Just this morning while in the shop, was a little busy with arranging while my dad sat and discussed with his friends. They talked and laughed about a lot of things but one of the conversation caught my attention. It was when my dad said he was the engine of the business and then every other part of the business, that's we his children and wife, function properly because he functions properly. In essence, we compliment him and his abilities. Well, that was true
Speaking of engines, lets take a car for an example. You see a beautiful car now, say a Ferrari or Porsche, and you immediately admire the slick design, the colors of the car, the comfort it can provide as well as the class it gives, you don't immediately think of the engine, probably because that's not the first part you see in the car, its hidden. You don't see it because you just the consumer, whereas that's the first thing an engineer will look out for in the car cos he knows thats the main hub of the car, even though they are all assembled together to serve a purpose, Transportation. Everything else is there for the efficient performance of the engine, take for instance, the tires are there for easy movement.
Now, back to business. Just so you know, we run a drinks based business, where we sell and buy all sort of drinks, big and small alike. My dad had started this business before he got married to my mom, that's years back and by now he seems to know the in and out of the business like the back of his hands. While I was younger, I watched with amazement how he and my mom runs the business and talk of to go forward, it's no surprise that I'm now a part of that team and helping the business, the family move forward. Its not the biggest of business but he's been able to achieve a lot with a little, which is very surprising to some people as to how he does it.
Well, my dad is also in the business of making copies of himself, I'm not just talking biology. For someone to achieve so much with so little takes some skills, skills which must have been drilled into a person. So my dad is good at taking calculated risks, a good man and resources manager, he has a strong will as well as so many other qualities. He wants to transfer those skills to us, to me. He has worked on my mom for so long that she's now good at what he does, like you can see my dad in her and her actions. I've also noticed some good traits in me too. Like I'm now getting better in effectively getting top goods for low prices and also I've developed significantly in my ability to persuade customers into buy gooda similar to the one they want which we do not have at the moment.
What makes the engine more beautiful lies in its ability to transfer that energy, to the other parts of the car. This is usually measured in horse power. As for my dad, he has the skill and knowledge of th business, quite alright, but he's made more efficient as he tranfers those knowledge and skills to us, especially we the children (I and 3 other siblings). Now I can comfortably handle the business, to an extent, as well as the rest of the family and when people see us handle the business the just admire the way we do it and give some praise to God and appreciate the effort of my dad in the business. The fact that he has taught us the running of the business has helped him, helped us grow, as we all know that most businesses are not a one man show. There are ups and downs in the business and we make mistakes sometimes, but that part of the process right? The learning curve? Sooner or later our hands will be made steadier.
My dad tells me that one of the major keys to the business is the availability of the goods in the shop, if there are no goods, there'll be no customers and the ones which you thought you had will just move on to another shop. So each and every day, we try as much as possible to replace the goods sold out the previous day. Instead of making retail sales, we now aim tk be wholesalers. This is much more expensive but better and gives us the ability to scale and become bigger and we have noticed significant increase in the number of customers that patronize us daily.
Now this might seem as though I've given all the credit to my dad and my mom has played no part, that is not correct. In another post, I'll highlight the role she has played. I really hope to gain as much as i can before venture out to be on my own soon. I'm done with studies in the university and these skills I've gained are priceless. In the end I'm grateful.
Thanks for visiting.
