3 AESOP FABLES TO MAKE YOUR BUSINESS BETTER!

1.     The Crow and Mercury

A CROW caught in a snare prayed to Apollo to release him, making a vow to offer some frankincense at his shrine.  But when rescued from his danger, he forgot his promise.  Shortly afterwards, again caught in a snare, he passed by Apollo and made the same promise to offer frankincense to Mercury.  Mercury soon appeared and said to him, "O thou most base fellow? How can I believe thee, who hast disowned and wronged thy former patron?'

DID YOU GET THE POINT?

KEEP YOUR PROMISES!

Your customers expect you to deliver on promises made to them. If you’ve offered to do the job for half the price of the competition then do it and do it well! Do not shy away from fulfilling obligations to customers simply because you have become ‘better off’ and you think you wouldn’t need them again. No matter how difficult it is to deliver on promises made to clients, it is best if you just do what you say. This leads to trust, trust leads to preference of your product or brand, sustained preference leads inevitably to dependence and dependence (boy that is what you want!) ensures REPEAT PATRONAGE!

The crow in this story forgot that bad word of mouth would lead to future problems. Even if your customers do not complain, others who saw how you treated them deceitfully would not give you their business.

In short:

“Just let your word Yes mean Yes, your No, No.” – Jesus (33CE)

2.      The Dancing Monkeys

A PRINCE had some Monkeys trained to dance.  Being naturally great mimics of men's actions, they showed themselves most apt pupils, and when arrayed in their rich clothes and masks, they danced as well as any of the courtiers.  The spectacle was often repeated with great applause, till on one occasion a courtier, bent on mischief, took from his pocket a handful of nuts and threw them upon the stage.  The Monkeys at the sight of the nuts forgot their dancing and became (as indeed they were) Monkeys instead of actors.  Pulling off their masks and tearing their robes, they fought with one another for the nuts.  The dancing spectacle thus came to an end amidst the laughter and ridicule of the audience.

DID YOU GET THE POINT?

      a.     CREATE A LOVABLE PERSONAL PRESENCE!

Your dress and grooming - a subset of your personal presence- has a huge effect on how people perceive you. You must dress and groom according to the standards of the industry you are consulting for.

Aside from dress and grooming, your speech and actions affects your business growth, so talk like a professional, be confident and assured and the business may just keep coming your way.

Even the monkeys in Aesop’s fable got all the attention in the world and they were respected because they dressed well!

In short:

“Dress British, think Yiddish” – Unknown

      b.   IF IT IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, THEN IT PROBABLY ISN’T TRUE!

You want to undertake a business endeavor – or thinking of hiring a new staff to fill a delicate position- the prospects look stunning and the stats are just perfect! But the whole thing just doesn’t feel right.  Like masked, royally adorned expert dancers? Too good to be true?

Then do not hesitate to investigate!

Beneath that entire fancy garb might be a fraud masquerading as the real thing. Ask questions, satisfy your curiosity. Ensure you make sound decisions based on facts, not on emotions

In short:

“Not everything you see is what it appears to be”

3.   The Crow and the Pitcher

A thirsty crow comes upon a pitcher with water at the bottom, beyond the reach of its beak. The thirsty crow tries hard to push the pitcher over but the heavy pitcher won’t even budge. Then the crow happens upon a fine idea. It drops in pebbles one by one into the pitcher until the water rises to the top of the pitcher, allowing the crow to drink.

DID YOU GET THE POINT?

      a.     USE YOUR HEAD: THINK, THINK, THINK!

The Crow and the Pitcher is one of Aesop’s most studied fables and is numbered 390 in the Perry Index. This story stresses the virtue of ingenuity.

You will always be a market leader if you look for smarter and smarter ways to satisfy your customers. If your solutions are trendy, modern, more efficient, then you just might be in business for a long long time.

Steven Jobs was a master at being ingenious; his tablets produced for Apple became popular simply because it afforded customers the ability to do the same things (computing) in a new and more interesting way.

The future belongs to those who look for new ways to solve old problems!

In short:

"Thoughtfulness is superior to brute strength." - Avianus

      b.     DON’T GIVE UP: KEEP TRYING!

A basic lesson from this fable that should not escape the mind of a shrewd business man is this: the crow was persistent. 

The crow did not abandon the pitcher in frustration when it could not turn it over. Think about the number of times it would have to go get pebbles in its beak to drop into the pitcher. Now that is persistence!

As a businessman, you should persistently try to find solutions to problems, not run away from problems. Solutions earned through hard work, does three (3) things for the businessman.

            i.         the lessons learned are ingrained and permanent

            ii.       there is now an increase in self believe and confidence to solve other problems

            iii.       the joy of being "so smart" is a great feeling

In short:

'Where there's a will, there's a way'. - Unknown