We’ve had an abundance of squirrels in our neighborhood this fall. Entrepreneurs can learn a lot from these furry creatures about storing up a hoard for winter and business cycles.
We were on our way to the grocery store not long ago. In the middle of the road, a squirrel had apparently stopped with its nut in his paws.
We don’t know what happened. We just know he didn’t make it.
Shortly thereafter, another squirrel ran across the road in front of us, with a huge nut in its mouth. We hit the brake hard to avoid hitting it.
It made us wonder:
Why did the squirrel cross the road?
Why did his friend give his life for a nut?
We returned home from our shopping excursion and took a break on our patio. Two squirrels scampered through our backyard – one squirrel chasing the other one.
Apparently, the smaller squirrel had wandered into unfriendly territory. He ran back across the street into familiar turf. Fortunately, he made it back home safely.
What can entrepreneurs and small business owners learn from these squirrels?
Risk increases when you cross the street to chase nuts.
Many entrepreneurs and small business owners focus too much on new customers in new territories.
New is exciting.
New gets the juices flowing.
New feels like progress.
But chasing nuts on the other side of the street means going up the learning curve. It requires taking more risk.
The most successful entrepreneurs are excellent risk managers. They know that “new” comes with more risk.
Larger, more established competitors are lurking. They will guard their turf vigorously. They will try to chase you away as soon as they learn about you.
And there are market forces which you may not fully understand at first. These vehicles can run you over, even when you’re feeling elated by finding a huge nut.
The most successful entrepreneurs devote more resources to growing relationships with existing customers. And looking for more customers nearby – customers who are just like the ones they already serve.
Of course, sometimes you do have to cross the road. But most of the time it’s better to focus on the nuts in your own backyard. It leads to BIGG success!
Would you like to make more money, more dependably? Maybe we can help.
Image in this post from stock.xchng
We still do this. 
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