Camel Skills

A mother and a baby camel were lying around under a tree. Then the baby camel asked, “Why do camels have humps?”

The mother camel considered this and said, “We are desert animals so we have the humps to store water so we can survive with very little water.”

The baby camel thought for a moment then said, “Ok…why are our legs long and our feet rounded?”

The mama replied, “They are meant for walking in the desert.”

The baby paused. After a beat, the camel asked, “Why are our eyelashes long? Sometimes they get in my way.”

The mama responded, “Those long thick eyelashes protect your eyes from the desert sand when it blows in the wind.

The baby thought and thought. Then he said, “I see. So the hump is to store water when we are in the desert, the legs are for walking through the desert and these eye lashes protect my eyes from the desert then why in the Zoo?”

The Lesson: Skills and abilities are only useful if you are in the right place at the right time. Otherwise they go to waste.

Keeper of the Spring

The late Peter Marshall was an eloquent speaker and for several years served as the chaplain of the US Senate. He used to love to tell the story of the "Keeper of the Spring," a quiet forest dweller who lived high above an Austrian village along the eastern slope of the Alps.

The old gentleman had been hired many years earlier by a young town councilman to clear away the debris from the pools of water up in the mountain crevices that fed the lovely spring flowing through their town. With faithful, silent regularity, he patrolled the hills, removed the leaves and branches, and wiped away the silt that would otherwise have choked and contaminated the fresh flow of water. The village soon became a popular attraction for vacationers. Graceful swans floated along the crystal clear spring, the mill wheels of various businesses located near the water turned day and night, farmlands were naturally irrigated, and the view from restaurants was picturesque beyond description.

Years passed. One evening the town council met for its semiannual meeting. As they reviewed the budget, one man's eye caught the salary figure being paid the obscure keeper of the spring. Said the keeper of the purse, "Who is the old man? Why do we keep him on year after year? No one ever sees him. For all we know, the strange ranger of the hills is doing us no good. He isn't necessary any longer." By a unanimous vote, they dispensed with the old man's services.

For several weeks, nothing changed.

By early autumn, the trees began to shed their leaves. Small branches snapped of and fell into the pools, hindering the rushing flow of sparkling water. One afternoon someone noticed a slight yellowish-brown tint in the spring. A few days later, the water was much darker. Within another week, a slimy film covered sections of the water along the banks, and a foul odor was soon detected. The mill wheels moved more slowly, some finally ground to a halt. Swans left, as did the tourists. Clammy fingers of disease and sickness reached deeply into the village.

Quickly, the embarrassed council called a special meeting. Realizing their gross error in judgment, they rehired the old keeper of the spring, and within a few weeks, the veritable river of life began to clear up. The wheels started to turn, and new life returned to the hamlet in the Alps.

Never become discouraged with the seeming smallness of your task, job, or life. Cling fast to the words of Edward Everett Hale: "I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something I can do. " The key to accomplishment is believing that what you can do will make a difference.

Winning The Lottery

There once was a man who wanted to win the lottery. He prayed several times each day, “Lord, let me win the lottery.” 

He prayed like this day after day after day: “Lord, let me win the lottery.” The man kept praying like this for weeks and months and years - everyday the same prayer: “Lord, let me win the lottery.” 

At one point the man desperately turned his eyes up and said: "O Lord, dear Lord I've been praying to you for years why won't you grant me my wishes?"

To this the heavens parted suddenly and the voice of God came down: “Look, I heard you already. But help me out. At least buy a ticket!"

Moral: Wants and dreams are nothing but wishful thinking unless they are acted upon!

Today, Specialists Agree that more companies face an unstable business environment. Improvements in information processing and
telecommunications have produced significant changes in most industries. Along with this, improvements in transportation and the
development of foreign markets (especially in Europe and Asia) have generated a worldwide marketplace and surpassed certain
businesses. In addition, as consumers are exposed to more options, loyalty is becoming less significant than it once was; a
marginally better deal or a temporary lack of inventory can easily lead to the loss of customers. Competitors can also change
rapidly, with new ones appearing out of nowhere (frequently this means the other side of the globe). With the instability of the
global market, it's vital that you make strategic planning component of your overall business plan.

