It was a rough and tough journey. We were traveling in a hilly area. The road was narrow, twisting, and climbing; surrounded by mighty mountains. This road was built by cutting the hills, so we were moving in the middle of the sky and the earth. One side of the road was walled by very high mountain rocks while the other edge was the end of the available land, into the hundreds of feet of deep ravine, where I could spot the glitter of the river flowing far below, just beneath the road.
We were in a 4x4 double-cab pick-up truck, the most suitable vehicle for these terrains and roads. I was accompanying my friend, driving the pick-up. He was an expert driver, well familiar with the conditions, equipped with all the techniques required by this sort of journey. But above his driving skills, he was famous for his sharp business acumen. I always enjoyed being with him as I always learned a lot for every moment I spent with him. I was avoiding looking down the horrible depth of the ravine, mostly covered by haze and clouds, and trying to enjoy the exquisite serenity of the surroundings and snow-tops. The day was clear and bright, and the sky was in its pure blue color. The natural beauty was on its peak…..But just avoid to look down and don’t think about anything that could turn into thousands of tiny pieces before touching the river below or any possible land-slide…..And enjoy! We were going to attend the marriage ceremony of a mutual friend, living in a village in these extremely dangerous but astonishingly beautiful mountains.
Like a movie or a TV drama, the scene changed abruptly and we were in a huge plane area. I was stunned by the sudden change of the terrain. This was a small but very busy town. A buzzing and crowded commercial area surrounded both sides of the road. Shops, restaurants, workshops, and other businesses were seen everywhere. The hustle and bustle showed it was a business center for all the nearby areas. I was completely absorbed by the view and panorama of the place when the pick-up suddenly stopped. I roused and asked my friend, “Why have you stopped buddy? For a cup of tea?”
“Not really", He said, "but not a bad idea. We will have one but first let’s do some business!”
I was confused, “Business? But you didn't tell me before!”
He said, “It was not planned. The idea has just sneaked in my mind.”
I asked, “What idea?”
He said, “Excuse me! Would you mind accompanying me? You will see what is that.”
He opened his door and slipped out. I followed him. Our vehicle was parked in front of a big vegetable and fruit shop. He entered the shop. The shopkeeper greeted him. After exchange of some formal words, my friend said to the shopkeeper, “If I am not bothering you, may I take a couple of your moments and ask something?”
The shopkeeper replied in a welcome tone. My friend asked, “How do you get these packing boxes?” He was pointing towards small fruit boxes made up of thin strips of acacia tree wood. Each box could contain 10 Kg of fruit. The shopkeeper replied, “There are suppliers of these boxes who supply them from large cities.” He named the cities and our city was one of them.
My friend asked, “Do you need somebody else to provide these boxes?”
The shopkeeper said, “Why not! We always are short of supply. Shopkeepers and people of the surrounding villages come to this town for the purchase of all of their life-necessities, including vegetable and fruit, and we feel difficulty to meet their needs properly because of shortage of these boxes.”
My friend asked, “How much you pay for these boxes?” The shopkeeper told the cost for per dozen of boxes.
“What if I supply them to you without any interruption? How many will you need per shipment and when?” My friend asked.
The shopkeeper said, “I require 100 dozen per week and I welcome if you could do that.”
My friend shook his head in satisfaction and said, “You will have your first shipment after 4 days and it will continue without any gap or inconvenience.”
The shopkeeper thanked him and we came out of the shop. I was very much curious about all this and asked my friend, “How did you know he needs those boxes?”
My friend said, “I will tell you everything over the cup of tea, but just give me a few more minutes.”
Then he entered another fruit shop and within five minutes, another 100-dozen order was in his pocket. Within 25 minutes, he secured orders for 500 dozens of these boxes. After finishing his business period, he took me to a small but beautifully decorated restaurant and ordered tea and some snacks. Then he turned his attention toward me: “Qamar! I know you are very curious, But it was all just spontaneous. When you were busy watching the hustle and bustle, I was busy to observe. I noticed these boxes in every fruit shop. I knew this town is the business hub of this area. But I was sure acacia wood is not available in this region. So there must be some outside source for these boxes to be here; and you see I was right.”
I took a deep sigh and said, “You are just amazing boss!” He smiled and said, “Enjoy the tea and the weather!”
After attending and enjoying the marriage party of our friend and spending a night over there, we returned back. When we reached the same town, he stopped again and re-confirmed his orders. When we reached our city, he drove straight to the central fruit and vegetable market. This market was also the wholesale market of the same packing boxes. Within a couple of hours, he was successful to place an order for 500 dozen of the boxes, to be ready after two days. The price negotiated was below the price he set with his buyers. So, the gross profit margin for this particular order was quite encouraging. After two days, he sent the luggage to the destination successfully and, astonishingly, his next order was for 1000 dozens of the boxes. This supply flow is still on and growing. Like this activity, my friend has so many others.
I learned the following from this journey and from the wits of my friend!
1- Always Be On Opportunity-Alert Mode:
Whether you are a an entrepreneur dealing in a single business or in multiple lines, just like my friend; or you are the one responsible to develop your company’s business, tone up your body and mind to always be curious about business opportunities. When your mind is set on “opportunity-alert mode”, you will find them even within ordinary situations. This mode will make your observation so powerful that you will smell an opportunity from miles or just by looking around.
2- Keep Your Spotting and Scanning Power On:
Keep your eyes, ears, and nose open! Adjust your eyes in a mode to scan what they see and spot anything worthy instantly. Make your ears a tool to hear and catch everything that has a value for you. Sometimes, your nose, smelling, can tell you there is something of interest. All you have to do is to keep your senses very agile. Keeping your senses agile will instigate your sixth sense to feel the opportunity.
3- Keep Your Mind-Processor Active:
Your mind should be pre-set to immediately respond to your sensing of the opportunity by immediately evaluating the situation and weighing the possible opportunity to assure its preliminary feasibility. Your brain processing here is the most powerful evaluation machine, far more superior and prompt than any computer or software.
The effective combination and use of all the three ways will expose you to a stream of business opportunities. Marketing research or any data gathering and evaluation are the steps when your mind sends you OK signal. So, using your senses and brain in a proper and alert manner to spot and scan opportunities is the most powerful and accurate opportunity-research method than any other conventional or formal methods.
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Have you enjoyed what my friend did and how he turned an ordinary situation into a business opportunity? Do you agree with what I learned? How do you spot and scan business opportunities? Please share your experiences so that we could learn new and useful things. You know, learning never ends, and it must not!
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This post was first published on LinkedIn
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