PP 157: Fishing for Business

Last night, I was watching one of the few TV shows that I watch, This Is Us, and in the episode that I was watching, Jack was going on a fishing trip with his father and brother.

If you haven’t watched the show, don’t worry. I’m not going to give away anything that’s going to ruin the show for you for the future. And if you have, maybe you know the episode that I’m talking about, however, in this episode, the father was talking about the type of fish that they want to catch, and the type of fish that they don’t want to catch.

Now, I gotta be totally honest. I’ve been fishing a few times. But besides seeing Koi in a pond and goldfish in a tank, and, okay Nemo on the big screen, I really can’t tell you the difference between one type of fish and another. However, I can tell you that fishing in many ways is similar to growing our businesses.

Fishing for Business

When we cast out our line for a new client or customer, there will be clients and customers that we love. Those big customers who bring in a lot of respect and hopefully a lot of money.

And then there’s going to be the other customers that take a lot of work and really aren’t big enough to be worth it. It can be a struggle pulling on the line all day just to pull them up to the boat of our business.

And realize this is where all the work was for…. I’ve been at the point in my business on more than one occasion. On more than a dozen occasions.

Fishing for Business

When I have pulled in the little fish and accepted them, the little fish took a lot of time and energy, and really did nothing to feed my hunger. They didn’t want to contribute more to society and make a bigger impact.

This can be equated to bringing in a little tiny fish and bringing it back to shore and barely having it feed the people who are there waiting and hungry.

These little fish clients and customers, they take a lot of time. They take a lot of energy. They keep us away from our family and loved ones. And when we’re done at the end of the day, we’re exhausted and often depleted. We can look at that little fish just wonder, was it worth it?

Fishing for Business

So when you go out fishing for a new client or customer the next time, I want to encourage you to be really specific on exactly what you’re looking for.

I wish I had some fancy fish names I could tell you, but all I’m going to say is, are you looking for a fish that you’re going to have to struggle with? Are you looking for a whopper that you can hang on your wall and be really proud of?

I do realize that sometimes we need to make sacrifices to make sure that all of our expenses are paid for, but is bringing in a net full of the smaller fish really what you’re looking to do? Or can you hold out just a little bit longer to wait for the trophy? I want you to think about that.

And with that thought in mind, go forth and make it a positive and productive day.