Let’s Walk Down
There’s an old parable about two male sheep standing on hill looking down at a herd of female sheep. The male sheep are discussing the possibility of getting friendly with the females. One of the sheep states the desire to run down to get together with one of the sheep. The other sheep, who is older and wiser, rebuffs the younger sheeps thoughts on the advance. The older sheep prefers to walk down and have a chance with all of them.
The story is a silly one, but there is an important point made in the story. Taking your time to let a situation properly develop is a very important part of any winning business strategy. The urge to “jump right in” overcomes many a business rookie and even some veterans as well. “What about the old adage, strike while the iron is hot,” you may ask? To me that means that you should strike when the situation requires action. Deciding on the right time to jump in is an art in itself.
The paradigm of the late 90s was one of reckless abandon. Ideas were turned into businesses in weeks instead of the usual months or years. Investors were plunking down their life savings when businesses were in their very early and very fragile stages. Some people made out good, but a lot more people lost. The winners simply got lucky in many cases. The losers felt the sting from “running down the hill.” Remember the lesson of the late 90s or you’ll be doomed to repeat it in your business dealings today.
Whether you’re a CEO or recent college graduate you’ll find yourself in many situations where you’ll be evaluating situations. Your reaction to those situations can make the difference between success and failure. A CEO hears about a hot new technology and decides that his company must get in on the ground floor right now. The company invests millions in this early stage technology. Another competing standard to the same technology debuts shortly thereafter, greatly reducing the return on investment. A recent college grad with very little practical business experience hears about a new business opportunity in multi level marketing. She’s swayed by a slick pitch and fancy marketing materials. But she has to get involved now, in order to be successful, or so she’s told. And so it goes.
Now, I’m not trying to spread doom and gloom here. Sometimes longshots come through very nicely. The point here is the fact that no matter what decade you’re living in, certain common sense rules apply in making a decision to commit to a business opportunity. It’s a very rare situation where something must be done now. Unless of course that now is a time after which a particular situation has been thoroughly research and considered. This doesn’t have to take a lot of time either. In today’s world of uber information, things can be researched pretty quickly. You’d be surprised though at how many people fail to look before they leap. It happens at all levels of organizations and in all businesses.
What can you do? Be thorough and measure your swing. In Welcome To The Beehive I make these points very strongly. Risks are okay! But they need to be measured or you’ll drift from simple investment in an idea to complete speculation. Speculators win big sometimes, but they also lose big too. Anyone who tells you that you have to invest (financially or intellectually) right now or all is lost is probably selling you something. There’s nothing wrong with buying as long as you’ve taken the time to kick the tires and look under the hood.
