Fishin' and Runnin' a Business Are the Same Thing

I have learned in the past three weeks, much to Entrepreneur Chick's surprise, that I love to fish!

"Lookie Joe, I gotta tackle box", I proudly announced and held up my prize.

"Huh. Bet ya don't got anything in it," Joe retorted as he pulled, without asking, my little brown plastic box towards him on the counter.

"Hmm. Lemme see..." Joe pokes around- "Worms. Hooks. Weights. Needle nosed pliers. Fishin' glasses. What's this?"

"Well, it's my nail file. What if I break a nail?" Joe rolls his eyes but he's proud of me, I can tell.

Joe runs the place. He's a little bit fishing pro, and a little bit magic. I actually saw him, just yesterday, pull out a huge bass, pregnant at that, using a hook no bigger than any ordinary green pea! Also, when I broke my line and had to reset it, and didn't know what I was doing for sure, Joe mysteriously appeared out of no where and questioned, "Jus whattaya think yer' doin'?" And he graciously helped me because I was screwing it up, biggern' Dallas.

If you closely inspect the brown, faded, dingy pictures on the wall, you'll see many of Joe, looking eerily the same as he did in 1972, his ever present cigarette dangling delicately out one side of his mouth or glued to his hand like one of his organic digits and matter-of-factly holding up a catfish as big as a fourth grade child.

Joe is a discovery in himself, as business is a discovery in itself.

It might look like you're doing nothing. But the whole time you are sitting there thinking, and thinking and rethinking about nothing but fishing. When you have a businesses, it's as if you're in love. You think about that (person) and you think about that business all the time!

Hmmm. Nothing's happening. Is my minnow dead? {{Staff not performing?}}

Wait! I got a bite! I got a BIG BITE! {{That large customer you've been trying to land.}}

I proudly caught thirteen fish yesterday but only two of them were "keepers."

When you pull out a "keeper" everyone has their say. "Yep. That's a keeper."
"Uh huh- that's a keeper." "Looks like a keeper. Better have Joe measure it fer certain."

Now, the funny thing about a "keeper" is- you can't throw them back in the lake. You have to actually DO something with "the keeper".

What do I do?! {{{Business grows and expands and is becoming profitable.}}}

For starters, I ran over to Joe with my "keeper" and sorrowfully said, "Joe, I know you're busy with customers, but I got a keeper."

Joe, unruffled not in the least, merely continued to puff coolly, on one side of his face, his Marbarrlo, and, as other patrons were volunteering- "I'll take it off of the hook for her!" "Aww, s'okay- I'll take it off for her." Joe gave his unalterable pronouncement: The heavens parted and thus sayeth Joe:

"Naw. She's got it."

An entrepreneur will finally "get it" and when it's "a keeper", an entrepreneur will, in fact, figure out what to do.