There are two questions that most of us earth bound beings would give anything to know the answers too.
- What is the meaning of life?
- Where is the money?
The Money Quest
The answer for the first question will need to be discovered on your own. The answer to the second question, well that is another quest entirely but as with the first question has the potential to open up a treasure chest of possibilities. The best way for me to explain to you, where is the money? would be via a story I heard quite some time ago. Now over the years this story has changed a bit as it has been passed from one person to another, but its secret holds an unspeakable value that will inspire you to search among its content to find the answer to, where is the money?
Treasure Maps and Tall Ships
The beginning of this story goes back a few hundred years to a time of treasure maps and tall ships.
In an ocean far far away a storm brewed. Sailing directly towards the storm was Captain Blake and his crew. Now Captain Blake was on a mission to find a treasure that was left on an island twenty nautical miles on his bow. He was so close that he could smell the contents of the chest. Blake’s problem was that if he goes around the storm he may miss his opportunity of finding the cluster of islands and the treasure may fall into the hands of another. So it was onward for glory. The storm raged around the tall ship eating away at the timber hull. All was lost, the ship was donated to Davey Jones locker. Blake and his crew were washed upon the largest island of the cluster.
After 20 years of treasure hunting Captain Blake was an old hand at survival. What was left of his crew followed his every order and new that there was a good chance of rescue. A plan was put in place to recover the treasure and live off the island till help arrived. A portion of the treasure would be used to by their safety. Quite some time went by, years, decades nobody seems to know exactly. The treasure still eluded Captain Blake.
Blake and his dwindling crew had searched all of the outlying islands and were starting to believe that the treasure was a myth. Running out of food Blake had giving his youngest crew member the task of scavenging for the root of a plant that had helped them survive, But the fire had almost burnt out in the belly of young John, so in shear laziness young John started digging the grass around Captain Blake’s hut. With the blade of a broken sword John dug slowly with no real purpose.
At a depth of one hand John hit a solid object. The sound on the blade was different then rock. John called Captain Blake for his advice. On the realization of what this could be the two men dug frantically, the more they dug the more they saw of a jeweled chest. John had discovered the treasure that had been alluding them located on the spot they had taken shelter many years before.
As a footnote to this story the castaways were rescued on the next full moon by a merchant vessel blown off course into their path.
Five Small Business Treasures.
- A plan is just that, a plan, have an alternative rout to your goal.
- Where is the money? Closer then you think.
- Exhaust all avenues close to home before wandering abroad.
- Believe in yourself and your capability.
- Believe in others, outsource your weaknesses.
The Small Business entrepreneur may often wander, where is the money? which leads to the question, Are you really looking? As the money may well be in your own back yard. Dig deep it is there.
