Saturday, October 20, 2007

The Accidental Billions

Ray Kroc's motivation was not to sell hamburgers. In fact, he was a so-so milkshake salesman who stumbled across the McDonald Brothers hamburger stand and thought, "My God, if they expand I can sell more milkshake machines." When the McDonalds refused to expand, Kroc bought them out. Today, of course, McDonald's restaurants have sold billions of hamburgers to a delighted public, and yes, a few milkshakes to boot!

So it is with many successful people -- a better idea often lies in wait, not far away from our current idea.

In college I took the lead on a Red Cross tradition, its fund raising men's basketball tournament. In the early planning sessions, the idea of a children's clinic in between games surfaced. Suddenly, someone asked "What if we just replaced the tournament with a children's clinic?" The result was a greater profit than ever before, with less work!

Open eyes and an open mind can be the difference between excellence and mediocrity, if we choose to employ them.

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