If Opportunities Are Not Happening For You , Do This!

Several years ago I was doing a seminar where a young man in the front of the room kept saying, “That won’t work in my town because [take your pick]…It’s too small, too conservative, there are too many sign laws, there’s bad zoning, there’s not enough traffic, and there are no good retail locations available.”

After my usual spiel on “why most towns really aren’t that different” (they are not), I finally gave up and said, “For ninety-nine dollars, Greyhound will take you anywhere you want to go!” — which was a popular ad campaign at the time.

Everyone laughed but him.

While you may think this answer is a little trite or obvious, believe me, it is not. Many people simply do not consider the simple answers to their own problems because they place a great many mental constraints on their thinking.

“I can’t do that…[take you pick once more]…I grew up here, my friends are here, I like it here, my parents are here, I have family here, and I know everyone here.”

If you run the only coffee shop in a town of twelve hundred people, it may well be better than being one of ten coffee shops in a town of fifty thousand, but it’s not nearly as good as being the only coffee shop in a town of ten thousand people!