I know I do not have it in to be a businessman. I am not very good at asking people for money. When I was in secondary school, my parents once bought me a bicycle after much nagging on my part. Like any other boy, the novelty of the bicycle wore off after time and it became a symbol of my wastefulness. The once shiny steel rims looked like it had a new coat of brown paint thanks to the rust and the tires deflated to the point that it needed to be replaced by new ones.
At this time, I was surprised one day to see a foreman with his bangla knocking at my door. They enquired about the bike and asked if they could take it if nobody was using it. I sensed a moneymaking opportunity and I told them,
"You can take it for $5". That they readily accepted.
Later that day, when my parents came back home, I expected much praise from them for displaying some business acumen. Though in life, what you expect is not always what you get. As my father would never cease to remind me "I could have sold it for scrap and got more than $5".
Its bad enough to know that you do not have the skill to be a businessman. But what is worse is when you get duped by one. Interestingly, I made a series of purchases of late. First time around, it was a handphone pouch. The lady at the shop charged me $9 for the pouch and asked me if I wanted to get a screen protector for another $6. I thought why not? Then she had some problem fixing the screen protector onto my phone and to make up for the delay, she cut down the price to $3.
Wait, at $3, she still had to be making a profit right? In that case, how much of my money was she making when she was going to sell it to me for $6 initially?
Then 2 days ago, I wanted to change my watch strap. The new strap cost $8. To add on to it, the uncle said that some metal rod that held the strap to the timepiece was spoiled and I bought 2 new ones at $2 apiece to replace that.
$2 for a rod 1mm in diameter and 1.5 cm in length.
The Roman philosopher Cicero once said 'Any man is liable to err,but only a fool persists in error.'
I am that fool.
At this time, I was surprised one day to see a foreman with his bangla knocking at my door. They enquired about the bike and asked if they could take it if nobody was using it. I sensed a moneymaking opportunity and I told them,
"You can take it for $5". That they readily accepted.
Later that day, when my parents came back home, I expected much praise from them for displaying some business acumen. Though in life, what you expect is not always what you get. As my father would never cease to remind me "I could have sold it for scrap and got more than $5".
Its bad enough to know that you do not have the skill to be a businessman. But what is worse is when you get duped by one. Interestingly, I made a series of purchases of late. First time around, it was a handphone pouch. The lady at the shop charged me $9 for the pouch and asked me if I wanted to get a screen protector for another $6. I thought why not? Then she had some problem fixing the screen protector onto my phone and to make up for the delay, she cut down the price to $3.
Wait, at $3, she still had to be making a profit right? In that case, how much of my money was she making when she was going to sell it to me for $6 initially?
Then 2 days ago, I wanted to change my watch strap. The new strap cost $8. To add on to it, the uncle said that some metal rod that held the strap to the timepiece was spoiled and I bought 2 new ones at $2 apiece to replace that.
$2 for a rod 1mm in diameter and 1.5 cm in length.
The Roman philosopher Cicero once said 'Any man is liable to err,but only a fool persists in error.'
I am that fool.
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