The shoe salesmen in Congo

See opportunities in your network, even when you think everyone already has what you sell. After Aminotastic in 2011, I talked about a conversation with a young web designer and the story of two shoe salesmen in Congo.

See opportunities in your network rather than only limitations

The web designer asked how to network. I suggested walking around and talking to people. He replied that the many entrepreneurs at the event probably already had a website.

But an existing website can still need updating, improving or rebuilding. So perhaps the room was full of people who could use his help.

Two shoe salesmen see the same situation differently

I told him a fictional story about two shoe salesmen sent to Congo. One wrote home that it was a disaster: Nobody wore shoes, so he wanted to come home.

The other saw a huge opportunity. Nobody had shoes yet, so there were lots of people he could sell to. They saw the same thing but drew different conclusions.

The story wasn’t a documented account of Congo. It illustrated the difference between seeing a limitation and looking for an opportunity.

Talk to people and find out what they need

After the conversation, the web designer saw the room differently and began talking to people. That was the little experience I wanted to share.

I also thanked the many Aminotastic participants for a fantastic evening. The food hadn’t been good enough, and we were working on dealing with that. But the encounters between entrepreneurs generated lots of energy.

Back after ten or twelve busy days in Denmark

Sometimes you heard from me almost every day while I travelled. On this trip, things had been quiet. I’d been in Denmark for ten or twelve days, busy with eight talks, two board meetings and two days at a trade fair. I’d just returned when I made the video.

At the entrepreneurship fair and Aminotastic, I estimated I’d coached more than a hundred different entrepreneurs that day. Later, almost six hundred of us were in the Danish Broadcasting Corporation’s old concert hall. Rolf Høegh, Soulaima Gourani and Thomas Rosenstand gave it their all, and Mikkel deMib hosted. It was a fantastic experience.

The food simply wasn’t good enough

The only thing that really fell short was the food. There was far too little, and the quality was poor. It was downright bad.

We’d bought a package at the Radio Building and couldn’t bring the food ourselves. We’d been promised there would be plenty. So we took it up with them afterwards. I was hoping for some form of compensation, and then we’d see what we could do with it. It wasn’t settled when I made the video. But the food didn’t change the fact that the rest of the evening worked brilliantly.

The five hundred and fifty websites

The conversation with the young entrepreneur took place during a break between talks. His objection was specific: He was a web designer, and there were around 550 people in the room who probably all had a website. That conversation wasn’t made up. It was the shoe salesman story I then told him that was fictional.

In the story, the two salesmen were sent out by a Danish shoe factory. They made the long boat journey to Congo and each sent a telegram home. One reported disaster and wanted to return because people didn’t wear shoes. The other reported joy and wanted to stay: Nobody wore shoes yet, so he saw endless opportunities.

After I’d told the story, the web designer saw the funny side. Yes, those 550 people probably already had a website. But there were also 550 people whose websites might need updating, improving or rebuilding. He looked happily around and started talking to people.

If you don’t open the box, you get no chocolates

I also used the image from Forrest Gump of life as a box of chocolates. You don’t know what you’ll get. But my addition was that if you never open the box, you certainly won’t get any chocolates.

I wanted to encourage you to see the opportunities in the situations you were in. It could be an opportunity to grow as a person, sell something or have some great experiences. What you did with it was up to you. Also read Skab din egen succes about finding your own way and daring to seize opportunities.

We most likely only had one life. I certainly didn’t dare take the chance of counting on an extra one. If it said game over one day and I was offered another game, of course I’d press yes. But shouldn’t we live as though this were the only one? Then we could always be pleasantly surprised.

It was great to be back and share the experience. Take care and go for it.

Best wishes, Martin