The Power of 10

I recently tried launching a product and like many entrepreneurs, money is tight and there is no room for any losses or miscalculations. I thought, wrecked my brain, and went through everything that I had learned in school reviewing my textbooks to see what types of marketing mix I could come up with to get this $19.95 product in the field to solve a problem of many highway motorist. The result of my research brought me back to my original issue, not enough capital to fund the launch.

My Story

April 2, 2012, my entire life changed forever and I mean forever. At the age of 56 while at work I had an acute asthma attack. You're probably saying what does this have to do with launching and marketing a product? We'll get to that. A few weeks earlier I visited my family doctor due to breathing problems. The pollen here in Charlotte, NC was seriously bad and the pollen conditions were being reported on the news as much as three and four times daily. My doctor treated me with a breathing treatment, some antibiotics, a portable breathing machine, and released me. The following week I was unable to get out of bed to even walk to the bathroom without seriously being out of breath. I was disciplined at work for calling out. A top performer, written up for the first time in my 47 years of working. That caused stress in my life and I went into work Sunday and Monday the 1st and 2nd of April 2012.

The morning of April 2, 2012 at 12:30 a supervisor passed by and asked if I was wheezing and my reply was "if you can hear me I guess I am" so I got up and took a breathing treatment and came back to my desk(1:00pm) immediately emailing my wife to come pick me up early from work because I thought I might have some difficulties later on; she was out at lunch and never got my message. At 2:30 I was unable to stand, talk, or breathe. I threw a pen across the room to get someones attention and they immediately called my wife and dialed 911. The next 1 hour was the longest hour in my life not being exhale, listening to the radio traffic when I hear my wife has arrived at the gate of my job in front of the ambulance and they veer off and go to the wrong building.

Finally, the emergency team arrives and immediately try to force air in my face and fight begins. Try pushing a needed product in the face of it's intended user. Regardless of the need there is still opposition to the delivery. I was told the EMT worked on me for about 15 minutes in the parking lot prior to the trip to the hospital. The critical part of this journey had just begun; I was resuscitated twice during the night; gone, dead. Hearing the many stories about this incredible battle with life, the miracle, along with a spiritual experience in the brightest light that I've ever seen along with a moving conversation that turned my entire life around which brings me to where we are now..The Power of 10.

The Service Industry and for as much any business can very well be a ministry if you are truly in the business to serve and help people. Notice I didn't say in the business for profit. Profits will come if you flow with your heart; your passion. How do you flow with your passion? Make sure you are doing something that you really are good at and you enjoy. Really simple. Why would you do something because there is " a lot of money in it" and you're stressed out daily because you are spending more time trying to get the education about the business while you are trying to make a profit? You are wasting time on something that doesn't express your heart, your passion.

I'm not trying to convert or sway you spiritually or cause conflict between you and your religious beliefs, but we are all created with one thing that makes us unique, DNA. This means that you have something that is especially made for you and only you can produce it. So going after a business because there is a lot of money to be made may not be for you if there is no heart or passion and is out of your character.

Try this, ask your friends, family members, and co-workers for their candid opinion. Let them know that you want to know the truth and you are not looking for compliments. You are searching for your natural and spiritual gifts and abilities. Yes this may mean that you have to step back and punt again, but I think you would feel a lot better doing something that you are passionate about.

Power of 10

The parable of the ten minas teaches that we are expected to use the gifts we've received from God to do good. We're to "invest" them so that they'll earn a return even greater than the original gift. This brings me to heart, service, and going back to basic teaching of giving. I was in Virginia Beach, Va for a family emergency sitting on my parents front porch when the words "Give it away" just exploded in my head. Who am I to argue with the Voice?

Here I was sitting on my parent's front porch in Virginia Beach, Va looking at my targeted market drive by one car after another. I introduced myself to a young man driving an older Nissan SUV that had been given to him with over 200,000 miles on it. I began talking to him about his vehicle and a product that I was going to give to him because I wanted to help him with the maintenance of his vehicle. What had I just done? I just established a relationship and a new friend.

My wife arrived about five hours later from Charlotte, NC and I immediately went over to my trunk, had him start his engine to let it warm up, and I applied the product to his engine and told him to just drive and tell me about it. When he came back after being gone for a few hours, he had cleaned the vehicle inside and out and began telling me how well the vehicle was running compared to several hours ago. He went to his pastor to tell about this man who had given him a gift that would allow him to keep his vehicle a little while longer while he was getting on his feet. He brought back his pastor and nine other men who needed the product for their older model, high mileage vehicles. A seed had been sown and my return was ten new clients. I did this again to another gentleman who was driving a Chevy Conversion Van, yes there are still some on the road, and the return was again ten plus some of his lodge members indicated they were purchasing also from the site.