, and the buying or selling of a business. We are constantly thrown “curveballs” like the one in the video. It’s like one of the stories in my book If They Can Sell Pet Rocks Why Can’t You Sell Your Business (For What You Want)?) about a lady who blended her business and personal checkbooks in order to write-off every personal expense she could. When a medical emergency hit, she had to sell and sell quickly. She admitted the taxes she saved via scamming the IRS was nowhere close to the amount of the reduced price she received.
- Have a plan for your business, it’s growth, and realize opportunities will popup where you least expect them.
- Business buyers, know what you want, realize finding a company is sales, it’s like finding customers, and keep working your plan.
- Business sellers, take some time before you decide to sell to make your business as attractive as possible to buyers. It will pay off handsomely.
“It’s good to be idealistic. But be prepared to be misunderstood.” Mark Zuckerberg
