He was illiterate, so he never read newspapers.
He was hard of hearing, so he never listened to the radio.
His eyes were weak, so he never watched television.
But enthusiastically, he sold lots of "wada-pavs".
He was smart enough to offer some attractive schemes to increase his sales.
His sales and profit went up…
He ordered more a more raw material and buns and his sales increased.
He recruited more supporting staff to serve more customers.
He started offering home delivery. Eventually, he got himself a bigger and better stove.
As his business was growing, the son, who had recently graduated from College, joined his father.
Then something strange happened.
The son asked, "Dad, aren't you aware of the great recession that is coming our way?"
The father replied, "No, but tell me about it."
The son said, "The international situation is terrible. The domestic situation is even worse. We should be prepared for the coming bad times."
The man thought that since his son had been to college, read the papers, listened to the radio and watched TV, he ought to know and his advice should not be taken lightly.
So, the next day onwards, the father cut down his raw material order and buns, took down the colourful signboard, deiscontinued all the special schemes he was offering to customers and was no longer as enthusiastic about anything.
He reduced his staff strength by giving layoffs.
Very soon, fewer and fewer people bothered to stop at his "wada-pav" stand.
And his sales started coming down rapidly, as did the profit.
The father said to his son, "Son, you were right. We are in the middle of a recession and crisis. I am glad you warned me ahead of time."
Moral of The Story:
It's all in your MIND! And we actually FUEL this recession much more than we think we do!
What can we learn from this story?
1. Do not confuse intelligence with good judgment.
2. Choose your advisors carefully but use your own judgment.
3. A person or an organization will survive forever, if they have the 5 Cs:
- Character
- Commitment
- Conviction
- Courtesy
- Courage
The tragedy today is that there are many walking encyclopedias who are living failures.
The more practical and appropriate views on this economic recession is:
"This is the time to regroup for any small or a big organization, this is the time to motivate and retain people, which are the biggest asset, this is the time to show more commitment to customers, this is the time to show the ethos and values of your company to the world and this is the time to stand by the Nation".
