I missed the boat

Well...whoops. I guess I've missed the regularity boat. I won't make excuses, but I will say, twice a week seems to be a little much, so I'm going to pare down to posting every Sunday night. Or, at least, trying to post every Sunday night.

I'd like to comment tonight on the value of working for free, and just how big of a payback you can get from it. I've mentioned that I've managed to secure myself a mentor who is a few steps ahead of me. It really was a simple thing to do, but it required a big leap on my part. He owns a retail store and I have done some electrical work for him in the past. So far we have traded work for merchandise, which has worked very well for both of us.

This time though, he had the fairly large job of replacing all of the lights in his store. When he asked me to do the job, he was intending again to trade for merchandise or pay me cash. My business partner and I, however, had previously discussed that he would be a very valuable mentor to us, and so I offered to do the work for free, in exchange for him being our mentor. It was a big leap for me to offer that, as the work would have been worth a large sum, and I also had to take a week off of my own job in order to do it. But I made the offer, and he very gratefully accepted. I have now finished the work and have acquired a very valuable mentor. He is eager to help us out, and in fact, already has given us a ton of advice. He has told me that he may be willing to invest with us if we had the right deal, and while I prefer to keep him as a mentor, that is a huge offer in itself. I have just finished working with him installing the lights this past week, and in that week I have learned a huge amount of very valuable information. He has experience, he has education, and he seems very impressed with us. He has the potential of saving us years of learning and mistakes. Besides that, he has referred me to another job that is also worth a large sum of money, as well as pointing me in the direction that I need to be taking my business ventures. I can take a business deal to him and he will tell me if it is good or not.

I guess what I am trying to say, is that I just bought one of the most valuable assets available, and all it cost me was a week. If you are just starting out in business, or trying to learn a new aspect of business, there are people out there who have been where you are and who already know what you need to know. They are often willing to help. But be aware, successful people are pitched to all the time, and they are successful precisely because they don't fool around. Find someone who knows what you need, show them that you are serious, show them that you are worth their time, and you will be paid back exponentially for your efforts. Or, you could just make a few bucks and move on to the next job. The choice is yours.

Dad