Much Too Wise For These Guys
More than a decade ago, between the year I left college and the year I left Florida, I was perpetually searching for work and failing miserably. (Sound familiar?) So one day my mother found an advertisement for a company that was hiring "branch managers" and she thought my combination of skills from college and youth would help me get a position. They were having a meeting that evening in a strip mall near where we were. So I went and looked them up and listened to what they had to say.
And my "internal instrument panel" lit up like a Republican's Christmas tree.
Their sales pitch was full of hype and feel-good language and left no room for silly things like facts and details.
Their business plan looked overly optimistic and didn't seem to be couched in the laws of supply and demand or market reality.
Their math didn't add up.
Their brochures were flashy but uninformative...other than the fact that the current "doing business as..." name had been put on stickers that were pasted over the previous "doing business as..." name.
I realized before the speeches had ended that I had no hope of success with these guys and it was more likely they would take ME for a ride as well as their expected customers. So I said "no".
Today I was going through my paperwork from college and came upon a scrap sheet with the information about the company I had visited so long ago. On a whim, I looked them up just now. Two Years Ago The Feds Shut Them Down For Running A Ponzi Scheme. So I feel justified in walking away.
The main downside to knowing when to say "no" is that it's no help in figuring out who to say "yes" to. Or, finding the luck to have that opportunity come your way.
And my "internal instrument panel" lit up like a Republican's Christmas tree.
Their sales pitch was full of hype and feel-good language and left no room for silly things like facts and details.
Their business plan looked overly optimistic and didn't seem to be couched in the laws of supply and demand or market reality.
Their math didn't add up.
Their brochures were flashy but uninformative...other than the fact that the current "doing business as..." name had been put on stickers that were pasted over the previous "doing business as..." name.
I realized before the speeches had ended that I had no hope of success with these guys and it was more likely they would take ME for a ride as well as their expected customers. So I said "no".
Today I was going through my paperwork from college and came upon a scrap sheet with the information about the company I had visited so long ago. On a whim, I looked them up just now. Two Years Ago The Feds Shut Them Down For Running A Ponzi Scheme. So I feel justified in walking away.
The main downside to knowing when to say "no" is that it's no help in figuring out who to say "yes" to. Or, finding the luck to have that opportunity come your way.