founders notes
you only have to be right one time...though there are a thousand other things you have to do in the meantime.
you only have to be right one time, but there are about a thousand other things you have to do in the meantime...
there's that seen in The Founder - the story of Ray Kroc & McDonalds...
the one where he's holding a handful of dirt on the foundation of his first location; and he looks out into the ether and says to himself, "just be right one time."
if you've seen the movie, and you have even an ounce of entrepreneur in you, the scene goes straight into the heart of who you are and the promise of all the hard work you’re putting in right now. because we all know just how many other times we’ve been wrong. how many other times we’ve failed. how often we have taken the wrong path for all the right reasons.
YOU only have to be right one time, but there are thousands of other things you must be doing ALL the time that create the environment necessary for that one time, not just to be right, but to be able to see it in the first place.
here are my vital take aways from the movie after my second time through…
persistence is EVERYTHING!! no matter how much skill or talent you might possess, and I’m sure it’s prolific, the only way those gifts can sing to the world is if you can muster the steady and steadfast persistance it takes to get those gifts and skills and talents into the right environments and the right places and with impeccable timing.
two scenes in the movie stand out for me, especially in the context of my current role at Golden Considerations, traveling through multiple states on a regular basis, working to make connections that last and that transform businesses and lives.
first, are those images of Kroc loading and unloading that incredibly cumbersome milkshake mixer in and out of the trunk of his car so that he could make his presentation. I mean, imagine how many times he must have done that and something similiar with other products he had peddled throughout his career. over and over again. each opportunity only possible with long committed drives from one prospect to another. this is a dying art, but for those of us who still do it on a daily basis, a window into the soul of every salesperson on earth.
second, is a scene in his hotel room where he is pictured with his record player and his positivity recordings. i mean, imagine that commitment. today, we put our phone in our pocket and we go. and most probably NEVER listen to anything other than their apple playlists or the radio. here was Kroc, toting his record player in and out of every hotel room he ever stayed in so that he could keep his mind right on the road. that’s powerful stuff most won’t do.
third, and this ties all of this together, is that all of this along with every presentation and the entire breadth of Ray Kroc’s career as a salesman and entrepreneur is a glaring example of the importance of putting in the reps. no matter what you do or what you might plan to do or what idea you have that you believe will change the world, you still have to put in the reps. Kroc spent his entire sales career calling on restaurants. years and probably thousands of sales calls later, he happens upon something that he believe is truly unique. a vision that was only possible because of all the experience he had gained from all those reps. and of course, he still didn’t know for sure, which is why that scene i described at the beginning of this post is so viseral. you don’t EVER know for sure but you still have to leap
.
lastly, he decides to drive half way across the country on an idea and a chance to see something that he only instinctively believes at that point to be worthy of a closer look.
can you honestly say that you would be willing to do the same?
are you putting in the reps?
do you believe in persistance?
i know i do…
good luck out there.
-John