Proactive Versus Reactive Management. A couple of years back, you could establish and maintain a company by reacting to and
fulfilling changes in tastes, costs and prices. This reactive style of management was often enough to keep the business going.
But, today changes occur fast and come from a number of directions. By the time a reactive supervisor can make the required
alterations, he or she might lose many customers -- possibly for good.

Proactive Planning is the expectation of future events. Decisions are based on forecasts of future conditions of the environment
instead of reactions to several disasters as they occur. Proactive planning within an unstable, technology-driven business
environment is critical to ongoing success in almost any endeavor. Rather than responding to this situation as it affects,
proactive preparation requires that you analyze environmental forces and earn resource-allocation decisions. Using this method you
can take your business where it needs to be in the next month, year and decade. Barry Worth, a consultant specializing in small
business management, puts it this way: Today's entrepreneur has to be a business proprietor. Anything constructed in today's
business environment must have a step-by-step blueprint or strategy about the best way best to reach success. The blueprint for
the business owner is a business plan.

The Want For a Strategic Plan. Planning plays an important role in any business enterprise. It may make the difference between the
success or failure of your business. You need to aim carefully before investing your time and effort, especially, your money in
any business venture. The demand for a plan is best illustrated by the following scenario -"A Tale of 2 Firms."

Two franchises (A and B) were started by individuals who had worked in direction in much bigger companies. While Franchise A
supplied a product and Franchise B per service, the output of both franchise systems had been sold exclusively in the USA prior to
the current owners became involved. The output of the two was readily available in other developed countries as well. The
franchises opened about the exact same time and franchisee had a solid market presence, nor do they at present. Today Franchise B
is bankrupt. By comparison, Franchise A is promoting products in the Midwestern United States and in Europe.

What was the Deciding difference from the two franchises' success? You probably expect it to be that you had developed a tactical
plan and the other had not; howeverit isn't this easy. Many factors can influence the result of a business venture. There were
many similarities between the businesses, but there were also many differences.

Most notably, Franchise A sold a solution and Franchise B per service (although this does not clearly limit choices ). The other
difference was that Franchise A had a closely thought-out plan. The investors understood as they looked for a franchise partner
they wanted to find a product that could satisfy international markets along with a franchiser who would encourage that type of
sales campaign. These investors were established in the Midwest, but negotiated for exclusive rights to export the franchiser's
merchandise. After they had acquired the franchise, as soon as they began to establish their company domesticallythey also started
to contact authorities specialists from the U.S. Department of Commerce as well as teachers and local managers with global
experience.

Clear plans Were developed outlining how they'd position, market and distribute the solution and which overseas markets would be
targeted . Even as they had been building sales in a single European market, they were attending trade shows and preparation entry
strategies in others.

By comparison, The second investor (Franchise B) began his company strictly because he wished to leave a former employer. Of
course many small businesses get started this way; however, in this event no evaluation of franchising options was done. The
business has been located in an area that, as it turned out, contained virtually no consumers for the type of service being
supplied. If this mistake was accomplished, it had been too late to move--the investor simply didn't have the money or the desire
to risk starting back again.

Other examples Further demonstrate the need for strategic planning and for developing a clear business plan. Whoever owns a
business that appeared to be performing quite well in two locations was going to open in a thirdparty. The authors were called in
to develop a benefits policy and found cash flow problems that may be found only after operations had started in the new site.
After analyzing the situation, a growth and fiscal plan was developed for the sound locations only. In another situation, the
authors decided that a company had purchased more equipment than was necessary to do the current workload.

After careful Evaluation, plans to make further purchases were placed on hold, and the equipment available was used effectively to
meet immediate needs.

A business Enterprise is to complicated to presume that failure to develop a solid business Plan is going to be the cause for
issues Nevertheless, this failure frequently counts Among the factors contributing to business difficulties. As Worth has stated,
"Being a business entrepreneur now takes constant vigilance to be able to Be able to take advantage of new opportunities and the
availability of fresh Technology and information as they come into being." The first step in Doing this would be to get a plan.

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