No, It's Not About Pie. It's a Metaphor.

I was at a group consultation this past week (Shout out to the Live Your Dream district, Jafra Cosmetics!) and one of the women there told an AMAZING story that I wanted to share. Here we go:

Pumpkin Pie

Thanksgiving Day has come again. You are surrounded by family, and everyone has come with something for the table. The spread is magnificent and you are almost full just looking at it. From the moment your Grandfather says “Amen” you are filling your plate (and emptying it just about as quickly). After what feels like five minutes two hours have passed and your entire family is groaning as they struggle to take that one last bite.
Like clockwork Aunt Trudy emerges from the kitchen with her “World Famous” Pumpkin Pie, and immediately your heart sinks. You didn’t leave room for dessert.

“I have to pass Trudy,” You say reluctantly. “Could you wrap a slice up for me?”

Two days pass and you crash through your door on the way home from a difficult day at work. You are famished, because you had to work through your lunch. You rummage through the fridge looking for something to eat and come upon the wrapped slice of pie. No one in history has uncovered a greater treasure. As you begin to eat you are almost concerned, because it tastes better than it ever has before... but you let it go and make a mental note to not leave room for dessert next year either.

By itself this story is pretty innocuous; it’s just a story about pie. But, this is an amazing metaphor for the entrepreneur in all of us and there are three lessons I would like to point out.

1. You have to be HUNGRY. This isn’t about food here. Opportunities are all around us… many of them are great ones. BUT, if we leap before we are prepared to take it on fully it can be a disaster. You have to have a sense of self awareness in regards to how ready you are to accept new challenges/commitments/risks. I challenge each of you to take a quick look at where you are and see how hungry you are… and if you are hungry… go eat something. No, not literally. Commit more time or effort to a project you’ve been putting off. Try a different marketing approach to bring in more clients. Join Facebook (and make more money while you do it!) If you aren’t hungry, that’s ok too. Because, sometimes it just isn’t the right time to take risks and try to grow. So long as you pay attention to where you are so you can jump into high gear when you DO get hungry.

2. Your downlines are dealing with the same thing. Sometimes they won’t be hungry, even if your product/service is exactly what they need. You need to evaluate (as best you can) how hungry are. This is especially important if you are a manager or director level direct salesperson with a large downline. You need to gauge where they are at so you can leverage your time/support to them appropriately. The last thing you want to do is call the person who has a lot on their plate every day and go nowhere while you have another downline chomping at the bit to grow without enough support. The same is true for your clients, you may have the perfect product but they might just not be ready to see it yet.

3. Clients need to be hungry too. If they aren’t hungry then they might be reluctant to buy even the PERFECT product or service. Sometimes it just isn’t the right time for people. Don’t give up on your clients and make sure to revisit your business with them in the future. You never know when a rejection can turn into a purchase.

4. Having difficult work days and having to work through ones lunch on a Saturday is the entire reason I decided to start my own business. Isn’t Entrepreneurship grand?


Stay Savvy,

Stephen