This adventure happened to me during my last trip to Adelaide South Australia last week.
It was a very successful trip for my primary Network Marketing business. I presented to a room full of Adelaide Entrepreneurs the new trends, new way of doing business, future trends, mindset and of course what I believed to be the best business opportunity available right now for ANYONE. The night ended with many new Home Business owners and “The Wealth Creation Network” continuing to grow rapidly as the fastest in Australia and the 3rd fastest in the World.
On reflection after the event over a few quiet beers with our group, I realized that all the people doing really well bringing in the “mega bucks” were the people I least expected to do so. The people that I thought would be huge were nowhere to be seen. I then remembered a saying one of my mentors had told me – that at some stage in my business I would see “Duds turn into Studs and Studs into Duds”. So true.
Luckily I also knew, via the same mentor, to never Pre-Judge anyone on whether I thought they would be successful or not. Give everyone the same chance, time of day and respect that you would want when starting out. Then as time goes on simply match energy with energy. That has proven to be very wise words of wisdom.
It also reminded me of a great Entrepreneur and Author, Justin Herald. He tells the story of when he made it big with a multi-million dollar deal and went car shopping. He deliberately dressed down and took his “rough mates” Porsche shopping with him. The first 2 car dealers totally ignored him or gave him very little time of day as they had Pre-Judged that he could not afford the cars in their dealership.
In typical Justin Herald style when a young fella did serve him at the 3rd place they visited with the same jest as a man dressed in a suit and tie. Justin made sure he drove straight back to the previous 2 dealerships and let them know in no uncertain terms that he had just purchased the most expensive Porsche on the market from down the road. They had just lost a big sale and ongoing client with LOTS of money and influence because they had Pre-Judged.
I also had to check myself at the end of my trip as I got into a cab to head back to the airport. The passenger door would not open and the driver really wasn’t having much success getting it open. Now, we tend to subconsciously view taxi drivers as pretty much the opposite to say Richard Branson or Donald Trump. After all it does not take a rocket scientist or a whole lot of motivation to drive a Cab. But let me tell you, Taxi drivers are often lawyers, Doctors and business owners.
Instead of getting inpatient at the driver or talking down to him I waited patiently and eventually when the door opened I thanked him. We got talking and guess what – he was a top criminal defence Lawyer. WAS…………
He was from Egypt and in Egypt he was someone, he earned a lot of money, provided for his family, was respected and was very good at what he did.
Unfortunately any career advancement for him or any really bright future for his kids was limited due to him being Christian and the government being Muslim. According to Silin, the future for his kids in Egypt was not a very good one and so they decided to move to Australia.
“Not good for me, but good for my family” he said. Driving a Taxi in Adelaide was slow, the money was bad, he felt he was not respected and he was no-one here in Australia. He had made a huge sacrifice for his family. I was trying to imagine how hard that must have been for him. His wife and children were happy, they spoke good English, made friends and slid into Australian life straight away. However Silin was stuck driving a Cab due to his limited English and he was struggling with it day to day.
I told him that I help people start their own business part time from home and the money was very good. His eyes lit up and he said “YES business, I want to start my own business, can you help?” I gave him my card and we agreed to catch up on email over the next week after he had looked at my website. I can’t wait to bring you the rest of this story in 12 months time.
I have sat in Taxi’s before and hoped the driver would not try and make conversation at the end of a long day, we all have. But if you need networking in your career or business then remember never ever Pre-Judge. Taxi drivers could be the person you have been looking for, they may be hungry for success and a chance at a new life. You may be a match made in heaven. You just never know.
I look forward to your comments on this posting. Until then jump in a cab and start a conversation, they may surprise you. Who else have you not spoken to this year because you thought that they would not be on the same wavelength? They may not be, you may be right, but then again unless you can read minds or know what is in their hearts you can never really be sure.
To your Success. Happy networking.
I am off to my next adventure.
Aaron Byerlee.