This recent Saturday, my uncle invited my family for dinner just behind my house. So after eating, we all went back to my place. As always, my uncle started telling us his stories. And we love listening to him. He’s so animated and so entertaining! We really get into his stories ourselves.
My uncle enjoys going to the flea market near Petaling Street in the early hours of the morning. One day, he saw this man coming out of a taxi with pots of bonsai. Different shapes, different sizes. Beautiful pots. But for some reason or other, the man sold the plants at only RM9 per pot.
The man had one particularly persistent buyer who swiftly picked up the pots of bonsais, paid the right amount and hurried off to the other end of the same street. And lo and behold, guess what he was doing?! The buyer was re-selling the bonsais he just bought for RM9 each at RM100 each. And the beauty of this story is that people were buying them from him!
Ladies and gentlemen, my initial reaction was that this was the joke of the year. After settling down, and giving the first man the benefit of the doubt, I’m sure for reasons of his own, RM9 per pot was good enough for him. I wish I was there to interview him for answers.
But let’s take a look at the second man. Undoubtedly, he saw something of value. On top of that, he must be a pretty good salesman because he obviously capitalized on his ability to market and sell. The two qualities - knowledge and ability to sell - put together became a potent combination. His knowledge equaled ten-folds in revenue.
This calls to mind the saying of an American entrepreneur, Robert Schuller. He said, “High achievers spot rich opportunities swiftly, make big decisions quickly and move into action immediately.”
Think about it - there are 20, 30 of us here today from different backgrounds, with different expertise. If all of us pooled our resources together, we would be a force to be reckoned with. Just that would seal DU Advanced's position as the best darn Club in the Klang Valley and propel us forward towards meeting the mission of Toastmasters International and the Club.
Let’s be the change in this new year 2009.
Best regards,
Deborah Hoe, CTM
President 2008/2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
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